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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>It’s all marketing – it’s in companies’ best interest to get people to buy new stuff so they maintain their revenue streams. Thus Y is the “X-killer”. The world is littered with the corpses of last year’s model, if you believe the hype (also, subscription and streaming models are simply revenue tools – I’d rather have my movie on DVD and not be at the mercy of some streaming service). My previous desktop was retired after about 8 or 9 years, after it suffered a catastrophic hardware failure that would have been too expensive to fix. The one before it went 9 years and had to be put aside because replacement parts weren’t available. Current machine is 4, I think – had it for a couple of years before the other desktop died, since I needed Win10 for some things and the vendor refused to support Win10 on the old box. I can run Linux on the new system too, of course – I configured it with a ton of RAM so I could create VMs.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b>From:</b> Ipg-smz <ipg-smz-bounces@netpress.org> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Mark Brownstein via Ipg-smz<br><b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, December 31, 2019 3:51 PM<br><b>To:</b> ipg-smz@netpress.org<br><b>Cc:</b> Mark Brownstein <IPG@brownstein.com><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [Ipg-smz] eBay vendors selling used laptops with Linux Mint installed<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p>The whole issue of 'obsolete' has been a bit of a puzzle to me, too. <o:p></o:p></p><p>Why is it necessary to get the latest and greatest? Why is a phone, for example (maybe an iPhone 6 or a Galaxy S8) that was once the latest and greatest -- and still works fine - suddenly obsolete when a new model comes along? <o:p></o:p></p><p>Why is Word 10 (which I use to teach a 100 year old nun, and usually use for most of my projects) obsolete - even though it still works fine for me, and meets almost all of my needs? <o:p></o:p></p><p>The once state-of-the-art (or almost) Dell notebook that you wrote about was hot shit a decade or so ago -- sure, new software may require more resources - but this thing is still powerful, and will do Linux Mint very well. With good desktop apps - and a lot of apps that do things that are similar to the Windows or Mac apps (or some ported across platforms to provide equivalent features and capabilities) - why NOT keep an 'obsolete' machine alive and vital? <o:p></o:p></p><p>This isn't quite like it was in the mid '90s when the Pentium or 80264 came out, and some apps wouldn't run on an earlier CPU. <o:p></o:p></p><p>I've been thinking about putting Linux on one of my virtual machines and taking it for a spin.<o:p></o:p></p><p><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal>On 12/31/2019 9:45 AM, Phil Shapiro via Ipg-smz wrote:<o:p></o:p></p></div><blockquote style='margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt'><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'> I've noticed several eBay vendors are selling used laptops with Linux Mint installed. I sometimes buy these<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'>and resell them to community members at cost. I'm then able to provide free tech support via my public library job.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'> In some ways my job is analogous to an open source Apple genius bar -- although I'm given no scripts of what I can<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'>and can't say. I just give people the best possible advice and support I can. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'> Anyway, there might be an interesting story about Linux finding its way into communities via eBay. I can.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'>pass along the vendors names, if anyone might be interested in running with this.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'> An interesting side angle to this -- the vendors would not be installing Linux Mint if there were no demand<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'>for it... Another angle, I installed Linux Mint 19.3xfce on a 2002 Dell Dimension 4550 desktop this week. Darn<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'>computer feels pretty snappy to me. Without Linux, that computer would be out of commission. With Linux installed,<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'>it could see a few more years of use.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'> Too often tech professionals use the word "obsolete" as if it were a factual statement, rather than a statement of opinion.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'>If you're a refugee from some war torn country, a 2002 computer with Linux installed would be a dream system to have at home.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'> If your name were J.K. Rowling - and you were receiving public assistance -- you could use such a computer to write your<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'>first books.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'> Phil<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'>-- <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'>--<br>Phil Shapiro, <a href="mailto:pshapiro@his.com">pshapiro@his.com</a><br><a href="http://www.his.com/~pshapiro/">http://www.his.com/~pshapiro/</a>briefbio.html<br><a href="http://www.twitter.com/philshapiro">http://www.twitter.com/philshapiro</a><br><a href="http://www.his.com/~pshapiro/stories">http://www.his.com/~pshapiro/stories</a>.menu.html<br><br>"Wisdom begins with wonder." - Socrates<br>"Learning happens thru gentleness."<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black'>"We must reinvent a future free of blinders so that we can choose from real options." David Suzuki</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><br><br><o:p></o:p></p></blockquote></div></body></html>