Linux.com: Linux Kiosks Come to the Aid of Natural Disaster Victims
Aug 29, 2006, 12:00 (0 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Tina Gasperson)
"When faced with the aftermath of a natural disaster like
Hurricane Katrina or the Boxing Day tsunami, you might assume that
having Internet access would be the last thing on victims' or
rescuers' minds. But Steve Hargadon of TechnologyRescue.com found
out that his public Web kiosks were an answer to prayers for people
affected by Katrina, Rita, and most recently, Cyclone Larry.
"Hargadon specializes in Linux thin clients for small businesses
and schools. He likes to transform aging Windows networks into
high-speed, low-cost, virus-free workstations by using existing
PCs, sans hard drives, that act as dumb terminals. Hargadon has
discovered that that kind of technology translates easily into
community outreach. He started thinking about that as he watched
the world's response to the Asian tsunami in 2004. 'I wondered,
what are people doing on those response teams and in the emergency
shelters, and wouldn't it be nice if they could get Internet? I
started playing around with some ideas and looking at different
live CD versions of kiosk software...'"
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