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I rested a bit, opened the case of this PC to ensure that it is clean, then attached all the cables and booted it with Slitaz Linux loram version. It booted and is working amazingly well and I am typing this message using this old P3 tower that pretty much no one in this city wanted. I am glad that I waited really well and long, verified no one else wants it and only then did I get it. Keeping a ready OS, knowing all the basics and possible issues in advance really helped get this PC setup fast.
I already have so much hardware, however if I keep this up, in the next year or so, I will have a lot of PCs, atleast once every 3 months I can get one. P4s are not yet dead but are almost dying. Local stores are still selling them for 80 bucks or so with bigger hard drive, ram etc., One person even advertised on local kijiji a P4 for 25 bucks. So the market for P3 is dead and is no man's land pretty much. This is for desktops only. I assume that there is still demand for P3 laptops as P4 Laptops are still going for about 150 bucks locally. It will be another 5 years or so before used laptops come to 50 bucks, this is just my guess. |
I was a bit tired from all this, so was not thinking clearly. Now, I am rested well. This P3 Tower accepts floppies, so this is good for most normal writing etc., However, if I wished to save anything bigger on it such as a puppy linux sfs file etc., I can easily stick in a USB key, they are very inexpensive these days, I can even use a 16GB USB key as a permanent hard drive for this PC if I wanted to. For now, I don't see this need tho.
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Yeows, if you know anyone interested in older PCs, pls share this thread with them. Maybe some interesting tip will come out of it.
I got this one just now: http://electrotelinc.com/?p=125 Govt. and certain organizations buy backup PCs in bulk when price is right. However, if the need doesn't arise, then they are just sold later at a much cheaper price. Such PCs have never been used. Same with most parts also. Again checkout the site above. This is only one such site I know off. There are also auctions etc., If all this is considered, there is all the more reason to get used PCs. But most are recycled via a good recycling program I was adviced. |
Another local store that sells old PCs I was adviced:
http://montreal.superpartyfactory.co...photoview=8240 However, their site is not active: www.electroniquedirect.com Wonder if they closed down. My contact told me he got a P4 tehre a fwe years ago for 160 bucks and not it costs 40 bucks. |
what about using it without X11 with mutt, ... , or alternatively using omapfb or fbdev ?
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This post made me realize that I am interested in Linux more from the point of reducing eWaste at this point. The fb option did comeup when setting up X but I never really looked deeper into it before as it was meant more for laptops and I am less of a laptop user. With P3 being the dead zone in North America and P4s being available real cheap, there are enough distros to serve these chipsets comfortably. It is very hard to find anything beyond P4 even in used PC shops due to no demand. Most of the earlier PCs have been recycled, the lesser few may remain gathering dust in attic in few homes. However, from theoretical interest, it will be good to know about these things. I already looked these up on the net. In the future, when the time is right, I might even try these things. One of the best distros for older PCs that is tempting to try is AntiX, it is based out of Greece. Given the economy there, folk are less likely to upgrade their PCs there and hence there will be more demand for maintaining older PCs. Also, Debian has like 10 CDs now for software I think, this is quite a bit indeed, makes these all the more tempting to try. But even this, I will reserve for the future. Edit: After this post, I felt a deep desire to check eBay for 75Mhz PC which is P1. There are almost none, 1 PC for sale in Canada that is 200Mhz, P1 CPU for sale as vintage at Cost of 10 bucks or so. Otherwise, this generation is totally out of the scene. So as much as this is not desired, practical observations also confirm this. |
This thread helped me find Mame:
http://www.vg-network.com/ed/mame/ and Mame downloads: http://www.vg-network.com/ed/mame/ |
Uses for old PC case:
