
Welcome to America: Here's Your Linux Computer - FOSSSquirrel
http://opensource.com/life/15/6/five-linux-programs
======
meesterdude
What a wonderful story! and really a great gesture on multiple accounts, and
very thoughful for sure.

Even something like a raspberry pi would be more than enough for someone like
a kid who wants to learn and just needs a means to do so.

I never could afford a computer as a kid growing up. All my computers were
donations or throwaways that I tinkered with and learned on and fixed up. My
first computer was an SE/30 that was getting thrown away. I ABSOLUTELY would
not be where I am today if it was not for the kindness of others who gave me
the opportunities to tinker and learn.

~~~
bliti
Yes, some of us have these kind of stories. Yours is remarkable! A computer
that was getting trashed. That is amazing. I can try and imagine the sense of
wonder that it woke up inside of you.

To share a somewhat related story: My first computer was a C64. It was given
to us (two brothers and me) by my parents. We were not rich. Lived in a low
income neighborhood. Education was important to our parents. But, the funny
thing is that we almost got a Nintendo! My oldest brother suggested the C64
instead. I was furious (six years old at the time). My first code was written
in that wonderful machine.

It doesn't end there! I had a hiatus from computers when the C64 broke! My
middle brother had bought a computer for college and I wanted one. Well, he
didn't use it that much. I had an old car. I traded the car for the computer.
I met my wife through that computer. Not only that, but it allowed me to
connect to the web and learn about software. For which resources were not
available where I lived. :D

------
nshung
"For digital inclusion and a more inclusive future" as the author states in
the article, I am also leading this[1] project for kids in Myanmar/Burma who
literally stuck in the civil war between Myanmar Army and local rebel
forces.[2] We are just a bunch of volunteers(refugees) from Myanmar who have
been relocated to Norway because of the civil war. With Raspberry Pi, we want
people to have access to basic education and literacy even in a freaking civil
war zone. Never give up!

1\. [https://laizalibrary.org](https://laizalibrary.org) 2\.
[http://time.com/3598969/kachin-independence-army-kia-
burma-m...](http://time.com/3598969/kachin-independence-army-kia-burma-
myanmar-laiza/)

------
mey
If you are in the Portland OR metro area and need a computer or have old
computers to donate, please check out
[http://www.freegeek.org/](http://www.freegeek.org/)

They have programs for volunteer work in refurbishing (where you learn about
computers) get your own system in return.

[http://www.freegeek.org/#volunteer](http://www.freegeek.org/#volunteer)

~~~
LukeShu
And if you are in the Taylor, Texas area, check out
[http://reglue.org/](http://reglue.org/)

Ken Starks gave a heart-touching presentation on Reglue at this year's
LibrePlanet conference (and accepted the FSF's Award for Projects of Social
Benefit on behalf of Reglue). Unfortunately, the recording of Ken's
presentation doesn't seem to be up on the LibrePlanet site, but I'm fairly
certain that mtjm.eu has it somewhere.

------
dbbolton
Off topic writing criticism: avoid using synonyms for "said", like "replied",
"inquired", and "countered". It's ostentatious and distracting. Let the dialog
speak for itself, and only add the bare minimum needed for the reader to keep
track of who's saying what:

[http://bookblog.kjodle.net/2011/06/he-said-she-said-the-
fine...](http://bookblog.kjodle.net/2011/06/he-said-she-said-the-fine-art-of-
dialogue-attribution/)

Now compare this to the original:

"They don't speak much English yet, but maybe the public library will be a
useful resource for them," she said.

"Do bring them by here regularly. If they are interested in self-advancing
their learning, the public library is the perfect place for them to do that.
Do your kids have their own computer at home?" I said.

"No, they currently borrow my laptop, which is not such an ideal situation."

"Tell them they're getting their own donated desktop computer on Monday next
week. I'll prepare it for them over the weekend."

~~~
dktbs
Its good you posted this, otherwise the article might have been completely
indecipherable.

~~~
dbbolton
I never said it was anything of the sort. I said the dialog attribution style
was ostentatious and distracting. Also, I prefaced my entire comment with a
warning that it was off topic. I'm sorry you still feel so offended by it.

------
ilaksh
I do most of my computing on cheap 7" Android tablets. I also ssh in to my
Linode for programming but I could use Debian under Linux Deploy too, its just
slow compared to the Linode.

The onscreen keyboard works great for typing both in portrait or landscape.
You just have to get used to it. Keyboards are mostly a hastle to drag
around/setup and they break.

If I was on my laptop I would ssh in on a slightly larger screen.

You can definitely do word processing, spreadsheets, the web, programming,
everything on a $100 (or even $50 in some cases) Android tablet. I haven't
used my laptop at all in like 4 months.

So I would get slightly used Android tablets and give them out to kids.

I actually don't want to buy another laptop or desktop because I know it will
waste electricity and it seems primitive.

