November 18th, 2013, Emmabuntüs 2 gives a second life to old computers

November 18th, 2013, Emmabuntüs 2 gives a second life to old computers



On November 18th, 2013, the Emmabuntüs Team is pleased to announce the 5th maintenance release of Emmabuntüs 2 1.06 based on Xubuntu 12.04.3. This distribution was designed to make the refurbishing of computers given to humanitarian organizations, especially Emmaüs communities (where the name comes from), and to promote the discovery of GNU/Linux by beginners, but also to extend the lifespan of the equipment and to reduce over consumption & over waste in electronics ( * ).

This update is delivered to improve the refurbishing work on Emmaüs communities workshops in Montpellier, Villers-les-Pots, Liberté, and Paris, but also PC de l'Espoir and AMELIOR.

To ensure proper installation of Emmabuntüs 2, we advise you to first install it without Internet, and then to get online on the first reboot to complete your install.





For this version 1.06, the following fixes and improvements have been made:


 * Updated packages for Xubuntu 12.04.2, codecs and extensions contained in web browsers (Firefox, Chromium), Thunderbird mail reader.


 * Update the extension Language Tools 2.3 for LibreOffice and documentation included in the distribution Emmabuntüs.


 * Update Cairo-Dock 3.3.2.


 * Change repository Medibuntu obsolete.


 * Adding a link on the desktop pointing to the new tutorials included in the distribution.


 * Adding setup menus in Portuguese and German.

This version is available on November 18th, 2013, from our homepage: emmabuntus.org, but also from this website download.emmabuntus.org.

We encourage you to give your old computers to charities.

Here are some links to install and to use this distro: List of applications, Installation, Personalization, but also the traditional F.A.Q

If you have any troubles or remarks, you can contact us on : forum, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, contact

Note:

According to the ADEME from manufacturing to disposal, through its use, each stage of the life of the computer equipment can be quantified by its environmental impact: making a computer and a screen requires 1.8 tons of resources (240 kg of fossil fuels, 22 kg of chemicals, 1500 liters of water).

The group Ecoinfo's priority is to act. Each member of the group does it by himself (purchase, maintenance, development of networks), but each of us can also contribute by his behavior. Their conclusion: " if it is already possible to intervene at all stages of the cycle of hardware, the most effective action is to limit the environmental impact of these materials by reducing your purchases and by increasing their life ! ".


 * ''Extrait de la Lettre N°3 – Octobre 2008 : L'informatique omniprésente. Quel impact sur l'environnement ?
 * 24 fois plus de CO2 lors de la fabrication d'un ordinateur que lors de son utilisation

Acknowledgements:

The collectif Emmabuntüs would like to thank Tux e Derivados aka Porfirio for his help in translating menus distribution in Portuguese, and Dmitry of DarkDuck for The Joint Contest of Emmabuntus and Linux notes from DarkDuck

Version of this article ODT and PDF format