Low Cost Computing

(or what to do with that ancient electronic abacus gathering dust in the bike-shed)

 What to do with an old computer
 Hardware
 Apple Macs
 Other Operating Systems
 Software to use on an antique stand-alone computer
     386's and 486's
     Early Pentiums - 100Mhz to 200Mhz
     PentiumI - II, 200Mhz to 400Mhz
     Other Pentiums - above 400Mhz
 Where to get hold of old computers

The FRAW's Salvage Server Project has produced similar info-sheets

We often feel under a lot of pressure to have huge, high-powered computers when really a small, cheap, second-hand one will do the job perfectly well. Part of the problem are the programmes running on the computer - new software often has extensive capabilities that we don't really use, but needs expensive hardware to run on.

Using older hardware not only saves your group money, but also your conscience. Computer parts are mostly produced in eastern Asia where working conditions have more in common with slavery than employment, the environmental impact of the electronics industry is horrifying, including the use of the most highly toxic materials like chlorinated and brominated substances, toxic gases, toxic metals, photo-active and biologically active materials, acids, plastics and plastic additives. The list of toxic materials in computer components also includes lead and cadmium in computer circuit boards, lead oxide and barium in computer monitors' cathode ray tubes, mercury in switches and flat screens, and brominated flame retardants on printed circuit boards, cables and plastic casing. Production is linked with cancer clusters and reproductive complications, and components are often 'recycled' in the third world where workers without personal or environmental protection smash open monitors, burn plastics, scoop out used toner and melt down metals on open fires. Precious minerals for the electronics industry are mined in the Congo war-zone, fuelling the conflict there.

The life-cycle of electronics is truly horrifying - the more we looked into it the more sickened we became. We have more information on the environmental and social costs - please check it out.

Hardware and Pollution Manufacturing one desktop computer and 17-inch CRT (cathode ray tube) monitor requires at least 240 kilograms of fossil fuels, 22 kilograms of chemicals and 1,500 kilograms of water. The average computer contains over 2kg of lead. Usually only 100g can be recycled. The production of electronics for small items like laptops and mobile phones needs a rare mineral called Coltan - over 60% of world's stocks of Coltan are in the D.R.Congo, where a bloody civil war that has seen the greatest casualties in a war since WWII is being fought over the country's raw materials. Over 3000 computers a day are thrown away in the UK alone. The manufacturing of a 6-inch silicon wafer uses: 2275 gallons of deionised water, 285kWh of energy (the equivalent of leaving a low-energy light bulb on for over 3 years), and 3200 cubic feet of bulk gases.

This article is very PC-biased, because we don't have much Mac experience. There are some useful links for old Mac users in the Mac section. If you have any tips or pointers for using older Macs then please let us know.

What to do with the old computer

There are basically three things a computer can be used for:
as a stand-alone (desktop) computer, with all the programmes running on that computer (see Software to use on Stand-alones).
as a terminal, the programmes are run on a server and the computer in front of you only provides the keyboard, mouse and monitor. Linux does this really well, and is easy to set up in this way, whether you want a graphical terminal or text based only. We'd recommend using a 486 or preferably a Pentium I as a graphical (X) terminal, but a 386 will be a very happy text-based (console) terminal.
or as a print-server, email-server, firewall or even file-server. Using Linux, even a 386 can be a happy print server (a computer which deals with all printing requests - this can really help when you have lots of users wanting to print on the same printer or users using different operating systems), and a 486 will be an adequate firewall for an intranet, a good sendmail email server, and if given a decent (half-way modern) hard-drive can be a file server too!

As you can see Linux can give old computers new leases of life beyond the desktop. Linux is an operating system that has not only been developed on co-operative principles, but is regarded as being more secure than it's commercial competitors. If you want to know more about Linux and whether it could be interesting for you have a look at our Linux briefing in our Resources Section which discusses why Linux is important to grassroots groups, and the pro's and con's of using it on your computers.

