[freegeek-startup] Introduction - intentions of a new free geek startup

[Shawn Campbell]

Fellow Geeks;

Hello, my name is Shawn Campbell and I am a geek through and through. I have worked in various I.T positions for the past 15 years and have worked on and off with Linux (mainly red hat and fedora core) for the past 6 years. I like to learn all that I can about different technologies, and I am even trying to convince my boss about starting to use some open source solutions in our corporate network. My background is mainly Microsoft, which I cannot stand and would like to see go down someday. I hope someday that the Linux community comes together even more, and gets some general consensus on what a Linux desktop should be for the average user no matter what distro they use.

Over two years ago I wanted to start something in the community in which I work and live, but I did not know what. I do not want a business that makes millions a year by exploitation or other ill means, but would also like to make a comfortable living. A year ago I found out about Free Geek and have tried to get information in the past, but was unsuccessful. It was only recently that I found that the original Free Geek had a lot of their information posted on a wiki site, and some other responses from Free Geek Chicago.

I understand in principle and on paper what it takes (and agree with) the way Free Geek is run and should be. I think it is one of the best ideas in today's age when everything seems to be about technology. One of our internal statements is "Helping bridge the digital divide for all". I also understand the time involved, as well as there are going to be a lot of bumps and bruises along the way. But with the support of the now upcoming staff, the support of the other Free Geeks, and hopefully large community support, we will be successful as well.

It is my intention to (hopefully) get approved for a full free geek franchise, and I understand that we need to start out as an affiliate. I know that myself and other associates will be able to accomplish many of free geeks goals in a short period of time in our community. We have already begun filing the paperwork for  state acceptance and will be working on our 501(c)(3) within the next two months.

With all of this said, I do only have one question that I could not find a solid answer to. It is stated that Free Geeks are to use open source whenever possible, but what about the users that do not want a Linux based system? Even though I do not like or believe in Microsoft, it can still help us get recycled equipment into users hands and still keep it out of the landfills. Microsoft has a program (MAR) that sells very cheap legit license's for Windows 98 and Windows 2000. Is this against the Free Geek principles and will it disqualify us if that is what the users want?

Thank you for taking the time to listening to my ramblings and hopefully we will be joining you all very soon.

Sincerely,

Shawn M. Campbell
Rutherford County Computer Recyclers

P.S. also looking for new and cooler name suggestions if anyone has any :o) 
 		
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