http://www.squidoo.com/makeoldcomputer http://www.instructables.com/contest/deadcomputer/ These are quite good. It is a real pity that I upgraded me P1 and then threw it, real pity. Here is my rough estimate of how much actual old PCs will cost since used P4 Costs 30 Bucks: P3 would cost 15 bucks P2 would cost approx 5 to 8 bucks P1 would cost 1 to 3 bucks this is the entire PC. Also, they are heavy and bulky. So, too much for work for too little money. No wonder, we don't see these PCs even in dollar plus stores. However, further down the road, we can easily see the pi being sold at a dollar plus store as it is small and convenient. What we can see down the road tho. is simpler parts like Ram being sold in dollar stores as they are easy to ship and stock. |
This may sound weird but with the economy tanking etc., perhaps it is time to build a custom home or atleast parts of a home with old PC cases. Hopefully, some architects may get this idea. Here is a home built from shipping containers:
http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/...4-1b00133ff93f |
Man has abandoned a lot of hardware in the past. Here are some interesting examples:
http://englishrussia.com/2012/12/05/...n/#more-115102 http://englishrussia.com/2013/03/22/...s/#more-122074 Eventually we are going to see PCs like this some day, it is unavoidable. Hopefully, linux can delay this somewhat. |
The used P3 tower that I recently got was setup with Puppy Slacko 3.3.3
I had an old USB drive of 2Gb that I plugged into it. Able to save the pupsave file to it. This is recognized on boot by OS on CD. Takes 4 minutes to boot now, broswer is sort of slow but otherwise ok. Sounds works great on this, so it can be used to stream net radio. I will use this as my main PC for sometime unless something changes. This PC will last as long as the PSU lasts. Edit: On a different note Dell 410 laptops on sale for $69 locally, lowest price for local used laptop. Saw the P4 adn the P2 advertised on craigslist again, this means that there are no buyers for these yet. |
I am looking for a printer/scanner locally on freecycle, I respond to all offers for the same. This is more green. However, these seem to be in demand more. There is a chance that I might get one in the future. Then can use it with this PC.
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Had to share this here. Saw someone offer pi on sale for $99 at local kijiji, the kit with taxes costs 150 bucks or so locally new.
This is a start for the used pi already :) |
It will be interesting to extend the linux philosophy to other hardware and even in other aspects of our lives. This will encourage out of the box thinking and give creative solutions to some issues perhaps. I will try to brainstorm in this regard and see what I come up with.
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See after I got these older PCs, my uptime has slowly increased from 10mts per day to 6 hours even daily.
It is more green to not have PC on for so many hours per day. I need to walk more, then I will come across more hardware on street, specially on days when garbage is cleared: walking.about.com There is no more space for used PCs in my tiny apartment. So, it is better to find users for older PCs, so if I come across anymore these can be donated. Either that or I have to just keep the main parts and discard the rest. Alternatively, as and when I get better PCs, the older ones can be donated away on freecycle. Interms of parts, the following are interesting: 1. USB flash drives 2. WebCams 3. Memory 4. Ethernet Cards 5. Video and Sound cards 6. External hard drives 7. Printers/Scanner 8. DVDRW, CDRW drives. 9. CD/DVD media Everyweek it will help to ask for one of these on freecyle specifically. There is good learning from other users of older PCs: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/...11/407130.aspx http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...it-pocket.html http://www.onlyinfographic.com/2011/...-still-in-use/ When we look at the above, our PCs are far better. I mentioned here before my interest in learning LFS etc., However, there is a question: Does it help to reinvent the wheel ? The P4s are pretty advanced and a wide variety of distros are available for them. Used P4s are also pretty cheap. With this in mind, most older PCs have been recycled and it is getting harder to find them. So, rather than reinventing the wheel, it seems better to customize existing distros for efficient use of the P4s before even these become obsolete. From the theoratical point tho, learning the basics is still good. Need to find and read Dillo browser manual. It is a good browser but tricky to use. Familiarity will help in its use it appears |
Today, I went to salvation army stores to donate some clothes. Saw 2 used PCs there, this is all they had.
