Subject: Re: Alaska Computer Society
From: civileme (civileme@mandrakesoft.com)
Date: Thu Jun 27 2002 - 14:04:01 AKDT
On Thursday 20 June 2002 07:24 am, Charles Smith wrote:
> Recycling older computers is a great idea. Does anybody know the last
> version of RH or other distributions that would run on a 386 platform? The
> target is a IBM 386/25 w/2meg RAM. I have some ooolllldddd stuff I could
> rejuevinate.
For a 386/2Mb TINY linux or Smalllinux might work
For other old ones (386/486 with 16M or more) I have a copy of Mandrake 5.3
with kernel 2.0.36 and an apps disk as well. Making OO run on that might be
quite interesting, though siag works quite well as does LyX.
We have to keep in mind that P60,66,75,100,120,133 are quite "old" by today's
standards while the 386 stuff is probably near the end of the useful life of
its boot EPROM (10 years is a long time for a bound charge).
> On a seperate note I wonder if anyone has ever studied the contents of a PC
> and then determined if it would be possible to melt them down using a
> stepped range of temp. then drain off the slag or liquids at each step and
> recover any useful residues. Just the cases themselves should produce
> plenty of sheet metal.
>
The epoxy circuit board and the plastic packs would be the stumbling blocks.
Maybe with a few solvents to take up the plastic, a generalized melt-down
could proceed, with minor amounts of gold and larger amounts of lead, tin,
copper (most likely as an amalgam) , then with increased temperature, the
sheet metal alloys. the quartz crystal and silicon chips would still be
intact but most likely somewhat poisoned for any future use and suitable to
grind for landfill. The escaping gas could and should be captured to help
fuel the melt-down.
More interesting is the CRT on monitors. Likely to be toxic and (very
mildly) radioactive, the phosphors can be recovered but are just a bit hard
to handle.
Refining everything afterward from the meltdoewn with some trace impurities
like boron and phosphorus could be fun. There should(tm) be a way to make it
economically feasible.
Civileme
> Charles
>
> >Perhaps AKLUG should be represented to bring up the benefits Linux can
> >bring to a project like this..
> >
> >1. Cost - Cheaper to use Linux/Mozilla/OpenOffice/etc than MS (and
> >others') Windows counterparts
> >2. No need to worry about legality of licenses
> >3 Able to utilize older equipment better
> >4 Can be configured to use KDE/Gnome for better machines and
> >lighter-weight WM's for older machines
> >
> >What else?
> >
> >Justin
> >
> >Mike Barsalou wrote:
> >
> >The Alaska Computer Society has told me that they are looking
> >recycling/re-purposing old computers as well.
> >
> >Here is what Dawn Scott passed on to me:
> >
> >
> >We are planning to devote our July 11 ACS meeting to a dialog with
> >interested parties on how to recycle/repurpose computers. This is an
> >ecological issue and also a social issue, so we will have a panel of
> > people representing GreenStar, the Cristina Foundation/Parents Inc., and
> > perhaps other such as Solid Waste Services, etc. We are hoping everyone
> > will come who is interested in or can contribute to a solution to the
> > ecological problem and help provide usable computers for positive
> > purposes. Feel free to suggest other panel members and invite others who
> > might be interested in this important topic.
>
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2a23 : Thu Jun 27 2002 - 14:04:05 AKDT