GNU/Linux:
- Can I install this 20yo software?
- Is already installed.
this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2023
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Can I install this 20yo software?
user is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported
SUDO Can I install this 20yo software?
Is already installed.
You guys are awesome!
how about this driver for an obscure 20yo laptop's touchpad?
already installed
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there is nothing to do
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.
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- "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.
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25 year old Windows programs work better in Linux with wine than in Windows 🤣
it got so extreme i installed wine on wsl to run a few old programs because windows 11 dropped support for some libraries
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Not my experience. I've had multiple old games and an old printer that just straight up didn't work under Windows. On Linux however (using wine for the windows exe's) it usually does run. Sometimes it does require some googling, but there's usually someone who tried it before.
Games are actually the hardcore compatibility test. They are much less compatible than the average piece of software. That's due to them using much more of the hardware/low-level-APIs of the OS, but also due to DRM and Anti-Cheat-Software (where applicable).
And printers are also (for some reason) super difficult. Probably because they are cheap, planned-obsolescence pieses of crap hardware, which are chock-full of DRM.
Shouldn't window's compatibility mode solve most of those?
Should, yes, but I find it often doesn't.
Linux gang has entered the chat
Linux:
User: Can you install this 50 year old program?
Linux: it's already installed
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Tfw compatibility for some old Windows programs and games is better in Wine than in modern Windows
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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.
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The third panel of that is LINUX: Can you install this 25 year old program?
It was already installed on there.
Cat is so old it should be dead by now... Guess it's got nine lives 😅
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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
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
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Windows after launching the exe: Monitor flickers, mouse freezes and here is free blue screen!
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I tried to install Civilization 2 from a CD on Windows 10. It didn't work.
there's workaround but it's a pain in the ass... https://www.myabandonware.com/game/sid-meier-s-civilization-ii-453
basically
- the game use old
.bindisk file, you must convert it to.iso - mount the
.iso - run the
setup.exeto install Civilization II
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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.
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Sadly exactly that is the reason that windows is just a bunch of spaghetti code XD
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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.
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More like "Installing... Do you want avast or X or Y installed along with it?" No thanks, I very much prefer Linux package managers.
I have to send files from my Mac to my PC in order to get them printed cause my old printer's driver won't work with the newer MacOS but they work fine on windows 11.
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My dosbox and multiple attempts to build VMs of windows 3.1 say this isn't completely true
Man, I hate to break it to you, but the Windows version from 25 years ago is... Windows 98.
I know, I know. I'm so sorry. I felt like that when I noticed, too.
What did I ever do to you for you to hurt me in this way?
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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.
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