[H-GEN] HEADS UP: Debian for Kids

[Frank Brand]

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>This all proves that it can be done. It may not be fast, but these kids
don't
>have a chance to get anything else. So at least whatever we can figure out
>will help them learn to use a computer properly(i.e. Learn Linux).


That it can be done was never, never in question. Whether it is a wise thing
to do? Whether you can get programmes that do what is required etc. and
whether the solution will be fast enough to be perceived as useable? They
are some of the questions. I say perceived as usable because in the early
1990's we thought that 486's were fantastic...now we call them unuseable
because we have seen something much better, faster with more RAM and lotsa
hard drive capacity. I am not sure that there is no alternative for these
kids. I occasionally go and sort out written-off equipment for a Brisbane
organisation. They put old gear in the warehouse until it becomes a problem
taking up too much space; then I go and sort out what is working and useable
and they offer it to non-profit organisations. Last time I did that there
were twenty machines  (mostly P133/P166 with 40 Mb RAM and 1.2+ hard drives
and 15" Samsung monitors). Socket 7 systems are not that easy to sell on the
second hand market and P75-P133 boxes are probably not of any more value
than 486's...it is a struggle to get more than $300 with a P166/32 Mb
RAM/1.2 HDD/CDROM/15" monitor/sound etc. Many organisations make these
available to needy groups. I know of a non-government schools that receive
P166's from a government department.  So, firstly the need to use 486's
these days is questionable. Secondly, as I have previously noted, these
machines are probably at least 6-8 years old with a high probability of
failure in the near future. Thirdly, I think that some alternative would be
relatively attainable (eg DOS 6/Win 3.1 - there are stacks of legal disks
out there for that) or an alternative such as DRDOS/GEOS which, with a
little bit of asking, would be made available free of charge.

I refer you to AJ's response, which is exactly the sort of thing I was
referring to:-

"Personally, I'd suspect you're more likely to be compared to a 800MHz
P3s running W2k or W98 ("What my friends have"), in which case you'll
severely lose out on interesting games and email vi^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hsuch
like, and you probably won't have many desktopy programs (Gnome and KDE
will probably be unusable on a 486). Depending on what you're trying to
achieve, that might be okay. The only thing you'll win on is price."

I personally know a few families (maybe more than a few) and, because I come
across gear that can add up (part by part) into a computer, I build up older
boxes and find an old monitor and give them to needy people. Almost
invariably they love them ...for about 3 days...then they ring and say can I
get a CDROM....can I get a sound card....how can I play Quake like my mates
etc etc. Then they are used very rarely! Sad but that is my experience!

I am a long term Linux user and I have used most of the common distributions
from the 1.2 Kernel onwards (Slackware, Debian, Red Hat, Caldera, Mandrake)
but I try not to be an operating system biggot, my training (and I suspect
most people's training) is to find out what you want to do and find the best
solution for your problem...not to start with the basis that the answer to
your problem is Linux.



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