[conspire] Computers for Wilson Elementary in Richmond

[Andrew Fife]

Hi Judy:

On Saturday, we refurbished 403 computers to be donated to schools.  The computer hardware is older, but it runs the most upto date modern software.  This is because Linux requires far less hardware to than Microsoft Windows.  I'll spare you the technical details and skip to the good part...

These computers are ready to go out of the box.  They come with keyboard, mouse and monitor.  They are preinstalled with software for email, word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, web browsing, and mulitmedia.  We've also loaded music and pictures on to each computer to show off just how fun they can be for students.  We aren't making any sacrifices, these are great computers because the bottom line is that we want all children to be able to enjoy the same technology access that wealthy school districts have.

One concern that is often raised is about trying Linux for the first time.  Linux has gotten much easier to use for non-technical folks over the last couple of years.  And we choose a version of Linux called Ubuntu that is that was designed specifically for making the conversion from Windows to Linux easy for non-techies.  In fact, their slogan was "Linux for Humans" for several years.  Still, we went an extra step further and worked a deal with the No Starch Press to include a PDF copy of "Ubuntu for non-Geeks" on every computer donated.       

The Alameda County Computer Center handles the distribution of the computers.  I would strongly encourage you to fill out their brief application form and fax it back to them.

http://www.accrc.org/pdf/school.pdf

There is an excellent chance that your school could have a new computers lab very shortly!

kind regards,

Andrew

--
Andrew Fife
Untangle
650.425.3327

----- Original Message -----
From: "George Pope" <gpope at pcmagic.net>
To: "Judy Greenspan" <judyg at igc.org>, "Andrew Fife" <afife at untangle.com>, "Ed Cherlin" <echerlin at gmail.com>, conspire at linuxmafia.com
Sent: Tuesday, March 4, 2008 12:18:11 AM (GMT-0800) America/Los_Angeles
Subject: Re: 


How many pc's can your school reasonably use? No promises. I believe 
that Saturday was our first mega installafest. Last Saturday we may have 
done 400 in San Mateo and maybe another 400 at the other 3 cities. I 
suspect that these numbers can be increased. Why don't you go to a 
nearby Linux meeting and or regular installafest and see what they are 
like and talk about your school's needs. http://linuxmafia.com/ lists 
SFBA events

I'll call.

george

Note to my linuxmafia brothers and sisters, All of Us Or None is a 
prisoner (incl ex) and their familie's support group.

> Judy Greenspan wrote:
Dear George,
>
> I teach at a Title I elementary school in Richmond (Wilson Elementary) 
> and I understand that you might have leads on computers. I have many 
> students who would love to have computer access both at home and at 
> school. Perhaps we could talk about what is possible.
>
> I can be reached either by email or by phone (510) 813-4687. Since I 
> am teaching (3rd grade) during the day, my phone access is best after 
> 3:30 p.m. (Got your information from the All of Us Or None listserve). 
> Thanks,
>
> Judy Greenspan
>
>
>
>