Re: freegeek and m68k
On 2/24/08, vagrant@freegeek.org <vagrant@freegeek.org> wrote:
> greetings folks.
>
> i've worked and volunteered at freegeek (http://freegeek.org) in
> portland, oregon, usa. the basic jist of freegeek is we take in old,
> unwanted computer equipment and attempt to refurbish and get it back
> into use, or responsibly recycle it.
I looked at your web site and i noticed its all linux and more specifically
ubuntu and debian. good for you. also you do train people to refurbish
machines and give them a box they do themselves with your support.
This is really great !
also your model is spreading with over a dozen licensed locations in us.
>
> i've noticed we get a fair number of m68k macs, and they mostly just go
> directly to recycling. we get a variety of Quadras and Performas. i
> guess the quadras are the higher-end of the spectrum?
wish you could put them aside if you can find some closet space.
for myself i like the tabletop models such as performa475/quadra605 and
quadra/performa 630 series. these have definite green potential as
they use only around 30 watts power compared to towers which all
go starting around 200 watts (and since this century have gone to 400 then
800 watts).
>
> once in a great while, we see a few Amigas, and we even have a few NeXT
> machines.
Next has historical value. also has the dsp chip better than the mac quadra
av models. like the g4 altivec of its day and if useable in linux could make
them much more capable (it was why the next was successful as it was).
>
> if folks let me know what models would be useful, i can try and set them
> aside and install debian on them, if folks could help with that.
i could maybe help you some as i am part user and recycler amateur.
i have two mac quadra running debian plus a pack of powerpc macs
of various ages.
that said i would warn you that best used mac68k debian in tandem
with a newer faster machines. several ways that can go. like thin
client 68k runs Xserver and Xclients from powermac server. you
could set up a small lab like that pretty easily. as trainer for basic
unix skill at shell. as programming use distributed compiling.
unlike the old world powermacs, we now can boot the 68k without
need for a macos helper. but i still like to keep it around because
it is very efficient.
it is a pretty big sorrow to me having worked with Next and sun3 when
they were new and also the older macos that the current debian is
so inefficient. there are a few things that help and maybe more could
be done if more user interest or from some people like yourself
having some space and quantity of machines and people (it appears).
I live in SanFrancisco. i am not a debian developer or a systems
programmer but i have done some admin work in unix and so far
pretty much on my own with linux done ok. but there is not really
anything here like your place.
Also at some point i would like to get a little experience with pc linux.
with an eye to acquiring an amd-64 box. ...
Might visit portland.
>
> also, i'd like to try and get some of this hardware to developers who
> could use it. i hear most of the m68k folks are in europe, but if
> anyone's ever visiting near freegeek and would like some hardware, i'd
> be glad to try and arrange it.
>
> you could file a hardware grant request at (mention me as a freegeek
> contact): http://freegeek.org/grants
>
> also, please CC me directly if anyone replies to this thread, i'm not
> currently subscribed to the mailing list.
>
> live well,
> vagrant
>
>
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