From ahogan2 at lsu.edu Thu Feb 2 09:21:27 2006 From: ahogan2 at lsu.edu (Adam J Hogan) Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 09:21:27 -0600 Subject: [brlug-poly] [brlug-general] Old PCs Message-ID: Only problem I have is getting dsl to load on the computer. After about 20 minutes, all that had loaded was X and the cpu meter. Maybe I could install it on a different computer and move the HD. Other issue: The computers I have will probably be used as an incentive for some students in my school. Our computer teacher and I are working on getting them set up. She is vaguely familiar with GNU/Linux (I gave her a Live CD). Her feeling is that Windows is the way to go because most people will buy software and hardware without understanding that it may not be supported. These people will probably never use a package manager to install programs. They may not even know that it is GNU/Linux. All they will know is that their game doesn't work or their new tax software can't be installed. Should I have freedom to install the OS I want and place a file on the desktop for people to read explaining program acquisition via apt, for example, and why most commercial software won't work? Is freedom of program use a freedom to be valued when users have no understanding? The people who will be receiving these computers will most likely live in projects and may not know anything about software. Does freedom of program use outweigh freedom of modification and distribution if people have no clue about these freedoms? Just looking for opinions. Carl W. wrote: after testing mepis, feather, puppy, and others i settled on dsl for my 166mhz 32mb toshiba tecra, you may have seen me dragging it about at sig meetings. With the help of members i have learned to configure stuborn hardware and load numerous packages for the system. I would be happy to help you with it if you need help. I chose to work with live cd versions for the excellent hardware detection they provide, and it's great to just pop a cd in and see how it works before commiting to the installation process. From ECRichards at fbd.com Tue Feb 28 09:07:57 2006 From: ECRichards at fbd.com (Richards Jr, Edward C.) Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 09:07:57 -0600 Subject: [brlug-poly] Is this where Bill wants us to be in the future? Message-ID: http://www.aclu.org/pizza/images/screen.swf Funny and scary at the same time. Ed This email, including any attached files, may contain confidential and privileged information. Any review, use, distribution or disclosure of included information by unintended recipients is strictly prohibited. If you are not a named recipient or authorized to receive and / or act on information sent to a named recipient, or have reason to believe you are not or should not be one of the named recipients, please notify sender accordingly by reply email and delete all copies of this message prior to forwarding, copying or otherwise reproducing this message or attachments thereto. For information regarding the export control status of items discussed in this document, please refer to the project control list. Thank you. From williamhill2 at cox.net Tue Feb 28 12:04:35 2006 From: williamhill2 at cox.net (Will Hill) Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 12:04:35 -0600 Subject: [brlug-poly] Is this where Bill wants us to be in the future? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <200602281204.35630.williamhill2@cox.net> Awesome and well done. While the library information might be a little overboard, your "reward" and credit card can easily provide all of the other information to those willing to pay the price. This is the kind of thing that used to cost a gossipy local grocer his business in the past but does nothing to chain stores. RFID will make things much worse if we let it. I can imagine insurance and financial companies playing the same game. Ten years ago, someone my wife and I knew told us how she looked up all her friend's debt information when she worked as a clerk at a collection agency. She found medical information and tormented a mutual friend with it in front of us. The "Choice Point" scandal shows us how close we are. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choicepoint Other information presented should remain public. Directory listings and crime statistics are useful public records, compiled at public expense. While the nightmare is obvious the fix is not. Some information needs to be public and there are serious free speech issues involved with the rest. On Tuesday 28 February 2006 09:07 am, Richards Jr, Edward C. wrote: > http://www.aclu.org/pizza/images/screen.swf