[dfs3] write-up on computer installation at Miners' Hall

[David Walland]

Mark and the list,

One of the things I have to offer the group is the ability to upgrade old
technology cheaply (or even for free) to enable it to be used with current
Linux versions.  For most people searching for very cheap technology, this
has to mean Linux that looks and feels like one of the major player GUIs,
(whether we like it or not).  We've already demonstrated how the machines
will run well non-updated.  For those who have perhaps £20 to a max of £30
they are prepared to put into making their old computer work better,
amazing things can be done with old technology.
I have an ancient Toshiba 1710CDS laptop running Xubuntu 12.04 (fairly
slowly - about as fast as our Dell Inspiron 1520 on Vista with a range of
programs, although the Xubuntu loads quicker).  This has a *6GB* HDD a
Celeron cpu and only 288MB RAM (max).  I intend to update to a 20GB HDD
(Freebie) and a Pentium 3m - which cost me £2.69 inc postage on eBay
*new*.  That will significantly improve the performance with Xubuntu.  What
it might be like with some of the smaller but still generally useful (for
general public with minimal knowledge) Linuxes I simply don't know.  I'll
be happy to try this out.
I'm now even the proud owner of a "rework station" allowing me to replace
chips on motherboards and resolder them as necessary - classically the Dell
Latitude 620 fails because the solder on its video chip fails.  I'm running
64 bit Xubuntu on this one - .  Surely the point is to do something useful
for people, not to stick on a point of principle (good though that may be)
and - at least in my case - have fun and learn at the same time (that
rework station has me wondering if I can upsize the fixed (32MB) RAM on the
old 1710CDS...)

So Mark, I'm not criticising you or anything, just suggesting that there
are ways of increasing the power of what we do, and I'd *LOVE* to play,
doing it.

Regards

David


On 1 July 2014 22:13, mark <mark at aktivix.org> wrote:

> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA256
>
> Hi folks,
>
> Barry and I have written up the process of installing the linux
> computers at Durham CSC. It's on our blog here:
>
>
> https://network23.org/dfs3/2014/06/24/computers-for-durham-community-support-centre/
>
> I thought you might like to share it within Unite, or on social media
> or your own blog. As can anyone else (hence CC'ed to list)
>
> Cheers,
> Mark
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
> Version: GnuPG v1.4.10 (GNU/Linux)
> Comment: Using GnuPG with Icedove - http://www.enigmail.net/
>
> iQIcBAEBCAAGBQJTsyRgAAoJECivkG/nESo7aO8P/Al8FwF4fqiVGMY6QifPkxzn
> qbJjDHZkMfgxecp3ULiGrUPqb2C9Re7shSYlwTxTW+hjzixmU2JnP7cIk+KqX7h6
> +bY+mgZqLXYx0tJ76T3/kMiezYHPWEBrPmiBgia8AF8QLxRnzz8OxZqTvOqL0jEd
> bxeajJZUoL1XZFchoAtEhC/OZGMUlCKgcO1rK6ydIBgiETCKNX0tn1YTbz+pb1h9
> K4Gs+DnWph30Y/tERgBy7REQ/I7ay239797F15MgUh5D9cJUJilQfxQKgVEb/vZw
> iftKd+zQ8BPv8DzG7IaGWZmj6Fub2HfyixEPzH1+g2DQDeBkti2XBy7vHaFipy2N
> ULOIZKmU8iBHQJ1C0nFwprxP4Br1GKvRkHmjRwKWNu2FeYuW1HuGdBqJY8ZZ2sgm
> Q7zN4U5bjTosekJ3Uiuyj3+OF8MJG2n7QnKikzfKfON1+ooM2/2tY8jiPFEiizy5
> iP4tXmPHNRTeEv1lSXPiPD9Ij4nuVrq7otR/d/f3xZ+hqHFnigyuXlIoTXmKW2mG
> UhGki5Ra/CxiOObYneXb8QjXYkVi8Q3QY9qHcmLSDOnHZt28+FehePoUMjaABCSn
> daJqNhV8WVSe2tXjEBAvcNI0o6dj9lHMnqh1YZunl5M7cr30c6EInj/OAbna4RBT
> HfXUgKpHVJlJ84kl5LxP
> =O+uw
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
>
> _______________________________________________
> dfs3 mailing list
> dfs3 at lists.aktivix.org
> https://lists.aktivix.org/mailman/listinfo/dfs3
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.aktivix.org/mailman/private/dfs3/attachments/20140703/0adf3d44/attachment.html>