Freedom Toasters

Oh... Never mind... That IS the one in the ELB. Now known as "IT" building, I think. Quite a dodgy one... Half the time it was broken
 
Threepwood said:
Has anyone used these, they seem mostly on university campuses, do you think anyone can just walk in off the street and use them?
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Depending on where they are located on campus I suppose anyone is free to use them. I've used the one in the Stellenbosch University Library a few times - but I'm a student, have card access to the library. I don't see them turning you down at security if you come as a visitor with your ID to use it though. Which Toaster are you thinking of going to?
 
One in JHB, I have a friend or two at WITS, so I can ask them about getting in there, or maybe just to do it for me, though I always like to do things like this myself.
 
I see the site has (more-or-less) been updated to remove the one that used to be at Cresta from the site; but, between that the contact details for the Campus one being wrong (I know for a fact that guy is very much not there anymore) and on the last Ubuntu release last year it hadn't been updated anyway (AND I emailed them to complain), I would personally write that one off as a total waste of time, effort and space.
 
Well I'll avoid that then and see about the WITS one, maybe MONASH.
 
WKJ?:beanie said:
Hmmm, I see they have one in the Law building at Tuks. Will have a look this semester.
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The freedom toaster at Tuks is in the tutor area next to the Cosi Team help desk (glass room near the stairs) on floor 4 of the IT Building. On uptime, seems to work every time I'm there (which is very often)...

The screen saver just comes on which might make it seem like it's not working.

Oh and as for walking on to campus and using it, I doubt you could, some days security is lax but most of the time the guards want to see a student card if you don't use the student gates, the easiest way is to come from main entrance and jump over the small little gate (everyone does it and the guards do nothing), then just proceed to the IT building apart from that method security will stop you.
 
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Didn't there used to be one at the MTN Science Center?
 
Gnome said:
The freedom toaster at Tuks is in the tutor area next to the Cosi Team help desk (glass room near the stairs) on floor 4 of the IT Building. On uptime, seems to work every time I'm there (which is very often)...

The screen saver just comes on which might make it seem like it's not working.

Oh and as for walking on to campus and using it, I doubt you could, some days security is lax but most of the time the guards want to see a student card if you don't use the student gates, the easiest way is to come from main entrance and jump over the small little gate (everyone does it and the guards do nothing), then just proceed to the IT building apart from that method security will stop you.
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Will have a look. I thought it was in the Law building behind the Economics building, apparently not :D
 
There's still one at the DiData Campus office park in Bryanston, on Sloane Street.
 
Linoman said:
Didn't there used to be one at the MTN Science Center?
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Yes, its still there and was the first one.

I go there sometimes but last time I went, just after the release of 8.04 they had only old Ubuntus. Hopefully they have the new one when I go there this weekend.

Would be nice if the machines updated the site automatically when they receive an update so you know what you going to get when you get there.
 
nic777 said:
Yes, its still there and was the first one.

I go there sometimes but last time I went, just after the release of 8.04 they had only old Ubuntus. Hopefully they have the new one when I go there this weekend.

Would be nice if the machines updated the site automatically when they receive an update so you know what you going to get when you get there.
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That would be nice, gee have not been there in years
 
Greylid said:
What type of software is on these things?
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They have Linux distributions on them, that's it AFAIK.

You take a writable CD or DVD, stick it in he drive, and choose which distro you want to burn to your disc.
 
Well, I went to the MTN Science Theatre one and found that they now have Ubuntu 8.04 but no 8.04.1 (yet).

Although they did not label it as LTS where it should go under.

I was actually surprised since they upgraded the unit recently to a slicker version with no trays but rather 2 "slip-in" cdroms. Also, which is quite cool and what an idea I want to propose, was the presense of a usb port where you can input your flash disk and copy the files on. Great for those with 4 and 8 gig flash drives.

Regarding the software, there is Linux distros but also the new opencd which has popular open source windows software like openoffice, firefox and gimp. They also have free music, probably creative commons stuff.

Personally, I think they should also add some open source games especially those large FPS ones. And openclipart which is a mission to download because of its big size.

But all these ideas should be mentioned directly to the freedom toaster guys which is exactly what I am going to do :)
 
Greylid said:
What type of software is on these things?
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According to the website....

Product Reviews

The Freedom toaster can reproduce many electronic resources, primarily open source operating systems, but also provides free applications and literature. Listed here are the items stored on vanilla installs of the Freedom toaster.

