What is Digg?48 Comments
- ulysses081173, on 10/11/2007, -6/+49It's like America's own version of the $100 per child laptop. I bet Microsoft hates it.
- Alex76, on 10/11/2007, -2/+42This is awesome. Something is better than nothing. Within a generation these kids will be as familiar with Linux as this generation is with Windows.
- hackajar, on 10/11/2007, -5/+28If the hard drives are not DBAN'ed and only reformatted, information is still accessible.
- andywebb95, on 10/11/2007, -4/+23@Alex76 wrote "Within a generation these kids will be as familiar with Linux as this generation is with Windows."
Well said :) - flag564, on 10/11/2007, -8/+23For pete's sake, people!
Why on Earth does this have to be seen as some sort of hurt Microsoft thing?
These are older machines that wouldn't be able to run a current MS OS. Linux provides a free product that doesn't require a lot of computing power.
It's a perfect fit for this school system and these older machines.
The important story here is that these were kept out of the landfill. - XedLos, on 10/11/2007, -3/+15Open Source FTW
- znxster, on 10/11/2007, -4/+15*may* .. lets hope so, sounds like a plan.
- andywebb95, on 10/11/2007, -1/+12This is great news! :)
Furthermore I believe it is a greater service to an individual to teach that individual the fundamentals of computer application use rather than just showing them how to use a particular vendors application.
I believe this program will help to do this, at least indirectly.
Lets also hope that other school districts follow this example. Giving retired assets to needy students vs. dumping them at a recycling center is a better use of the assets :) - angeldiggsit, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10This is especially surprising since my university is ridiculous about not giving (or even selling!) ANY old equipment to ANYONE! All old computers must first sit in "surplus" for a while to ensure that no one makes use of them before they are completely obsolete, then they go to the highest bidder of some select corporate monsters who then make a profit ripping off individuals.
- angeldiggsit, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11Free IT Athens is a nonprofit in Athens, GA which (among other things) returns recycled Ubuntu-running computers to anyone willing to volunteer! (In the interest of full disclosure, I am affiliated!) Many of our volunteers are very new to computers, but they learn a lot during their required 12 hours. But one of the things on our 'to do' list is to create a very basic beginner's guide to Ubuntu. Like how to shut the computer down, how to compose a document in Open Office...etc.
http://freeitathens.org/ - ArcOrion, on 10/11/2007, -2/+12Yeah, because kids who haven't had a computer before are notorious for their computer savvy. I'm sure they'll be stealing data by the boatloads.
- KungFuJesus, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9unless you're up against the friggin gov, one pass with DBAN is enough.
- jeddyftb, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9At work, we often put a linux distro on an old PIII and use it to goof around. There is no reason anything that old or newer can't be used by people who do not have a computer otherwise. This is an excellent example of a district being smart, socially conscious, and economically thrifty.
Huge props.
I hope Microsoft is pissed. - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -5/+13Information can still be recovered from reformatted hard drives. The should have wiped them with several passes of random data.
- InvisibleKid, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7Couldn't put it any better!!! I remember someone telling me "I wish I knew as much stuff as you know when I was about your age" This may be a little difference in the future of open source and all this stuff, because now children can start to understand what this is all about
- Technopundit, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7So we create a guide. Call it the "RTFM n00b initiative", just to keep it in line with the majority of the "guides" on the internet. Fill it with condescending remarks and insults, just like the forums you hit when you try and Google some technical information about Linux.
- steeeler58, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Very cool. I work in a school tech department in Maine and I just forwarded this article to the director. I'd much rather get the computers into needy hands rather than throw them away.
- cchaitu, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5yup this sure is great news for kids and open soucre community. The best part is having a computer when u cant afford it and when its comming along with linux? nothing like it... way to go!
- kelchm, on 10/11/2007, -2/+6Wow, lets all freak out about the fact the article doesn't mention zero filling the drive...
Wait...
Maybe the fact that reformatting is probably over the heads of half the intended readers anyway, makes the mentioning of it irrelevant. Even if they didn't... The chances of there being anything really important on there is pretty slim.
Additionally, How does this hurt MS, and why would they hate it?
The more kids that get involved in computers at an early age, the better for them as far as I am concerned. Even if it doesn't benefit them right now, it will most likely benefit them at some point down the road. - atdigg, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Then WHY do you post here?
- andywebb95, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3@Steeler58 wrote "I'd much rather get the computers into needy hands rather than throw them away"
Well said :)
My sentiments exactly! - mitrovarr, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3This is pretty cool, if the students actually want them. When the community college in my town sold off all of their old machines (PIII-1000 to P2-300) at very low rates, only the fastest machines actually found buyers. Most of the P2s and low P3s eventually got given away, and shuffled around between charitable organizations that didn't really know what to do with them.
The problem with giving them away to the needy seems to be that the needy usually want a computer for internet access, and it's difficult to give away internet access. In my area, a lot of them are very rural, in places where modems don't even necessarily work. Getting working modems on Linux machines can also be an ordeal, since cheap software modems don't work and decommissioned machines usually don't have any modem.
Also, I don't know of any good Linux guide to give someone with no experience whatsoever at computers. - 72Devilz, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4I live in Ca. and I have had this come up time and again. I have been collecting and recycling older Mac machines from many school's in the area that I live and as of lately since Ubuntu I have been doing the same with PCs. In some cases I would not take a load of older Macs due to storing issues and recommended to the schools that they donate them to families in the district that could use them but was informed that its not the policy of the district to give them away to students because if one family did not get one that they would raise hell over it and expect to receive one. So if I did not take them they would head out to the scrap dealer hundreds of miles away. For example one district threw out 35 300mhz G3 desktop computers, monitors, keyboards and mice 2 years ago, while an older machine they still had quite a bit of life left in them.
