Mastodawn

Sree Ramana Feb 20

Corey Snipes 🌱

🛠️ 💻 In the spirit of repairability and keeping good equipment alive, I've gathered up a few retired Thinkpads from local surplus auctions. I'm upgrading the RAM and drives and will be making them available in the next few weeks. These will be cozy little Solarpunk machines, older equipment preinstalled with a lightweight linux desktop and all the software you need for browsing, writing, docs, email, managing passwords, and videoconferencing.

I would like to find each one a good home with a nice person who will appreciate and take care of it. If you know of someone in the USA who would be a good fit, please put them in touch. I will be sending these for the cost of shipping (estimating about $40) with a completely optional tip jar to help cover the cost of upgraded parts.

When I have more details together I'll send out a link but for now ping me with any questions. Thanks! 🙏

Corey Snipes 🌱Feb 18

Shipped out the first two rehabilitated Thinkpads this morning. These have SSD drives, upgraded RAM and are running Linux Mint instead of the usual bloatware/spyware. Light and lean. Yay for repairability. 🛠️

If there's someone in your life that needs decent laptop for general use, let me know. I will refresh and ship one at no charge. (Donations are welcome, to cover the cost of shipping.)

More info at the top of this thread.

#SolarPunk #RightToRepair #Linux #EthicalTech #reuse #EthicalTech

@coreysnipes I boosted this thread as I think more folks should do it!

#Solarpunk = #Repair, #Reuse, #Upcycle !

Corey Snipes 🌱Feb 18

@kkarhan Thank you; I agree!

@coreysnipes same.

@kkarhan @coreysnipes Yep, same here! Amazing work!

@coreysnipes You're amazing! I've been wanting to do something like this, but can't really afford to. Thanks for stepping up!

Corey Snipes 🌱Feb 18

@RABid Thank you! I'm fortunate that I can devote a little $$ from the rest of the business to making this happen, and I also enjoy fixing stuff and helping people. So it works out.

@coreysnipes @RABid I just started selling Mint-flavored USB sticks on eBay for similar reasons. Not in it for the money. I just see too many people who have no idea what an ISO is suffering needlessly. Glad to see other people lighting candles instead of cursing the darkness.

Corey Snipes 🌱Feb 20

@xenotrope @RABid That's a great idea. If you can share a listing or store link, I'd be happy to add it to my resources list.

@coreysnipes @RABid Just started this week. I sell these at a profit. Well, "profit". I'm looking to not lose money shipping hardware to strangers. I'm also considering an Etsy store for the same thing and maybe branching out to Zorin or MX or elementary OS if there's interest. I'm sick of people posting online "I hate Windows 11 but I have no idea what a sha256sum is" and then getting sandbagged by an optional procedure they may only end up doing once or twice in their lives.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/188067467380

Every USB stick is handmade by me and used to install on a real device. If the device fails, it goes in the trash, not in the mail.

Linux Mint 22.3 - Cinnamon Edition (64-bit) - Bootable USB thumb drive | eBay

The product is a bootable USB thumb drive containingLinux Mint 22.3 Cinnamon Edition, tested and ready to plug into your machine to install. This USB drive is a convenient and portable option for those looking to try out the Cinnamon Edition of Linux Mint on any compatible device.

eBay

Corey Snipes 🌱Feb 20

@xenotrope That's really cool. I'm enjoying the hand-crafted parts of this laptop activity, too. Like you, I'm trying not to lose my shirt in the process. It's important to keep things like this financially sustainable. Might as well make some Haiku sticks while you're at it!

@coreysnipes I'll make USB sticks for whatever folks are willing to buy if I can validate them before they ship.

Superdave!Feb 18

@coreysnipes This is a fantastic, generous offer, and I thank you for the effort! @linuxmint is a good distro for this, it's very easy to use, even for the non-computerist! 😊 For users who need the orca screen reader, I'd suggest using Mate instead of Cinnamon.

Corey Snipes 🌱Feb 19

@wx1g Ah, very timely. Thank you for this info. I've been bouncing between XFCE and Mate and Cinnamon in my testing and wasn't sure whether there were accessibility advantages in one over another. What makes Mate better for Orca?

Superdave!Feb 19

@coreysnipes When I tried Cinnamon, in Xina, Orca would not read any panel objects or focus on any running applications. I could not tell what was the current workspace, nor reliably tell what apps were running there. Access to the settings gui was hit-or-miss, same for the file manager. In Mate, most of this stuff is very accessible. In Mint, however, the indicator applet is inaccessible. To connect to my wifi, I had to use nmtui, which works well.

