On Tue, Aug 27, 2024 at 10:58:47AM -0400, Tomas Kuchta wrote: > If you like to enjoy life, I would recommend not using any of these > machines. I believe, that the oldest full featured, trouble free, modern > distro with modern Desktop Environment (DE) would be Intel second > generation Core Sandy Bridge CPUs (2010) with more than 4GB RAM. If you > will not use GUI/graphics, you could use the core duo CPU.
Some of us enjoy very different lives than Tomas. I write this on a Lenovo T60 laptop manufactured in 2008, running Debian 12. Heavy sumbitch, but with a large 4x3 format screen and a trackpoint. Vestigial "touchpad", disconnected. I have too much tremor for "touch". Tremor may be an issue for many other over-60 touchscreen avoiders. No dodo-paddles AKA "smart" phones for me. The T60 keyboards with curvy sculpted keys seem to have more "action" and finger-locate-ability than newer laptops, and match the feel of my desktop keyboards (paired with USB ball meece when possible). Many of us are long-format text adepts, more at home with weighty tomes rather than icons and tweets. Modern 2x3 or 5x8 screens may be "better" for movies ... but lead to "shallow" thinking. If it was physically possible, I would have a "laptop" with a square screen, or even a 4 wide 5 high screen, perhaps a rotate-and-foldout PAIR of screens that render complete A size or A4 sized print pages (like my pair of 4w5h desktop screens, often KVMed to two different computers). That said: while Debian is sparse and agile, with 1-second shutdown (unlike dancing-paperclip-laden Ubuntu), the 3 GB RAM on these venerable Thinkpads is not enough for some complex applications. Those run on desktops, sometimes via VPN (Wireguard soon). So I do desire more powerful mobile systems, and would like SYSTEMS of components that are mix-and-match-and-attach modular; compute, "disk", "ram", small or large or multiple screens, keyboard with trackpoint, mouse optional but handy (heh) for CAD. Decade-stable systems; I've learned from my 106-year-old father-in-law that bleeding-edge interfaces are unusable to the elderly. Maximum healthy life expectancy increases as much as 4 extra years per 10 calendar years. YOU will NOT learn new desktop metaphors at age 110. Think ahead. Bluetooth connection is secure until it isn't - and I will not learn that before the bad guys do. So, I would like wired connection between the components, or better yet voltage-agile DC power plus gigabit fiber optic for data. Until then, USB3 with power. ----- Perhaps some patient reader (with a tall screen) has read down this far, and can suggest modular components for laptop replacement. Bonus points if the kludge can talk to the cell network IN ADDITION TO CAT6 ethernet. Keith L. -- Keith Lofstrom [email protected]