I have also been scavenging the local dump recently and have been running across on average PIII 400-700mhz - Celeron 500-1ghz machines and the occasional P4 all of which have memory, hard drives and cd/dvd roms which are in working order, so this proves that there is plenty of supply out there waiting for a charity to snag these machines up before they get scraped out, then again you need to find somebody who is willing to take one of these machines. I imagine a charity project would work very well in lower income areas or even countries where most people are not able to afford a computer in the first place.
As for the Northwest Dist. I think this is a great idea and I hope this will work out well for them and the families who will be receiving them! - karamba_kid, on 10/11/2007, -3/+5Last time I checked reformatting doesn't actually delete the information on the drive!
- jasorn, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2errr, there are free file shredders. i but those installing linux ARE dxing the data. and Yay! for linux.
- prammy, on 10/11/2007, -3/+4"and any tech with half a brain can kill data very easily."
Usually when thats not what they are supposed to be doing though : - The0Justinian, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Seriously, you folks that are always whining about zerofills and 7pass overwrites are the real reason that computers go to the landfill after their hardrives are incinerated. A CEO or schoolboard takes one look at an episode of CSI where they 'recover data from a reformatted disc' and now everyone and the environment loses out.
It's time that we speak up about the fact that responsibly refurbishing a system can be done. As 'computerguys' it's our job to leverage the ignorant for social good rather than reinforce their distrust of technology.
And FOSS is just how to do that. Props. - eviltuxking, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3In other words, still nothing? I'm not trying to troll but the kids at my school seem very uninformed about computers in general.
- andywebb95, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1@74devilz
That is a shame that you are coming across so much e-waste but I for one am glad you are doing what you can to recycle it :) - Kinjiru, on 10/11/2007, -5/+5I'm quite sure they have a competent tech to do this... and any tech with half a brain can kill data very easily.
- entropicmang, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0this is the coolest thing I've read in a VERY long time. I also think it's a GREAT Idea to let kids learn how to assemble and disassemble a computer and load software. MAN, what that will do for those kids... I think this is one of the smartest administrative decisions in the field of education that this nation has had in a VERY long time.
- regeya, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2@estvir: Seriously, I think you totally don't get it. You're agreeing with someone you're arguing with, so I'm guessing you need to slow down to read and comprehend before doling out more vitriol.
- JorgeGT, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2Pissed? why? They give free 98 and 2000 licenses to recycled computers; they make no money with old computers, because they don't support nor enforce their old OSs - wich seems OK, because IN ANY WAY anyone in this planet would want to run Windows 98 again.
I wouldn't do it, at least, having lots of FREE alternatives! - Technopundit, on 10/11/2007, -4/+3Better than a bag of stale pretzels, I s'pose.
- Technopundit, on 10/11/2007, -4/+3Most techs with half a brain kill data quite frequently.
- Napua, on 10/11/2007, -3/+1Doesn't say what Linux Distro was used, but most Distro's repartition the hard disk to Linux partitions which are not the same as Microsoft. Fear not that process will eliminate the Microsoft data entirely.
Microsoft with it's Linux hatred will not like it, but they could give XP to the poor like they do in other countries to stop Linux acceptance.
Go For it! - specialK16, on 10/11/2007, -3/+1There was actually a really nice article about this some days ago. The discussion was very informative.
- lifeandtimes, on 10/11/2007, -5/+3...and every night they'll go home and game/chat on their windows based machine. Sorry, but they're going to associate linux with school, and windows with fun. When I was in school, we used macs. I know very little about macs. So, that didn't seem to work for me. I agree that it will help raise their knowledge that linux exists, but I wouldn't expect much more.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -4/+2due to the fact that they merely reformatted the drives, this is what happens 2 days later:...
a student chatting on aim: lol omg i found some district info left over in the hd rofl what suckers - Technopundit, on 10/11/2007, -7/+2The demand for Windows 2000 disks is about to spike.
- estvir, on 10/11/2007, -8/+3@arcorion
Yes, yes I can, can you ? I'm doubting you can (Well, you can a little bit but it seems you lack decent comprehension skills) because if you could, and do it well, you would know that your comment is irrelevant and silly.
ulysses081173 was trying to make it out as if Microsoft was going "OH NOES WERE d00meD NOW LOLOLZ" because of this but guess what, as I said before companies prefer you to use your products and if you don't, whether it's Microsoft or Ford and Holden (2 major car companies in Australia for those who don't know), they won't be very pleased.
@flag564
Exactly, competition is a good thing and Linux, *BSD, Microsoft, Apple, Sun, etc can all co-exist. There are other markets with many notable competitors/companies (Like in the car industry) and they're chugging along happily. - Technopundit, on 10/11/2007, -6/+1But do they do WiFi?
- williamdyer, on 10/11/2007, -11/+6@flag
Because Microsoft puts law enforcement backdoors in their software and has their lips glued to the RIAA and MPAA *****.
***** 'em, and ***** the pigs in our government. - Xizer, on 10/11/2007, -7/+1Why do I care?
Oh, that's right.
I don't. - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -8/+2Torrents are for sweaty people.
- ArcOrion, on 10/11/2007, -11/+4@estvir
Can you read? They're loading the systems with Linux, not Windows. - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -12/+3poor kids. better than macs tho
- estvir, on 10/11/2007, -17/+6Newflash: Companies prefer their products to be used so your "I bet Microsoft hates it" comment is quite.. stupid.
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