Slave Lake project winding down

[Ralph Pichie]

Last week, another load of computers started the journey north from
Edmonton toward Barrhead and Slave Lake, where they will help
reconnect students and families during the rebuilding phase. While
many of the computers had Windows XP with authentic licenses thanks to
a generous corporate donor, all of the systems sent yesterday (9) and
several others were either equipped only with a Linux-based operating
system or were a dual boot setup with Windows XP also installed.
That's 16 computers with Ubuntu or a variant as an OS in the hands of
new owners and likely dozens of new users. While I did not have an
opportunity to put free software on all of the Windows machines, I did
send a few CDs of free software to the community for sharing.

That's more than 50 computers shipped so far, along with a printer and
some accessories.

It's been a rewarding project, but the time demands are just too much
for one person, even with the aid of occasional helpers. Time to get
down to work on the photos and video that I got from it.

Ralph