Superdave!Feb 19

@coreysnipes The native Mate panel applets do not have these problems. Best Mate access;ibility is in Debian and Fedora. I really like the Mint Menu; that search feature works well! I use Brisk Menu in Debian, for that same functionality. Also, I prefer the single-column layout, like that of Mint and Ubuntu Mate. Indicator applet, in Ubuntu Mate is much more accessible than that of Mint.

Superdave!Feb 19

@coreysnipes XFCE's panel and desktop are inaccessible to Orca. Thunar file manager is somewhat accessible when switched to List View.

Superdave!Feb 19

@coreysnipes Mate is the old GNOME 2 code base, for which Orca was originally designed.

Corey Snipes 🌱Feb 19

@wx1g All of this info is really helpful, Dave. Thank you!

Superdave!Feb 19

@coreysnipes My friend prompted Claud gpt on how to make XFCE panel accessible, and it came back with a huge diff. He's planning to apply the patch to the panel source, and build. It will be amazing if it works!!

Corey Snipes 🌱Feb 19

@wx1g That would be pretty incredible. Best of luck to him!

Superdave!Feb 19

@coreysnipes He asked Claud to set up a web server and the skeleton of a personal website, with blog. When Claude finished, my friend looked at what was installed and configured, on the server side, and at the source of the website, and was quite impressed. I teased him, asking what will be left for his intern to do, since Claude did their job.

Brennan Kenneth Brown Feb 20

@coreysnipes wonderful initiative! I've done the the same locally (I just wanted an excuse to tinker with ThinkPads mostly), how do I donate to you for this?

Corey Snipes 🌱Feb 20

@brennan Excellent! My motivations are really similar, if I'm honest. Giving them away locally is a smart move. I've been thinking about that too, possibly integrated in a low-key linux install fest or small tech meetup. Maybe that's overcomplicating it. How have you found homes for yours?

TY for the donation offer. That's very kind. There's a "pay what you want" tip jar at the bottom of this page, if you're inclined: https://elephant.computer/tip-jar.html

Tip Jar

If you would like to help offset the cost of pairing, refreshing, and shipping an Elephant laptop, use one of the payment links or QR codes below. Thank you for supporting repair culture and equipment re-use! $40 (US) covers the packing materials and shipping to…

Elephant

BrambleBearSnoring Feb 21

@DoomsdaysCW is there anyone in Maine doing this kind of laptop refurbishment? Who could maybe teach folx how to do it too? Increase and spread cozy #solarpunk laptops?

DoomsdaysCW Feb 21

Not that I know of, @BrambleBearSnoring . But I will do some research and will post the results here!
@coreysnipes

BrambleBearSnoring Feb 21

@DoomsdaysCW @coreysnipes

I will try asking around (but don't really know a lot if folx) and maybe post some paper queries at libraries, coops.

DoomsdaysCW Feb 21

So, right off the bat, I found a #Hackerspace I didn't know about at #UMaine in #Orono (which I will highlight for SPS). They do RaspberryPi, but not Linux -- but have some cool SPS stuff going on (like speaker repair). There are also some Linux Groups, but I haven't found any that specifically offer workshops. I'll keep looking, @BrambleBearSnoring ...

DoomsdaysCW Feb 21

So, I know I was using the correct search terms, @BrambleBearSnoring , because I found some events in Massachusetts from 2024 and 2025, but there is a serious lack of Linux Install Parties (I did find one that's tomorrow -- in Edinburgh, Scotland!). There is definitely a need for those sorts of events. Lots of paid courses on DIY and/or computer places that will do installs, but nothing free or low-cost. And the Linux meet-ups seem to have petered out. I wish I had better news, but maybe your idea is the way to go.

BrambleBearSnoring Feb 21

There must be some people around who know it. Worse case scenario, I can learn pretty effectively from books and messing around if no one else is around to topple my concentration.

If that works, a good project might be a visual art/graphic display book sort of tool for non-techy folx to learn this critical to future skill. Like a kids picture recipe only for grown-ups.

BrambleBearSnoring Feb 21

@DoomsdaysCW @coreysnipes

Well, I'll be solarpunked. Looky what I found in the interwebs~

https://www.linuxnest.com/reviving-old-laptops-with-lightweight-linux-distributions-performance-guide/

From Dust to Desktop: How to Revive Your Old Laptop with Linux - LINUX NEST

Got an old laptop? Don't toss it! Our guide shows you how to breathe new life into it with a fast, modern, and secure Linux operating system.

LINUX NEST

DoomsdaysCW Feb 21

Excellent, @BrambleBearSnoring ! That's way more up-to-date than the guides I found.

BrambleBearSnoring Feb 21

Would that we could hop a solarpunk dirigible thingy to Edunbugh for that!!

