Dumpster Diving for Linux

One of the things I like about Linux is that you are not forced to buy the latest whiz-bang computer. It runs just fine on old hardware. It doesn't need to be "supported"; I can figure out what it is doing and fix it. With Microsoft it either "just works" or, just as often, "just doesn't work". In the later case there is nothing to be done. There is no error message. Sometimes there is a "Wizard" button which offers to fix your problem. Sometimes it lies and says the problem is fixed; sometimes it tells the truth and says it can't fix the problem. In either case nothing can be done; just keep pressing the button until you get tired of it and go buy a new computer.

Tandy Internet Host
Recycled Computers
Wireless Router
The Future
Recycled Dell Laptop

Tandy Internet Host

I am proud of the fact that I have an internet host in my basement with a Tandy monitor. Are you not old enough to remember Tandy? You can Google it. It's a CRT, quite obsolete, and power hungry, but who cares? It has an off switch that turns off all power. No little glowing LED still on; no software can turn it back on; it's just OFF. I turn it on when re-booting after a power failure, and then turn if off again for six months to a year. When I use that computer, I ssh from a laptop while sitting in my comfy chair in the living room.

The computer itself I bought used for $225 in 2012, installed Linux, a name server (BIND), a mail server (Postfix), and a web server (Apache). Except during power failures, it's been working fine 24/7 ever since. If you are reading this it's working for you too.

Recycled Computers

I once found a laptop in the wet grass on my sister's property. She said it was junk left by the people who had rented the cabin and was surprised when I was interested in it. She gave it to me. I took it home, installed Linux, and used it as my main computer for more than a year.

I am typing this on a laptop that was given to me after the Windows user who owned it got a crypto-ransomware virus. The files on it were safely backed up, but it would have been more trouble to get Windows re-installed than to buy a new computer. Who could say which new version of Windows would even work on this particular old computer? The virus didn't survive a Linux install. I could do it myself without a license.

How many perfectly good computers get dumped in a landfill just because the software is obsolete?

The Asus Router

As I walk around the neighborhood, I sometimes see old furniture set out by the curb with a sign that says "Free". I don't touch it. I have enough furniture. If the virus don't git you, the bedbugs will.

Recently, (2020-11-15) I saw a box in such a pile that looked like some kind of computer equipment. At first I thought it might be a laptop, but it turned out to be a wireless router. I thought I might have a use for it, but I left it there. Later I came back with the car and a spray bottle of bleach. I sprayed the box well and put it in the back of the car. I let it sit for a day and then opened the box. The router was in there, but it didn't have a power supply (wall wart). I searched the internet and found I could buy a power supply for about $20. It seemed worth a gamble, so I ordered one. A few days later it arrived.

I plugged in the power and turned it on. The lights went on. It works! The saga of connecting and configuring is on another page.

The punchline is: the router itself runs Linux.

The Future

I worry about "Secure Boot" (UEFI). Will future computers run nothing but the original OS? Will computers be dumped in the landfill just because nobody remembers the password? Will used computers be impossible to use?

Recycled Dell Laptop

(Update 2022-Aug-01) Maybe I worry too much. A friend recently gave me a Dell Inspiron laptop that he had declared "dead". I was not sure from his (short, vague) complaint what was wrong with it, but I thought it might be resurrected. I think he was unhappy with it when it was new.

I asked him to give it to me rather than toss it in a dumpster. It had some version of Windows installed. I did not ask for any passwords. It has a UEFI boot ROM. I spent a day playing with settings I did not understand and searching the internet for clues. I got it to boot Debian from a USB thumbdrive. It's broken, but not dead. This is still a work in progress. I'll never love the keyboard, but it's small and light. Maybe I can use it for a PDF Reader.

More details on another page.

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