[OS:N:] ANNOUNCE: the RULE project for older PCs

[Marco Fioretti <m fioretti inwind it>]

Hello,

having read on this list several messages about donations of 
older PCs to schools, senior citizens, etc..., and about which
software to run on them, I guess that I can post this without being
off topic.

PC donations are an excellent thing for a lot of reasons. Free
Software fits perfectly in that context because people who need a
donated PC certainly cannot afford proprietary SW licenses.

The problem is that:

	old Free Software doesn't support a lot of modern PC uses,
		and, in schools, has much less value as an educational
		tool.

	modern "Free" Software (including latest RH) requires modern,
		powerful PCs (**). These are certainly not free, seldom
		donated, and cheap only for (some) western world
		citizens
		(**) in its defaul configuration, at least

	terminal-server projects like the Linux K12 one imply a
	network, and a more powerful server to be connected to the
	old PC: they simply don't apply to stand-alone PCs

This is why I and others founded the RULE project last february. It is
meant to help all those who donate computers, and all those who
receive them, making easier to run the LATEST "Free" Software without
*buying* non free hardware. The project is still in its infancy, but
we have resumed development after a (quite long) summer break, so
please visit www.rule-project.org/ if interested, and spread the word.

You are also welcome to contact me off list, of course!!

	Best Regards,
			Marco Fioretti
			RULE project leader

Red Hat 7.3 in 8 MB of RAM: www.rule-project.org/
-- 
The worst thing one can do is not to try, to be aware of what one
wants and not give in to it, to spend years in silent hurt wondering
if something could have materialized -- and never knowing.  --
				     David Viscott