PC #1 HP Desktop Pentium 4 Ram missing. Case comes off easily (This can be solved with duct tape) Dust inside the case was like sweater It has 2 PCI cards for the older phone dialup modem (One is probably an upgrade) Price $20. COMMENTS: Not worth carrying this home(transportation), cleaning the insides well(air can cost) then try to get RAM for this and see if it works. POSSIBLE USE: Speak to manager and see if for a smaller amount they will allow the removal of the CDR/W drive, floppy drive etc., Even then, there is a chance that these will not work. PC #2 eMachine Case open in one side and cover is missing. However, everything seems to be intact inside. Also seems clean inside. Can only guess that the cover was either used for something else or got lost during the move. No price on this PC. 160GB hard drive DVD R/W Floppy Drive COMMENTS: Can bring this PC home and then use it for parts. Or better yet, remove parts in store and bring it home. Speak to manager about this. In reflection, when carrying this PC, if it slips or falls, it can cause serious injury and may also be damaged itself. Better to remove parts and not bring it home. GENERAL OVERVIEW: I was sad to see these PCs and they shocked me. I complained about this to the employees and they took them inside quickly. They looked worried. This is probably going to be the case of other PCs left on the curbside also. Need to think creatively on the solution about how these PCs can be used as opposed to focusing on the problem. In any case, it is very vital to open a used PC, check the insides. If buying from store, verify also that it boots properly and there are no other hardware issues, test sound, video and the ODD drives well, take blank CD/DVD and see if they burn ok (where burn ODD is present.) Wow, what an experience indeed. Most PC users are not tech savy and don't clean the insides regularly I am assuming at this time. This is something to be very careful about as if such a PC is plugged in and used directly, then it can cause a fire. |
See, in a few years, there will be more of these PCs even better ones and cheaper price. So, unless one is desperate, there is no point in wasting time with such stuff.
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I was just advised by email to come and get the printer/scanner. Went ASAP and got it. Glad to have it. Will try it later and see how it goes. Another good score for sure !! :))
She sent just one email and then didn't respond, it was not marked as taken either on freecycle. So, I kept emailing her politely and sweetly twice a day saying I would still like to have the printer if available. Soon as she had some time, she asked me to come on over and take it. |
Sometimes, I wonder if I am making too much of this recycling. There were transistor radio, valve radios, loud speakers, vinyl records, gramphone, telephones, cassette decks, cassette tape etc., before this. They have all been trashed it appears and we don't hear about them much or their effects. Comments welcome from all, specially negative comments/criticisms. Don't be hesitant, these are all good learning experiences.
Thanks in advance. |
console mode no?
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On a different note, a look at future technology. Networking thru powerlines:
http://www.futureshop.ca/EN-CA/product/id/10181670.aspx There are youtube videos on this also. Felt like sharing this here, it will help in future I feel. (Will be quite a few years before we see one of these on freecycle. However, we will see these on sale for sure, even at 50 bucks perhaps in a few years. Only question is, is so much networking really needed.) |
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http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/vie...852cd1672fe10b http://hplipopensource.com/hplip-web/downloads.html http://www.openprinting.org/printer/...t_F4480_series and also a thread on it at LQ http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...copies-806658/ EDIT: Wow, this is not easy at all. Lots to read and do for this at: http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=27519 Typing this in browser brings up CUPS printing: http://localhost:631/ Having hard time with this in Puppy Linux. Lots to install, configure. For printing it is detected as HPF4400 but doesn't print test page even. Ubuntu users say they have no issues using this device, including for scanning, it is detected auto: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1504751 Maybe I should just burn Ubuntu Live CD and use that just for this device to scan etc., Will try this later. Wow, I got the scan function working. Had to install the hplip*scan*.pet from below: http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/vie...=444080#444080 Tried installing the drivers for printing also from above but still not working, will think on that later printing is not that vital. Moreover, toners are also expensive. I can just print at library etc., of needed. Thanks to the net indeed for all these conveniences. |
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If they wanted 20 bucks for this PC, then I must have offered them 25 or even 30 bucks, taken a chance, gotten the PC home and used it for parts. Upon much reflection I have reached this conclusion. I will behave this way in the future in such stores. |
A lot of what I assumed in this thread in terms of general environment and healthy economy in Canada that will last forever is being questioned now. We can see other countries going thru bailouts and the challenges they are facing from net news/articles. Here is a proposal for a similar situation in Canada:
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/a...ernment-budget When this goes thru here in full, new PCs will not be affordable to most here also. Affordability of Power will also most likely be affected. Looking at those countries that have been thru such a situation and observing their PC usage will shed a more correct picture of the future in Canada as well. |
Here is an article that gives a micro view of what happens after a bail out to the common person and businesses:
