SemiConscious Dot Org

Last night, I happened to stumble across a post on librarian.net that touched upon a lot of the issues I’ve been wrestling with recently. Jessamyn details the many ordeals associated with donated computer equipment in libraries:

I ran down the options with the librarian. 1) Buy an XP license or three from Tech Soup. 2) Hassle her friend to figure out wtf is up with the software on these computers. 3) Wipe the drives and install Ubuntu.

The school / library where I work has ancient computer equipment. I’m constantly cannibalizing parts from broken computers in order to keep others functioning. We’re running six different versions of Windows (2000, XP, XP Pro, NT Server, 2000 Server, and 2003 Server) and three different versions of Office (2000, 2002, and 2003.) Everyone on staff has the core Office programs, but many people are missing stuff like Access and Publisher.

Moreover, different versions of these programs (especially Publisher) don’t play nice with each other, so a document created on one computer can’t be opened on certain others. One obvious solution would be to purchase 50 or so discounted copies of Office 2007 from TechSoup to get everyone on the same page, but even that meager cash outlay (roughly $1,000) is beyond our means. So I’ve begun experimenting with Ubuntu on staff computers; as a dual boot for now, but possibly as an eventual replacement for Windows.

I do a bit of brief troubleshooting and determine that both monitors work but only one CPU seems to work to run the monitor. I look in the back of the computer and notice the vent fan is pointed sideways. I have no idea what to make of this. I do know that if we want to get rid of this computer in any sort of approved way it will cost us money.

This is one I’ve struggled with for years: since every bit of equipment (and, indeed, our entire budget) comes from donations, how do I respectfully tell someone that the “gift” they’re giving us is virtually useless? Our policy is never to turn down a donation, out of fear that it will create bad word-of-mouth publicity. But when someone shows up at our front door hauling a Win98 machine with less hard drive space than the $30 USB keychain drive in my pocket, a 13 inch monitor that weighs four tons, and a dot matrix printer, the only thing they’re doing is costing us money, since we’re going to have to pay someone to dispose of it.

When that type of computer is left on our doorstep overnight, I always suspect the person knew it was a piece of crap, and just wanted someone else to pay to get rid of it.

On the other hand most of them are running Gates Foudation hardware from several years ago and they’re thinking about upgrades and considering their library’s future technological directions.

This confirms some of the worst fears I had when I was working for BMGF. When I installed computers in some tiny rural library out in the sticks, I just knew they’d never be able to find the money to replace them when the time came. And sure enough, many of them are still using grant computers, 7-8 years later. Hell, the library in my school was still stocked with old Gates grant computers when I started working here two and a half years ago. I practically wept with joy when I heard that a certain local aerospace giant had granted us the money to buy some new ones. Most small rural libraries do not have enormous, wealthy aerospace companies located conveniently nearby, however.

Meanwhile I bought an old IBM X31 Thinkpad from ebay and I’ve been messing with it in the evenings to get it running the way I like it with an open source OS and software. It cost less than $300, but that’s only really a bargain if I don’t count the cost of my time. Since it’s a hobby project for me, I don’t, but when I’m on the clock it’s nice if things don’t take forever.

After spending the past couple of months tinkering with Ubuntu (and its derivatives, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and Edubuntu) on our computers, I can say with certainty: DO NOT install it on a laptop, especially not an older one. Ubuntu works perfectly fine on a desktop computer, but its wireless support is terrible. (To be fair, no other flavor of Linux seems any better.) You will waste countless hours hunting down wireless card drivers that may or may not work, or messing with various cumbersome workarounds to get it to work with the Windows drivers in the event that Linux equivalents simply don’t exist.

This isn’t a big deal when playing around with your own laptop on your own time, but if you’re trying to get several old laptops working while on the clock, it’s a colossal waste of time (and, by extension, money.) Old laptops don’t generally work well with any version of Windows newer than Win2k or 98, but if you happen to have a cd with either one lying around, it will get them up and running much quicker than Ubuntu will.

Thus endeth the lesson. Selah.