If your backup and restore system is bulletproof, it might be worth trying. I don't know if I would be that brave with my time, but if I was, there would still be a question which to choose. Probably you'd want to go to the oldest version with complete archives still available, and find a HOWTO. Follow-up by upgrading in as many stages as required to reach Stretch.

Just to confirm, you're not worried about security on a machine on which, as mentioned in post #5, you are intending to carry out online banking transactions?

What I would do in your shoes is this: On a different, better/faster computer, in a "virtual machine," try to build a new game server, using a modern/supported operating system. This will be your "proof of concept" to figure out your next move. Meanwhile the game server is purring along unmolested on the old computer, while you are researching next steps.

you are perfectly entitled to do that with your current 8.10 install and the browser that is currently installed.
just don't expect any help from any linux community.
and don't complain when you get hacked.

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I'll skip any banking or activity that would jeopardize my personal info. Just really like to use the browser for Facebook ect...

If I was able to do that I would not have posted here for help. The firefox that came with 8.10 is practically useless. It won't load 90% of sites I have checked. This forum however loads and looks right. The others are either blank white pages or not navigable.

is this your only machine to access the internet?

you really need to do something about it, it's completely obsolete and therefore a security risk, both the browser and the operating system itself.

it is no surprise that you are unable to install a current browser on a system that went EOL 9 years ago.

on machines about 10 years old (which is very old in computer terms), people often have success with a distro like antiX.
But be advised that even with a new browser, browsing the www won't be fun because you are missing both CPU (speed) and RAM (memory), compared to a newer machine.

I'm happily running Slackware still on an almost 10 years old machine (HP xw4600 workstation with a Core 2 Duo/3GHz processor and 4GB or RAM).
And I can run more modern browsers then the OP, even the most recent version of SeaMonkey.

@ou8it, you have to understand, your question basically translates, "I have some old milk my fridge, it says it expired in 2009. How can I use this 10 year old expired milk to bake a delicious cake that won't make me sick?"

Some of us are giving you polite answers, some of us a little less polite, but what we are all saying is: nobody can un-spoil the milk for you. That ship has sailed. (whoops, mixed metaphor!)

For example: You probably heard in the news about Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities? You're so totally not protected from those! (Or any other post-2009 security exploits for that matter.) "Oh, but I'll only use it for Facebook, surely my privacy is safe with them." Um, you do know Facebook (the company that knows your name, email address, date of birth, mother's maiden name, pet's name, employer, alma mater, web browsing history, etc.) was recently hacked? It was all over the news?

You can go on and on about "I have a cast-iron stomach, it won't hurt me, I'll be fine, it needs to be exactly this milk, the fresh milk at the store does not compare to the milk I fondly remember from the early 2000s," but nothing you say will change my recommendation: find a way (and we've given you lots of suggestions) to migrate to a supported OS.

And I say all of this with love, from someone who used Ubuntu 8.10 every day, from the time it was released until the day it reached end of life.

Finally, so you don't think I'm being critical and unconstructive, I'll repeat my earlier suggestion: If you can get the game server running in a virtual machine, this will make it so easy to backup/restore/migrate the game server for future posterity, as well as to share the game server with other enthusiasts of the game.

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If I thought I knew enough with Linux I would try that. The fact is I don't so I'll just keep the box for the servers only. By the way someone asked if this was the only machine I have. The answer is no I have 2 other desktops that run windows plus laptops.

Thanks for all the input,
Frank

Fair enough.

Another thought is that you could install Ubuntu 8.10 as a virtual machine "guest" running inside a supported operating system "host". The game server would be "sandboxed" inside the VM, and then you can use the host OS for all other tasks (such as web surfing). A big advantage of this method is that it would make it very easy to backup/restore your game server, or even to distribute your game server VM to other Think Tanks aficionados.

I meant to ask you: Is the game server for your friends/family within your local network? Or is it open to the internet, for players around the world? If it is the latter situation, you might think of moving the game server to web hosting.

Again If I thought I could pull that off I'd give it a go. I'm afraid its over my head. As far as the game servers I am only running about 6 dedicated servers. The "Master Server" Is web hosted by the original game creator as a favor to us added it to their testing server script. Another community member hosts a 2nd server that only runs as a backup if the main server goes offline.

example:

$pref::Interior::lockArrays = 1;
$pref::isDemo = "0";
$pref::Master0 = "2:master.xxxxxxxxxxx.com:28002";
$pref::Master1 = "2:xxxxxxx.dyndns.org:28001";
$Pref::Net::LagThreshold = "400";
$pref::Net::PacketRateToClient = "10";

Not to sound paranoid but if you are running an insecure web server from your home, you have to consider the risk to your wife and kids who share the network. Just my 2 cents.

2 members found this post helpful.