Amazing: people throw away Linux boxes!


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Thread: Amazing: people throw away Linux boxes!

  1. #1
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    Amazing: people throw away Linux boxes!

    Hi everyone;

    I just had to post an appreciation thread for average Joe's who throw away perfectly good computer equipment.

    I recently acquired a base unit: AMD K5 100mhz, 1GB HDD, 16MB RAM. It also came with a spare graphics card, and an AT - PS/2 adapter. It is my first Linux box, I installed Debian 3.0 on it, with g++, and it runs great.

    The other day, I acquired 2 high speed CDROM drives, a 40GB HDD, 128MB RAM, and a graphics card. And all this for free.

    Of course, the average Joe has no use for this hardware, if it can't run M$W at a relatively fast speed, it is no use.

    ... oh praise the average Joe. Now, what will I get next?
    Reg. Linux user #365381

    AMD K5 100mhz, 1GB HDD, 64MB RAM
    Debian 3.0

  2. #2
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    ive been doing this for years, now i have a ton of hardware that i cant sell much less give away.
    windows get broken, penguins don't get sucked into jet engines --gehidore
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  3. #3
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    Wow! Some of us without jobs (haha im 14) would love to know where you are given this oportunity. Thanks...
    eskiled is Against-TCPA

  4. #4
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    Originally posted by eskiled
    Wow! Some of us without jobs (haha im 14) would love to know where you are given this oportunity. Thanks...
    It's real easy... just know that people throw away old hardware and you're set. Then think about who throws away old hardware and where. Schools throw away old computers all the time...
    Reg. Linux user #365381

    AMD K5 100mhz, 1GB HDD, 64MB RAM
    Debian 3.0

  5. #5
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    All of my servers / test boxes are based around systems or hardware that I have put together from 'donations' from friends and relatives who would otherwise throw them away.

    The golden phrase to listen out fro: "do you have any use for ..."
    Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
    - Whatever is said in Latin sounds profound.

  6. #6
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    when the engineering IT department throw away servers each year, i walk upsatirs pick up the stuff and walk downstairs again with a lot of harware in my bag for free,
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  7. #7
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    Originally posted by Lucas_Maximus
    when the engineering IT department throw away servers each year, i walk upsatirs pick up the stuff and walk downstairs again with a lot of harware in my bag for free,
    Dude, where do you work? HOOK ME UP!

    On a related note, I did get a free color laser printer from my former employer. It's a great printer-- 2400DPI, 120mhz processor, 64MB of RAM, and a 2GB hard drive!

    ...That's the best score I've gotten. I did have a guy give me a 120mhz Compaq Proliant 1500R server. It was nice-- it has space for 5 hot swap hard drives
    Registered Linux user #230403! Since March 2001! YAY.

    Try doing a forum search or a google search before asking a question. And please don't use HELP! in the topic of your post... it's so lame... Please don't PM me for help-- post a question in the forum instead.

  8. #8
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    Well, we have a building about 50 by 50 feet stacked from floor to ceiling with who knows how many hundred or thousand machines from 800 mhz down to old 66 mhz 486s - mostly working - complete with monitors, mice, keyboards, speakers and ethernet cards. Oh, and by the way, about two hundred 10 and 100mb hubs (not 10/100). And cables-patch and adapter. Plus, how about a hundred or so Deskjets and a few scanners. If you have a big dolly, 10 or so gigantic 400mhz Dell and HP raid-5 scsi servers, 6 drives each with scsi tape drive. 80 or so copies of C++ builder still in the celophane, God knows how many copies of VB 4, Turbo pascal, Turbo C, Delphi... On and on...

    We started trying to empty the building last January.

    Other schools didn't want them.
    Goodwill didn't want them.
    The Churches and Missionary folks didn't want them.
    The prison system didn't want them.
    The local recycling facility doesn't take computers.
    An ad in all the papers for "Come everyone, take all you want" produced 0 results. A few people came by and looked, but if it wasn't a P4 or AMD 2500 or so, they weren't interested.

    A recycler from the big city is taking them - for about $18000. That is to say, we are paying to have them hauled off.

    CptKrf
    Last edited by CptKrf; 08-30-2004 at 11:34 PM.

