[SOLVED] Installing older software, longevity

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Hello folks, this more of a general question on how other more experienced users view older perhaps unsupported software, questions are related to my recent clean install of Mint Cinnamon 21.3 which is fine.

My setup is limited when trying out new things as internet is via 4G metered connection, over the years of using Mint I have often encountered problems using some of the utilities, and/or hardware as was the last case with nvme ssd couple of years ago.

I noticed this time around one or two utilities are no longer being actively developed, Luckybackup would be a good example which appears frequently with users recommending it here even though it maybe now quite old and out of development.

Coming from a Windows environment it would be very unlikely to find such a parallel, users are accustomed to the latest version for fear of unknowns lurking in older software versions.

So my question (to get to the point and stop waffling) are Linux users in general more accepting of older (10 + years) software given the OS architecture, perhaps its is viewed as just code which gives it a timeless quality along the lines of Bash?

In other words, does it really matter how old it is provided there is no external exposure such as browser,firewall applications ?

I am interested to know as this feeds across to software packaging where users seem much more ready to accept older versions than say using Flatpak, much depends on the software I suspect also.

Out of interest, on this Desktop install there doesn't appear to be a brightness control, checked all the usual places, display, settings but no slider - machine is up to date with Nvidia 535 driver, most of the forum posts are for laptops but this is a DEll 3620 desktop.

QRedshift works fab but just curious - thanks

[Pjotr]

does it really matter how old it is provided there is no external exposure such as browser,firewall applications ?

Roughly, not very much. As long as it gets the job done....

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Yes, that was my thoughts too, although its very hard to let go of the 'make sure you have the latest version installed' drum beat.

It was only after using rsync at the command line I realised how similar it is to a GUI front end, a basic script is perhaps too simplified but helps understand code behind Luckybackup or other utilities.

Looking back, I think my lack of understanding of bash held me back from a risk perspective, not knowing what on earth I was typing after viewing help files or forum suggestions.

Cheers

[billyswong]

Out of interest, on this Desktop install there doesn't appear to be a brightness control, checked all the usual places, display, settings but no slider - machine is up to date with Nvidia 535 driver, most of the forum posts are for laptops but this is a DEll 3620 desktop.

QRedshift works fab but just curious - thanks

Desktop monitors don't provide backlight control in the way of laptop. You may try installing gddccontrol. It will give one access to brightness/contrast setting of a monitor similar to one tuning them through buttons on the monitor.

[spamegg]

In other words, does it really matter how old it is provided there is no external exposure such as browser,firewall applications ?

If you are not connected to the Internet then there is nothing to worry. You could even use Windows 95.

Try not to think in terms of "old" or "new".
Try to think in terms of "is it receiving security updates?"
On Ubuntu LTS releases, "old" versions still receive security updates.
With browsers, you definitely want the newest, or very-close-to-newest versions, because browsers are attacked the most by far.

[Moem]

Out of interest, on this Desktop install there doesn't appear to be a brightness control, checked all the usual places, display, settings but no slider

Since you're on Cinnamon, you can use the Brightness and Gamma Applet.

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Since you're on Cinnamon, you can use the Brightness and Gamma Applet.

Something to bear in mind, currently using QRedshift from the Cinnamon Spices store, v good. The standard Redshift included with Mint can be a bit limited if you want on the go adjustment.

[Moem]

The standard Redshift included with Mint can be a bit limited if you want on the go adjustment.

Makes sense, because that's not what it's meant for.
Just so you know: you can use them both at the same time, they don't conflict.

[_tab]

Out of interest, on this Desktop install there doesn't appear to be a brightness control, checked all the usual places, display, settings but no slider - machine is up to date with Nvidia 535 driver, most of the forum posts are for laptops but this is a DEll 3620 desktop.

QRedshift works fab but just curious - thanks

Desktop monitors don't provide backlight control in the way of laptop. You may try installing gddccontrol. It will give one access to brightness/contrast setting of a monitor similar to one tuning them through buttons on the monitor.

Thanks for the suggestion, will look into it as another option, buttons on this old Phillips screen are fiddly to say the least.

I just looked at my Windows install (dual boot) it too doesn't have contrast/brightness controls, coming from a laptop never thought to question it, assumed they were both the same being backlit - Phillips have a control panel of sorts but that too is a bit funky, it may have those adjustments built in, not sure.

Cheers

[Hoser Rob]

... Coming from a Windows environment ... users are accustomed to the latest version for fear of unknowns lurking in older software versions.

So my question (to get to the point and stop waffling) are Linux users in general more accepting of older (10 + years) software given the OS architecture, perhaps its is viewed as just code which gives it a timeless quality along the lines of Bash?...

Actually it's kind of the opposite. While there are some basic things like Bash that date back to before Linux, those programs have few dependencies. Generally you do NOT want to try to run a 10+ year old Linux program in a currently supported distro.

Linux lacks backwards compatibility, largely because it lacks stable APIs and the fact that all libraries are shared. There's nothing like the win32 API. In modern Windows you can run programs written for Windows 95 as long as they followed the API rules properly. Not in Linux.

There are Linux programs that are still perfectly good but they aren't in the MInt/Ubuntu/Debian repos any more. Either they aren't maintained any more or some library module or whatever isn't, so it gets dropped. Avidemux is one of them, it's a nice simple video editor/converter. I use the appimage. But you aren't likely to get a portable version of programs that are 10 years old or more.

[_tab]

... Coming from a Windows environment ... users are accustomed to the latest version for fear of unknowns lurking in older software versions.

So my question (to get to the point and stop waffling) are Linux users in general more accepting of older (10 + years) software given the OS architecture, perhaps its is viewed as just code which gives it a timeless quality along the lines of Bash?...

Actually it's kind of the opposite. While there are some basic things like Bash that date back to before Linux, those programs have few dependencies. Generally you do NOT want to try to run a 10+ year old Linux program in a currently supported distro.

Linux lacks backwards compatibility, largely because it lacks stable APIs and the fact that all libraries are shared. There's nothing like the win32 API. In modern Windows you can run programs written for Windows 95 as long as they followed the API rules properly. Not in Linux.

There are Linux programs that are still perfectly good but they aren't in the MInt/Ubuntu/Debian repos any more. Either they aren't maintained any more or some library module or whatever isn't, so it gets dropped. Avidemux is one of them, it's a nice simple video editor/converter. I use the appimage. But you aren't likely to get a portable version of programs that are 10 years old or more.

That helps explain things a bit more, this time around with my install have paid far more attention to what's going on and the code behind it, Luckybackup seems to work well even though quite old and unsupported, others not so - GNUCash APT version is much older than Flatpak which I installed today, took a while but spot on, very smooth.