On 5/21/05, RB W <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I'm looking for tips to add to my list of things to do to prepare
> several laptops I managed to get donated from local universities for
> college/sub-college students overseas in Jamaica.

How were you connected to these people?  How much communication do you
have with them?

> The units are PIII 600Mhz, 256Mb RAM, 10Gb HD w/modem jack... no
> Ethernet. Win2000 is installed. These units run Knoppix v3.8.1.

You're hoping they'll run Knoppix, right?  But from CD?  Boot from CD
everytime?  That might be doable, I suppose.  If you want them to run
Knoppix, why leave Windows 2000 on it?  Were I in your situation, I'd
probably delete Windows.  If they insist on having it, they can put
out the money or effort in getting it, you wouldn't be denying them
anything, and you'd be 100% legal in every jurisdiction known to
mankind.

> because a HD install will in all likelihood just get deleted. If I can
> make the Knoppix option as viable as possible I may get the recipients
> to actually go to the Jamaica LUG and get converted.

Yeah.  For every problem you pre-emptively quash, the chance of Linux
staying goes up by a couple percent.

But all of this depends on what kind of relationship you have with the
people who will receive the equipment.  If they're complete strangers
expecting only hardware, then making happylinux makes sense.  If
there's some prior arrangement, in which they want complete systems,
they might be confused and/or upset when "complete system" didn't
include Windows.

Last thing is: there won't be any power connector or phone jack
problems, right?  According to one page[1] I found, this is power for
these countries:

COUNTRY  |||  VOLTAGE                         |||  PLUG
Canada      |||   110/220V       60cycles      |||    B
Jamaica     |||   110/220V       50cycles      |||  A & B

I include Canada on the assumption that Canada is the same as America,
and therefore, what these laptops are likely set up for.

[1] http://www.call220.com/Resources/electric_current.htm
[2] 
http://home.cwjamaica.com/content/products_services/data_ip/internet_services/ipass/faq.asp?ID=315#11

> The news of Cuba going to Linux will be an additional assist as the
> citizens of 2nd and 3rd world countries pay much more attention to
> their peers than we do.

For some value of "peer".  Are you familiar with how Jamaica views Cuba?

-todd


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