On Sun, Jul 23, 2017 at 01:37:04AM -0400, Steve Litt wrote:
> On Sun, 23 Jul 2017 01:12:52 +0200
> Dragan FOSS <dragan.foss@???> wrote:
>
> Average yearly income per-capita in Sub-Saharan Africa is $2,041.00 per
> year:
>
> If somebody in Africa manages to cannibalize a few Pentiums, mix and
> match parts to produce a functional computer, and find a way to afford
> the 300 watts it costs to run it for an hour or so a week, such a person
> would be mighty thankful for a good 32 bit Linux.

At this time, a semi-modern machine doesn't cost anything more, and has an
edge of drastically lower power and support costs, in addition to being far
more capable.

Restoring old gear is an expensive hobby. Poor kids in Africa can't afford
that. And since they need computers for utilitarian reasons, hobbies
shouldn't be a priority.

> Must be nice, living in the West, to assume the disposable income to
> buy a new car every 15 years or buy a computer every 10 years, but
> there are places where such things are scarce and competed over.

When I was an university kid, one of my roommates bought a really cheap used
car. He immediately had to pay six times that just to get it running, and
ongoing maintenance wasn't pretty either.

Now guess what would happen if he had chosen a car in a slightly better
condition.

--
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