Social inclusion with Xubuntu: A tale of free software changing lives
,----[ Quote ]
| M6-IT, a Community Interest Community in the UK, are part way through a
| project to equip socially excluded families with computers running Xubuntu.
|
| [...]
|
| The project is funded from a local regeneration budget, and supported by a
| partnership of four local schools called Quadrant C. Working with them we
| have identified pupils moving into secondary school who don’t have access to
| a home computer. We invite the families to a training session. The next step
| is to provide Internet access and a home computer for the family.
`----
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/columns/social_inclusion_xubuntu_tale_free_software_changing_lives
Another new case of using old PCs with Linux:
Building a highly functional desktop with lightweight software
,----[ Quote ]
| There you have it: an Ubuntu distribution with a fast and easy-to-use
| desktop, thanks to Fluxbox and a bunch of lightweight applications. There are
| other software packages you can install instead of the resource-hungry
| applications you may be used to: Claws as an email client, Abiword to edit
| and read .DOC files, Gnumeric for spreadsheets, Kazehakase as an even lighter
| Web browser, and Graveman for burning CDs and DVDs.
`----
http://www.linux.com/feature/128940
Choice is good. Options are good, not confusing.
Related:
Linux Surveys
,----[ Quote ]
| Is Linux dying in the embedded space? Or is it healthier than ever?
| Surveys don't paint a clear picture.
|
| [...]
|
| In my travels I see Linux in lots of applications, far more than a couple
| of years ago. My gut tells me the survey data is not telling the whole
| story.
`----
http://www.ddj.com/dept/linux/192501501
Installed base
,----[ Quote ]
| Installed base is a measure of the number of units of a particular type
| of system (usually a computing platform) actually in use, as opposed to
| market share, which only reflects sales over a particular period.
| Because installed base includes machines that may have been in use for
| many years, it is usually a higher figure than market share. Many people
| see it as a more reliable indicator of a platform's popularity.
`----
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Installed_base
Vista sales could boost PC recycling
,----[ Quote ]
| As customers line up to buy new PCs capable of running Microsoft
| Corp.'s new Windows Vista OS, vendors like Dell Inc. and
| Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) are preparing to process a surge
| of discarded, outmoded computers.
`----
http://www.itworld.com/Comp/1183/070131pcrecycle/index.html
Old PCs find new homes in re-use venture
,----[ Quote ]
| Indeed while producers of electronic gear may get it in the neck
| from WEEE, Terry reckons Microsoft may worm out of it. And Vista's
| licensing looks like a headache for re-users and recyclers.
| "Microsoft needs to put something back into the system. They
| need to talk to people like us. They could be help out rather
| than getting in the way."
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37797
Vista gets slated - by the Greens
,----[ Quote ]
| The Green Party has slammed Microsoft and it's forthcoming operating
| system, Windows Vista, in a withering attack on the company's "monopoly".
|
| Microsoft not only takes criticism for allegedly environmentally
| unfriendly policies, but for attacking civil liberties.
|
| The party claims that "Vista gives Microsoft the ability to lock
| you out of your computer," and that "Microsoft are determined not
| to play fair" in the video content market.
`----
http://www.webuser.co.uk/news/news.php?id=107813
MassMutual gives computers
,----[ Quote ]
| MassMutual Financial Group donated 100 computers to Springfield Technical
| Community College yesterday for use by students who cannot afford to
| purchase a computer.
|
| [...]
|
| Four STCC students will refurbish the computers, which are about
| three to four years old, and load them with free open source software,
| a Linux-based system called Ubuntu.
`----
http://www.masslive.com/springfield/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1171357553137060.xml&coll=1
16,000 Linux computers delivered - for free
,----[ Quote ]
| With his non-profit organization called Alameda County Computer Resource
| Center, he built up a volunteer organization, collects donated stuff from the
| companies who provide them, strips any proprietary OS and software off the
| drives, re-installs everything with Linux and free applications, and then
| gives them to schools or other not-for-profit organizations or individuals
| without too much cash.
|
| A great man with a great mission. CNN called him a hero already.
`----
http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/89792/index.html
WEEE directive threatens Microsoft OEM sales
,----[ Quote ]
| There's a possibility Microsoft may well dump the OEM scheme and that
| could prompt small firms that don't want to be WEEEing to install Linux
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| or even pirate OSes.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=40305
Consumer electronics vs. Planet Earth
,----[ Quote ]
| several makers of Linux-based thin-client devices have begun
| touting their devices as environmentally-friendly alternatives
| to standard desktop PCs. Meanwhile, several companies are
| working to build Linux-based network computers for home users,
| including Zonbu, Linutop, and Thinteknix.
`----
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS7932130737.html
Is 'green' software possible?
,----[ Quote ]
| He suggests using software such as Puppy Linux, a low resource version of
| Linux, and Portable Apps, a service-based approach to delivering
| applications.
`----
http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2007/07/21/green_software_possibility/
Greenpeace: Vista could trigger a deluge of electronic waste
,----[ Quote ]
| Beau Baconguis of the Southeast Asia section of the environmental
| protection organization Greenpeace has warned that the introduction
| by Microsoft of its new operating system Windows Vista might as a
| side effect trigger a deluge of electronic waste (E-waste). "With
| Vista, Microsoft could effectively hasten the obsolesence of half
| the world's PCs, especially in the absence of fully-functioning
| global take back systems for PCs," Ms. Baconguis declared.
`----
http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/84816/from/rss09
Use GNU/Linux and help save the planet
,----[ Quote ]
| Are Windows users, not by choice, the worst polluters of the planet
| relative to GNU/Linux? Well, not intentionally but the lifecycle of
| a machine running Windows must be shorter than that of a
| conscientious Linux user who can prevent that old 400MHZ Celeron PC
| with 128MBs of memory gathering dust in the corner from heading for
| the scrapheap.
|
| [...]
|
| The Chinese have a saying: the journey of a thousand miles begins
| with the first step. Reusing a puffing and wheezing old computer
| by installing a minimal GNU/Linux distro and staving off the day
| when it trudges forlornly to the scrapheap is at least a baby step
| in the right direction.
`----
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/blogs/use_gnu_linux_and_help_save_the_planet
http://www.kuteev.ru/ph10/edf4.jpg
Computers in schools are an environmental time-bomb
,----[ Quote ]
| Schools are using computers as room
| heaters which then need to be cooled using expensive air conditioning
| and Modern thin-client networks could reverse this trend and are
| available from the Open Source community and vendors of proprietary
| software today.
`----
http://opensourceblog.itproportal.com/?p=213
|
|
