[clug] Ubuntu at the low end

[Jason Stokes]

On Mon, 2008-07-07 at 09:31 +1000, Daniel Rose wrote:
> Jason Stokes wrote:
> > There's an organization called "charity computers which has branches in
> > Canberra and Brisbane: http://www.charitycomputers.com.  Charity
> > Computers provides old PCs cheaply to the unemployed, hard-off etc.
> > They pre-load versions of Windows on these PCs, and give them out to the
> > unemployed, hard-off, etc -- in fact, by admission completely illegally,
> > since the cost of the license fees from Microsoft would eclipse the cost
> > of the PC.  I don't know how they've dealt with the mandatory
> > registration requirements of XP and Vista.
> > 
> Last time I got in touch with these people they had mass volume licencing for Windows 98.
> 
> I'm just up the road from them and they take all my toxi-- er, classic museum pieces.
> 
> 

Well, they've greatly improved their legal situation if that's the case.
The problem is that that is irresponsible if any of these PCs get
connected to the internet.  A windows 98 box is simply not secure, and
it will be rooted in seconds on the modern internet.  I wonder how many
of their clients are surfing with spyware and other nasties.

Really wish I could recommend the switch to Linux for those guys.  Not
sure I could on the basis of what sort of machines they are running or
who they are catering to.

Jason