[clug] Computer buildfest idea

[Robert Edwards]

I support this idea - HOWEVER - there has been a tendency, over the
years, for good-intentioned people (is that a legal English phrase?)
to bring along all sorts of miscellaneous pre-loved equipment, disks,
magazines etc. to CLUG and then leave them there at the end of the
night. Some of this stuff persists in N101 for months or years at a
time. Alas, the Dept. does not really appreciate it.

So, we need a clear delegation as to who is going to be responsible
for removing the left-overs to the appropriate charity (how charitable
is it, really, to off-load stuff that no one at CLUG is willing to
take home? - it must be pretty bad if no CLUG geeks are interested -
maybe we should pick the good machines and give them to charity and
then take the left-overs home for next time? or maybe buy a brand-new
machine, give it to charity and then keep using the 3 year old machine
that has faithfully served you all that time - or maybe just give the
money for the brand new machine to charity and keep using the old
machine - but I digress...).

Anyway, a swap-fest is good if I am not having to deal with all the
left-overs.

Cheers,

Bob Edwards.

Paul Wayper wrote:
> Ladies, Gentlemen, Amorphs,
> 
> I currently have about six AT and ATX-style cases, some motherboards, 
> and a box of network, video and other cards.  Mikal sounds like he has 
> the same (only probably more so).  I'm sure pretty much everyone here 
> has a few bits and pieces lying around that we want to go to a good home 
> rather than the bin.  My plan with my stuff had been to make up a couple 
> of firewalls or simple machines for my nieces to use.  The rest of it I 
> was going to donate to a computer charity.
> 
> What if we had a day / evening where people brought all their bits and 
> pieces together and we made as many machines work as we possibly could?  
> Install Linux on them (I hear a distro flamewar approaching... :-), 
> contributors take working machines that they need away, and we give the 
> rest to charity.  This sure sounds like a better idea than 
> procrastinating about building them individually.  What do people think?
> 
> Have fun,
> 
> Paul