I think there’s a reasonable argument that manufacturers should be required to open up hardware when they no longer support it. The problem is I doubt that would achieve what most people here seem to expect fur older devices.

You might be able to run a really basic Linux on the older devices, but their very limited RAM will severely constrain what you can run on them.

The native OS is so optimised for the hardware, trying to get better performance, or even matching power consumption on generic Linux is just not realistic.

Frankly other than for hobbyist purposes the last version of the native OS is probably as functional as they’re likely to get.

Having said all that, more recent iPads are powerful machines that are likely to still be very capable fur as long as they will run. Asahi Linux is compatible with M-series hardware.

So while think getting latest gen performance such as modern browsing out of legacy kit is a pipe dream whatever Apple did, I think there are real possibilities going forward.

Or you know, you lot could stop giving them money.