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Free Geek Robbed
Posted by
kdawson
on Mon Nov 20, 2006 03:40 PM
from the free-as-in-ripped-off dept.
from the free-as-in-ripped-off dept.
Ellen Wilson writes, "Portland, Oregon, non-profit Free Geek, which turns old PCs into Linux boxen, has been robbed of about $4500 worth of hardware. Portlanders are asked to keep an eye out for suspicious sales of Ubuntu laptops." This blog post has some details of labeling that could help to spot the stolen laptops. BoingBoing picked up the story and added that another local outfit, the Independent Publishing Resource Center, which supports Portland's zine scene, had been hit on the previous night.
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Free Geekin' (Score:4, Informative)
Not a book . . . (Score:3, Interesting)
The only question would be to aim for the knees or the solar plexus.
Kaypro (Score:3, Funny)
I was seriously considering buying it. That was one fine luggable CPM Computer !
kaypro for sale [craigslist.org]
I still insist that a Kaypro and an Epson MX-80 is enough computer for any person.
I even had a text only version of Lode Runner on that baby.
Awwww . . . (Score:3, Informative)
Also, Osbournes had rounded edges. The Kaypro luggables I remember hard square edges. That would hurt a lot more.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Just fire away, geez.
Re:Not a book . . . (Score:4, Funny)
aim early, aim often...
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Shouldn't that be:
"Gaim early, Gaim often..."
I'll get my coat...
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Free Geekin' (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Business in the US gets robbed (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Business in the US gets robbed (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
About 5 years ago I was robbed (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:About 5 years ago I was robbed (Score:5, Funny)
Did you then wave them around like you just didn't care?
Parent
There's only one reply possible to that... (Score:3, Funny)
Got a wired box to show you
To telnet the boys and girls
Shell your brother, your sister and your momma too
Windows is going down
And you know what just to do
Wave your RAM in the air like you don't care
Run Glide with your games as hackers stop and stare
DVD and DVD and DVD then boot
Come on Linux tell me what's the word
Word op! Everybody say
When you hear the system call your drive will be getting underway.
Linux not ready for prime time (Score:5, Funny)
Nine out of ten thieves agree, Linux is not ready for prime time.
Parent
Uh. (Score:5, Funny)
So, ANY sales of Ubuntu laptops?
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Boxen Is Not A Word (Score:2, Insightful)
Please stop using this boxen word. There is no such thing is boxen. The plural of box is boxes.
This madness must stop. Anytime somebody says boxen in real life to me gets a punch in the face.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Personally, I think it's an imminently useable colloquialism.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Now I can't decide whether you had a good point or not.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Boxen [thefreedictionary.com]
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Boxen Is Not A Word (Score:4, Informative)
I remember using the term back in the early 80s, so it was around before then (i.e., I didn't invent it, either.)
My guess is it derives from "vaxen" which is, of course, the plural of VAX, one of the most popular computer systems in universities in the 70s. Although, now that I think about it, vaxen probably derived from boxen, not the other way around, so the term is likely from even earlier.
It's a rather obvious derivation:
ox --> oxen
box --> boxen
Makes sense to me.
Parent
Re:Boxen Is Not A Word (Score:5, Funny)
Allowing new words to the language embiggens us all. Besides that, it's a perfectly cromulent word.
Parent
Re:Boxen Is Not A Word (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Boxen Is Not A Word (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Boxen Is Not A Word (Score:5, Funny)
But then that's probably just me.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Sounds like burglary (Score:4, Informative)
Really eager to use Ubuntu (Score:4, Funny)
Don't get me wrong (Score:2, Interesting)
I also think that giving computers away to needy people is admirable.
But don't you think the folks at FreeGeek doing sort of a disservice to those they give computers to? Linux is not the easiest to learn, and once it is learned the skills are only applicable to less than 5 percent of all computers.
If I were a poor person scraping to get by, one of these computers may just convince me that computers are not f
teaching a man to fish (Score:5, Informative)
I do volunteer work at FreeGeek. I teach the command line class once a week.
