panorama of our hardware coop, January, 2009
The Richmond Church of the Brethren provides free space for me and some other volunteers to operate this "Hardware Coop". We take in computer hardware that people are ready to get rid of. As our resources permit, we test it, spec it, label and inventory it, install Linux and provide "hardware grants" to those who need cheap or free hardware. What we can't re-use, we recycle.
We also learn a lot in the process. Jonathan Ulrich helped us put DD-WRT on a wireless router so it would function as a repeater, providing internet access to the room.
I built a four-seat thin-client computer lab with good performance using LTSP and Edubuntu. The thin client approach allowed us to bring 366Mhz/64Mb systems back to life by connecting them a reasonably powerful server. (Which was just an XP desktop that had been slow for lack of a memory upgrade). When the lab setup is stable again, perhaps we'll be able to grant the entire 4-seat lab to a non-profit.
With our new reliable internet access, we are able to be much more productive with our troubleshooting, research and general organization.
Soon I hope to be organized enough to take on more volunteers to share the fun and satisfaction of hardware recycling. (Not to mention preferred access to the latest hardware donations!). Also, our current resources prevent us from accepting donations from the general public. So far, the congregation and our friends have provided enough e-waste to keep us busy!
We could use help getting the valuable parts of our inventory into a spreadsheet, so we can publish what we have give out as hardware grants.
Soon I hope to organize a field trip to Free Geek Columbus. They are a model of what our future could be. I expect the visit could be inspirational
as well as educational.
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You know, I've got a bunch of old hardware that I'm not using -- would you be interested in doing a trade? Any old laptops sitting around? (newer old would be ideal, but I'll take anything decently functional). Interested in getting a linux laptop together again. :)
Hey this is great!!
I am thinking about trying to get something going in the Indy area with Linux and old laptops using puppy linux (since it is so small and is easier on resources) to try and help out with getting students a laptop to use for school.
Hats off to you for this!!
We keep a copy of Puppy Linux burned at the Co-op, and it's popular with one of our members.
I shy away from using it because it is less user friendly. The risk is increased that the laptop won't be used because it's not as user-friendly, or worse, that the user willbelieve "that's what Linux is" and won't try a more full-featured Linux distribution based on their impression of Puppy.
I have also tried Xubuntu, and found it needed only slightly less resources than Ubuntu, but was also noticeably less user friendly.
I still consider Puppy an option, but I would first confirm for certain that Ubuntu would have unacceptable performance on the hardware.
I think this is great. Adrienne and I are planning on regularly attending worship at the Church of the Bretheren (starting this Sunday) and I've love sometime to check out the coop (and volunteer!).
When we spoke at the potluck I was thinking about starting something similar at Earlham but I think it would make more sense to just organize collection drives here.
I'm so glad to see that you're doing this. I met the Free Geek guys at Ohio Linux Fest a couple years ago and have been a big supporter of them ever since. A friend in your area asked me on FB about computer recycling and Chris Hardie pointed me to this post on Twitter so I've passed the info on. Could you guys use a bunch of old and obsolete Sun and SGI workstations? I have a basement full I've been holding onto because I don't want them to go into a landfill. There's an Ultra 10, several Sparc Station 10s, some IPX boxes, 2 Indys, an Indigo. Probably more. They're in my mum's basement in Dayton but one weekend I could load them up and bring them over to you guys.
We don't have magical ways to bring obsolete hardware back to life. ( I take that back, we have a thin client lab ). What we can do this kind of hardware is make sure it ends being processed by a recycler that we trust. We've been using RecycleForce out of Indianapolis, which was started by a Earlham graduate. Free Geek Columbus sounds like they have some good contacts in that area as well. (And they already have some lonely Indigo boxes there). I'll follow-up privately with contact information.