> It would indeed be awesome to have something like this in Portland. PLUG, > FreeGeek, and a variety of Portland's general-purpose dogooder non-profits > could team up to give Austin a run for its money -- and help more > underprivileged gain access to computing resources. I think really we just > need someone to step forward and spend the time to get it going. I don't > think that's me, but I'd be quite interested in helping out. > >Jameson
I tend to agree with Keith. If the goal is to give away computers, then Free Geek is already doing that well. Their model builds skill and community through giving, in addition to helping the environment and offering a fun, tech-oriented thrift store, among other things. It's a great model. The Austin folks have their hearts in the right place. Judging by the blog posts I read, I would classify what they did (and continue to do) as "simple" charity. I may be wrong, of course; I only have the blog as a reference. And as Keith wrote, they could build more into the program in the future. Perhaps they will put together some statistics to help refine their approach, or study what organizations like Free Geek do; hopefully they'll drop the words "against" and "poverty" from the slogan. But as it stands, they appear to be feeling more than thinking. There's nothing wrong with that, and I'm not flaming them. Doing nice things for people feels good. The problem is that feelings are subjective. Installing Linux on old computers and giving them to "deserving people" feels nice, whether these are local people we classify as low-income, or low-income people in developing nations. And you can tell by the blog posts on the Austin folks' site that doing what they did felt good; they respected each other more, and some deserving people received computers as gifts. But whether an act that feels nice is actually useful depends on the cost of the act versus the gain. Free Geek has done an excellent job drilling down into this trade-off. They've defined their charity in a complex way that strategically hits many points: computers, training, recycling, etc., making the absolute most of the gains they get from the costs their program incurs. Therefore the program has become much more than an opportunity for big businesses to write off the depreciated value of outdated computers -- even more than a chance for deserving people to get "free" computers. This has unexpectedly become a long post. The reason is that I am naturally suspicious of simple charity because it often creates more problems than it solves. For example, as Keith said, if someone doesn't know how to use the operating system on their free computer, they may steal a copy of Windows and install it. Or worse, they may not even use the computer; it could end up in a dumpster where it certainly won't be recycled. Full disclosure: I launched my own simple charity in Ghana a few years ago -- opening a computer-training school for children in a rural village, giving away computers. Hopefully I am not projecting my experience onto "Linux Against Poverty"; but what I found out in Ghana was that doing useful, good charity is extremely difficult. My project there made me feel good at the time, but in all honesty, I doubt it had much impact; it may have even had a negative impact, which I think is true for most simple charities. So, my rambling and potentially flammable point is that doing good (complex) charity requires the kind of drilling down that Free Geek has obviously done. If you want to give away computers, I'd suggest working with them. However, not all Linux geeks in Portland should volunteer at Free Geek. There's always room for another non-profit in this city. Maybe it's a technology program that helps low-income and at-risk children get experience with computers. Maybe it's something else -- something you are passionate about. But hopefully it's not a program that gives away computers because with Free Geek doing its thing so well, that would be like reinventing the wheel. Best, Andrew Brookins _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