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/a...e-global-elite I realize now that instead of building fantasies in clouds, the real picture needs to be understood first. Only, then can linux choices be made. If such a bail out happens, most stores that sell new PCs will go out of business as most simply can't afford them. Moreover, many will not be able to afford heating, electricity and net fees monthly. Lastly, jobs will be wiped out as businesses will be closed due to their funds being blocked. So, if there are any community organizations like a library that still get funding, then net can be used here in a very limited fashion. Net cafe's are another choice. However, ISPs simply can't afford to operate at such a low base, they may either have to charge far higher fees, or they may also close with their funds being blocked. So, PC use may be regulated to few hours, places when power is affordable/available. Also, if net is not available, which will most likely be the case, then PC use will be limited whatever software, media is already available. If you don't already have it, then there is a good chance you will not get it after the bail out. Lastly, PC manufacturers may themselves close if their funds are blocked and/or if they don't get enough sales etc., Old PCs may become valuable then. However, what will be more valuable will be pen and paper as more will have to resort to these. Books will also gain value. Folks may even take their old PCs in their attic out, clean the insides well, ensure that it works at a shop and may sell or barter it for other goods or services even. Support for Linux will drop greatly as older OS will do for most old PCs. There will be no real reason to develop new distros and if they are, these will be reserved for the elite few to benefit from the latest hardware that will be super expensive. |
Upon reflection, for those in regions with such challenges, a tablet PC would be very invaluable. No monthly fees, use in wifi spots if and where available. There will be great demand at these spots and very slow performance. Also, there may be places that one can charge such devices for a small fee. Keeping a few of these tablets in hand will be priceless as these will greatly increase in value.
Once the battery is done, chances are these tablets are toast. So, these will have to be used very sparingly only for the most vital communications, that too almost like telegram in older days. If one has an IT related job in such a market where resources are greatly challenged, a PC gets infected with malware and if it can be restored with Linux, then this will be greatly appreciated in such times. This will have to be a real quick fix tho, there will no time reinvent the wheel. So, keeping a few Linux OSes burned to media in hand for such PCs in advance would help. If it were me, I would burn and keep atleast five copies for each distro and keep in different locations if possible. |
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You can make excuses for the salvation army all you want- in the end if they dont know what they are selling, should they be selling it? Quote:
Waste of time and money if you want somethign long lasting and that you can work on IMO. Quote:
Computer manufacturers are not going to fail en mass anytime soon. Even if they did, theres plently of manufacturers who are bit players at best who could ramp up very quickly if needed or wanted. The government would not be able to regulate computer use. Power may be an issue, but computers use less power than many household applicances and some of the 'low power' solutions use less power than a lightbulb... Like the raspberry pi. Tiny power requirements, very cheap, very easy to get. Its also why IMO P2s and P3s arent worth working on anymore....you can get a Raspberry pi with as much or more CPU power, 512MB and very low heat output for a similar amout or less than the old p2/p3s. |
See, even without bailouts, things are like this in some places:
http://johngaltfla.com/wordpress/201...om-looks-like/ There are people who sell broken things online, they are honest about its condition and sell it as it is. Salvation army can do this also. Yes many there are also volunteers. Tablets are a practical solution in a very demanding situation atleast for the short term. Here is an example, consider the 65 year old man from Cyprus in that article provided earlier who lost all his savings. It would be wiser for him to sell his PC if he had one to assist his family, than use it. This would be the case for most it is expected. Lastly, Iceland was a very ideal situation, not everyone is going to go this way unfortunately. Let us consider a few countries that went thru a similar situation before: Argentina, Mexico, Russia etc., Net use is still there presently, but only among those who can afford it and are privileged to use it via job etc., It would be wonderful if Govts. gave free net, power and PCs for all but this is not the case. |
Dell is called a troubled PC maker as per this article
http://apnews.myway.com//article/201...DA5B2FG81.html Comments: Things like bail out, poor economy are all big issues with a lot of factors. A very small person like me can only share opinion on what they know from a very small perspective. Dell is quite a big PC maker. I didn't even expect such an article like the one above. I am still trying to understand what other rosy pictures I have about economy and other factors in general. It is a path of slow discovery. This is very hard to understand truly, but no clients = no sales = dead business. In a tight economy people are less likely to upgrade, if there are bail outs with life savings lost and no job, then a family in distress may even sell their PC for scrap to a poor farmer who pities them and gives them a meal in exchange for this. |
Yesterday, I was offered a 15" LCD monitor on freecycle. This was sitting in a cupboard for years and the owner wanted to absolutely give it away to make room for more stuff. I went and collected it. There were so many things offered on freecycle yesterday, I didn't want anything else. If someone here is looking for some IT stuff and don't mind it old, I encourage them to give freecycle a shot.
