September 27, 2026
Old PC exposes app bloat: Omarchy needs just 2 GB of RAM
On Sep 27, 2026, Omarchy said it runs on a 2011 ThinkPad X220 with 2 GB of RAM “with room to spare.” @dhh suggests using such a computer as an app scale: have AI agents work on it and see where it has put on weight.
DHH
@dhh
Every developer should get a potato PC. It is the easiest way to make sure your app is fast enough. Have your agents work on it and watch the extra weight come off. There is no reason a decade-old machine should not fly like Superman.
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**An old computer instead of spare capacity.** This kind of machine used to be a workhorse. Now @dhh suggests bringing it back into testing to see whether an app flies on decade-old hardware.
A test rig in five minutes. Install Omarchy from an ISO on a USB drive: the documentation recommends balenaEtcher on Mac and Windows, and caligula on Linux. On an old computer, installation should take up to 5 minutes after disabling Secure Boot and TPM in the BIOS, while a full-disk install will erase the selected disk.
On its first invocation, Omarchy downloads launchers for 9 CLI agents, including Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, and GitHub Copilot CLI. The `omarchy default agent <name>` command selects the default agent, while `omarchy agent prompt "Review this project"` runs it without stopping for questions.
The system configuration skill is already connected to Claude Code, Codex, Pi, and Antigravity: the project recommends starting with plan mode, and the `omarchy reinstall configs` command rolls back configurations.
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