User: Xor Bitwise

related organization: freegeek.org

On: Partnership Initiatives In Companies That Support OSS?

here in portland, oregon, US there is an organization similar to the one described (in main post). they accept donated (thrown out!) hardware and put linux on it, then give these boxes away to volunteers and non-profits. (unfortunately, they are not [yet?] partnered with any kind hardware vendor willing to donate new boxes.) they also will be offering classes on using the things. they are called freegeek.

a couple notes:

1. yes, they use linux; i have been told they would consider MS, but (as has been pointed out) it would just cost too much (i.e. > $0) to be feasible. they understand that "users" would often be more happy with familiar MS stuff, but simply cant do it for legal/licensing reasons and just plain cash.
2. a second reason linux (arguably?) is a better choice for them is that they are often working with old (early pentium) machines with low ram. in theory(!) these are more likely to be usable with linux than MS. (this is often questionable in practice, i guess; but point #1 makes it a moot argument.)

anyway, its nice that these machines (and they get a lot of them!) arent going into landfills, what with the toxicity of all the junk in computers and current (growing) rate of turnover due to obsolescence/envy.