philocomp
---------

oppose evil monopolies, e.g. M$, Getty Images etc 
oppose the control mechanisms of media companies
(break out of the PVR stranglehold of Bell, Rogers, Cogeco, etc) 
learn all communication protocols
e.g. TCP/IP, IRC, Torrents
read and study wikileaks

fix everything that's possible to fix
archive all service manuals

The Ideal
---------

All software used is FOSS
Every aspect of the computer is known
BIOS is FOSS or at least well understood
Computer is easily taken apart and parts are easy to replace

advantages of linux and foss programs
-------------------------------------

user is god, user has full control
avoid microsoft's influence, e.g. backdoors, surveillance, forced upgrades
older printers and scanners will be problematic on windows 10 or above
generally speaking linux does a better job at supporting older peripherals

programming tools are all free on linux e.g. php, perl, python, c, c++, etc

learn firmware for everything:

computer BIOS (socketed BIOS preferrable)
laserprinter
digital cameras
this is very difficult

save points (in chronological order)
------------------------------------

This is the sequence of operating systems I felt were
worth saving:

Darkstar Linux 0.99.14     1994  (first linux I used)
FreeBSD 2.0               Jan 1995 (CDs still available)
Redhat 8.0                2002 (good for running Heroes3 for Linux and thinkpad R30)
Fedora Core 1 was the first version of Fedora and was released on November 6, 2003
Vector Linux Classic 6.0  Nov 13, 2009
openbsd 4.7 Released      May 19, 2010

slackware current (this is what I'm currently using in 2022)

one computer must be modern for modern web browsers such as chrome and firefox
using new web browsers is necessary for many things such as online banking,
facebook, instagram, etc

what the older computers can still do well:

older games
word processing
vintage programming
web server
printing