What you decide to do with an old computer will depend on what other computers you have, and what operating system they are running. If you have just one or two other old computers, or other computers are running Windows then you will probably opt for the stand-alone scenario. If on the other hand you have even just one relatively new (500Mhz+) computer running Linux then you will almost certainly get more out of a pre-Pentium II by using it as a terminal (this will give you two machines capable of running modern programmes, without a noticeable performance loss in the newer computer). A network with anything more than 4 machines may benefit from having a print server or a file server to ease congestion.

Hardware

If your computer has all its original bits inside then loading Windows onto it shouldn't be a problem. But if you've updated some things, like the graphics card or the network card then you may have a real job getting Windows to recognise them if they're newer than the version of the software.
Linux should no problems recognising and setting up all the internal bits if they are 6 months or older. If your Linux distribution doesn't automatically recognize your hardware, try another one. Failing that get as much information as you can about the piece of hardware, look at chip numbers and do a linux google on them.

Apple Macs

There are loads of old Macs around - they simply refuse to die. What can you do with them? Well, this guy has made a webserver out of his LCIII, and Jag provides very helpful information on:
which MacOS to run on your old Mac
putting Linux on old Macs
software for old Macs

Other Operating Systems

There are plenty of other possibilities out there - for example OpenGEM (a graphical user interface from the 80's), and individual applications so if you have experience of these then please let us know how you get on with them.

Software to use on Stand-alones

To help you decide what software you can put on your stand-alone machine, and whether to put DOS/Windows or Linux on it we've made up a table of possible software that can be used on computers, going back to 386's. This software and its requirements are recommended through personal experience, and we haven't advised the use of programmes such as Internet Explorer or Outlook since we consider them to be the single largest security (virus-) related problem in the internet today.

Many of the Windows/DOS programmes recommended for older machines will no longer be supported. That means you won't be able to download or buy them anymore. Ask friends, computer shops and look on internet auctions (like ebay) for the disks. We've put links in whenever the programmes are still available on the internet.

If you are still using DOS then have a look at Short Stop's Freeware list for DOS - looks like there are lots of useful programmes here

Most of the Linux software mentioned here is usually available on the Linux installation CDs. Where this is not necessarily the case there is a link to the download site.

386 and 486 computers

(see also the section on QNX).

Task	DOS/Windows Software	Linux Software
	Recommended Specifications appear in brackets (Windows/DOS, processor, memory). ? = programme's needs are not known DOS programmes should also run under Windows	Programmes requiring the X-windows (graphical user interface) are marked with (X) Software mentioned here is available bundled with most distributions. Where this is not the case there is a link to download site.
Operating System	MS-DOS FreeDOS MS-Windows 3.1, 3.11, Windows for Workgroups 3.11 (386,8Mb, recommended harddisk size - 100Mb)	Most Linux distributions will run on a 386 without the X-windows, but have a look at small distros in the LWN distribution list, since it is possible to have X-windows with less than 4Mb memory. Use a light Window Manager such as BlackBox or IceWM.
Surfing the internet	Arachne (up to date graphical browser and email client - excellent) (DOS,386,4Mb ) Lynx (text-based) Netscape3 (DOS,486,?)	Lynx (text based) Links (text based) Dillo (fast, small, nice) (X)
Email clients	Arachne (DOS,386,4Mb ) Pegasus Mail for Dos (DOS,486,?)	Sylpheed (X) Mutt Pine
Word processing	Word for DOS (DOS,386,?) Winword2 (Win,486,4Mb) MS-Word6 (Win,486,6Mb) - more than adequate word processor.	TeX Klyx Abiword (486) FLWriter
Databases	Various freeware options
Spreadsheets	Various freeware options	ABS
Desktop publishing	Pagemaker 5 (Win,486,8Mb)
Virus scanning	F-prot (DOS,386,4Mb)	Not necessary
Firewall		ipchains, iptables etc
PDF viewer/writer	Adobe Acrobat 3 (486,8Mb)	gv (X) xpdf (X) ps2pdf (save any file to postscript and use command line utility ps2pdf to convert to pdf)
Archiver	Stuffit Expander 1.0 (Win,486,?)	gzip, gunzip, bzip, tar etc
Conclusion	With 386s and 486s Windows 3.11 is the most user-friendly operating system - Word for Windows 6.0 is an excellent word processor and has most of the functionality that people use regularly. Pagemaker5 is also a good package and still perfectly usable. On the other hand the lack of built-in internet connectivity software in Windows3.x makes it a real pain to use email and the web - although Arachne has this built in so can be used without tracking down a version of Trumpet Winsock or other win3.x connectivity software. The other main problem with Windows3.x is that it can crash continuously. Linux, on the other hand should provide an extremely stable platform with good internet connectivity, but lacks a decent graphical word processor and layouting programme at this level (Abiword is getting better all the time - a very adequate and light wordprocessor. We've also been recommended FLWriter which looks rather cool). Viruses could still be a problem for Win3.x machines, so do use the f-prot virus scanner regularly - something you don't have to worry about if you use Linux.

