[kwlug-disc] UNIX in 1982

[Chris Frey]

On Fri, Oct 18, 2024 at 01:37:37PM -0700, Ronald Barnes via kwlug-disc wrote:
> > Almost makes me want to spin up a classic kernel like 1.0.9 or 1.2.13
> > in a VM.
> 
> Admittedly, I don't do nostalgia, but why?

Simply to compare speed and size from then and now.  Running apache
in a 32M system and still having a useful system left over, compared to
running apache now, which, on my current server running 10 apache processes,
the biggest is using 60MB all by itself.  And it sure isn't doing much.


> Why not instead rejoice in the fact that the latest kernel is available for
> *free*, in mere minutes, even can be downloaded onto a phone (installation
> issues aside) - modern internet speeds and storage availability being what
> they are.

Oh I rejoice in cheaper and faster internet speeds.  A 90's website
will download like greased lightening (and look like it! lol) with
the speed improvements we have now.

With current speeds, we can "waste" so much bandwidth we can watch
HD video over it.  I do that regularly, and am happy. :-)

Sadly, many developers think that if the speed is there, they might
as well use it all.  Then they have to go back and optimize things,
like website download speeds, which they would not have to do if
they regularly tested against .5Mbit, 1Mbit, 2Mbit, and 5Mbit download
speeds.


> I'm not here to start arguments, just to express an existential crises I'm
> going through.

I don't mean to feed the flames. :-)


> So many LUGs I participate in have such a heavy undercurrent of "things were
> better back in nineteen dippity-doo" that it makes me wonder,
> 
> a) why do people who resent tech progress join tech enthusiast groups?

I don't resent tech progress, I just don't consider bloat as progress.
Bloat allows for faster delivery of an end product, but the product is
lower quality.  It's a shortcut, which everyone else must pay for
every day.

Similar to how Steve Jobs is reported to have pressured his programmers
to reduce the boot time on early Macs.  His reasoning was that 1 extra
second of boot time spread across a daily boot of 1 million customers
would waste a combined total of 278 hours per day.

Perhaps all the wasted disk and memory space represents a sales opportunity
to some, but I appreciate it when a vendor reduces my costs.

- Chris