Freegeek does more than just hand out boxes. They teach people how to make the boxes. They teach people how to use the boxes. They empower people to fix their own stuff.
They're not always successful mind you. It's still a wonderful endeavor.
Right here I'd insert a "Teach a man to fish" line... but you get the idea.
-Tony
Parent
Re:teaching a man to fish (Score:5, Funny)
You mean like: Give a man a Linux box and he'll be confused for a day; Teach a man Linux and he'll be confused for the rest of his life?
I kid, of course... ;)
Parent
Re:Don't get me wrong (Score:5, Insightful)
Your post reminds me of teachers I had in high school who had the mentality that we were "just kids" who couldn't be expected to learn without being forcefed. Poor does not equal stupid; give people the opportunity to learn and they will surprise you.
Parent
Re:Don't get me wrong (Score:5, Interesting)
First off, we use Linux because it is the only possibility. Free Geek distributes over 100 computers a month. All of these have Ubuntu and Open Office (and many other programs) on them. How much would Windows XP and Microsoft Office cost to license for each computer? 500 dollars each? That would add up to 50,000 dollars a month. Free Geek doesn't have 50,000 dollars a month, period, and if we did, we probably wouldn't choose to spend it on software license fees. It could also be possible, I suppose, to beg for some sort of non-profit site license, but that would require a very strict accounting procedure. At Free Geek, the operating system is installed over the network. To install Windows, we would have to move to installing from master CDs, which we would then have to keep under lock and key, and keep a strict tallying of where systems were going. In addition, while the situation with hardware at Free Geek isn't what it used to be (the original system specs were for medium range Pentium-Is, which could only support Debian), it is also true that Ubuntu runs on our available hardware the way any Windows Operating System couldn't. Next year, we will probably be sending out systems around a Gigahertz with 256 Megs of RAM...something that Windows Vista will almost certainly not run well on.
Second, even if somehow Microsoft said we could put out as many computers as we wanted for free, I have never seen evidence that Windows is intrinsically simpler than Linux. Yes, people are used to it. But it is not like there is some awesomely hard concepts that Ubuntu Linux throws on the average user that Windows does not. Yes, working in command line is hard (but not something that I haven't taught dozens of people to do in a half hour or so), but on a modern distribution, you are only working on the command line for certain special uses. The things that you are going to fix on the command line are not things you are going to easily fix in Windows, either. Anyway, I have seen many people, many of them quite marginal in terms of education and past experience, pick up the simpler side of Linux in a few hours. I have also taught dozens or hundreds of people,from the age of 12 to the age of 82, many with no computer experience, how to take apart and rebuild computers, and how to install and use Linux on it. Yes, some people still prefer Windows afterwards, but I have yet to see a gigantic reaction of shocked incomprehensibility to Linux. It does take some effort to learn, but it isn't impossible.
Basically, the only real reason people change over to Windows from a Free Geek computer is to play games.
Parent
Teaching 'recipies' is disempowering. (Score:5, Informative)
This is not true, but unfortunately it's a fairly common line of thinking. Although the parent comment was quickly modded "Troll" here on Slashdot, it would probably be taken quite seriously at a local PTA meeting. (Actually, come to think of it, pretty much everything that gets said in local town meetings ought to qualify for '-1 Flamebait'...but I digress.)
A whole lot -- practically all -- basic computer skills are platform-independent and interchangeable. If you're trying to teach someone who's never used a computer much before, and you're teaching skills that are very specific to one OS, you're doing something wrong. The basic concepts of computers today are widespread: the "desktop metaphor" with folders/documents arranged in hierarchies, use of the mouse to open/close/arrange windows, use of a browser to access the WWW, basic email concepts -- all of those things are the same, whether you're using a Mac, or Windows, or KDE, or Gnome (or even something more exotic). Heck, most mainstream OSes these days even have more similarities: a program-launcher bar at the bottom of the screen (in some form or another) is pretty common, as are the File and Edit menus, and Cut/Copy/Paste.
