Mental Locomotion Part Two (not really) ------------------------------------------- In "Mental Locomotion Part One"[1] I seem to recall saying that here in Part Two I would more fully explore a laundry list of sustainable, bicycle-like qualities I would like to see in computing. But I'm not going to do that. Really, I have little to add to the wealth of existing literature on the topic of sustainable computing, written by folks who are way more committed and knowledgeable than I am. In fact, it's possible I really only wrote part one because I thought the observation that AI (really, LLMs) were like "internal combustion engines for the mind" was kind of clever, and I wanted to work it into a phlog post somehow. (Hey, now I've done it twice!) And it may even be that I'm not really into sustainable computing so much as I'm just cheap and don't like to buy new computers very often. Case in point: I really, really like what I've seen of the new MNT Reform Next laptop.[2] I like that it's all modular, that it uses standard batteries, that it has a mechanical keyboard and a bunch of different ports and is easy to take apart and that it actually asserts an existence as an object with a physicality that is totally lacking from the boring corporate slab that I'm forced to use day to day. It is in many ways, the laptop I was hoping someone would build and didn't think anyone ever would. But sadly, I already have all the computers I need. In fact, I have four daily (or at least weekly) drivers: 1. Dell Latitude 5340. The "boring corporate slab" I was referring to earlier. It's the managed computer issued by my employer on which I do most of my administrative work, generally hooked up to a dock with an external keyboard, monitor and mouse. I've tried to give it some personality with stickers, but frankly it's so generic that just makes it worse. Like if the "I'm a PC" guy from those old commercials put on RayBans to make himself look cool. Boring but functional. 2. Also at work, my "development workstation." A repurposed Dell Optiplex Whatever, pulled from the recycle pile, on which I've installed Debian with a heavily customized FVWM. As my "research" involves working with some funky old emulators and various odd bits of software, I like to keep it as separate as possible from my administrative work, which is my justification if any nosey parkers ask why I need two computers. It's seven year old hardware at this point, but my research doesn't require anything high end or fancy. It's well backed up so I won't lose any data when it finally craps out. 3. Mostly at home these days: my Thinkpad 450s, which will be ten years old this fall. Also running a current version of Debian/FVWM. I love this thing. In fact, I'm using it right now to type up this phlog post. Something about the rock-solid, minimalist design, nice keyboard, and excellent linux compatibility really appeals to me. Was my work laptop back in the teens, since then has become more of a hobby computer, although the distinction between that and my development workstation is a bit nebulous. 4. Also at home: My 'sleeper', a PC I built with old externals and new (at the time, 2021) internals. Looks like something you'd have seen on someone's desk in the late 90s or very early oughts; even has a working floppy drive. I got the idea when I realized it was still possible to buy a modern motherboard that would fit nicely into a case from that era, ATX being one of several standards that have persisted for quite a while. Others include VGA, and PS/2 mouse/keyboard ports. Currently running Ubuntu and FVWM (I like FVWM) but I'll need to rebuild it soon as the version of Ubuntu is just about end of life. With Debian, because I greatly dislike snaps. This one is more of a home/office computer, connected to a printer, etc. Also decent for gaming, as long I stick to games that are a few years old. Of course, this list does not take into account my phone, ancient gen 2 iPad, or various Raspberry Pis and other odds and ends that have accumulated over the years, mostly castoffs from work. These four are just the computers I use semi-regularly. With so many computers at my beck and call, it would be hard to justify getting another one, even one as cool as the MNT Reform Next. I take consolation in the thought that even more sustainable than buying a sustainable computer, is not buying any computer at all. But I wish the MNT folks well, and I'm happy their crowdfunding campaign is way over-subscribed. References ---------- [1] Mental Locomotion Part One (maybe) gopher://sdf.org:70/0/users/jdd/phlog/20241223-locomotion-1.txt [2] MNT Reform Next https://www.crowdsupply.com/mnt/mnt-reform-next Sun Jan 26 13:19:34 PST 2025