Pentiums etc - 100Mhz - 200Mhz

Task	Windows Software	Linux Software
	Recommended Specifications appear in brackets (processor, memory). ? = programme's needs are not known	Programmes requiring the X-windows (graphical user interface) are markedwith (X) Software mentioned here is available bundled with most distributions. Where this is not necessarily the case there is a link to download site.
Operating System	Windows95b (Pentium I, 32Mb, 300Mb hard disk ) Windows98SE (second edition) (Pentium 133Mhz, 32Mb, 1Gb hard disk) (Use 98 if you have USB devices)	Any Linux distribution should run on a Pentium I - but the big ones like Mandriva and Fedora will be a bit slow. Try Debian or have a look at the small distros in the LWN distribution list. Use a light WindowManager such as Blackbox, IceWM, XFCE or WindowMaker.
Surfing the internet	Mozilla Firefox (Pentium I, 16Mb)	Mozilla Firefox (X) Dillo (fast, small, nice) (X)
Email clients	Pegasus Mail (Pentium I,?) Eudora (Pentium I,?)	Sylpheed (X) Mutt Pine
Word processing	MS-Word95 (PentiumI,6Mb). Abiword (486,16Mb) (light and very fast, but no support for tables yet)	Abiword (X) Klyx LaTeX OpenOffice (slow but good)
Databases	Access 97	Mysql with or without graphical frontend - such as through OpenOffice
Spreadsheets	Excel	Gnumeric (X) Siag (X)
Desktop publishing	Pagemaker 6.x (Pentium I,32Mb)	OpenOffice
Virus scanning	F-prot (DOS,386,4Mb) McAffee Symantec	Not necessary
Firewall	Tiny Firewall	ipchains, iptables etc
PDF viewer/writer	Adobe Acrobat 3 (Win,486,8Mb)	gv (X) xpdf (X) ps2pdf (save any file to postscript and use command line utility ps2pdf to convert to pdf) OpenOffice can save to PDF
Archiver	Stuffit Expander 1.0 (Win,486,?)	gzip, gunzip, bzip, tar etc Ark (X)
Conclusion	Using Linux on a computer at this level is perfectly feasible - the main disadvantage is that most people are used to using Windows, and the 'best' (i.e. most similar) Graphical User Interfaces in Linux (KDE and Gnome) are quite heavy. A real possibility is to use IceWM if a Windows-like environment is wanted. Light Window Managers like XFCE and BlackBox are also good environments, if a little different. Linux also provides security and stability - something that many people feel Windows lacks. At this level most people will probably be happier running windows95 or 98 since it may feel more responsive. If however you are plagued by instability or virus problems then it'll probably be worth changing over to Linux.

