On Wed, 9 Oct 2002, Steven T. Hatton wrote:

When I read this, I felt sick about the number of old computers which people just throw away in the States.

I must say I can not but agree with you. I myself am from India and a pack of SuSE would cost me 25% of my salary. I proudly use a P-3 450 with 128 MB RAM with Windows95 and Linux on it - without needed to go for WindowsME or 2000/xp. No need - it covers my needs VERY well. Only lately when I started using mplayer/Linux for playing DVD-RIP DivXs, did I feel the need for a better machine - because this workload is HEAVY. But with --hardframedrop and -vo dga, I feel I do pretty fine. So far as the resources are concerned, in US [for me - everyone outside India] waste a lot of hardware. Those machine can still be used. Put the older ones in a salt cluster and you shall have proper performance. But then people who need a supercomputer, find it better to buy one, rather than set one up. Hi-priority work. Flush funds... you name it.

Are you aware that you can install directly from the net? I believe this is still possible.

Installation from the net for dial-up users is impossible and costlier than the box-option. The site may be mirrored on the intranet of a rich educational institution or a software corporate entity - but even then, it is not reachable by the home-user. You still do not have data-carries. And trust me - taking the whole tree on the HDD does not help also. Direct install from the hard disk FAILS. [sob sob]

If your friends can access you system over a network, they should be able to install off of your image of the SuSE tree.

Can you believe it that poor countries do not have a shared network, or a cable modem, even? You better.

I believe SuSE deserve to be paid for their hard work, OTOH, I believe people who can't afford to pay for the CDs should still be able to use the product. If they can gain access to products such as SuSE Linux, they will have a better economy, and will then be able to pay for the CDs.

Good logic. Good point. Similar to my belief that the money Indian government makes out of revenue from tobacco products and liquor can be more than offset in a decade - due to increase in productivity of new generation and working adults - for good. But sadly - those making policies do not see my point - just because I can not show it to them. Had the box been available to me at a cheaper price, I would have loved to have my own CDs. But since it is at a much higher cost ... and I am left tinkering with the tree - trying to figure out how to construct an installation CD iso image. A person trying to do something like this would be known in California as a l-o-s-e-r. But I am where I am. And then there are many like me. :-)

I do believe you could create CDs from the image on the net. There are a few tricks to doing such things.

I am trying and have failed more than once - in my personal attempts, but yet, I am far from giving up. But trust me - when I succeed, I shall use these media to make SuSE popular in crowds which feel that some other distros are the best thing that happened to them. Not dis/advocating anything - just making it plain that SuSE can use a better reach, since they are at least as competitive.

If you need any help, shoot me some e-mail off-list. I've never done what you are talking about, but I have done some similar things.

I have confessed that I am trying something like this - and this is the last mail on the list about it. Those who are in as dire-straits as I personally am, may find worthwhile to collaborate effort. I am counting on someone relevant to warn me if I am breaking a law here by trying to create a carrier based installation out of FTP tree. Regards, Rohit -- (+91-22-692) 2101 D2, floor-3, Chand : SE : TLSI : 3578 SuSE 8.0 2.4-18-4GB on i686 : sendmail-8.9.3-42 : pine-4.44-121 rohit.sharma@iitbombay.org [maximus_two@yahoo.com] 9821394599@bplmobile.com ********************************************************* Disclaimer This message (including any attachments) contains confidential information intended for a specific individual and purpose, and is protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient, you should delete this message and are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this message, or the taking of any action based on it, is strictly prohibited. ********************************************************* Visit us at http://www.mahindrabt.com

On Monday 14 October 2002 07:05, zentara wrote:

On Mon, 14 Oct 2002 14:04:58 +0530

Rohit wrote:

...

On Wed, 9 Oct 2002, Steven T. Hatton wrote:

...

When I read this, I felt sick about the number of old computers which people just throw away in the States.

Yeah, but they throw away alot of other "junk" too; TV's, toaster ovens, vcrs. It has become cheaper to "buy new" than to repair, so the junk piles grow. It's getting to the point where the landfills are out of space. They had a tv news report awhile back: In order to save space in the landfills, they are grinding up the old computers, and adding them to "road asphalt".

Bad news, unless you're lucky enough to get a bit that's not too badly ground outside your house. You may be able to get your driveway to boot SunOS 4 ... but only s-l-o-w-l-y ...

People are having a hard enough time setting up new "state-of-the-art" machines, you are not going to find many willing to waste their time trying to setup clusters of old machines. The docs are out-of-date, the power consumption is too high compared to a single new machine, and it's basically a useless skill, although it may be an interesting hobby.

-- Fergus Wilde Chetham's Library Long Millgate Manchester M3 1SB Tel: +44 161 834 7961 Fax: +44 161 839 5797 http://www.chethams.org.uk