[GLLUG] Recycling computers with Linux

[James Roberts]

OTOH, if you want a batch of PC's to recycle, I can probably supply 
some. Not sure what (if anything) we have at the moment...

MeJ

On 10/11/16 02:10, DL Neil via GLLUG wrote:
> Is there a way to offer recycled computers for sale to 'Joe Public',
> which takes care of relative ignorance (of Linux) and embodies both
> realism/common sense and ethically-sound principles?
>
>
> I give my 20% time to the local Hospice who raise funds through
> 'OpShops" and by holding a weekly yard-sale of items generously donated
> by locals for locals... The funds-raised approximately double the number
> of nurses and counsellors 'provided' by government funding, to provide
> palliative care of patients and their families.
>
>
> The donated computers have all been WinXP or Vista driven, and of that
> vintage. Clearing the HDD is a requirement. Re-installing the OpSys is
> the easiest way to do this, but with WinXP being loyally-unsupported,
> seems unsound - to say nothing of time-consuming. A Linux installation
> has the potential, both to give the machine a new life and to provide a
> secure and capable computing environment.
>
> Do you think that members of the public (cf 'us' computer enthusiasts
> and professionals) might be perfectly happy to purchase a machine they
> know to have only modest capabilities, running a familiar-looking web
> browser, email client, word processor, etc?
>
> Thereafter, expecting such people to understand the implications of
> Linux cf MS-Win is but a fantasy - even the garage sales manager who
> suffered through the COBOL and FORTRAN 101 courses I enjoyed so much,
> all those decades ago, and who uses a PC every day, confesses a lack of
> appreciation... Accordingly, we wouldn't want folk buying a box and then
> attempting to add some MSFT-compatible package purchased from Argos, et-al!
>
>
> Such machines are likely to sell for less than $100, definitely in the
> low hundreds, even for a 'big one'.
>
> I have a backlog of at least seven, and the 'arrival rate' seems to
> average one or two monthly.
>
> So, whilst I would appreciate advice about the methodology of preparing
> a viable user-image which could then be rapidly copied/ghosted onto the
> various sizes of old HDDs; what's really occupying my mind is the
> customer-relations and reputational aspects of ensuring yard-sale
> customers know what they're getting into (and how little).
>
> Will welcome any and all advice, particularly that born of experience...
>
>

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