The KDE Eco project advances sustainable software design in Free & Open Source Software.
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For toots posted before 1 November 2022, see https://mastodon.social/@BE4FOSS.
In the project we are embracing and onboarding participants to the many choices one has with Linux, meaning we can tailor the software to the needs of the users themselves!
For newer devices we suggest Fedora (KDE / GNOME) or Linux Mint. For 10+ years old devices Linux Mint XFCE or Lubuntu.
We will try to understand what they want / expect (classic feel? consistent interfaces? newest features? etc.). We will have some demo computers to try out.
Other ideas are welcome! 🙂
@MageInBlack @kde Some background: KDE Eco has funded projects supported by the KDE e.V. and community. The name is derived from the website eco.kde.org, originally created for the FOSS-oriented project “Blauer Engel For FOSS” (BE4FOSS). Since 2021 we’ve been in contact with many FOSS projects/communities as well as people working on measuring software’s energy consumption, digital sustainability, etc. Much is still work in progress and as newsworthy things happen we make sure to post about it.
@edison23 @kde You may find some helpful information from the “Upcycling Android” project from @fsfe
https://fsfe.org/activities/upcyclingandroid/howtoupcycle.en.html
KDE Plasma has been reported to work well on computers up 15 years old, and other FOSS projects run on devices even older than that!
At our stand in April at the Umweltfestival, we had a Dell computer from 2003. Debian with LXQt ran on it, but the BeOS-based Haiku ran even more smoothly … and many KDE apps have been ported to Haiku. So we could demo GCompris to families with kids on a device that is 21 years old.
That is the power of transparency and user autonomy!
@d3Xt3r @Bro666 These are, in fact, good examples of how Free Software makes it possible to extend hardware operating life. Though the “Opt Green” project falls under the KDE umbrella, the driving force of the project is that the inherent virtues of FOSS make it possible to support hardware for years and even decades after official support ends. And transparency and user autonomy mean you can contribute to make KDE/FOSS even better! That is simply not possible with proprietary software.
KDE Eco’s stand with FSFE and Bits & Bäume Berlin will be here on Sunday from 11-19h (as far as I can tell):
https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=52.51551&mlon=13.36899&zoom=19
Here’s the official map (we are listed under “Bits & Bäume Berlin”):
https://www.umweltfestival.de/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-04-16-Lageplan.pdf
The #Topio digital privacy initiative is directly next to us!
We will have old, otherwise unsupported #computers and #smartphones for visitors to try, as well as some new ones, all running #FreeSoftware.
The oldest, Dell Latitude D600, would have become #eWaste in 2010. If it were human, today it could legally drink alcohol in the USA … it is that old and, with a little patience, still quite usable!
Come by to try it out :)
@hecklerundkochli Thank you! There are not many materials yet as the Opt Green project is still in the beginning stages.
All materials will be collected at the project repository: https://invent.kde.org/teams/eco/opt-green/.
And eventually they will be included in a how-to e-book for GNU/Linux installations from an environmental perspective.
We will continue to post updates in the project, so keep an eye here for news 🙂