Thrifty Thursday: 30 January 2014 – Save That Computer!

Well, last time I joined in with this meme that’s hosted by Gina at Cold Tea and Smelly Nappies I promised you that next time (that’s this time, get it?) I really would show you how to re-use something, in a worthwhile way. So here goes…

Out there, there must be many PCs and laptops that are pushed aside (OK, under the bed, in the shed, or wherever) because the operating system (that’s the main chunk of software, like, say, a version of [insert the W-word here]) has somehow screwed up, or doesn’t do the job any more, or just isn’t as good as the newer version you’ve got on a new machine. And yet, as a piece of computing hardware, it still works.
Now, new proprietary software would a) be expensive, and b) might not run properly on the ageing processor and memory devices. But throwing this gear away seems a shame, even though you never use it.
‘Rock’ and ‘hard place’ come to mind.
Step forward, Linux.
Reactions will now vary from “Oh, yes, I use that already” to (I suspect, more frequently) “What the actual…?”
Linux software is free, thanks to community effort. That’s right. You can have a new operating system, for just a little bit of time and trouble. Price tag, £0. Zilch. A duck’s egg. And you just might find the result far more pleasant and intuitive to use than something that costs a lot of money.
What are the snags? Well, there really aren’t any serious ones. And the small ones can be worked round.
No teapot-lidding, you really do win twice. Firstly, the software is free, and secondly, you can use or re-use older hardware.

Well, for today, this is just a little introduction, but if you’re interested, I’ll expand this in further posts. Please let me know via the comments box at the end. Thank you very much. I’m looking forward to hearing from you. And, in case you’re wondering, yes, this blog comes to you via Linux.

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2 thoughts on “Thrifty Thursday: 30 January 2014 – Save That Computer!”

  1. I’ve never heard of that before it sounds really interesting! Going to go and check it out. Thanks for sharing with #ThriftyThursday

  2. My blog is Linux hosted but to be honest I have no idea what that means! Any kind of free software has got to be a bonus, look forward to hearing more about it #ThriftyThursday

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