There really isn't much diversity anymore in computer operating systems, at least not in the major Linux GUIs, plus Mac and Windows. The differences are mostly either technical or trivial (mounted disks on desktop vs. in "My Computer," icons on left of screen or right, etc.). A person with a good set of basic skills, ought to be able to accomplish basic tasks on an already set-up system running either OS.
Teaching someone mindless procedural 'recipes' that allow them to do a task, without any conceptual understanding of what they're doing along the way, is really doing them a disservice. Telling someone "this is how you check email," and making them memorize some steps, which will stop working and leave them stranded with the next OS upgrade or interface change, is truly disempowering.
IMO, all basic computer classes, particularly those aimed at children, should be taught using computers that have a non-standard GUI and OS (which would follow conventionally accepted metaphors and design principles, but not be carbon copies of systems they might have already seen), to encourage critical thinking rather than mere procedural memorization and repetition.
Parent
I'll help (Score:4, Interesting)
I think checking CraigsList and eBay can be helpful, although I've never had much luck with eBay. A friend of mine found his laptop on CraigsList and contacted the seller to buy it. Once he had met the individual, he was able to 'persuade' the individual into to giving it back.
I can't stand thieves in the first place, but from FreeGeek? That's low.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I know, I mean I can't stand a thief without a Code of Ethics.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I think everything after your third word was redundant... "I'm in Portland" pretty much implies the rest
But yeah, it's pretty low stealing from FreeGeek.
Has any thought been given to....... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Sony batteries, after all.
What's a zine? (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Not to disagree too much (Score:4, Informative)
A graphics card:
http://wiki.duskglow.com/tiki-index.php?page=Open
Various Open Source processors:
http://www.opencores.org/ [opencores.org]
Of course their efforts are somewhat hampered by the fact that chip manufacturing equipment is awfully expensive. If you could buy a Star Trek style replicator for the price of a PC, I guess we would see a lot more free hardware.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:20 hours for a used PC? (Score:5, Insightful)
I just wonder how many people are willing to do 20 hours for something that would only require half that number of hours to buy outright in an average-wage job. Do you get a lot of takers?
You're making the mistake of assuming that earned income = disposable income. Many of our volunteers are there because that $50 they *could* spend to get one of our computer systems has to go towards putting food on the table, paying rent, and so on instead; saving up such an amount of money could take weeks, and it still means parting with hard-earned cash.
The volunteer labor isn't of the unpleasant "scrub the toilets, sawdust pools of vomit" variety at all. We teach our volunteers the basics of how computers work, starting with identifying each component and explaining how it all works together. Then we put them in tear down, where they remove most components from to-spec machines (or strip under-spec machines to bare metal), sort components into bins for subsequent testing, and put scrap plastic and metal aside for recycling. This process is supervised by a staff member, and everybody seems to enjoy it: taking imposing devices apart seems pretty cathartic to most of the folks who partake in the workflow, and they seem to like asking questions about why various components look different and function differently. After this, they get moved into testing, where they plug components into known working hardware and use our pre-determined testing procedures and separate the good from the bad (which, of course, also get recycled). Phase three is where they plug known working components together in a case and then proceed to install the operating system, with our help. We also teach them how to use the machine and offer free walk-in support if they encounter any problems. Nobody is stuck in a given process for any particular number of hours: rather, we let people do what they like doing most, but of course encourage them to do everything and learn as much as possible.
If you think all that's not worth 20 hours, that's your business. There are plenty of people who believe otherwise, and we welcome their presence, questions, and curiosity.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
>$ dict boxen
3 definitions found
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Boxen \Box"en\ (b[o^]ks"'n), a.
Made of boxwood; pertaining to, or resembling, the box
({Buxus}). [R.]
[1913 Webster]
The faded hue of saple
Re:Applying logic seen on Slashdot (Score:4, Informative)
Two points: first, in five years, large scale breaches of security have not been common.
Second, as much as there was stuff taken, there was a lot more valuable stuff not taken, due to security measures that you will have to guess at.
Parent