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That example still completely in the realm of software obsolescence. The LXC API may not be around in 2023's Linux kernels any more, just like Plex86 has been abandoned (and I doubt that Plex86 runs unchanged on a modern x86_64 machine with a 3.x kernel).

But hardware obsolescence is a valid issue, too. That's why I suggested Bochs as a lowest common denominator in another comment.

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Why are you limited to using the 2023 version of the kernel? Are they going to erase the 2013 version of the kernel in 2018?

No, but maybe your Apple GeForce 5500 graphics drivers and the drivers for the ansible network haven't been backported, so you'd have to run headless and offline. Or in another layer of VM, or two if the VM's virtual hardware is still too new for the old kernel. At some point, you'd just start to believe unseen that the paper's authors were probably right.

The point is not for everyone to recompute everything, but to ensure that it remains possible, and with known, well defined hardware platforms capable of running a specific bundle of software, it will likely reman possible for much longer than anyone cares about the specific papers.

The point is not that everyone will recompute everything, but ensuring that it remains possible.

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