Right. I do have some nostalgia for installing Linux on a brand new PC which had less total RAM than my computer today has cache, but we need to be clear eyed about what makes sense for a maintained piece of software. I also have feelings about steam trains, but burning coal is not a sensible way to power a train in 2025.
A nostalgia-fuelled Linux distro, maybe using a deliberately slimmed down or retro kernel, and chosen software could make a lot more sense than keep trying to squeeze Debian onto hardware that was already obsolete at the turn of the century while also promoting Debian as a viable choice for a brand new laptop.
But the message is not just "we will require Rust and here's the timeline (and some things may break)", it's also "I know what I'm going to break and it's your problem to fix it" (via the CC line) and ends in a passive-aggressive way (the phrase "Thank you for your understanding." is basically a polite way of saying "and fuck you too."). This gets people off-side, and makes it more likely they're going to throw up barriers rather than either do what you ask or find some other way to collaborate/achieve the ideal outcome.
Or those annoying nagging "well, what if I don't have an X86_64 CPU that was made in the last five years?", to which obviously our response should be: "get different hardware LOL, closedwontfix"
No, supporting 5 year old mainstream hardware is a very reasonable thing to do. Supporting 20 year old hardware that barely anyone used even when it was new is not.
Indeed. Four targets are identified as potentially affected:
alpha, hppa, m68k and sh4
To be fair, lots of people did use Motorola 68xxx CPUs when those were new, it's just that it was 40+ years ago in products like the Commodore Amiga. The SH4 is most popularly connected to the Dreamcast, Sega's video game console from back when Sega made video game consoles.
The Alpha and PA Risc were seen in relatively recent and more conventional hardware, but in much tinier numbers, and when I say relatively I mean early this century, these are not products anybody bought five years ago, and when they were on sale they were niche products for a niche which in practical terms was eaten by Microsoft.
I'm not gonna waste effort on a fool's errand. So far, neither claim has been backed up whatsoever.
It's obviously more likely it's just fans of the language with a knee-jerk reaction of "ackshully you're totally definetely wrong, but uh... don't ask me how, you just are" than legitimate talking points.