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A City in Calif. going bankrupt
http://tinyurl.com/bv3l92a: I am not even going about looking for this sort of info. It is just right out there on major sites. Now a Bankruptcy means lower funds and if this City moves to Linux and uses existing PCs as best as possible, then goes to older PCs when needed, it might be a good move. However, after all this, if there is a bailout there, then there is little hope. |
I came across something interesting that I had to share here. The City of Detroit is one of the former Major cities that is going down after it started the decline. Here is an image of the William Livingston House:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0...96.html#218556 He was one of the people who signed the US constitution: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Livingston Detroit is so poor, that this house can't be maintained. This is too much of an aside, however the book Collapse by Jared Diamond is an interesting related read. I am not saying that Linux is the only solution. However, if a company or city has serious financial issues and they are over spending in IT, then there is a high chance that they are doing the same in other areas also. Then, if this organization has to survive, then it has to be operated in console mode and any bloat identified and eliminated. Edit: I read this a while ago on a main site. Searched for this and adding it here. Once a City crumbles, then unwanted things happen: http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/08/...umping-ground/ Note: This can be sensitive to some, so adding the caution here. Also, there are a lot of trackers etc., on that link, so try to read it in console or text only mode if possible. |
Here is one podcast of a show that tries to give a true picture of things in North America as they are:
http://rss.infowars.com/20130401_Mon_Alex.mp3 This sounds a bit too much to me sometimes, however need to be open to info. from all. Now, I understand this is a global site so if you are interested in local info., then perhaps you can look for similar local sites online. The more I remove the rosy picture from my mind, the more I see things as they are and consider practical aspects, it gets better for me in using IT resources. |
America's most miserable cities (old report):
http://realestate.msn.com//article.a...entid=23468980 Looking at all these issues in practical terms, it appears that all that we have seen here will only spread both in quantity and quality to other cities as well. Then there will be an end point to all this downturn, this will not be pleasant. At this point and a 6 months to a year after that folks will see they have to get more practical and use only stuff that is REALLY useful. At this point along with older PCs and linux, even ballpoint pens may come back in a big way: http://www.stationeryreview.com/2011...ballpoint-pen/ Power will also be expensive, so why boot PC if task can be done by ballpoint pen and paper ? |
Some wonder if am a very negative person or a pessimist. However, I am trying to see things as they are
and as they will be, this is a practical approach. Rosy pictures are good for entertainment purposes but they are very undesirable for business, work and other practical decisions. I don't have a crystal ball and am not into divination etc., However, I do believe that history repeats itself and we all have Gutenberg and Wikipedia. When we take pieces from similar times in history, together with current data, then a better, more realistic picture of the future emerges. Malls are vital for sales and are at the forefront of sales pretty much. Look at all the dead malls in America that can easily be found via you tube. This trend is increasing and not decreasing. This is just a slight indicator of things to come. A real strong signal will be drop in revenue of phone, power and other utility companies as there are several groups of clients who are unable to pay. Sooner or later, these clients will be dropped. As this trend escalates, due to dropping revenues, these utility and phone companies will be forced to reduce staff. (Edit: Smaller ISPs maybe forced to just close. So, it will help to have extra copies of your favorite Linux OSes before hand. Consider alternate net arrangements. DL anything vital on the net and keep a hard copy of it burned to CD/DVD.) Here is some recent news on the Canadian Banking Situation: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2...rus-banks.html Based on all the info. so far, when things get bad, it will get to be like the Great Depression. Due to the effects of such a situation, we can even see top level people ending their lives or disappearing. Also, we can see crime increase like it did during the great depression. Here is info. on one such from the past: http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/...john-dillinger On a different note, a very nice person offered me Zip Drive and media for the same. Once I collect them and try them, I will share the review here. |
