On Sun, Jul 23, 2017 at 09:17:29PM +0100, Simon Hobson wrote:
>
> So the analogy is, I wouldn't expect "support" for all this "new"
> stuff on an old vehicle. Similarly, as other have suggested, if I
> was running very old hardware, I'd probably not be too worried about
> being able to run all the latest and greatest software on it.

And why think that the latest software is the greatest. Bugfixes make
old software better, and so in that sense later is greater, but for
the most part I see a lot of new software be buggy and bloated.
I wouldn't want a lot of this new-fangled stuff on any machine, new or
old.

> So there's an argument for dropping support for an old and little used
> architecture for NEW VERSIONS - leave the older versions in the
> repos so that people can still install a system, but make it clear
> that this won't be the latest and greatest version. There then comes
> the issue of ongoing bugfixes - and my assumption would be that only
> serious and/or security related bugs would get fixed in it.

In a world where most of the new hardware contains unauditable
firmware, that's tantamount to giving up any hope for security.

-- hendrik