64 bit desktop apps

[Richard Gaskin]

Mark Waddingham wrote:

> Richard's repeated suggestion that such machines should be 'Linux-ised' 
> still always was and continues to be an excellent suggestion. Remember 
> that as as time goes by the amount of up to date software which *can* 
> run on them will dwindle to nothing - for the same reason as we have had 
> to look long and hard at our platform support and make changes.

There's another aspect of this worth considering as well:

One of the things Richmond noted, which we've all experienced, is that 
as GUI apps and OSes evolve their hardware requirement grow along with 
them.  Over enough time, GUIs can become sluggish.

These days much of the computing we use is done on servers, machines 
that have no GUI constraints since they need no GUI at all.

I've been meeting a lot of educators here in CA who've had great success 
teaching server admin and even security skills to learners at the high 
school level, and sometimes even in middle school.

Given that the role of servers is expected to only increase, and that 
networking in general is now a ubiquitous part of most app development, 
teaching these sorts of skills will only become ever more important 
going forward.

Right now Linux sys admin positions are plentiful and pay well.

And those with security certifications can earn six figures by their 
second year out of school.  Right now there are some 300,000 infosec 
jobs for US SMBs alone that can't be filled because of a shortage of 
qualified candidates.  We need more white hats in the field.

One of my friends organized a "capture the flag" competition at the 
SoCal Linux Expo, and we see similar infosec exercises becoming popular 
in a wide range of EDU contexts.

Best of all, these don't require great hardware.  Unencumbered by GUI 
requirements, servers really don't need much CPU power at all, and can 
operate with a fraction of the RAM modern GUIs need.

For older machines, server applications can make an ideal role for 
extending the useful life of older machines.

The cloud will only become an ever more pervasive part of our computing 
world, and nearly all of the best software needed to learn and create 
cloud systems is entirely free and open.

Server admin may not be for all learners, but for the "Computer Club" 
types it's a natural extension to also learning client-side development.

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Systems
  Software Design and Development for the Desktop, Mobile, and the Web
  ____________________________________________________________________
  Ambassador at FourthWorld.com                http://www.FourthWorld.com