Here is a small goodie for those who read this thread. John Dillinger was so famous that a movie about him was made. You can see this at:
http://archive.org/details/Ma_Barkers_Killer_Brood EDIT: Sometimes it is good to take a break from Linux and relax. :) |
When you play a video game, sometimes you have a radar button that gives you a view of what is out there. The article below is like that. It gives you a view of the economic environment in America:
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/a...ne-should-know In this regard, it is good that more linux goodies are coming out like this one for older PCs with 1.4Ghz CPU and 1Tb Ram (hope those with 512Mb Ram can use 512Mb swap and get away with it: http://emmabuntus.sourceforge.net/ I didn't DL this ISO, however I went thru the list of apps being offered with it, it was a very educative experience. I hope that more such are offered. More is always better than less in this case. In a few years many of these OSes will disappear from the net. So, if you like something it is better to DL and save it. There was an amazing site called bettahelp.com it offered excellent advice on how to care for Betta Fish and related stories. The owner was very nice and even offered to mail me a heater for my Betta Fish at her cost for winter. The site went down a long time ago and is never back. I don't keep pet fish anymore, but still regret not DLing that site to this day very much. Sites come and go, there are hosting fees, domain issues, site owners move on with their lives etc., So, if you like something on net and find it very helpful, DL it and make a hard copy of it on CD/DVD. Once it is gone from net, it is gone. |
To be sincere, I was a painter of these rosy pictures before. I have worked in sales before including IT sales.
Also, I paint rosy pictures: http://rvijay.deviantart.com/ I have given mini abstract paintings for free to some former coworkers and grocery cashiers. These were much appreciated. I keep a few sometimes in my wallet. These are good to see when stuck in traffic or waiting for an appointment etc., I might do Linux art in the future. The not so great part in this regard is that a lot of good FREE open source software for artists is coming out in 64bit architecture. Having older PC is not that convenient for this. However, I feel it is better to make do with what is available. So I know quite a bit about Rosy Pictures and how they can be used to mislead. Here is a side goodie, uses for old Cell Phones: http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-...-phone-1117784 Alas Babylon is a very good book to read in regards to this thread. It is a fairly old book but still in copyright. Literature is fun and relaxing. The one great thing about Linux community is that assistance is offered when asked in a friendly and polite manner. There is no negative human behavior for the most part. This makes it encouraging for others to contribute in the best way they can. In case I am absent here for a while, it means that I have nothing new to share in this thread and am more busy with real life. Then it will be a good time for those interested in this thread to go back and review some of the links provided here before. Even before, I have been on and off on LQ, sometimes even took few years break from here at times. MS is not bad. We all need money to live. Selling is not bad, even via this thread I am selling ideas. Also, since this is linux site, I am just speaking about over spending in IT. It is almost sure those cities that are doing bad are overspending in other areas as well, the specifics of which will never be known to small persons like myself. We can very vaguely only guess them to be construction, having extra employees etc., Also, economy is not constant, it is always flowing, sometimes it is up and sometimes down, sometimes it is quite up and sometimes quite down. Zip Drive Collection I walked for 2 hours and collected the Zip Drive, media offered via freecycle. It was a good experience, returned home by bus. The zip drive has to be mounted at a mount point for 100Mb media. Sometimes it doesn't work and have to try again. We are always told that the web is becoming more powerful and we need better PCs, this made me look into Dillo browser more that was designed to work on even i486. Getting used to it is a process. For web email login etc., this is still not working for me and I use lynx browser for this. Seamonkey browser only if very vital and there is no other choice. Books and DVDs were offered via freecycle today. Apart from clutter, the time involved in arranging the pickup and getting the item(s) are precious, so unless really needed, or the item will give me a new good location, contact I will not try to get items from freecycle. |
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- Actually why not using a ncurses Operating system?
