Donating computers with Kubuntu

[lmilano]

Hi

The other day, a non profit announced they would be accepting donations, including electronics. I realized my old desktop (an AMD Sempron with an old 128Mb NVIDIA card and 768 Mb of RAM, plus an old flat monitor) could get actually used by someone else.

So, I picked it out of the box where it was in the garage. I burned a Kubuntu 10.10 CD, and installed in about 20 minutes. Then I ran the updates, changed the background, installed flash and Google Chrome. I used the Notes widget to leave a note to the future user with some instructions. I also added a couple more widgets.

It is amazing the life you can bring to an old computer with Kubuntu. Hope it gets good use. I also left instructions in a print out in the box, explaining that the computer was ready to connect to the internet, and pointing the future user to kubuntu.org for more info. I tried to post a screenshot of the desktop here, from that computer, before packing up, but the silly upload format and size just drove me crazy, I swear I tried, many times. Oh well, she was gorgeous!

Cheers!
Leo

[darkduck]

Re: Donating computers with Kubuntu

Another good action! For both non-profit and Linux.

[ardvark71]

Re: Donating computers with Kubuntu

It is amazing the life you can bring to an old computer with Kubuntu.

Hi...

I'm currently attempting this with an old Gateway 2000 running a AMD Athlon 1000 MHz, a Nvidia Geforce 3 Ti 500 (64 MB) graphics card and 384 MB's of system memory. I put Ubuntu 10.04 on it and considering the specs, Ubuntu doesn't do too badlly on it!

The only glitch I've run into is that I can't get Ubuntu to recognize the floppy drive, although I am able to boot from drive (with any kind of bootable disk) after POSTing.

Regards...

[woodsmoke]

Re: Donating computers with Kubuntu

I'm glad that you got to donat a linux system!

One other thing that I used to do was tape the passwords on a small piece of paper on the back of the machine and also inside the machine.

On the sheet(just as you did) I wrote, directly, that they should memorize the password(s) and then remove the piece from the back of the machine and that the one inside was an "ultimate" search place either for them or for a technician.

I realize that the linux "don't ever let anybody do root" people would be aghast at that but for a computer going to a Windblows person, even the thought of having a password is quite beyond most of them. And most of them would be "in home" computers anyway.

But, again GREAT that another computer with Linux on it is "in the wild"

woodsmoke

[lmilano]

Re: Donating computers with Kubuntu

It is amazing the life you can bring to an old computer with Kubuntu.

I'm currently attempting this with an old Gateway 2000 running a AMD Athlon 1000 MHz, a Nvidia Geforce 3 Ti 500 (64 MB) graphics card and 384 MB's of system memory.

That reminds me: that computer had been idle for a long time. A 512MB Ram stick was loose, so it was booting off of a 256 Mb module. The live CD would choke mysteriously, so I ran the memtest option from the live CD and realized it was only using 512Mb. After fixing that, it was a breeze. I think 384Mb is marginally ok, I am surprised it even works

[vinnywright]

Re: Donating computers with Kubuntu

I use those old boxes

I had kubuntu 10.04 on an old 700Mhz-CPU 383-RAM box..............but becose I cant leave the test boxes alone it now dose xubuntu 10.04

next week .............who knows

VINNY

[lmilano]

Re: Donating computers with Kubuntu

Another good action! For both non-profit and Linux.

Yeah, and mostly the user! Here was my thought: if they are a fairly large non-profit, they may be pressed by MS to install windows in the machines they donate to "prevent piracy". Of course, windows, with no applications, would barely boot, even if they try XP. And the new user will have a useless computer unless they spend hundreds in office software and what not. Oh boy, what a world!

Anyways, we are slowly changing the world, one computer at a time

[ardvark71]

Re: Donating computers with Kubuntu

Here was my thought: if they are a fairly large non-profit, they may be pressed by MS to install windows in the machines they donate to "prevent piracy".

Hi...

I'm just curious, have you seen any examples of this? I've heard of Microsoft pressing the OEM's but nonprofits?

Some of you may have heard of Microsoft's MARS program, now the "Microsoft Refurbisher Program," which is supposed to offer discounted licenses to organizations who meet their criteria. Just taking a quick glance at their site, I didn't see any obvious signs of pressure although I did see a couple piracy warnings.

