>>The point is that one of the best things about Linux from an ecological /
economical point of view is that old stuff does not get tossed, and that you
can get a working system you can use cheaply for those who are financially
challenged.
A very good point. But I should also point out that the other point is
equally valid, and we should respect the personal choices made by someone
that takes a different position from us.
Installing a basic Debian system with a browser, and giving it to someone on
limited funds makes a nice gift, and makes the giver feel a tiny bit better
about himself. My mother is on a 586 laptop, running Debian and can access
her gmail account nicely. If it blows up, no biggie. All her mail is on
gmail, so there's nothing to backup. And she gets the biggest kick out of
telling IT guys she's running Linux.
Knoppix live cds work well, and you don't even need a working HDD. No virus
or rootkit issues, either.
Yes, it is a poor choice from a time+effort vs. cost standpoint to do a
complete install, assuming you are time constrained (we all _believe_ we
are). But if all you do is burn a Knoppix CD, and see if it boots, then
give it to a kid without a computer, the sun will shine a little longer.
When I was in cash>time-mode, I bought Mom a computer. When I was in
cash<time-mode, I recycled.
Ken Elliott
...working on getting to c>t mode...
=====================
-----Original Message-----
From: slug@nks.net [mailto:slug@nks.net] On Behalf Of Mark Banschbach, SFO
Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2005 10:06 AM
To: slug@nks.net
Subject: Re: [SLUG] older computers
Friends,
Truth be told, I hear everyone talking about how older boxes are good for
firewalls,file, and print servers etc. It makes me a little itchy that no
one ever says that these older boxes can also be used as workstations. If
you are frugal with the applications you choose, and the window manager you
use, then these older boxes are quite useful.
As for current distros installing on these.. there are some like Damn
Small Linux that run an auto detect script ( which is quite good) and
install just fine on an older HD. And the boot time is actually not bad.
I have an old 486 toshiba laptop that I use for travel. I have debian Woody
installed on it.. ( will upgrade to Sarge as soon as I get around to
remember to take it to a coffee shop with broadband). I use it for travel
because its sturdy.. and I dont mind running that through the airport
security or those associated headaches. One of the other issues this laptop
has is a longer boot time. Its boot time is long because as a debian newbie
I feared not having enough drivers for all the things I thought I might ever
do with it.. and so I basically installed as many drivers as I thought I
would ever need. Resulting of course in the extended boot times. If I were
frugal and removed some of those it would boot much faster.
The point is that one of the best things about linux from an ecological /
economical point of view is that old stuff does not get tossed, and that you
can get a working system you can use cheaply for those who are financially
challenged.
Just a thought..
Mark
--- steve szmidt <steve@szmidt.org> wrote:
> On Tuesday 06 December 2005 08:00, SOTL wrote:
> > The issue is not GUI but drivers. Maybe you can
> not recall mode lines in
> > screen drivers. I can. And, my response to such is
> to spend the $50 to $100
> > required for more modern equipment than 486.
>
> The point was not to try to force anything on anyone but that you can
> do it fairly simply. New drivers does not mean the old ones are thrown
> away. Just that new ones are added. Certain distro's do compile for
> 586 and up, but it's not that hard to find one that isn't. Recompiling
> a kernel seems more daunting than it really is. Anyway, again my point
> was simply that if you have a 486 it can be put to use as a f/w.
> --
>
> Steve Szmidt
>
> "They that would give up essential liberty for temporary safety
> deserve neither liberty nor safety."
> Benjamin Franklin
>
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