What is Free Geek?

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You may have noticed in some of my past posts mentioning “Free Geek” . I’ll attempt explain a little further. In a short and simple explanation they “Help the needy get nerdy” .  Here is the official mission statement from Free Geek of Providence "Free Geek Providence is a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to addressing the digital divide by providing computer training, redistributing computer technology and providing volunteer opportunities to our community while maintaining relationships with responsible recycling partners."

They are a non-profit group that helps those who perhaps can’t either afford or uninitiated get acquainted with computers. The goal is to provide both training in both building and using a PC. They use free Linux operating system that is both free and relatively simple to use. On top of that they can walk away with a PC they build themselves or earn by volunteering  for the group for certain amount of time.

They do this using donated equipment. Computer stuff that is donated is gone through and tested. If obsolete is it is sent to a local responsible recycler rather than just sent over seas or dumped in the local landfill. Here is a video of what can happen to your old stuff from 60 Minutes. If it is reusable it is used for building units either for the volunteers(to earn) or for sale in a thrift store or online.

This is just a small snippet of what they do for the community. If your in the Rhode Island area and are interested in donating unused computer equipment click here to see more. The Free Geek that started it all can be seen here. Thanks for coming by and have a geeky day. What do you do with your old computer stuff?

Ubuntu Guide from PC World

Here is an excellent guide from PC World on how to install the latest release of Ubuntu Linux. It can still be a little intimidating for the uninitiated to install a Linux software. They have made it a bit simpler. A guide is nice to have.

Back to Ubuntu

A while back I fooled around with ubuntu (Linux OS) without much success. After installing another version(Backtrack 3) onto a friends laptop I decided to give it another try. I stuck with ubuntu because I was somewhat familiar with it and seemed most versatile. The biggest hangup I had was configuring my wireless internet to work with it. Being an internet junkie a computer without internet connection is like a car with no engine. It may look nice but it can't(at least not without pushing) go very far.

OF course as my luck would have my wireless card is not Linux friendly so I had to use the Linux program called ndiswrapper to use my Windows wifi card. Of course being relatively new to Linux I had to figure it out by scratch. By some trial and error I at last was connected to the world. I was a very happy camper as the saying goes. I now have a use for my old Compaq PC I've had lying around. So far I've found ubuntu very interesting. Perhaps I can piece together a how-to out of it(wireless hookup) soon if I can remember how I did it. Anyway back to exploring ubuntu...

Ubuntu- so far

So far I'm not too impressed with Linux (Ubuntu version), My biggest hang up so far has been trying to connect to the internet. My main means is by a wireless usb connection(D-Link DWL-122). Becuase it doesn't have Linux drivers with the original CD a work around. As much as I've researched this there is a way of doing with use of the command line and another using a program which would use the XP driver. The attempts I made were futile or just plain confusing. It seems as if this is more the OS for the uber geeks with a lot of time on there hands and a fair knowledge of Linux. I keep reading how Linux wants to rival Windows but I just don't see it happening. I'm not a computer novice and I found it very confusing. I can't imagine a Grandma from Maine trying to enter lines of code(command line or whatever it's called) to use her computer. As far as the preinstalled programs were ok and the computer runs fine but to have to enter lines of confusing commands is daunting. I think they've got a long way to go before they can think of going mainstream. I don't fear the penguin but I do wish he was a bit less confusing.