DoomsdaysCW Feb 21

Exactly, @BrambleBearSnoring ! With old laptops en tow!

PAN African Strategic Studies Initiative AU/UK Feb 20

@[email protected]
Keep up the good work!

We also offer certificate and graduate programmes with scholarships; see https://mylms.panafrcanssi.org or https://panafricanssi.org for all free services. And there is a lot of interest worldwide.

Some students could only use their mobile phones because they don't have laptops. And we often send airtime/data bundles to them at our expense.

Your selfless service and ours complement each other. We could reach out to you for assistance, and please do not hesitate to refer interested pupils to us.

Together we can make the world a better place.

#charity #freeeducation

Corey Snipes 🌱Feb 20

@panafricanssi Thank you! That sounds like a wonderful program.

Forse (he/him)Feb 20

@coreysnipes Sorry for the tangential OT, but people here may know.
I'm in Sweden and I have two thinkpads in perfect condition, but I assume their motherboards have fried.
What's the best thing I can do with them?

Corey Snipes 🌱Feb 20

@forse No problem. I haven't gone as deep as motherboard replacement, myself. I gather it's possible though, and people do love them. I would edit your post to add a 'ThinkPad' hashtag and also check in over at ThinkPad reddit. I expect you could find someone local-ish to buy and ship them, and give them a new life. What are they doing (or not doing) that makes you suspect a motherboard problem?

Forse (he/him)Feb 20

@coreysnipes Haven't powered them up in years, but IIRC they completely fail to start.
The power LED is on, but then either they just beep very sadly, or nothing happens at all, no screen output whatsoever.

Anyway, thanks, I'll do as you say. =)

Jeff McNeill Jan 13

@coreysnipes which Linux distro?

@coreysnipes you're doing god's work

Chris "Crunchy Leaf" Salzman Jan 13

@coreysnipes lemme know when the tip jar is live!

Digichelle Jan 13

@coreysnipes I would love one of these laptops! Thank you for doing this!

@coreysnipes
This is fantastic.

Can I ask what types of laptops you're talking about? T420s or similar?

Great machines, really just a fantastic thing, and I hope that they get some solid second life in the hands of people who could use them.

Deep Breath; Start Again Jan 13

@coreysnipes I'm very interested in adopting! We've been limping along with an Acer with a broken hinge for years and would welcome this as a replacement. It would be treated with much love and appreciation.

Andreas Neustifter Jan 13

@coreysnipes Posted about the same time as you, funny...
https://mas.to/@SmudgeTheInsultCat/115885550557698632

Smudge The Insult Cat 🐀 (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image

mas.to

Jon Roach Jan 13

@astifter @coreysnipes chortle

Jon Roach Jan 13

@coreysnipes excellent idea, I would evangelise this approach to my family but their educational establishments appear tied to Windows. So instead I get their tired laptops and put Mint on them.q

Leonard Kirke Jan 14

@coreysnipes I would be very interested in one of these! I really appreciate that you're doing this.

Fly-paper-love-maker Jan 15

@coreysnipes I recommend Nixbook

@coreysnipes THIS IS AWESOME! As a user of old thinkpads (x230 fam!) I wholly approve and support this message. I should look into doing the same in my area. #thinkpad #solarpunk

BrambleBearSnoring Jan 31

@onebyte @coreysnipes

What would it take to train people to do this? I would love to participate in this work if I knew how.

@BrambleBearSnoring @coreysnipes

Very little. One needs a simple small screw driver, and some funds. Ram upgrade on the old x series is easy. Find it cheap. Throw in at least 8Gb.

Install Linux, or even HaikuOS, and pass it forward.

BrambleBearSnoring Feb 7

@onebyte @coreysnipes

HaikuOS??? There is an operating system named after a form of poetry??? ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

@BrambleBearSnoring @coreysnipes you should look it up. Iay try and run it more often at work, as that's 100% web based. Should be fine. It's a really nice environment for just plain computing. If one doesn't need constant Internet access, it's beautiful 😍❤️ #haikuos

BrambleBearSnoring Jan 31

@coreysnipes 🌞🌻🌞

Brilliant!!!

Tagging for #SolarpunkSunday

I would love one of these, and would love to learn how to upgrade and install Linux as well, to spread this work.

Derek the DIY Guy Feb 15

@coreysnipes
A pity I am not in the US to help you find someone.

In germany is a organisation, that collects old laptops and do them up like you.
They ship them to poor people in Africa. Even slow machines to their job for the from you mentioned purposes.

Derek the DIY Guy Feb 15

@coreysnipes
A little advice for all here searching for devices.
A skip can be sometimes be a real treasure chest, too.