Jim Lawrence
accessd at shaw.ca
Thu Mar 14 00:48:50 CDT 2013
Hi Hans: I had never heard of CrunchBang before. My education has been sadly neglected. According to its reviews it only uses 80 MB of RAM when just sitting. That is incredible by today's expectations. It also supports 386SX boards all the way up to 64bit platforms. Jim -----Original Message----- From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Hans-Christian Andersen Sent: Wednesday, March 13, 2013 2:31 PM To: Discussion of Hardware and Software issues Subject: Re: [dba-Tech] What if Microsoft... Arthur, That's awesome. I'm one of those nerds who hates to throw away old hardware. That old piece of junk was once bleeding edge hardware. Maybe it can't handle all the bells and whistles of a Windows 7 desktop, but throw on Linux and it still is just as useful. Another distro that I would recommend is CrunchBang (or #! for short). It's even more minimalist than Ubuntu is (running OpenBox as the WM/desktop and a Debian-based distro, so Ubuntu users should be familiar), so it's even faster. - Hans * Hans-Christian Andersen **Web Application Developer, Vancouver, Canada* E: hans at phulse.com T: +44 (0)20 7193 7841 L: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/andersenhc http://www.nokenode.com/ *Unique Gifts, Collectables, Artwork* *Come one, come all to.... *www.corinnajasmine.com * * On 13 March 2013 13:35, Arthur Fuller <fuller.artful at gmail.com> wrote: > Good point, Hans. There's a store in my neighbourhood that's part of a > small chain (4 or 5) and they sell a lot of refurbished and off-lease > equipment for peanuts. It's amazing what can be had for < $100, tax > included. Some of them are even Windows 7 already. Swap Ubuntu or similar > in and suddenly it's a screamer. Way faster than a VM, too. > > In my semi-retirement, I find myself doing work for various volunteer and > non-profit orgs, and in that scene money is critical, as in, we ain't got > any. If there's a copy of Word, chances are somebody brought it in. They > feel vaguely guilty, but in a rape-crisis centre MS is not a priority. > Still, they like the idea of cleaning up their act, and a quick tour of one > the Linux desktops and then one of the office OpenOffice or Libre, plus > proof that the printer still works, is about all it takes. Then when you > show them how many free apps are already installed and how many thousands > more are a few mouse-clicks away... All free? You're speaking our language! > > It's really fun taking a dinosaur box and turning it into a perfectly > serviceable computer. Especially when it's old enough that it still has a > diskette drive, currently in use as a paperweight. :) > A. > > _______________________________________________ > dba-Tech mailing list > dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com > _______________________________________________ dba-Tech mailing list dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com