Pentiums etc - 200Mhz - 400Mhz

Task	Windows Software	Linux Software
		Software mentioned here is available bundled with most distributions. Where this is not necessarily the case there is a link to download site.
Operating System	Windows98SE (second edition) (Pentium 133Mhz, 32Mb, 1Gb hard disk)	Any Linux distribution. Use a light WindowManager such as IceWM, XFCE, WindowMaker, QVWM (a blatant rip off of Windows).
Surfing the internet	Firefox (light and fast version of Mozilla)	Firefox (light and fast version of Mozilla) Konqueror Dillo (fast, small, nice)
Email clients	Pegasus Mail Eudora Thunderbird	Evolution KMail Thunderbird
Word processing	MS-Word97 OpenOffice Abiword (light and very fast, but no support for tables yet)	Abiword Klyx LaTeX OpenOffice
Databases	Access 97	Mysql with graphical frontend
Spreadsheets	Excel	Gnumeric Siag OpenOffice
Desktop publishing	Pagemaker	OpenOffice
Virus scanning	F-prot McAffee Symantec	Not necessary :-)
Firewall	Tiny Firewall	shorewall, ipchains, iptables etc
PDF viewer/writer	Adobe Acrobat	gv xpdf ps2pdf (save any file to postscript and use command line utility ps2pdf to convert to pdf) or use OpenOffice to save document directly to pdf
Archiver	Stuffit Expander 1.0	gzip, gunzip, bzip, tar etc Ark
Conclusion	Computers near the 400Mhz mark are powerful enough to run the most demanding Linux programmes like OpenOffice. Using a light WindowManager like IceWM, WindowMaker or XFCE will increase speed somewhat. Heavier WindowManagers like Gnome and KDE can be used on these machines for those who feel more comfortable with their more familiar (ie similar to Windows) environment. On some machines Windows will appear to be more responsive than Linux, but it is difficult to predict - the only thing to do is to try both Linux and Windows out! Windows 95 and 98 are being supported less and less by new hardware drivers. Already it is often easier to find Linux drivers than win9* drivers Don't forget stability and security issues, as well as the networking potential of Linux.

Pentiums etc - above 400Mhz

Pentiums above 400 will run most Linux distributions almost as fast as a newish 2000Mhz computer. No idea how well they'll run under Windows XP, but Windows 2000 could be a possibility... Linux is a really good bet on this level of computer - a modern OS, programmes and utilities on machines that are no longer being supported by Microsoft software.

Where to get hold of old computers

We've kitted out our office with second hand and refurbished equipment. With the newer machines it didn't work out much cheaper than buying new, but we did feel better using recycled machines. (No need to get massive 4Ghz machines - the performance gain over 1.5Ghz machines isn't really that big!) The big question is: where to get hold of old machines?

The ideal situation is, of course, to get the hardware for free. Ask everyone you know, phone up local businesses and tell them what you do and ask if they have any old machines that you can have. Remember to have a look at the tables above to work out if the offered computer would be of any use to you before accepting (but remember, if you have one decent computer running linux you can add on all the little old machines that people are literally throwing away to make a powerful network of terminals).

If your efforts at blagging a computer for free (have you really tried all the local businesses and universities?) come to nothing then you may have to think about buying one. There are problems associated with buying second hand hardware - the main one is "if it breaks can we send it back?" The answer to that obviously depends on what guarantee you got from whoever you bought it off. For this reason we prefer to buy off businesses rather than just look in the small ads of the local newspaper or ebay (but these shouldn't be underestimated). If you buy off an individual, and things go wrong then you've very little chance of sorting it out. Buy off a business and you have better chances of getting some sort of warranty beforehand. Try your local computer shops first - they sometimes have second hand computers for sale, and can keep an eye open for you. And of course if things go wrong, you don't have far to go to sort out any problems. Failing that, here's a list of companies we've sourced decent used hardware from.

 TR Computers (click on clearance items) they often have interesting machines. Reasonable value, and very helpful - very decent people. (Recommended)
 EuroPC are big and have newer stuff. They sometimes have good offers (caution: prices quoted are not including VAT), and on some products they have a decent warranty. Remember to ask what the warranty details are, and whether the machines are second-user or refurbished (as opposed to new).

The following are dealers who other people have recommended - we've checked their websites and the prices seem reasonable:
 Bargain PC - have 3 month warranty
 Filegood
 Get Me A PC - have 6 months warranty!
 PC Again
 PC Depot
 Morgan Computers - we've used these in the past, and haven't been too impressed by the service. They do have some good deals sometimes, so worth checking out.

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