Open Source Operating Systems

Ubuntu Install and Live CDs

Ubuntu is an open source Linux operating system based on the highly succesfull and reliable Debian distribution. Ubuntu is fully community-supported and friendly. Easy to install and use, and complete with a select range of open source software, Ubuntu is a perfect distribution for both new and more experienced Linux users. The Ubuntu Live CD offers users a complete Linux operation system that boots and runs from a CD. Visit the Ubuntu Linux website

Mandriva Linux
Mandriva is an open source Linux distribution, based originally on Red Hat Linux. Mandriva is known for its ease of use and comprehensive range of thousands of open source applications, games and programming tools included with the distribution. Mandriva Linux is available in a wide range of languages and is very easy to install and enjoys excellent community support. Visit Mandriva Linux

Fedora Core
Fedora is a Red Hat sponsored project that aims to maintain a community-developed open source Linux operating system. Fedora’s installer and some of the included wizards will be familiar to those with experience in Red Hat Linux. Fedora is highly stable, excellently supported and comes with a range of professional Linux applications and tools for computer professionals and home users alike. Visit the Fedora Project at Redhat Linux

Debian
Available on all 14 CDs from the Freedom Toaster, the Debian project brings together top Linux and open source developers in maintaining a free Linux operating system. Dubbed ‘The Universal Operating System’, Debian is a highly stable, powerful and advanced Linux distribution, complete with thousands of open source software titles included. Visit the Debian Linux website

Edubuntu
Edubuntu is a Linux distribution customized and optimized for use in a learning environment. Based on the famous Ubuntu distribution and the LTSP terminal server packages, Edubuntu is easy to install and configure and is used in the Shuttleworth tuXlabs project for schools. Visit the Edubuntu website

FreeBSD
BSD, like Linux, is an operating system based on Unix that is developed by the University of California in Berkeley. The Berkeley Systems Development team has also derived its own software license for use in the distribution of BSD. FreeBSD is a free distribution of BSD that is popular amongst Unix systems administrators and desktop users alike. Visit the FreeBSD website

White Box Enterprise Linux
White Box Linux is an open source Linux distribution (or flavour) that aims to bridge the gap between the Fedora project and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Being fully compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux, White Box provides a free option to enterprise users and can be updated using many of the same packages as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, being an RPM-based distribution. Visit the Whitebox Linux website

Gentoo Linux
Gentoo Linux is an open source operating system that offers a new approach to system architecture optimization in Linux. Gentoo can be fully configured and optimized for the users exact needs. It is a highly flexible, configurable, powerful and stable flavour of Linux, but slightly more challenging to install and run than your average distribution. Visit the Gentoo Linux website

Slackware
Most traditional Linux power users consider Slackware to be the purest Linux distribution available. As one of the oldest Linux distributions, Slackware enjoys a large number of developers working on the project. Slackware is highly stable, powerful and relatively easy to install. Visit the Slackware website

SuSE Linux
SuSE is a professional Linux distribution maintained by Novell. It offers a regularly updated and professionally supported Linux distribution for everyone from home to enterprise level users. Visit the Suse Linux website

Knoppix
Knoppix is a bootable CD distribution of Linux that allows you to boot into a fully working Linux environment complete with many open source applications, from a single CD. Knoppix is based on Debian Linux and uses advanced compression technology to cram gigabytes worth of software onto a single CD. Visit the Knoppix website

Cluster Knoppix
Based on Knoppix (see above), Cluster Knoppix is a Linux distribution optimized for clustering. Clustering refers to combining a network of Linux computers into a single super-computer by pooling their resources. Visit the Cluster Knoppix website

Impi Linux
Impi Linux was the first South African Linux distribution in development. The distribution was recently purchased by Canonical – the company that funds Ubuntu Linux, and the distribution will benefit from cross-development with Ubuntu going forward. Visit the Impi Linux website

Other Software:

Firemonger CD
The Firemonger CD is an easy to use CD that contains the open source Firefox web browser and Thunderbird mail client. Not only does Firemonger offer these two phenomenal open source products, it also includes many plugins, themes and a beginners guide for them. Visit the FireMonger website

OpenCD
The famous OpenCD offers an awesome collection of open source applications for Windows, compiled and maintained by Go Open Source. Using the OpenCD, Windows users can obtain and use top open source applications without having to switch to Linux. Visit the OpenCD website

OpenOffice.org
OpenOffice.org is a powerful open source office productivity suite that is compatible with Microsoft Office. OpenOffice.org is the single most popular open source office suite and is available for any operating system available, including Windows and Linux. This CD will allow you to install OpenOffice.org, irrespective of what operating system you choose. Visit the OpenOffice.org website

Gutenberg CD and DVD
Project Gutenberg is the oldest publisher of free books on the Internet. The project brings together over 17000 free books in ebook (electronic book) format. On the Gutenberg CD or DVD, users will find easy access to books from any genre that can be read on their computer, portable device or printed out. Vist the Project Gutenberg website
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