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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
An Anonymous Coward writes "Out in Oakland, CA a group is taking donated PC's and breathing new life into them with Linux. They turn around and donate the computers to schools, build POVRAY render farms (with MOSIX) and generally promote Linux."
I don't like that taste, yes linux is far more efficient with resources than win2k or xp. However only making it public by allowing it to run on lame machines also makes a bad reputation.
One day one student will say, "all linux boxes I worked on were lame-ass". Because they runned on some old Pentium 166, while the windoze of course just had to have the new 1.5 GHz processors, with 40x cdrom speed.
I remember a friend telling me that installing his linux told so much longer than the winxp. Of course! He installed linux on an old PC with a quad 4x speed cdrom, but winXP on one with a 32x cdrom. Now who wonders....
Same with people "trying" linux they give it a 512MB partition on the harddisk and nearly no swap drive, while windows is allowed to take the other 20GB. Now who wonders why you have that less hard disk space available on linux... (or just run it in some linux emulator at all)
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Karma 50, and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt.
In a word, bullshit.
If I take a computer I own, format the hard drive with an electromagnet, and donate it to a public school with a free copy of a Linux distro, what the screaming Hell(tm) does it matter that it once had Windows on it?
1) I am not giving them Windows. I am giving them the hardware.
2) I am not encouraging them to steal a copy of Windows in any way, shape or form.
3) Microsoft does not own the computer. They never did. It was my computer, therefore it's entirely my choice what to do with it.
Kierthos
Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
Q&A #1 from MS's donated computer FUD...
"Q. Why should a donor include the operating system with their PC donation?"
"A. It is a legal requirement that pre-installed operating systems remain with a machine for the life of the machine. If a company or individual donates a machine to your school, it must be donated with the operating system that was installed on the PC."
Bullshit! This is just MS FUD twisting the language of their EULA, which they assert is a legal document. True, per the EULA, you cannot move an OEM license to another PC. But that has nothing to do with any legal requirement that the license must transfer with the PC.
- If we aren't supposed to eat animals, then why are they made out of meat? - Steven Wright
Um, how? Like Microsoft is going to send someone to every school to count the number of computers? And it's not like the computers are running Windows...
It would be like a health inspector fining a restaurant for having eggs kept too warm when the restaurant doesn't even have eggs.
Inspector: "That's a $200 fine. That area of the kitchen is too warm to store eggs in."
Restaraunt Manager: "But we don't store eggs there. In fact, there isn't an egg in the entire restaurant!"
I: "Doesn't matter. You could store eggs there, and that's all that counts."
Bollocks.
Kierthos
Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
They aren't using 486DX2's - they are using Athlon 850's and P166's or better.
And when children are in school learning how to use a computer, any computer beats no computer.
Y'know, I've tried three times over the last few years to contact ReBoot to donate my considerable PC skills. Never any response. Voicemail, email... nada.
What does it take? It's shit like this that holds volunteer organizations back.
This is just a typical example of Microsoft being intentionally misleading. What the *law* says is that you can't donate your PC to the school with Windows on it and keep a copy of operating system for installation on another PC. Of course, in practice this is largely irrelevant, as Microsoft's agreements with computer manufacturers make it nearly impossible to buy a PC without Windows, so who would want an extra copy of an obsolete version? But Microsoft manages to explain this in such a way as to give the false impression that you (or the school) cannot simply erase Windows, destroy the license and the Windows disks, and install LINUX.
You are right that old hardware for a POV render farm is a poor environemental decision. However, a classroom full of 486dx2's will chug less 'lectricity than a room full of 2.2GHz P4's.
if only it where so cut and dry, eh?
thats 10 computers not in a land fill, 10 computers not seeping toxic chemicals into the ground water, its teaching someone how to do a cluster, its teaching people that they can use old equipment to get the same power as new.
That means fewer new computers that need to be made, which mean your saving production energy and production by products.
I doubt its actually 10 times more power, but you point is certianly a valid concern that should be put in with as many factors as possible. Its also a concern that often gets overlooked.
It is important to rememer that computer are dreadfully toxic to the enviroment in all phases of their life cycle.
now if I can only figure out an after market need for monitor glass, I'd have it made.
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