[tdf-discuss] Re: A better idea for a download package.

On 12/02/2010 11:57 AM, BRM wrote:
> ----- Original Message ----
>
> > From: Robert Derman <robert.derman@pressenter.com>
> > I  remember that optical disks started to replace floppies in about 1995 
> > because  Win-95 came either way.  Win-98 was CD only.  I will admit that DVD  
> > burners didn't become affordable until about 2005, but most of what I built in  
> > 2000 through 2004 had either a CD burner and a DVD read only, or from 2003 on  
> > combo drives, CD burn, DVD read only.  But my point here is that 2004 and  older 
> > machines are horribly obsolete today, and the vast majority of them have  been 
> > scrapped!  Also most of these old clunkers are only found in the more  
> > technologically advanced countries, because the 3rd world countries didn't start  
> > to get computers in any significant numbers until after the time of the old  
> > floppy based machines. 
>
>
> FYI - there are a lot of organizations that take any computer they can - 
> regardless of age - and refurb it and ship it to 3rd world countries so that 
> some people can simply _have_ a computer. Doesn't matter that it's 10 or 15 
> years old - as long as it runs and runs well. They'll find a configuration that 
> will run on it.
>
> Granted, most of such computer do meet the trash can; but they are out there and 
> should not be discounted.

:-) All of my systems, with the exception of my laptop, came from
organisations (schools, businesses, etc) that were told that they needed
to upgrade their hardware to run the latest & greatest WinXYZ OS. A
little cleanup, add some memory & on occasion a larger hard drive, load
linux, done. My old "obsoletes" run just fine & in many cases run
considerably better than out-of-the-box low level system. Most are
2.4Ghz/1-4Gib. Only issue is that the price of old memory can sometimes
be prohibitive.

As for shipping to 3rd world countries... I take at least 2-3 recycled
systems each year & give them to local students/families that can't
afford a system. Of course I also include OOo & will include LO once
stable. No need to ship to 3rd world countries... there are plenty of
kids/families/senior centers, etc., (and I live in a pretty wealthy
area) local that are happy to get them.



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