Resisting the Upgrade Treadmill

When time moved differently, and a computer was just… a computer.
It didn’t need to know who you were, didn’t ask for constant connection.
You turned it on, and it was ready. Simple. Self-contained.
There was a kind of peace in that honesty.

These days, I notice how much noise has crept in.
Everything wants to sync, to track, to verify.
Even something as basic as an operating system feels less like a tool and more like a gatekeeper.
There’s always another hoop to jump through.
Always an assumption that you’ll keep upgrading, keep buying, keep handing over more just to stay functional.

And honestly… I’m tired.
Not in a dramatic way—just the slow, ordinary kind of tired that comes from watching something you once trusted shift out from under you.

So I use Linux.

Not because I’m chasing purity or control.
It’s just… the machine I have still works.
And I don’t see why that shouldn’t be enough.

You know… the real reason I run Linux?
It’s not some grand ideology. It’s not even about freedom or control—though those things matter.
It’s because I don’t want to buy a new computer. Simple as that.

My machine still works. It’s got breath left in it.
And I don’t see the point in throwing it out just because Microsoft decided it’s not shiny enough anymore.
They’ve blown out the system, bloated it past reason.
And they still expect us to keep up—TPM chips, forced logins, some kind of eternal upgrade treadmill.

But… read the room, Microsoft.
People are stretched thin. We’re not all living on credit and spare time.
Most of us just want something that runs—clean, quiet, undemanding.
Not another thing that watches us while pretending to serve.

Linux gives me that.
It lets an old machine be useful again—respected, even.
Not treated like a fossil in need of replacing,
But like something that still has stories to tell,
still has work to do.

I didn’t choose it to make a statement.
I chose it because I live in the real world.
And in the real world, what still works… should be allowed to keep working.