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Re: [school-discuss] Replacement Hard Drive or Computer



What are you using for an operating system?  It is possible to install Linux and to configure a /swap partition of sufficient size as to compensate for low levels of RAM.  Of course, you'll have to run a window manager like JWM or Window Maker or a low-end environment like LXDE, instead of high-end environments like GNOME or KDE due to the age of the hardware.  This is a minor issue, however, as your computers will now be usable. 

Christopher D. Whittum
M.Ed. Learning and Technology
Author Open Source Software for Educators
CDW Web Design
Shady Lane Farm

On 03/09/2012 02:37 PM, Michael Shigorin wrote:
On Fri, Mar 09, 2012 at 10:49:28AM +0700, j. Tim Denny wrote:
[...] USB sticks..  I usually just buy the cheapest one...
Me rather too. :) (still walking with 2Gb one)

My two 128Gb SSDs are worth every penny of ~$540
nice... but way out of our price range in Laos.
One of them is used in my main notebook that's also a mobile
build system (incidentally, the terminal server distro work
was done on the road to some extent -- and vibrations are
quite harmful for HDDs...)

I do know how it feels with no money for food though.

I am thinking of going that way for 5-10 older model
computers at a university in Laos...  the current hard
drives are in the 20-40gb range I think nearly 10 years
old...  PIII cpus and 128mb ram.
Nice thin clients, just in case.
too complex for the staff to maintain..  they currently have
one Ncomputing setup and it causing troubles.
It would be interesting to learn of those troubles
(offlist if you'd feel like that).  My experience is
that thin clients cut down on maintenance time a lot
due to centralized apps deployment and user accounts
management; there are things that degrade though,
like 3D, microphone, and to some extent video.

USB flash isn't going help those really much but an extra
stick of 64..256M SDRAM would go much further (given some
lightweight distro and a desire to run things locally).
the problem is difficulty in sourcing older RAM and of course
the high price...
Wish I could send you some and it would actually make it
through... (there are a few spare sticks in test lab equipment
that could be dispatched without a problem)



--
Christopher D. Whittum
M.Ed. Learning and Technology
Author Open Source Software for Educators
CDW Web Design
Shady Lane Farm