On Mon, Nov 12, 2001 at 12:23:39AM -0500, Mario Lombardo wrote:
> Perhaps we can use this as a recruit for non- SLUGgers/linux users? I
> think the newspaper will allow a non-profit or not-for-profit (whatever
> the difference, I don't know) organization to list an ad for free in
> some section.
>
> Something like:
> <CENTER>Suncoast Linux Users Group
> Is having its monthly meeting and is hosting a hardware swap meet!!!
> Bring your old unloved computers to new loving owners and vice-versa.
> Linux will be installed for free on machines you'd like to take
> home!..... blah blah blah
>
> Paul, if there's anything I can do to help organize this, please let me
> know. In the meantime, we should brainstorm the practical uses for some
> of the lower CPU/RAM computers. So far, I've seen steve@itcom.net, Scot
> Mc Pherson, and some others mention some valuable practical and
> dedicated uses i.e. samba fileservers. I can reach the Tampa and
> Dunedin meetings (possibly one of the Brandon ones too).
>
> Mario
Occasionally, we get to a point where we agree and everyone brings their
old junk to a meeting. Last one was in Dunedin, which is well-suited to
this kind of thing. No real organization is necessary, but anyone who
wishes to promote it (Mario?) may do so, and non-SLUGs are always
invited. I'd go easy on promising Linux installations, though. A
thousand and one things can go wrong with this, and then you've got
upset people. I mean, we can try to do it. But I just wouldn't promise
it. Also, if we're installing on 486 class machines, it takes longer,
the distro usually has to be slimmer (for smaller hard drives), and you
have to be conscious of low memory situations. As an example of this, I
installed Red Hat on about four 486 machines this weekend, most of them
with 16M of memory or less. In all cases, the install said that it
needed to turn on swap right away due to the low memory situation.
Anyway, we can set Wednesday's Tampa meeting as a swap meet for those in
Tampa, and then if you like we can do it again in Dunedin in a couple of
weeks.
As an update, I managed to take the seven boxes I found in the dumpster,
combined with parts I had lying around, and build four machines. Now
that I have these ready to go, I have about 12 cases/machines in various
states of repair to get rid of. I sure hope someone at the Tampa meeting
on Wednesday wants them, because I sure don't want to cart them all back
home if no one wants them. ;-}
Paul
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