Major Linux Hardware Donor Is a CNN "Hero"

christian.einfeldt writes "James Burgett of the Alameda County Computer Resource Center calls himself a 'tattooed freak' and a recovering drug addict, but CNN is calling him a hero (video) for diverting tons of computers from landfills, installing Ubuntu Linux on them, and giving them out to schools, non-profits, and poor people. Burgett's filmed interview is currently leading a CNN contest among videos of 'ordinary people' whom CNN considers everyday heroes, narrowly edging out the video of a man who is saving gorillas from extinction. In his interview, Burgett points out that the people working for him are also recovering drug addicts or recovering mental illness patients." Update: 10/02 23:46 GMT by KD : Reader stefanlasiewski posted a journal article describing how, bewilderingly, the state of California is threatening to shut down Burgett's ACCRC.

Comments

Anyone that distributes Linux to the masses

[CaptainPatent]

Is a hero in all of our books!

Re:Anyone that distributes Linux to the masses

[jmashaw]

Is a hero in all of our books!
Well, I believe that your sentiment is having an apparent effect on the voting:
/.ed!

Ironic, he did not want to win, but now thanks to us, he will probably win in a landslide.

Re:Anyone that distributes Linux to the masses

[Yetihehe]

There are people needed on every front. On fighting mountaintop mining AND fight for reactors. With Noguchi, maybe nobody wants to pick up trash? Would you pick up trash? Rutugarama does what he can. There are other people which care for other biodiversity pieces. One man can't do anything for everyone, he must care of what he can.

Re:Anyone that distributes Linux to the masses

[PopeRatzo]

it's just a work of charity

Someday, I hope you come to understand that this is not such a little thing. There is damn little charity in this world, compared to the need.

Weird

[Captain Splendid]

A guy actually doing something useful is beating out another guy doing something equally noble but less practical? Checks outside Nope, clear skies, no cats or dogs...

Re:Weird

[Otter]

How do you figure protecting half the world's mountain gorillas, at constant risk of being killed himself, isn't "useful"? With all due respect to Ubuntu, that strikes me as at least as important as supervising a bunch of Linux installs.

Re:Weird

[Nyeerrmm]

I think the real utility of it isn't just that he's install Ubuntu, but the fact that he's doing the gruntwork to collect old computers, put them in a usable state, and redistributing them to those in need. Evangelizing for linux isn't necessarily the point.

Re:Weird

[sauge]

Ah.

If life is not useful to you, it may be destroyed.

That is a text book definition of species-centristic.

I'll tell that the marvel of life and nature was richer before his was born. Be happy with the gorilla stuffed animal toy.

Good for him. Good for the schools. Good for Linux

[Chas]

Getting off drugs, both him and his assistants. VERY Cool.

Helping out schools. Cool

Helping the environment. Cool (though some in the "movement" would gripe about the electricity consumed).

Linux. Uber cool!

Good for him

[avm]

Good for him, on a number of levels.

First, on a personal level, for taking control of his life back.
Second, on an environmental level, for saving unnecessary rubbish from a landfill somewhere.
Third, on a charitable level, for donating the results of his work.
Fourth, on an economic level, for using free software and cast-off hardware to do something useful.
Fifth, on a geek level, for using Linux to do it.

My hat's off to you, sir.

Re:Hero to the public, Villain to the industry...

[Bloater]

If they do then how long until a MacDonalds complains that they spent all that money on making the air outside their store smell *really* good only for someone to "steal some of the smell without coming in for a burger as they passed". The TV broadcasters tried it "Tivo should be illegal to use because we spent all that money on programs only for people to choose not to watch the advertisements".

Re:But

[hazem]

It's not like his installing linux on old computers is keeping the other guy from saving gorillas; or that every computer installed leads to a gorilla not being saved. Rather it's merely that the video of the guy installing linux is slightly more popular than the video of the guy saving gorillas.

And it's not like he's hurting the knowledge about the gorilla program because I hadn't hear of either until today. If it weren't a guy installing linux (but instead a woman making sandwiches for hungry orphans) then it would have never made it on slashdot.

So, we can call it a win for both.

Re:But

[MollyB]

>So, we can call it a win for both.

I see it that way, too. But the (American, at least) culture is focused on Winners and Losers to the extent that such rich meditations as yours are easy to miss. Slashdot clearly (witness the comment list) reflects this attitude, but it is nice to see more light and less heat on occasion. Thanks.

Re:But

[grammar fascist]

I see it that way, too. But the (American, at least) culture is focused on Winners and Losers to the extent that such rich meditations as yours are easy to miss.

Definitely just Americans. Or something. What was that all about?

Anyway, here's the real issue: humans have a natural bias to assume a zero-sum game first, even where none exists. It's the source of all envy. Maybe it was a good survival trait back in the poor, nasty, brutish, and short days when competition over resources was fierce, but it's clearly maladaptive now.