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by synaesthesisx 1276 days ago
It amazes me how many machines there are still out there, connected to the internet, running Windows XP (a 21+ year old OS)
2 comments

I'm amazed you're amazed. I use cutlery that's 150 years old, every day, tableware that's over 80 years old, even kitchen rags of the same age. My dryer is 20 years old and works fine.

I wear shoes, coats, sweaters that are over 15 years old. My main stereo system is 25 years old; even the Sonos components (that I hate) are over 15 years old and still work ok.

I kept a motorbike for 25 years, and then eventually it was stolen (which meant the thieves still found it interesting).

I don't understand why tech that works should be thrown out just because there's new tech. New tech has to offer incredible new possibilities to offset the hassle of change.

My main system runs Win7 on hardware that's 10-15 years old and it does everything. I also have a couple of laptops running Win10 and I have yet to find what they do better, except being annoying and "different" for the sake of it.

Comparing physical goods to technology is not exactly a fair comparison - technology such as operating systems has moved significantly in 20 years in terms of features, performance, security etc. Running a 20+ year old, unsupported OS is a security concern.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_kernel_version_history

I wonder if there is a sizable position easily identifiable Linux 2.6.x running out there.

Plenty of routers (especially on Broadcom chipset).
There probably are a lot of NAS all around the world still running that version, probably somewhat patched with some backporting though.