<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2802" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><FONT size=2>> However, the idea of a community-based outreach like Nathan had mentioned and</FONT><FONT size=3> </FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><FONT size=3><FONT size=2>> Jason's suggestion of assisting not-for-profit organizations with getting linux set</FONT> </FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><FONT size=2>> up are great ideas in my opinion.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT size=2><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><FONT size=2></FONT></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><FONT size=2>Most of the non-profits and churches I know, have had at least one late model Windows machine burdened with the following:</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT size=2><SPAN class=781132513-26072006> . Microsoft Office (Word,</SPAN><SPAN class=781132513-26072006> Excel,</SPAN><SPAN class=781132513-26072006> Power Point,</SPAN><SPAN class=781132513-26072006> Access, Outlook)</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><FONT size=2> . Adobe Photoshop</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><FONT size=2> . Adobe Page Maker</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><FONT size=2> . Intuit QuickBooks</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><FONT size=2><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><FONT size=2><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><FONT size=2><SPAN class=781132513-26072006> . Whatever photo organizing application that came with their digital cameras</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left></FONT></SPAN></FONT></SPAN><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><FONT size=2> . Occasionally Corel Draw</FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><FONT size=2> . A few have been lucky enough to have had someone setup a crude file sharing network for them.</FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT size=2><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><FONT size=2></FONT></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><FONT size=2>What non-profit has an extra $2000+ for software after buying the $500 computer? </FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT size=2><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><FONT size=2></FONT></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=781132513-26072006></SPAN><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><FONT size=2>A friend of mine was just telling me that his church was unknowingly running boot-leg software. When they found out, at first they wanted to come clean, but were later tempted to let it slide after learning of the cost to do the right thing.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT size=2><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><FONT size=2></FONT></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><FONT size=2>I don't have to tell this group how on easy this same setup could be done for "free". </FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT size=2><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><FONT size=2></FONT></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><FONT size=2>Sure this could be done with other distros, but speaking only from my experience, Ubuntu would provide the perfect base. Just add Scribus (PhotoShop), GNUCash (QuickBooks), F-Spot (photo organizer) and for good measure SAMBA (Windows Networking). And you would have the perfect non-profit/ small business computing machine.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2><FONT size=2></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2><FONT size=2></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><FONT size=2>Sorry, Dan's query got me a little excited, I'll quietly go back to my corner now...</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=781132513-26072006><FONT size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=781132513-26072006> <P> <BLOCKQUOTE> <P style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 11px; BACKGROUND: #fff; PADDING-BOTTOM: 20px; MARGIN: 0.25em 0px 0px; COLOR: #363636; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.5em; PADDING-TOP: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14px">Nathan Hartley</SPAN><BR><A style="COLOR: #006600" href="http://iLothlorien.com">http://iLothlorien.com</A></SPAN></P></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></BODY></HTML>