CD vs DVD (was Re: No more OOo in UNR 10.04)

[Steve]

On Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:31:40 -0000, Graham Todd  
<grahamtodd2 at googlemail.com> wrote:

> On Mon, 8 Feb 2010 07:37:38 +0000
> Avi Greenbury <avismailinglistaccount at googlemail.com> uttered these
> words:
>
>> > Just thinking out loud but why ? How many machines out there have a
>> > CD but not DVD drive these days.
> [snipped]
>
> There are lots of distros specially aimed at, or can support, old(er)
> equipment.  I personally get computers with "only" a CD driver from
> Freecycle (an organisation set up to exchange between members all sorts
> of items which would otherwise go to a landfill), when the user gets a
> new computer: there's often nothing wrong with the old computer, but
> its discarded.  Yet, if there is I can do basic repairs.  I make sure it
> works, put Xubuntu or Ubuntu on it and Freecycle it or give it away
> again; many older people that couldn't afford a new computer have my
> refurbished ones locally.
>
> I know of at least one charity in the UK which does the self same
> thing, but give computer repair skills to homeless and unemployed
> youngsters; they sell the computers to help fund the project.  See:
>
> http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/jamiescomputers/
> or
> http://www.jamiescomputerclub.org.uk/home/home.php
>
Another one http://www.energy2all.co.uk/index.htm

> I'm sure there must be third world countries also with this sort of set
> up.  The point I'm making is that there is definitely a need for older
> computers with a CD drive, and if the CD drive contains a writer, that
> might be all the users need.
>
Not just third world counties, any country has loads of machines like this.

> So, in answer to your question, there are literally hundreds of
> computers "out there" (maybe thousands) awaiting refurbishment, that
> have only a CD drive in them.
>
> I think there is a real need, however, (given bandwith constraints) for
> a tutorial on screen on how to use torrents or jigdo.
>
Even then, downloading a DVDs worth of data is a long winded process if  
you have 1Mb or less of bandwidth.

-- 
Steve