article on permacomputing.
h3rald h3rald@h3rald.com
Sat, 17 May 2025 14:50:10 +0200
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+----- +id: pragmatic-permacomputing +title: "Pragmatic Permacomputing" +draft: true +subtitle: "Consideraton on building practical and resilient software" +content-type: article +timestamp: 1747484731 +----- + +[Permacomputing](https://permacomputing.net) should be taught at school. It should provide a _forma mentis_ for future engineers interested in building software and hardware that is mean to last, rather than doomed to be thrown away after a relatively short time. + +> [Permacomputing] values maintenance and refactoring of systems to keep them efficient, instead of planned obsolescence, permacomputing practices planned longevity. It is about using computation only when it has a strengthening effect on ecosystems. + +-- Devine Lu Linvega on [Permacomputing](https://wiki.xxiivv.com/site/permacomputing.html) + +Interesting stuff, no doubt, but _why_? What drives this semi-underground, off-the-beaten-track movement that aims at doing more with less, recycling old hardware, and building _resilient_ software? + +[Collapse OS](https://collapseos.org) and its less radical brother [Dusk OS](https://duskos.org) are two examples of software that is meant to be used at the [first and second stage](https://collapseos.org/why.html) of a [collapse of civilization](https://collapseos.org/civ.html) that is both _imminent_ and _inevitable_. + +Scary stuff. A bit over the top, if you ask me, and these two excellent projects regularly get [criticized](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43482705) on Hacker News for being excessively alarmist. Also, in a future where humanity is not able to produce computers anymore — maybe due to a sudden catastrophe like a nuclear holocaust, alien invasion, zombie apocalypse, ...take yor pick — people would be more concerned about survival rather than programming some old computer in Forth. +