GNU/Linux:
- Can I install this 20yo software?
- Is already installed.
this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2023
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If you do echo "3 6 * p" | dc in a terminal it'll give you the result of 3x6, but the dc part of that is software that was written probably between 1969 and 1971.
there is nothing to do
Old Linux software usually has to be completed from source anyway (uhh the effort) which essentially makes it future proof
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What a fuckin lie. Can't play some Windows 7 games on Windows 10 or above but on Linux it works.
I will always remember Battle For Middle Earth working first try on Linux after spending hours fighting with it on Windows
That game is a classic.
Linux gang has entered the chat
- "Can you run on this 20 y/o piece of hardware?"
- Linux: "hold my beer!"
Only if you use 15 years old distribution. Linux actually drops support of older hardware faster than Windows, it just doesn't happen consistently. Old drivers are maintained by volunteers so if someone wants to spend their free time on a driver for 25 years old hardware then it will work. But the moment that single developer disappears or stops caring then this driver is booted from the kernel fast. Supporting old hardware isn't the goal of Linux unless someone make it their goal (and core developers don't care either way as long as it's not their job).
I mean, tons of old drivers are on the repositories of major distros, you just have to install them. Just because it's not in the kernel as pre-configured doesn't mean you can't just add it.
Ah, jeez, it was just a joke.
Windows is def better than Mac for backwards compatibility, but nah dude it's not even close to perfect. Ive had better luck using wine for old windows programs
In my experience, Windows can install a 25 year old program, but it won't work
Do current Windows versions even start anything that was compiled for pre-Vista? I thought they don't?
Yes, you can start almost all 32 bit software in Windows 11.
Yes. It's 16bit app support for win3.1/95 stuff that ran in the DOS layer that's depreciated, but even then they'll sometimes run.
More like "Installing... Do you want avast or X or Y installed along with it?" No thanks, I very much prefer Linux package managers.
Sadly exactly that is the reason that windows is just a bunch of spaghetti code XD
What is spaghetti code? (Sorry am non coder)
And yet, Linux tools are even older and the kernel better written than either Windows or OSX.
Before flatpak Linux backwards compatibility was rough.
microsoft has tried to move everyone to a modern framework only. when they successfully have a win32/x86 emulator runnong smoothly they will gut a lot
Gonna be honest, this isn't my experience, a lot of stuff just doesn't work on Windows anymore
I can get those same programs to work fairly easily on linux though using Wine/Proton
Windows is 90% bloat, 9% library and 1% operational...
Linux, can you install this 70 year old program? It's already running, bro
Truth
This has been a great boon to me. Whenever Apple upgrades Mac OS, I check my regional equivalent to craigslist for cheap music gear that stops working. Has worked twice for me. I got a really nice 24 channel audio interface for 20 bucks.
if that's the case why do I still have to support XP as some shop floor measurement device still uses software from that, and window 7 for the database of greases then the likilhood is the windows 10 to windows 11 project is taking 6months planning of impact assessments. (pretty sure if we had let them the tool planning dept would still be running their windows 3.1 lotus suite
Holy run-on sentence. Also it sounds like it's the measuring device that doesn't support newer the newer OS, not the other way around. Also migrating a database is possible, it just takes a ton of work.
For real. We run windows server R 2008 or something at work, never update it. Works like a dream with our other less ancient servers
@printerjammed Simply put, this is bad for so many reasons. Since you're likely going to reject any direct reasons why this is bad, I'll give you an analogy.
I'm going to take "and never update it" almost literally and assume you guys haven't installed security patches since you first installed it, or stopped at some point long ago.
You're essentially driving a 15 year old car that hasn't had an oil change, brakes changed, or tires changed. There are known MAJOR safety recalls on the seat belts, airbags, and seats. You have refused to take your car in for free servicing under the recall and basically said, "It's working fine now. It's not worth the hassle scheduling an appointment at the mechanic. I'll take my chances."
But hey, "The car still gets me around and fits in my garage" you smugly think to yourself. "Why should I do anything different? It's MY car and I'm only endangering myself here."
Nope. Your car is endangering everyone else on the road. Bad brakes and tires are major risks for everyone around you. You can easily lose control and hurt or kill others on the road.
Bad seats, seat belts, and airbags means that occupants of your vehicle (your companies clients) can be injured or killed if they fail. Even if only YOURS fails, well...you're the driver. Also, if you do crash and your seat belt fails, you're now a projectile in the car and can injure or kill other passengers. I've seen this happen too many times as a firefighter and an EMT. Unseatbelted occupants are an enormous hazard.
Suffice to say your company is a vector for major attacks and vulnerabilities that not only will affect you, but your clients and potentially countless others who have nothing to do with your company since your server could be part of a botnet for all you know.
"bUt We HaVe OtHeR sEcUrItY cOnTrOlS aNd PrOpEr PrOtOcOlS fOr...." I'm going to cut you off here and straight up say: No. You don't. The fact you still have Windows Server 2008 installed and refuse to even update it tells me enough about your entire IT department and policies.
business doesnt spend money on IT. i'd love a new car
That's... not great
Thats a whole level of bad idea.
Microsoft has not been providing public updates for that platform for years, it needs to be retired. If it's a VM, take a snapshot and do an in-place upgrade, see what happens. Revert to snapshot if it doesn't work out.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-server-2008-r2
also the reason you can still find a dialogue window from like Win95 lol, people often whine how Windows doesn't look as pretty as MacOS, but I think that's just the price for crazy backwards compatibility.
if they remove those old elements, I'd bet people are gonna rage about how their old games or software no longer work.
Actually, a lot of games arent really working that great on Windows either, Windows 7 games tend to not work at all sometimes.
A lot of companies still use Windows XP and 7 for their programs. Seems like Windows is really backward compatible (it isn't)
I hear a lot about Windows backwards compatibilyty, but i don't think it has ever actualy worked for me. Every time i tried to install a program meant for anything older then win7/win10 i get some cryptic error and end up using a VM.
I tried to install Civilization 2 from a CD on Windows 10. It didn't work.
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While not confirmed (AFAIK), it's likely we went from Windows 8 straight to 10. With 95/98 being so similar, it wasn't rare for software to recognize it by looking for "Windows 9" in the OS name.
Yes, install your 25-year-old software on your 30-year-old NTFS filesystem (it's that old).
EDIT: I just looked it up and NTFS turns 30 on July 27th, 2023 LOL
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