Computer waste, Linux solution?

[gentil33]

I am a computer scientist, and I have been crying for a long time about the scandal over computer waste that exists today.

All this is orchestrated by computer manufacturers and publishers of software and commercial systems.

There is an operating system called Linux, completely free, system made by academics for academics, and which is very little used in national education!

However, this system consumes much less memory and disk than commercial systems. A computer with a 1Gh processor with 128 Mbytes of RAM and 4 GB of hard drive is enough for home use such as office automation, watching video films or making msn clone. Software running on Linux abounds and bugs less than their commercial equivalents.

Today, it is perfectly possible to make laptops with slower processors therefore consuming significantly less electricity, with less RAM and whose hard drive is replaced by a 4GB flash memory. Such a machine would have a price going down to 100 euros. In addition, we would no longer worry about copyrights, everything being free!

Some will tell me that you can't find everything on Linux. For classic use, yes, we find everything we need, and much more. Besides, frankly, who really needs special software at home?

And finally, a small machine like this, in addition to the fact that it is much less expensive is less polluting because of its simplicity.

[Christophe]

Yes for free (everything that is paid pollutes more than what is free because of the work you had to provide to pay it) and the accessibility of open source (debate already mentioned on these forums).

By cons I do not agree for the resources:
a) it depends on the linux distribution
b) in graphical version, linux is often MORE efficient than windows
c) to optimize b) you have to know a lot about it (it's a job) and therefore not accessible to everyone.

I experienced this 6 months ago on my old 2002 laptop (256 MB RAM, 1.2 GB, 20 GB HDD) which worked perfectly under win xp but which was unusable on Ubuntu KDE. So I put Xbuntu and it is "usable" but nothing more.

I disabled / uninstalled all the packages I didn't need.

On the other hand on our other more recent laptop, we fired this unspeakable mess that is Vista to put Ubuntu KDE which runs perfectly! There are almost less changes between XP and Ubuntu KDE than with Vista ... so no excuse to keep this stew !!!

The story point by point of these 2 installations: https://www.econologie.com/forums/j-installe ... t6568.html

[gentil33]

Right, it also depends on the distribution.

Personally, I am a follower of Debian.

[elephant]

I would have a moderate answer:

In Belgium, more and more administrations (especially municipalities) are switching to Linux, open office, etc ...: good economy: on a City Hall 20 X (Windows + office)

On the other hand, a scandal:

the administrations in the Flemish region are legally authorized to resell their used equipment, the European communities give their old stuff to Oxfam, but the Walloon administrations are legally obliged to send the machines to the scrap yard for recycling materials.

Now, let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater: without Windows, how many people could use a computer now? Certainly much less.

[Christophe]

Elephant, yes I had pleasantly noticed that when I arrived in Belgium: you are more "open source".

In France I think it happens too ... slowly and that's good!

Targol, what do you have in your town hall? I believe that you are a defender of linux ...

Microsoft will be dead (or almost) in 10 years ...

ps: speaking of Open Source, I rediscovered http://www.defraggler.com/ , thank you Lietseu, it works well!

[gentil33]

I would say that it was rather Apple which democratized IT at the time but hey ...

[elephant]

Admittedly, Apple has done a lot, but it is far from being the only one and we must admit that the trigger is the PC 386 with 20 Mb of hard drive. Lots of interesting programs have become available.
The second click: Windows 2: the computer then became attractive: even children understood everything without instructions (I would even say, especially children!)

[Korben Dallas]

By cons I do not agree for the resources:
a) it depends on the linux distribution

No, it essentially depends on the graphical interface chosen. Debian for a server without a graphical interface runs happily on fifteen-year-old machines

b) in graphical version, linux is often MORE efficient than windows

If you are talking about Windows 3.1, 95, 98, ME, NT or 2000, ok, the recent GNU / Linux distributions and especially the recent graphical interfaces are heavier, on the other hand, this is totally false for what concerns Windows XP or worse Windows Vista. The gain in speed and especially in saving RAM is quite significant with GNU / Linux.

c) to optimize b) you have to know a lot about it (it's a job) and therefore not accessible to everyone.

I again tested Ubuntu (9.04) and frankly, it is much easier to install (shorter also: count 2 hours all inclusive against 6 hours for Windows and all the software that goes with it) and configure that many versions Windows.

I experienced this 6 months ago on my old 2002 laptop (256 MB RAM, 1.2 GB, 20 GB HDD) which worked perfectly under win xp but which was unusable on Ubuntu KDE. So I put Xbuntu and it is "usable" but nothing more.

It's not just Ubuntu (and its derivatives) in life. Very light distributions have been developed precisely for small configurations (special "ordinasaurs").

I disabled / uninstalled all the packages I didn't need.

That's not enough, you have to lighten the core and there, in fact, you have to be knowledgeable. So, it is better to choose other distributions "naturally" lighter.

[Targol]

Targol, what do you have in your town hall? I believe that you are a defender of linux ...

The secretaries' stations are under XP (local authority accounting software requires). I tried to talk about Wine to get the ball rolling but the secretaries are reluctant to change their habits.

On the other hand, for future self-service access points to the net, if it is not linux, I will resign
In any case, I do the forcing. Ubuntu with its guest session seems perfectly suited to this need.
In addition, it is the distribution that I have at home, at work and that I have stuck everywhere around me so it is the one that I know best.

[Korben Dallas]

The secretaries' stations are under XP (local authority accounting software requires). I tried to talk about Wine to get the ball rolling but the secretaries are reluctant to change their habits.

This is really the biggest problem. Most users are reluctant to change their habits. And yet, they undergo the evolutions of the software of Microsoft, quasi obligatory (MS Office for example).