Media Kit/3Free

Putting discarded computers and computer parts back into use is the core of Free Geek's mission. We are often described as a "recycling" organization. But wherever possible, we strive to find ways to reuse things, before we resort to the hammer and chisel, separating the metals from the plastics.

Many of our volunteers already have some experience bringing an old computer back to life: collecting "dead" PCs from friends and relatives after they've been cast aside, and finding a way to make them useful again.

At Free Geek, we have created an environment where we can restore computers with incredible efficiency. How is it possible? Read on to learn about our "three frees": free hardware, free software, and free help.

free hardware

Free Geek has received well over 30,000 donated computer systems (and similiar numbers of monitors and printers) over five years.

Though they are often cast off as junk, many of these are easily repaired. And because of the huge number of systems, we have lots of spare parts. This makes it possible to replace broken parts, or upgrade components, without incurring any cost.

(sidebar -> For many of our volunteers, this can be one of the most difficult ideas to get used to. Consider a woman spent an entire day trying to get her network card working on her home computer. She comes to work for a conservation-oriented organization; the last thing that occurs to her is to toss a network card and replace it with another one. But with boxes full of network cards that even *we* can't find homes for, that's generally the best course of action!)

And the payoff is apparent: one in every five computers "disposed of" at Free Geek has been put back to use. Our volunteers, thrift store customers, and fellow non-profits are reaping the benefits every day.

free software

Computer hardware is great stuff, but without software to make it run, it's not good for much.

The word "software" refers to the instructions that tell the hardware how to do stuff. Operating systems (like Windows, Mac OS X, and GNU/Linux) are examples of software, as are programs (like Word, Excel, Firefox, iTunes.)

Most of the software you're probably familiar with is "proprietary" - a company or person owns the rights to it, and you pay them (or at least agree to some conditions) for the right to use it. And if it doesn't work quite the way you want, there's not much you can do about it. But at Free Geek, we don't use any proprietary software, nor do we install it on the systems we give away or sell.

Instead, we use free software - specifically the Linux operating system, and programs that run on Linux. It saves us money - but it's not just a money thing. There's also the notion of "freedom" - freedom to share ideas and cooperate - which is a vital component of how Free Geek functions.

The entire process of creating and refining free software is open to participation by anyone in the world. That means that we're able to customize the system to perfectly meet our needs: we use software that is not too demanding of older hardware, and which is easy to learn and flexible for our volunteers (many of whom are computer novices.)

Free software has existed for over 30 years, but it truly blossomed with the emergence of the Internet. The story of free software is a rich one, so we can only give a small taste of it here. But the successes of Free Geek would not be possible without the great work that has gone into free software over the years.

In the very early days, we didn't expect to use free software. We thought maybe Microsoft Windows 95 would be suitable for the older hardware we'd be using.

With the benefit of hindsight, though, it is now clear that it would be extraordinarily difficult, if not impossible, to use proprietary software and do what we do. There are three major reasons:

• the financial cost of the software licenses
• the administrative burden of keeping track of software licenses
• the legal and practical impossibility of customizing the software to work well on older PCs

Any one of these factors on its own might be a dealbreaker; but compared with the enormous benefits of free software, it's a no-brainer.

free help

All that hardware, and the software to run it, would be of little use if there weren't people keeping track of gizmos, testing, disassembling and reassembling them, and writing software. Not to mention responding to emails, running phone cables through the walls, sweeping the floors, researching unusual equipment, moving boxes of stuff… the list goes on, but you get the idea!

That's where our volunteers come in. And do they ever come in: every month, about 200 new volunteers sign up for their first shift, joining many other long-term volunteers.

Free Geek currently has about a dozen full-time staffers, but paid staff's main task is to provide structure and organizational support. The XXXX + hours logged each month by our dedicated volunteers are where the real work gets done.

So, where do all these volunteers come from? Why do they do it? Well, ask 20 volunteers, and you'll probably get 20 different answers. Because there is no end to the benefits people get from volunteering here. Many initially come for the free computer, but the reasons they stay are even more compelling:

• learning - and gaining résumé-ready experience - in the following areas:
  • installing and using software (word processor, web browser, email, spreadsheet, data entry)
  • writing software (aka programming or coding)
  • repairing, sorting, diagnosing computer hardware
  • teaching classes
  • providing technical support by phone, email
  • customer service: answering questions, matching people with internal resources
  • recycling, environmental issues

• opportunity to "make a difference" in our society
• sense of community, shared accomplishment
• opportunity to paricipate in significant decisions (consensus-driven policies)