Why I Run Old System Software

[Dave Horsfall]

On Fri, 10 Oct 2014, Michael Crawford wrote:

> (On the thread about the bash function problem, someone asked why the 
> fellow runs such an old version of OS X.)

Ah, that someone would be me :-)

> I myself generally delay upgrading the system software on any platform I 
> am developing for, so as to ensure that the code I write runs well on 
> old systems.

A reasonable goal.

> This so I won't be requiring my users to upgrade their own operating 
> systems to run my code.

Ditto.

> That's not the way it's commonly practiced in commercial software 
> development.  Apple wants to move iDevices, so Apple does everything in 
> its power to get third-party developers to write products that only run 
> on the latest platforms.
> 
> I find that practice _profoundly_ offensive.

Me too...  I can't update my old Ubuntu laptop because it's so old that 
the path no longer exists; it has to be a full install if I want to run 
anything reasonably up to date such as Firefox, printer drivers, etc.

> My Mom spent a lot of money for her Tiger G4 iMac back in 2002 or so. To 
> this day it is in mint condition, there is nothing whatsoever wrong with 
> it, however she has increasing annoyances such as, for example, SSL 
> certs going past her expiry so that she's peppered with warnings about 
> insecure websites.
> 
> There's really no good reason that updated certs could not be installed, 
> but were apple to provide those certs, then she wouldn't be purchasing 
> an Intel Core iMac.

Which brings me to security in general (and I'm a security freak).  Are 
the fixes for Mavericks also available for Snow Leopard?  Mavericks got 
bumped up a notch last month, along with a shirt-load of other things.

-- Dave