The next major shift for me will be to full-time VR for work, which will use
Google Cardboard or their new 6dof thing (I might wait until the Android for
VR OS comes out next year). But that is still going to be on a phone..

~~~
hauget
Couple of things:

1\. Your particular computing experience vastly depends on what type of
connectivity you have access to. Some people, for example, don't even have
access to broadband.

2\. Computing needs vary from person to person. For example, using
spreadsheets for financial analysis isn't ideal on Google Spreadsheets, not
because it's impossible but because a lot of plugins tie into Excel.

Now, I'm not saying most things we do now on a more powerful offline/desktop
won't ever be eclipsed by their online counterparts, it's just that we're not
there YET.

I'm with you on the VR setup! Can't wait to strap on some VR goggles and do
all my computing there!

~~~
ilaksh
Right but we are talking about kids. Kids can use an offline spreadhseet app,
they don't HAVE to use Excel. They can also use an offline Wikipedia app, or
offline "learn-programming" app.

------
jackgavigan
On a similar theme, Kano is a Linux-and-Raspberry Pi-based computer for
children: [http://www.kano.me/](http://www.kano.me/)

------
snambi
Wow... what an inspirational story! We need more people like this.

------
omarforgotpwd
"Remember that shitty computer we got when we were first came to the US?" \--
Kids, recounting this experience in 15 years

~~~
austenallred
"Remember that shitty computer we had 15 years ago?" \-- Everybody

~~~
astrodust
It's natural to have loving disdain for the things you had to _make do_ with.

Share in the nostalgia.

------
Dewie3
> If you're a recent immigrant to the United States, freedom of all kinds
> tastes sweet.

Heh, strong murica-factor.

------
w1ntermute
It's good to know that you're providing Linux PCs to those who can't afford
them, but let's be realistic - unless they turn out to be really interested in
computers, as soon as the kids start working and get some money, they'll go
out and buy the same shiny iDevices that all their peers covet.

~~~
kenrikm
~95% of the developers I know in the Bay Area use MacBook Pros. The underlying
Unix base Apple runs on is nothing to scoff at and the majority of things
someone learns about the command line on a linux machine will be the same on a
OSX machine. I'm surprised you point out iDevices, what we should be worried
about is keeping them away from the Windows ecosystem.

~~~
WorldWideWayne
Apple is more dangerous to Unix culture than Microsoft ever was because the
rate at which Apple screws it's own customers and developers is much, much
higher than Microsoft.

OS X is also a sickly sweet gateway drug to living their iDevice lockdown
lifestyle. They are continually doing things to lock down OS X with secret
APIs that only Apple can use and that 95% you're talking about will one day
figure out who Apple really is. I hope you enjoy being their sales-person
until then!

~~~
meesterdude
First, you're not wrong about Apple. You have an accurate assessment of who
they are and what they're about.

However, I think they've done good for the *nix community. At it's simplest,
the switch for a dev to go from mac to linux isn't as drastic as from windows
to mac; much of that command line experience transfers over.

I think people will move away. I've already moved most of my dependencies to
linux, and I've been a lifelong apple guy.

Why, just today i was trying to open up one of their keyboards and had to hunt
around for a screwdriver that'll work, because they use security screws.
Pretty much everything they do is anti-tinker and that's measurably holding
back members of society from advancing our species; they seek to prevent the
very same kind of conditions that permitted them to start apple in the first
place; a pretty baffling behavior, least of all anti-social.

------
ohmshalalala
I have a developmentally delayed sister in law; I placed Ubuntu on her laptop
recently without really telling her what it was

Now, we need some beneware that infects every machine on a network, backs up
file system, and reinstalls the os with linux, wouldn't it be nice! LINUX!

------
mwcampbell
I have to admit I'm surprised to find that anyone is still trying to make
desktop Linux work for normal people, i.e. non-programmers who aren't free-
software fanatics. I think to myself, don't they realize that it's pointless,
that the year of the Linux desktop will never come, that Linux will always be
the distant third-place desktop OS?

More constructively, I wonder if recent Linux distros and desktop environments
actually run better on 10-year-old hardware than Windows 7. My guess is that
GNOME 3 and Unity require roughly as much CPU power and RAM as Windows 7. If
that's the case, then maybe kids like the one in this story would be better
served by a donated Windows 7 system builder license to go with that old
hardware. Then they wouldn't be frustrated at a thousand points by someone's
well-intentioned but misguided choice of OS.

~~~
wyager
Linux distros like mint are basically indistinguishable from Windows to
sufficiently casual users. All they ever do is open up the word processor or
browser.

~~~
johnmaguire2013
This. I know plenty of people who literally cannot tell any sufficiently user
friendly distro of Linux from Windows.

~~~
k__
Yes.

The only people I heard complain about Linux were in the middle range of
computer skills. Not so casual that they didn't care, but also not so good
that they could easily grasp Linux.

~~~
unsignedint
I find this demography is hardest to deal with. Even when they are on a
platform they are familiar with, they are usually first to complain about
having something different (e.g. some UI elements moved around) yet don't know
how to fix it or even not bothering with a simple search to find out the
problem.

