[sf-lug] Laptops for kids/linux

[jim]

>From a Noisebridge sub-group discussion: 

> http://www.linuxtoys.org/multiseat/multiseat.html
> 
> [I'm] "Still working on the donations, got a meeting 
> tomorrow for seeing about getting NB (or another 501c3) 
> Intuit's overflow machines.

>         "I work for Intuit, the guys who make TurboTax and Quicken. We
>         have a technology refresh policy where we retire machines
>         every 36 months or so. We used to offer the machines back to
>         the workforce for purchase, but then IT started spending more
>         time fixing computers that they no longer were responsible
>         for... so the process died. We were just recycling the
>         machines through a secure processing facility (E-Waste, not
>         sure of the details other than they wipe the hard drives).

>         "So recently Intuit changed the policy and now employees can
>         request that retiring assets can be donated to a nonprofit of
>         their choice (either NB as a parent org, or if you have
>         another 501 setup with you computer work, directly to that). I
>         understand that you do work with putting computers into the
>         hands of underserved populations (like students, is what I
>         understood it to be, but what do I know). I would like to work
>         with you (assuming you're interested) in getting machines
>         donated to your linux install parties. The secret awesome part
>         about this is that Intuit generally standardizes on machine
>         types, which would mean that nearly identical machines could
>         be donated in semi-bulk amounts (I'd say 40-60 a month,
>         usually)."