A very honest critique...I had also wondered what was up, an empty case w/o power supply for $10-20??? I would also like to see more Linux in my rear view mirror.
BUT, I have to look at the totality of the journey that Lorraine has made, from garage, and rummaging through the Goodwill computer section, to national recognition. There is a lot of good work, and will, built up there. As for parts, being on a bicycle, I find them all the time. Two Epson printers on Super Bowl Sunday, downtown, back alley, SCORE! I get to junk my ISA scanner w/ Millennium eMachine attached. That Epson Stylus CX5000 USB scanner made my day. Needless to say I have a few parts, if your interested (Linux spoken here.) BTW, I just found an HP all-in-one that will find it's way to NextStep...too bad there isn't a South Eugene dropbox, but I know it's a turf war. Brian P.S. what ever happened to Stan? On Sat, Feb 14, 2009 at 8:25 AM, JS Kaplan <[email protected]> wrote: > When I first happened upon NextStep Recycling on 10th near Garfield, I > thought it was a helluva an idea. > Hearkened me back to the days of Stan's PC Training where used good PC's > were to be had for all. I've even bought > a microwave oven and a wifi card there. > > However, after volunteering there I've changed my tune considerably. I > won't go as far as to say that the largess of the establishment cancels out > any reduction in carbon benefit. I'm just not that savvy, but I have my > opinions. > > So, first off, to get a "volunteer box" you need to put in now 40 hours > (Figure around minimum wage your wholesale net worth is about $300 for > argument's sake). Secondly, what you'll receive is a Dell Optiplex GX50. > Which is a single board non-upgradeable celeron based POS around 1200 MHz > with 384 MB or less ram and a 20 GB drive. You'll also likely not recieive > your "gift" for volunteering until several weeks after you're done. I'm not > sure if this is to discourage you taking inventory or to encourage more > hours out of you. Probably both. > > Why am I complaining? Well, they have pallets and pallets of these little > gomers, which can be had on e-bay for as little as $7.99. $40 if you want it > tomorrow. Instead of offering a choice or being progressive and loading > Ubuntu or some nice current distro, you are stuck to the task of > un-infecting the drive of it's case of Windows 2000. (The P4 1.8's littering > the place seem to be ending up in Guatemalen schools. You can purchase a P4 > 2.6 system for around $175 there). > > I'm complaining because I feel that my hours of labor are worth a tad bit > more than a doorstop in which a full-sized PCI card won't fit and an AGP > slot doesn't exist. I'm complaining because I feel that no matter what the > cost, even free, a Microsoft license is a Microsoft license and a non-profit > has no business purchasing Microsoft licenses when Open Source exists. When > Ubuntu exists. If Ubuntu is good enough for IBM, it's good enough for every > American. > > I'm complaining because I feel the politics inside NextStep are about to > swallow itself whole and barf it back out. It looks like a Eugenian Social > Experiment, complete with a dot alt Board of Directors. It's become really > large inside and while still providing valuable services to the community, > most of thosse services should be borne by the consumer purchasing home > electronics. California now has a tax on electronic goods, in effect a > deposit law. Recycle electronics, net a bonus. Toss them in the landfill, > lose the bonus. Yet here in Oregon we still can't control our Bottle Bill > and recycle Coca-Cola Brand Water Bottles. > > I'm complaining because I feel NextStep should be using Linux in every task > from Office to Refurbishing. I'm complaining because I hate to see people > thumping their chests in the Weekly. *Usually* if the Weekly has an overly > positive take on something, it's called damage control or a pre-emptive > Media Strike. > > Now, don't go away just yet. Just because I've had a bad experience with > them doesn't mean you will too. After all, you can still give 40 hours and > opt for an iMac. > > James S. Kaplan > [email protected] > currently under-employed > > "Sic Semper Tyrannis" > Marcus Junius Brutus, March 15, 44 BC * > John Wilkes Booth, April 14, 1865 AD* > > > > > > ------------------------------ > Windows Live™: E-mail. Chat. Share. Get more ways to connect. See how it > works.<http://windowslive.com/howitworks?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_t2_allup_howitworks_022009> > > _______________________________________________ > EUGLUG mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug > >
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