Check maybe the nOS manager (ncurses lib). (It supports reading various formats: pdf, txt, *.c, html, jpg with aa lib, avi's with fbdev, youtube browser, ... ) Enjoy Linux :) http://boards.openpandora.org/index....m-for-pandora/ - alternative there is Twin for ncurses http://sourceforge.net/projects/twin/ both are nice |
Based on recent experiences, I decided to learn more about lightweight browsers for linux.
Browsing is mostly what forces the average person to get a new PC. I am surprised to find there are good choices for light weight browsers for linux. When I get the time, I would like to try a few more of them one by one. Here are some related helpful links: http://linuxtidbits.wordpress.com/20...eight-browser/ http://getswiftfox.com/ http://www.compmiscellanea.com/en/li...-for-linux.htm http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10t...ng-system/2120 http://vavai.net/2010/01/7-lightweig...ng-experience/ http://linuxaria.com/article/browser-linux?lang=en http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/12-wort...ers-for-linux/ Glad to find this topic has already been well looked into by the Linux Community, excellent solutions porvided so many choices. As usual, I would DL all these lightweight ones and store. Atleast the top 5. It also helps to see the selling points of new PCs, speak to even sales folks on the floor and see why they feel the newer PCs are better and for what tasks. Then look for apps on net that will do the same tasks with linux on an older PC. This is the best logic and a wonderful learning experience I got from yesterday. If this is the case, I can get away with Floppy Drives itself. Peter: nCurses, nOS and twin are all tempting as they even support youtube. So a tempting try for sure for the future. However, I feel a bit lazy at this point having spent so much time with Puppy Linux. If browser is tha main drawback for using older PC, it seems best to get a light weight browser. I thought of marking this thread as solved a few pages back, now I am glad I didn't. It has been such an awesome learning experience. If anyone has anything else related to share, please do so without any hesitation. Even if no one uses it immediately, it will be a good reference point for the future. Thanks in advance for this. Someone offered me cables on freecycle, this was an old pickup that was already arranged. However, ice pellets are falling, so am taking it a bit easy before going to collect these. I wish to walk for this appointment also, watching the scenary, the people and even just the skies is a wonderful experience. |
Yesterday the weather was perfect, I had a very nice walk for 3 hours
to and fro, went and collected my Cable. The traffic was very light and not too many people on the street, so the sky was also good to watch. Wiki link on nCurses for anyone interested in knowing more about this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ncurses This thread has shown me many times that I am thinking in a box and need to think more openly. Here is one such again. I have been focusing mostly on desktops. Think of older laptops and suddenly this thread becomes very valuable. P3 Laptops on sale locally for 55 bucks. This is not so bad a deal. Glad there is still demand for older laptops. Lowest price I have seen for a laptop locally. The P4 for 30 bucks deal is still on. This means that the P2 Laptop is around 30 bucks if one is found. Considering this, there is still a lot of value for this thread. If such a laptop is found, there is so much info. here to keep it functional and useful. The more related info. I gather, the more I am glad that I didn't abandon this thread/topic. Laptops are more easily stolen, lost. However, if one can use an older laptop, then the chances of it being lost are greatly reduced, moreover if data is backedup properly, then even if laptop is lost, the loss is not so big as compared to a new one. If used well this old laptop will give great returns for its cost. Now if a P3 used laptop is 65 bucks (with tax/metro ticket to buy), then a used P2 laptop is worth around 20 to 30 bucks, if these can be found. So, this P2 laptop suddenly becomes very functional with all the tips discussed here. I suggest all here interested to locally look for one such laptop either online on freecycle etc., or spread the word around with your contacts. Or better yet, perhaps you have one such gathering dust in your attic or cupboard. On a differet note, CD and DVD burners are still very valuable and in demand. If you can get one at a very reasonable price or for free, simply grab it. If you find a desktop or laptop with some parts stripped at a goodwill store, then still grab it for parts, if it has CD or DVD burner PSU, memory etc and costs around 20 to 30 bucks., |
