Free Geek Robbed

Ellen Wilson writes, "Portland, Oregon, non-profit Free Geek, which turns old PCs into Linux boxen, has been robbed of about $4500 worth of hardware. Portlanders are asked to keep an eye out for suspicious sales of Ubuntu laptops." This blog post has some details of labeling that could help to spot the stolen laptops. BoingBoing picked up the story and added that another local outfit, the Independent Publishing Resource Center, which supports Portland's zine scene, had been hit on the previous night.

Boxen Is Not A Word

[Anonymous Coward]

"Portland, Oregon, non-profit Free Geek, which turns old PCs into Linux boxen

Please stop using this boxen word. There is no such thing is boxen. The plural of box is boxes.

This madness must stop. Anytime somebody says boxen in real life to me gets a punch in the face.

Re:Boxen Is Not A Word

[Sam Nitzberg]

boxen - made of boxwood.....

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Boxen [thefreedictionary.com]

Re:Boxen Is Not A Word

[jibjibjib]

You used "boxen" as an adjective and "is" as a preposition, so you can hardly complain.

Anyway, the language changes, it doesn't matter whether the plural of box used to be boxes or not, as long as you understand what people are talking about.

Re:Free Geekin'

[ZeroExistenZ]

They deserve the book, the largest, to be thrown at them.

Now the question is, who can throw the largest book [cnn.com] far enough to hit them?

Re:Boxen Is Not A Word

[onebuttonmouse]

And I think that a burglar burgles, but that won't stop talk of 'burglarizing'. Some groups of people use language that other groups consider incorrect, no need get all uppity about it.

Re:Ubuntu Laptops?

[EricJ2190]

But people would pay for the hardware, no matter what OS is installed.

Re:Don't get me wrong

[egypt_jimbob]

But don't you think the folks at FreeGeek doing sort of a disservice to those they give computers to? Linux is not the easiest to learn, and once it is learned the skills are only applicable to less than 5 percent of all computers.

Firstly, they seem to mostly give machines to non-profits and their volunteers. Secondly, they train their volunteers in using the software as well as how to build a machine from parts. Also, those skills will be useful on a computer the volunteer now owns which could not happen without this program (or something like it). The more people who are turned on to Free software, the more people will know how to use it and the more useful the skills become.

Your post reminds me of teachers I had in high school who had the mentality that we were "just kids" who couldn't be expected to learn without being forcefed. Poor does not equal stupid; give people the opportunity to learn and they will surprise you.

Robbed? I dont think so.

[Anonymous Coward]

I know "I been robbed" is oh so more exciting than "I been burgled" but this use of english is disgraceful.

rob: 1 a (1) : to take something away from by force : steal from (2) : to take personal property from by violence or threat

burgle: 1 : to break into and steal from

Now, which happened here?

Re:20 hours for a used PC?

[nick.ian.k]

I just wonder how many people are willing to do 20 hours for something that would only require half that number of hours to buy outright in an average-wage job. Do you get a lot of takers?

You're making the mistake of assuming that earned income = disposable income. Many of our volunteers are there because that $50 they *could* spend to get one of our computer systems has to go towards putting food on the table, paying rent, and so on instead; saving up such an amount of money could take weeks, and it still means parting with hard-earned cash.

The volunteer labor isn't of the unpleasant "scrub the toilets, sawdust pools of vomit" variety at all. We teach our volunteers the basics of how computers work, starting with identifying each component and explaining how it all works together. Then we put them in tear down, where they remove most components from to-spec machines (or strip under-spec machines to bare metal), sort components into bins for subsequent testing, and put scrap plastic and metal aside for recycling. This process is supervised by a staff member, and everybody seems to enjoy it: taking imposing devices apart seems pretty cathartic to most of the folks who partake in the workflow, and they seem to like asking questions about why various components look different and function differently. After this, they get moved into testing, where they plug components into known working hardware and use our pre-determined testing procedures and separate the good from the bad (which, of course, also get recycled). Phase three is where they plug known working components together in a case and then proceed to install the operating system, with our help. We also teach them how to use the machine and offer free walk-in support if they encounter any problems. Nobody is stuck in a given process for any particular number of hours: rather, we let people do what they like doing most, but of course encourage them to do everything and learn as much as possible.

If you think all that's not worth 20 hours, that's your business. There are plenty of people who believe otherwise, and we welcome their presence, questions, and curiosity.

Re:Boxen Is Not A Word

[dB 0]

This madness must stop. Anytime somebody says boxen in real life to me gets a punch in the face.

What's wrong with new words? You need to start thinking outside the boxen.

Responding to the snarky comments

[guspasho]

A lot of commenters have suggested this is an unimportant story, robberies happen all the time, bigger robberies occur often that aren't covered, etc. But other robberies don't hit as close to home for the Slashdot community as a robbery of a nonprofit that cleans up used computers, installs Linux on them, and donates them. The function that FreeGeek performs is unique and uniquely relevant to Slashdot. It is both a charity that makes computers and the Internet more accessible to those who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford it by recycling discarded computers, AND it broadens the Linux user base.

I cannot imagine a charitable cause more worthy of the support of the Slashdot community than this one. Before you post another comment suggesting this isn't an important story, please read the Free Geek mission page [freegeek.org]

Re:Boxen Is Not A Word

[thealsir]

Or how about, anybody who wants language to stand frozen in time needs a punch in the face.