Hacker News Reader

Comment by Yetanfou | Hacker News Reader

Same here, typing this on a Thinkpad T42p 'maxed out' with 2 GB. OK, it does contain an SSD (connected using a PATA-SATA converter which just fits between the drive and the connector, no external modification necessary) so it has seen some updates since being hatched but the thing is about 12 years old and still going strong. Not that I'd mind a bit more memory or CPU every now and then, mostly when confronted with 'modern' web pages... fortunately NoScript comes to the rescue there. Running Debian/Xmonad on the thing, works fine.

I use a 5 yo phone (Motorola Defy+). It runs Android 4.4.4, thus far I've not seen a valid reason for wanting something newer. It still runs for about 4 days on a single charge, using the original battery.

Things start looking bad for the tech industry when people start showing off with 'old' stuff instead of brand-spanking new.

View on HN

> It runs Android 4.4.4, thus far I've not seen a valid reason for wanting something newer.

I have an Android 4.4 phone, and while it has worked acceptably for me right now as I am self-employed, if I were working for a company that required me to have access to sensitive customer data, having a phone that still received security updates would be a hard requirement.

Working at such an employer, they'd also likely require remote-wipe capability on the phone. That was the case for my job. I opted to carry two phones, instead (one completely provided and paid for by my employer).

Well, yes, security updates can be important. However, since I run a home-built Android distribution on the thing I can keep it up to date with the most egregious bugs (SurfaceFlinger bug etc.). This leads to the odd situation where my oldish phone is more secure than my wife's much newer Xperia C3 running a stock 4.4.4 distribution.

..which reminds me I have some more work to do, given the recent publication of https://source.android.com/security/bulletin/2016-07-01.html

Home-built as in you merge in bug fixes yourself?

I understand that we talk about this sort of thing quite a bit, but I can't imagine actually doing it myself. My phone is just supposed to work for me so I can get my real work done and have time to enjoy outside of it. I'm not supposed to work for it.

I'd guess you have to really enjoy working on that sort of thing, but then again you called it "work to do", so I'm not sure.

Yes, I partly merge them myself, sometimes it is done by others. The results are shared through the XDA forum where the Defy used to have a lively community. That community has mostly disappeared, but some die-hards - like me - still try to keep the thing up to date, if only to show the futility of planned obsolescence and locked bootloaders...

What sata-pata converter did you get? I have a T42 too that I don't want to give up but the HD needs upgrading. I had a look for converters but the number available is a baffling array of wares.

I have seen SSDs on ebay with the converter built in, maybe kill two birds with one stone?

I got this one: http://www.ebay.de/itm/280794425758 almost two years ago, it just fits between the drive and the connector when using a modified drive hatch. The modification I made was simple, I removed the mounting brackets and the plastic edges around them from the inside of the hatch, replacing it with a bit of foam to keep the drive in position. Put the adapter on the drive, slide the drive into the bay as if it is a PATA-drive, push the hatch into place and fasten it using the special screw. Ready.

Performance is more than acceptable, the thing boots (Linux) in a few seconds (that is, a few seconds after BIOS has done its thing of course). In other words, those 3€ for the adapter (incl. shipping) were well spent...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com