Things to do with an old computer

TORONTO - Jan. 21, 2015 - PRLog -- First, if you must get rid of it completely. …

Convert to cash. This is kind of a weird suggestion, but before you do anything with your computer, you should see what you have. You might have a piece of junk in your hands, and if it’s some kind of wacky home-grown computer, it probably is junk. But if you have an old IBM Model M keyboard connected to it. … Congratulations: You just made $100 on ebay. Find out what it is, what it’s worth and if you should hold on to it.

Give it to a geek. Provided you’re not a geek already, find one and see if you can foist it on to them. Most geeks can be found … well, actually, most geeks can’t be found outside their dens, except if there’s a fire drill. Ask around and if you can triangulate the location of a geek in his or her natural habitat, see if they want your machine. Most geeks consider gifts to be romantic overtures, but make it clear that it’s just a castaway. You won’t hurt their feelings.

Recycle it. Most big-name sellers have recycle programs now, although some, like Dell, are generally only interested in their own branded machines. (Edit, 2010-01-03: Apparently Dell will take any brand of computer for recycling now. That’s a welcome change. :) ) I suppose that’s okay, since they’d be picking up some weird stuff if they didn’t draw the line somewhere. Also check around for your local Free Geek group, and remember that sometimes charities will take computers as donations, like cars. Whatever you do, make sure your computer doesn’t end up in a landfill in a third world country. IT crud is somehow making its way into small African nations, dumped into pits and left to decompose. Maybe that doesn’t bother you, but considering that the average CRT has up to 8 lbs. of lead in it, it’s not environmentally — or ethically — conscientious. Let’s not turn the developing world into a garbage pit, friends.

But if you’re willing to keep it around. …

File server, printer server or NAS. Another old chestnut, but again, there’s a reason for that. Most machines that you find “too slow” for desktop use are acceptably fast as servers or network storage. Take out the GUI and suddenly it’s a speed demon again. Link up a series of machines with NFS and get everybody using the same stuff, and quite easily. Want an idea how to do that in Ubuntu? Look at this.

Web design and development. So long as you’re hooking it up as a file server, you might as well make it into a full-fledged in-house Web server, particularly if you’re into Web design. Test at the local level, before moving your site out into the real world. Build a wiki. And remember that some very, very slow machines work well as Web servers. Like the old 286 Web server.

FTP for fun and profit. Again, so long as you’re setting up a server, put together an FTP site. I used to run a live vsftpd server off a 300Mhz machine with no hard drive, just to transfer large files between me and my brother. He could sign in, drop off his file and I’d copy it elsewhere. Turn it off, and it’s gone. Easy as pie.

Run a media server. This is a bit esoteric, but there are utilities and distributions aimed specifically at hoarding files of any type, organizing them and — best of all — giving you access to them through a networked Web page. In other words, you don’t have to set up anything except install the package, start the process and then point your browser at the machine. Instant and painless. For ideas, check out gmediaserver, mediatomb, ushare and some others. And don’t forget: If you have a console gaming system, this is the perfect idea.

Local repository. This works especially well if you have two or three machines running the same distro, although there’s no reason why you can’t mix and match too. Instead of updating each machine over a network, set up one machine to synchronize itself with the repositories, then relay your updates to the next ring of machines, from within your own network. You’ll cut your bandwidth demands at a factor proportional to the number of machines you have. And a network administrator somewhere on the planet will sing your praises.

Upgrade it. Take this one with a grain of salt. If you’re computer is junk, then parts are probably going to be cheap. If it’s still a little valuable, then parts might be a little more money. If it’s really old, upgrading is going to be ridiculously expensive. There’s a funny price curve attached to computer parts. It starts high, falls after a few years, bottoms out after about six, then suddenly spikes again around 10. So depending on how old it is, you might be putting more money into it than it’s worth.

Firewall. Ah, yes, the old firewall suggestion. Yes, it’s possible, and there are Linux distros that are made specifically for this purpose. To be honest, I don’t know of anyone — I mean personally — who dedicates an entire outdated PC to firewall duty. It’s too easy to get a $50 router with a 24V AC adapter, cross your fingers and hope it keeps the bad guys out. However, it’s a great learning experience and a good use for an outdated machine. Consider it.

Gaming hub/LAN party server. I can’t speak to the effectiveness of this one, but I’ll mention it because I’ve seen it listed elsewhere as an option. I think it might depend on the game, the number of players, the hardware, the speed of the network, and so forth. It sounds like a possibility to me, though. I leave it to you to find out how well it works.

Legacy gaming. Along the same lines, you can usually run old Windows titles from within wine, and not have nearly as many complications as trying to install Windows 95 (now with USB support! :roll: ). Go into the basement and get out all your old Win98 games, and spin them up again. And if you were ever a Tribes player … you still are. (And by the way, if you can get the new, free releases of Command & Conquer running in Linux, let me know how you did it. It’s not happening for me.

Movie machine. I’ve watched DivX movies on 300Mhz machines inside X with mplayer, and you can even throw a movie up against the framebuffer of a still-slower computer, and watch movies or DVDs that way. Old laptops are excellent for this; it’s one of the reasons I keep a spare to the side of my bigger machine — so I can watch movies while I moderate. :mrgreen:

Internet phone. Another one I’ve heard about, but haven’t done. If your machine can handle Skype or Ekiga or even Google voice chat, you might as well set it up to run solo, and let your big rig relax. Personally I don’t like telephones much more than televisions, so for this one, you’re on your own.

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