  9. #9
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    Originally posted by CptKrf
    Well, we have a building about 50 by 50 feet stacked from floor to ceiling with who knows how many hundred or thousand machines from 800 mhz down to old 66 mhz 486s - mostly working - complete with monitors, mice, keyboards, speakers and ethernet cards. Oh, and by the way, about two hundred 10 and 100mb hubs (not 10/100). And cables-patch and adapter. Plus, how about a hundred or so Deskjets and a few scanners. If you have a big dolly, 10 or so gigantic 400mhz Dell and HP raid-5 scsi servers, 6 drives each with scsi tape drive. 80 or so copies of C++ builder still in the celophane, God knows how many copies of VB 4, Turbo pascal, Turbo C, Delphi... On and on...

    We started trying to empty the building last January.

    Other schools didn't want them.
    Goodwill didn't want them.
    The Churches and Missionary folks didn't want them.
    The prison system didn't want them.
    The local recycling facility doesn't take computers.
    An ad in all the papers for "Come everyone, take all you want" produced 0 results. A few people came by and looked, but if it wasn't a P4 or AMD 2500 or so, they weren't interested.

    A recycler from the big city is taking them - for about $18000. That is to say, we are paying to have them hauled off.

    CptKrf
    Geez! I'd be all over that! You should have posted that to the Hardware Trading forum!

    Just how big are the servers? If you're getting rid of them, I'd at least like to know how much it might cost to ship them somewhere...
    Registered Linux user #230403! Since March 2001! YAY.

    Try doing a forum search or a google search before asking a question. And please don't use HELP! in the topic of your post... it's so lame... Please don't PM me for help-- post a question in the forum instead.

  10. #10
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    free hardware!

    Imagine my dissapointment, the college where I work (langara in Vancouver) threw out probably hundreds of perfectly good old *nixable boxes that I could have at least taken all the hardware from and done some fun stuff with. They said that they had to take them away to some recycling place because there might have been 'sensitive data' on the hard drives. I was so down because of that.. Later they threw out more computers and I went through them for parts too though and came out prety on top of things No working boxes to show for it but lots of 1 gig hd's and old 72 pin memory and stuff like that. I love that stuff!

    I would have been totally in on that warehouse full of old computer stuff too. I always want more.. I think I'm addicted

  11. #11
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    Originally posted by gehidore
    ive been doing this for years, now i have a ton of hardware that i cant sell much less give away.
    Me too. I can't seem to say no when someone offers free hardware.
    Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed - Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, "It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver."

    -Deep Thought, Jack Handey

  12. #12
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    http://www.freegeek.org/build.php a really good iidea for us geeks.

    http://www.freegeek.org/earncomputer.php is a neat idea.

    And another one in South Bend:
    http://www.freegeekmichiana.org/


    http://www.techsoup.org/products/recycle/index.cfm

    has an extensive listing. A lot of commercial/academic/government entities are afraid of data being left on hard drives and so they will only use commercial recyclers. Plus the EPA mandates that monitors especially be disposed of in "a lawful manner consistent with EPA guidelines". But if you volunteer at some of the non-profit places, I'm sure you will be able to have access to some old hardware. And Goodwill, Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, church stores, etc all have old hardware donated to them. And they will usually negotiate the price. And be on the look out for ads in the want ads, free weeklys, etc.

    http://www.nrc-recycle.org/resources...getlisting.php

    I'm sure some of these commercial recyclers would not turn down a paying customer.
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  13. #13
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    Originally posted by CptKrf
    Well, we have a building about 50 by 50 feet stacked from floor to ceiling with who knows how many hundred or thousand machines
    Where do you live at? If your near me, I can have alor of that taken off of your hands by our school system.

    PS - I am in Connecticut
    "68 65 63 6B 6C 65"

  14. #14
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    im with gehidore. i been leaching parts off people for years. im starting to get some decent systems that way too! got my server and most of my desktop. and a laptop that way. plus my parent and sisters computer. many many others too. at one point i think i had 15 computers sitting in my room!
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  15. #15
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    i need to start talkin to some of my friends...i know theres at least one 266 P-MMX sitting around that i can take ^_^

    that FreeGeek thing looks interesting though....
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