On 02 Jun 2023 17:34, Mario Marietto wrote:
Excuse me,but there is something within your argumentation that I don't like and I want to express what it is. Let's take Linux as an example of what I want to say. Linux is well known to be an OS that can be installed on the old machines,helping the people that can't buy a new computer to surf the net and to do the basic things that they couldn't do using a more complete and modern PC built with new hardware components. And this is a linux quality that everyone loves and one of the reasons why Linux is growing faster on the market. I think that everyone likes this,right ? So,why the same logic can't be applied to those software tools that go in the same direction,to those tools that help the users to have those functions that those old computers cannot give to them anymore ? Here it seems there is a contradiction. You may argue that developing for a small number of old computers isn't worth trying. But,first of all,I think that there are a LOT of old PCs in the world,since poor people aren't only a niche. We could discuss,anyway, how to reach the right amount of money to pay the developers. I'm thinking of opening a crowdfunding campaign for example. Or any other method to have the money that I can't imagine now. To do a project like this is socially accepted and helps to work on the perception of the users that computer science is something that they can use to develop their life in a good way. Maybe by helping one of those poor children,we are contributing to educate someone that in the future will make great things for humanity. I think that using the old relation that there is between costs and benefits is not applicable in every kind of situation. There are already a lot of people who work on projects that they like,but that they have a low social impact. Why not to work on a project that aims to extend the functions of an old PC. And what's better than using two operating systems on a single old pc? My old pc has 2 measly cpu's, I used one for the host and the other for linux emulated with bhyve and the performance was decent. Is there something that's more useful and generous than this kind of project ?
? Look at Xen history, you'll see that it started mid 2000s. And then, why not vmm, openBSD's virtual machines ?