Regards...

[lmilano]

Re: Donating computers with Kubuntu

Here was my thought: if they are a fairly large non-profit, they may be pressed by MS to install windows in the machines they donate to "prevent piracy".

Hi...

I'm just curious, have you seen any examples of this? I've heard of Microsoft pressing the OEM's but nonprofits?

Some of you may have heard of Microsoft's MARS program, now the "Microsoft Refurbisher Program," which is supposed to offer discounted licenses to organizations who meet their criteria. Just taking a quick glance at their site, I didn't see any obvious signs of pressure although I did see a couple piracy warnings.

Hi,

I am not sure I remember a case of them pressing exactly about the "piracy" bit. But I wouldn't be surprised. They have been pushing non-profits, governments an what not, while desperately trying to keep its monopoly. One thing they did was to sabotage the OLPC project:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Laptop_per_Child

The OLPC started out as a Free Software initiative, but the geniuses at Redmond could not let a big chunk of the impoverished population out of their claws. They wanted to offer "more freedom". How cynical.

Of course, this should not come as a surprise:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/06...x_is_a_cancer/

They have a non-profit policy, indeed:
http://www.microsoft.com/about/corpo...s/non-profits/

It warms my heart

Cheers!

[ardvark71]

Re: Donating computers with Kubuntu

Hi,

I am not sure I remember a case of them pressing exactly about the "piracy" bit. But I wouldn't be surprised. They have been pushing non-profits, governments an what not, while desperately trying to keep its monopoly. One thing they did was to sabotage the OLPC project:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Laptop_per_Child

The OLPC started out as a Free Software initiative, but the geniuses at Redmond could not let a big chunk of the impoverished population out of their claws. They wanted to offer "more freedom". How cynical.

Of course, this should not come as a surprise:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/06...x_is_a_cancer/

They have a non-profit policy, indeed:
http://www.microsoft.com/about/corpo...s/non-profits/

It warms my heart

Cheers!

Hi...

Thank you for your links. I found the article in The Register interesting....

"Microsoft CEO and incontinent over-stater of facts Steve Ballmer said that "Linux is a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches," during a commercial spot masquerading as a media interview with the Chicago Sun-Times Friday."

I disagree. I regard Linux is a credible OS that has real potential to becoming a viable competitor to Windows. I think this is the concern that is possibly being stated between the lines here.

and...

"The way the license is written, if you use any open-source software, you have to make the rest of your software open source," Ballmer explained to an excessively credulous, un-named Sun-Times reporter who, predictably, neglected to question this bold assertion."

If that interpretation is accurate, then, in my opinion, that is to protect the rights of those who agree to the terms of the GPL (when installing software that is licensed under the GPL) as stated in the Preamble of version 2, "To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the rights. These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you if you distribute copies of the software, or if you modify it." If Mr. Ballmer's interpretation is correct, then I don't see that as being unfair. The GPL, in part, is designed to protect access to a program's source code, hence the term "open source."

and...

"Our goal is to try to educate people on what it means to protect intellectual property and pay for it properly" (read 'eternally'), Ballmer says.

I disagree in part. I don't begrudge Microsoft the right to sell their software for a profit. However, it is not their place (or right) to determine how other companies or communities (like Linux) should license their software and whether or not any money changes hands in the process of distribution. Microsoft's way is not the only way and I wish there wasn't this contention between advocates of open source and proprietary software. They both have a place and serve a purpose.

Regards...

[lmilano]

Re: Donating computers with Kubuntu

Yeah, they were getting nervous, and that was in 2001. At that point, they were lying outrageously, trying to scare people away from Linux and open source. Their interpretation of the meaning of GPL in that article is just disingenuous.

A lot of things happened after that, including a slight change in their approach to Linux and Open Source. Linux is now mainstream, well established, dominant in the server and embedded space, including new technologies such as smart phones. Google, perhaps the most successful tech company of the last 10 years, relies heavily on Linux and open technologies. So does IBM.

But , back to my computer, it runs perfectly with Linux, and it will give someone in times of needed a free as in freedom, low cost, low maintenance tool to stay in touch with the digital world. Sorry, Mr Balmer, to disappoint you.