[NBLUG/talk] Linux-oriented PC recycling? (WRT NYTimes "disposable" PC article)

[Lincoln Peters]

On Sun, 2005-07-17 at 17:18 -0700, Karsten M. Self wrote:
> 
>   - It implies a grossly overstated cost of Apple alternatives.  Sure, a
>     high-end laptop might run $3000, but the Mac Mini is available for
>     $500 or less, and used Mac hardware on Craigslist runs in the
>     $100-$400 range.

Another common fallacy in the calculation of the cost of Apple products
is that Apple computers have lots of standard features (e.g. FireWire,
the iLife suite) that you have to pay extra for in the Windows world, so
the cost of Apple solutions often comes out LOWER than Windows
solutions, even when you only consider the initial cost!

Of course, Linux comes out still lower, since it has no software cost
aside from possibly the cost of media.

[snip]
> 
> Moreover:  there are numerous organizations and causes which could very
> much make use of this hardware.
> 
> 
> I'm aware of several PC recycling efforts around the Bay Area, though
> most seem oriented to legacy MS Windows-based rebuilds.  For anyone
> aware of efforts geared at turning out GNU/Linux-based systems, please
> post details here.

There is the Computer Recycling Center, which has locations in Santa
Rosa, San Francisco, and Sunnyvale.  They already install OpenOffice on
every PC they recycle, but they also install Windows 98 on those same
computers.  Perhaps I should pay them a visit and demonstrate how easily
they could install and use a modern Linux distribution such as Ubuntu on
their computers...


By the way, recently, we were also discussing the possibility of a
two-step InstallFest in which a Windows user could first come to have us
install open-source applications such as OpenOffice on their Windows
PC's (i.e. the applications a typical Linux desktop user would use), and
then they could come to the next InstallFest and have us install Linux
(at which point they'd be familiar with the open-source applications and
have an easier transition).  However, this idea got shelved because none
of us want to have to do any kind of Windows tech support during an
InstallFest.

---
Lincoln Peters
<sampln at sbcglobal.net>

If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make
something out of you.
		-- Muhammad Ali