Tuesday, April 17, 2007

I am reducing E-waste, are you?

Read this article here on EcoGeek.


Apparently using Linux can help reduce E-Waste.

How?

According to the article:
"A typical hardware refresh period for Microsoft Windows is 3-4 years. A major UK manufacturing organisation quotes its hardware refresh period for Linux systems as 6-8 years." A significant difference...a doubling even, of the lifetime of a computer.
That's doubling the lifetime of a computer. A possible explanation based on my experience using Linux desktop is that a user normally changes computer when there's a significant release of an operating system. For example:
  • Windows XP ----> Windows Vista
  • Mac OS X 10 ----> Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
The "problem" which is not really a problem for Linux desktop is that the upgrades come in flashes. 5 months ago when I first started using SuSE it was version 10.1, 2 months after that 10.2 was released as a stable version with 10.3 being offered as a preview currently.Phew, that was tiring. Basically you have to keep updating that you won't even have time to think whether your computer is good enough for a particular version. Let's face it, with Vista, we all know that the recommended configuration is 2Gb of RAM with a powerful graphics card etc(a requirement which I failed miserably).




Now questions for all of you to ask yourself:

How long do you normally use a computer before you change it? Is it about time you consider changing your computer because Vista is finally out? If you're thinking like that then.........



You're creating more dumps and people from poor regions will suffer.


Solutions? I have 3 suggestions, take a pick on your favourite one and implement it.
  • Change your computer only when it is near the end of its life, meaning you can't even start it.
  • Dump Microsoft Windows and embrace Linux.
  • Donate to a fund teaching people form poor regions how to use Linux.
Why teach them how to use Linux? Introducing Slackware, the Linux that runs on systems satisfying these requirements:
  • 486 processor
  • 16MB RAM (32MB suggested)
  • 100-500 megabytes of hard disk space for a minimal and around 3.5GB for full install
  • 3.5" floppy drive



So which is your choice? Choose wisely, it's for making the world a better place.

2 comments:

Horny Ang Moh said...

How often I change computer depend on pc game I only change when the computer cannot support the game. I don't care what os use as long as can support game then can do. So I suppose I am not that wastefull ho??

Wilson J Q Quah said...

then you quite wasteful ler......

My com cannot support UT or half-life 2 death match. Anything more geng cannot support. But then again it's already 4 years old and I intend to use it for another 4 more years :D