Old Computer Challenge: Preparation
The Old Computer Challenge 2023[1][2] is coming up in little over a week and I've planned this weekend to get things set up for it. The idea of the challenge is simple: to use a computer with maximum 512m ram, 1 core and the lowest cpu frequency, for one week, and see what happens. The challenge runs from July 10th to 16th and this will be my first OCC, as I (regrettably) had never heard of it before. But let's get started!
The Setup
For the last few months, I've had an iBook G3 Clamshell in the corner of my room. I didn't really use it a lot but I occasionally gave it a spin to play with HyperCard on Mac OS 9. In the past, I have tried to install Linux on it but something invariably went wrong with the Open Firmware[3] boot loader and in the end, I just forgot about it. Until now!
This particular model was released in 2000, and thus 23 years old. The specs are:
- OS: OpenBSD 7.3/macppc
- CPU: 366MHz PowerPC 750 (G3)
- RAM: 160MB
- Disk: 3GB
- Display: 12.1" color TFT, 800x600
Here's a photo of the cheeky device:
Preparation
To make the most of the iBook's limited resources, I've chosen to go with OpenBSD. It's been a while since I used OpenBSD as my daily driver and I want to refamiliarize myself with the system, considering the last time I installed it was at FOSDEM 2008. Phew! I managed to get around the Open Firmware issues that plagued me in the past and OpenBSD was an absolute joy to install, so the stage is set for the OCC week.
Also, for $DAYJOB, I use Mac OS X on a work-provided macbook pro M1, kind of the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of laptop performance. However, I find myself less and less comfortable with supporting the Apple ecosystem (with its hyperconsumerism, greenwashing and pseudo-privacy charades) and therefore, for me this is also a foray into considering a much more sane OS for my daily driver in the future.
So far, the first steps into setting up OpenBSD made me both really excited but also very aware of the limitations of the device. I already had to reinstall the OS once after the /usr partition was full due to me setting up ports. Speaking of... extracting the ports.tar.gz file took a whopping 30 minutes (for reference, this takes about 15 seconds on my M1 mac).
Additionally, the macppc platform is quite a bit different than, say, amd64. There are no rust or go compilers available so any tooling that depends on these two are a no-go. There are also about 15% fewer packages available on macppc than on amd64. Choosing minimal software with as few dependencies as possible will not just be a choice, but a necessity on this system (but one that I'm looking forward to working with this week).
On the other hand, working in the terminal is just as snappy as any other modern system and considering how much time I spend in vim, the experience is not all that different. Also, the iBook stays considerably cooler than my 2018 Intel macbook pro, which is known to fry the skin off your lap on a hot day if you're not careful.
Goals
One of my goals is to consider this week from a permacomputing angle. In the face of artificial constraints, how do I experience this as a sustainable alternative to the mainstream, while still providing utility and with limited energy usage? Also, I'm very interested in the transformative nature of computing within these limits. How does it change my perspective on what it means to interact with computers and does it actually push my creative boundaries? I don't have answers to this yet but I'm eager to find out.
From a software perspective: I will choose minimal and well designed over feature-rich software. Following the unix philosophy[5] and the ideas of small, sharp tools[6]. My choice of OpenBSD is already a first step in that direction, but it also means no heavyweight desktop environment (obviously, as I don't have the RAM for that) and instead exploring the suckless.org suite of software, namely dwm/dmenu and friends. If there is a minimal alternative to common software and tooling, I will explore it. If there isn't and I need it, I will consider writing it.
I also want to focus on being able to browse and publish gemini/gopher. Browsing HTTP will be very limited, not in the very least because neither firefox or chromium works on OpenBSD/macppc (e.g. firefox needs rust to compile). So for browsing the modern web, I would be left with using dillo[4] or just plain lynx, which is fine but then again, why be bothered with it when you can just stay on the smolweb? Getting Lagrange installed would be ideal but any other smolweb browser will do as well.
Moreover, I'll also be looking at:
- building a lightweight markdown to gopher/gemini/html converter. I'm currently using hugo + additional tools and it's heavy and cumbersome (and hugo is not an option since it's written in go)
- getting suspend/resume to work reliably
- installing my usual tools (nb, newsboat, irssi, etc)
- and just refreshing my OpenBSD knowledge as I go
Finally
It's worth mentioning that this challenge only applies to personal use so it is absolutely ok to use other (more powerful) systems for work. This not only makes the challenge more realistic for more people but potentially also directs you into more personal, creative activities on system.
Longer OCC updates will be published here, and I might post some stuff on Mastodon[7] as well.
It sounds like fun, so why don't you join?
References
[2] Old Computer Challenge (http)
[4] Dillo graphical web browser
Reply via email: ghostzero@ghostze.ro
⁂
Source