The Old Computer Challenge was conceived by Solene Rapenne in 2021, inviting people from all walks of life to experience a single week in July with an old machine. The aim of that challenge was to both highlight and downplay the importance of modern hardware and the recent world of popular technology.
Several mutations of the original idea expanded the challenge the following years, aiming to set specific goals for the participants to complete (or fail to do so). Eventually it became clear that different participants had varying ideas as to what an old machine represents. This lead to OCC's current DIY format.
The Old Computer Challenge, while retaining its name for history's sake, is a community of enthusiasts, machinists and friends, who were brought together over the years to inspire each other to experience new (and old) things, challenge their beliefs and perhaps even shed their dependency on things they consider vital.
To some this could mean using an alien operating system, limiting their hardware resources, adopting new protocols, using an old machine (or using no machine at all), limiting online habits, using no GUI, etc. The rules of the game are up to the participant.
While active throughout the year, traditionally the community gets together in a week in summer to share their journey and knowledge. In 2025 this week starts on Sunday, July 13th, and ends on Saturday, July 19th. This is when the IRC channel and forum are most active.
We invite you to yet again get together and realize - there is no challenge. It is but a learning experience.
You can always explore the previous years to find inspiration from other members.
Like before, if you decide to document your journey, you can submit your journal through our nc submission.
Just run the following code and replace https://my.site with the url of your page:
$ echo "/cgi-bin/submit?https://my.site" | nc occ.deadnet.se 70
You can also manually submit your page through the occ gopher hole here or here (http proxy).