See, I am not saying that Linux is permanent. There is a lot of change with Linux itself. Some of the earlier developers of Debian,
BSD and other very older distros seem to even be no more even now. Also, we are getting new hardware that do new tasks sometimes and these may need new PCs, OS. But not all will need these. So, with Linux we can reduce this rate of change and forced upgrades. I remember my earlier days with Linux in 2003 or so, I got laid off from a job selling high end PCs and was given collective lay off after 9/11. Then my PC had a virus and it crashed. I had to reinstall OS and start from scratch, bought CD burner for 75 bucks or so to backup stuff then. DVD readers were just about coming in. I decided to learn Linux to avoid virus etc., Initially, I had several issues with linux and it will not boot, hang a little after basic boot with hardware error message. Had to make hard drive secondary etc., with jumpers. Also, once it started working, there were several other issues. The guy who helped me for free on the net was real patient. Finally, at the end I asked him what distro you are using, it seems to work so well ? He responded: "Floppy Linux" I was dumb stuck. He was so good that he didn't need anything else to support me with my then most recent hardware !! If I were that good today and said that, folks will think I am a Ghost, evil spirit or Vampire. They will not believe I am a human. It helps to listen to the complaints of PC users very carefully, specially the more serious ones and the ones that repeat often. Then try to find Linux solutions for them. This is an amazing chance for Linux to develop and grow. Chances are most likely, solutions to these issues already exist. |
A look into the future:
http://linux.slashdot.org and http://www.prisonplanet.com/new-darp...oks-human.html Looking into the future from net sites also gives a good glimpse of likely future linux challenges for older PCs and the environment. I have used Midori browser as part of Slitaz Linux low ram version and find Dillo to be faster than Slitaz. |
30K Greek Households loosing power monthly:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-0...ity-each-month Above is a good picture of what happens after bailout inregards to power. No power = no PC use. Tablets are a blessing in this case, use them minimally for vital tasks in wifi spots and try to charge them when needed at a public place where allowed or at the place of some one with power who allows this. There is so much learning in this thread, to be sincere I don't have time to go thru it all. Here are my weaknesses in relation to this topic: Complacency, over-confidence and fatigue/laziness. If these are overcome, then I will learn more here and be more comfortable with older IT stuff. However, with time the chances are getting to be less likely and I will face the related results. If you have any info. related to old PCs don't hesitate to share here. We can just dump all info. in this thread and use what is needed as and when needed. I am working on reducing uptime again and using pen, stereo, eReader, color pencils more. This is good for eyes and also more green. |
Getting an older PC working may not have financial gain. However, it can create a long lasting
friendship that is more rewarding in the longer run. Mac hardware is similar to PC hardware as per this site. So Linux Live CDs and all other tips shared here must work on Mac PCs: http://forum.notebookreview.com/wind...-hardware.html Older Macs are also slower on net etc., so will need lightweight browsers. |
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I was adviced that Yellow Dog Linux from 1999 supported Power PC
But it is not free it appears. |
My special thanks to Timothy Miller for his post about Mac and Linux. I must admit
I used a Mac last in 1994 or so. Never used one after that. So, based on just one internet forum discussion I assumed that linux will work like a charm on even older Mac's. In this case, as I wrote in just one of my former recent posts that my negative aspects are complacency and over confidence. Well they did come to play already. I am glad it happened in this thread and not in someone else's home or office when I tried this for real. I sincerely thank all those who correct me when I am wrong or go off track here. If I come across an older Mac, it will be interesting to try a few distros and see what kind of error messages, challenges comeup. Will also be nice to try Yellow Dog Linux if possible. However, for the most part I am not a Mac user. |
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In my opinion, you can achieve the same aas with x11. There is too fb that you can use. you can use as well mplayer. (some shots of one example (ncurses pim)) |
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