Michael Stone wrote: > On Mon, May 05, 2025 at 03:12:51PM -0700, David Christensen wrote: >>NetBSD is a possibility: > > Yeah, I'd go with NetBSD as the most useful option. They're the project > most likely to keep i386 going. FreeBSD is dropping it as are most of > the linux distros. But honestly, as a unix system a $35 raspberry pi is > going to perform better and be more useful overall. A late 90s x86 would > probably be more intresting as a retrogaming DOS computer than any kind > of unix.
older machines are also normally using a lot more electricity than something small and more recent might use. most of the time this machine i use runs between 30 - 60 watts total (which includes the monitor and stereo speakers and a subwoofer) plus the fan on the CPU heat sink stays very low that i don't even hear it. my previous older machine had a power supply with two fans in it that were very loud and also the CPU heat sink had fan on it. i like quiet and not using a lot of power for most of the day. songbird
