third world county

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I just recieved another of those emails from PC Mag touting an article on what to do with an old computer. Around here, it’s mostly “scrap for parts,” but YMMV. Here’s the article if you’re interested, but I have a slightly different take.

The very last page of the article finally gets around to (mostly) dismissing Linux as an option for an old computer you may give away. But at least it does briefly mention the Linux distro I’d suggest you put on an old(er) computer I’d giving away: Ubuntu. The cavil in the PC Mag article is, “Windows is what most people already know how to use” but that’s a cop-out.

An older computer–anywhere from a 300Mhz P-II/III! to a 1.5 Ghz “old” box running Linux will run rings around a similar computer loaded with Windows. And Ubuntu is more similar to Windows than the Mac OS is, and almost completely effortless and transparent in maintenance. A link to the Ubuntu FAQ site and/or a few help sites/tutorials on their desktop, Open Office and either Firefox or Opera (my choice) for a browser, and they’re just about set. I’d add a few (FREE) multimedia add-ons, if it were me, but right “out of the box” Ubuntu is ready to just be used.

So why would I definitely load something like Ubuntu Linux on a used box I’d be giving a friend or family member?

They’ll likely never have a licensing issue come up. Their computer just almost will not crash. for example, I’ve been running a box I put together recently 24X7 ever since it first booted with nary a problem, no slowdown, no freezes, no crashes, etc. about like my Linux router and other Linux boxes I’ve built. My most stable Windows configuration is a box built to use Windows 2000 Pro. It’s pretty stable, but not in the class of the Linux boxes I’ve built.

And each and every box I’ve built and tested in Windows v. Linux configurations have been loads faster as Linux boxes, even with all the GUI stuff added on.

So, you want to give a friend or family member an old computer but don’t want them to think you’re the cheap bastard you really are? Clean it up nicely and make sure the hardware’s in the best possible shape (and do consider slapping a new hard drive in). Make it an Ubuntu Linux box, loaded with all the really good Open Source software you can find.

They’ll wonder why you don’t want it any more. And so, very likely, will you.

*heh*