this post was submitted on 10 Jul 2024
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I'll add that at this point, if you're a hobbyist collector of vintage computer hardware, and you find satisfaction at making that old Compy 386 run like it's modern hardware, you should know how to compile your own kernel.
Like, it just seems prudent, given the fact that it's unreasonable to expect a "universal" kernel to simply grow and never prune anything (which I think avoiding having a giant kernel was part of the rationale, iirc), and there's plenty of documentation out there on how to do it. If you aren't going to run the same hardware as 95% of your peers, it's your responsibility to make sure your hardware works.
Yeah I mean
Hobbyist collectors of typewriters (I know because my father is one) and cars (one of my friends is one) all have to learn how to maintain and service their own stuff because businesses that did that for them have all but disappeared. It's considered part and parcel of the hobby.
It'd be nuts to expect it to be any different for computer collectors. Compile your own kernels, diagnose your own problems, fix your own shit. That's what you do for a hobby. :P
If you're running something that old, then it is by choice anyway, hardware gets more expensive after a certain age, and you definitely won't be getting a (functional) 90s computer for cheap.