Origins of Linux at The Working Centre’s Computer Recycling Project
While I’ve been around The Working Centre’s Computer Recycling Project for almost 24 years (November, 2001), the origins of Linux at the project predate my arrival. It was in fact the efforts of volunteers who came before me, working on a custom Linux distribution called WCLP (Working Centre Linux Project), that first attracted me to the project.
Like Linux Mint, WCLP was Debian-based, with a goal of getting a “usable desktop” on Pentium computers with 16MB of RAM and 500MB hard drives.
Linux Changes
In 2006 we switched to Ubuntu Linux, primarily because it made supporting hardware with proprietary drivers easy. We stuck with Ubuntu until Canonical made the descision to switch to the Unity desktop graphical environment. Unity didn’t run on almost any of the laptop hardware we had at the time, so we moved to Xubuntu. We stuck with Xubuntu for over 14 years, only recently switching to Linux Mint. But this post isn’t as much a history of post, as it is to cover Linux Mint as it is on our machines currently.
Linux Mint XFCE
At the end of 2024 we switched from installing Xubuntu Linux to installing Linux Mint XFCE on most computers. The switch was prompted in part because of Canonical’s decision to move more packages towards the snap packaging system, and in part because Xubuntu has a tendency to throw a lot of error messages on the screen, which while helpful, might scare newer Linux users. To be clear, Linux Mint XFCE also records errors, but those errors are not “in your face.” (Linux Mint XFCE records them in a program called System Reports).
If you’re new to Linux and wondering why Linux Mint XFCE, and not just Linux Mint, Linux Mint XFCE is a slightly different variation of Linux Mint that uses a lighter weight desktop environment than the “main” Linux Mint, which uses an environment called Cinnamon.
Why Linux Mint XFCE? In part because many of the people we’ve helped in the past are used to XFCE through Xubuntu. In part because it runs better on older hardware with fewer resources than Linux Mint Cinnamon. And in part because we’ve developed lots of supports around the XFCE desktop environment.
Fig 1. A specification sheet the project attaches to each refurbished Linux computer
More than just Linux Mint XFCE
Computer Recycling does more than just install Linux Mint XFCE on refurbished computers. Freshly installed, Linux Mint has a small collection of software. To help people feel more comfortable with Linux Mint we install more programs to help people be more productive. Here is a partial list of some of the extra software we install:
- Education: Tux Paint - a children’s paint program, uses cool stamps and sounds to make the experience more exciting.
- Education: Tux Typing - both a typing tutor, and simple typing game.
- Games: AisleRiot Solitaire - what computer is complete without solitaire?
- Games: CaveExpress - A simple 2D platformer set in the stone age.
- Games: Freedroid - An open source remake of a classic Commodore 64 game Paradroid.
- Games: Frozen Bubble - A clone of another popular old-school game Puzzle Bobble.
- Games: Steam Installer - Installs Steam, a digital distribution service for video games. With a bit of extra configuration Steam can play a variety of video games designed as Windows-only (though not all, and out of the box it’s not set up for this, it needs a simple setting change once steam is set up with an account).
- Games: Mahjongg - This should really be called Mahjongg Solitaire. A simple tile matching game.
- Graphics: GIMP - The standard open source image editing program.
- Graphics: Inkscape - Inkscape is a vector graphics program (drawing with math/lines rather than individual dots/pixels). Inkscape is great for quickly prototyping things. We use it in part when creating designs to be 3D printed.
- Graphics: Krita - A program for artists who prefer to use a variety of brushes. Krita is a very capable paint program.
- Internet: PuTTY - While Linux has SSH available when you open up any terminal, Windows users are used to PuTTY, so we’ve included the Linux version to help ease some of the learning process.
- Internet: Zoom - Many of the people we see are looking for work, Zoom is often a critical part of an initial interview process, so including it makes sense.
- Office: OnlyOffice - OnlyOffice looks and saves in the same formats as Microsoft Office, and is a great open source alternative to LibreOffice (which is also installed).
- Programming: Godot - A game engine that can be used to develop video games. Uses C# and it’s own GDScript language.
- Sound/Video: Audacity - A popular sound editing program with lots of features.
- Sound/Video: Hydrogen Drum Kit - A drum kit for making drum-based tracks.
- Sound/Video: VLC - A popular video playback program for Linux that can play a lot of different formats.
This list is just a partial list. There are a few additional programs we haven’t mentioned here for the sake of brevity.
Typically when we sell a Linux computer at the project we ask people what they would like to do with their computer, and if there’s a special piece of open source software we know might come in handy, we’ll install it (for example: Blender).
Keeping older hardware working
While it’s possible to get Windows 11 working on unsupported hardware, and there are “unauthorized” scripts to strip down Windows 11 to run on lesser hardware, performance and features suffer. Without question, Microsoft’s goal is to move people on to newer hardware. At Computer Recycling we don’t necessarily think this is a bad thing, newer hardware is often better, but there’s also no reason that old hardware cannot be safely reused by a lot of people using Linux.
Linux is often labelled as difficult, scary, or incapable of doing things – even by “professionals” and popular “youtubers” who Love Linux. After more than 20 years of working with people and Linux in a refurbishing environment I can honestly say it’s more about how people approach Linux, than it is about capability. Back when I started using computers PhotoShop didn’t exist. Back then computers were used to create artwork without PhotoShop. It’s more about an individual’s ability to use a tool in an innovative way. People create amazing works of art with just a lead pencil, surely tools like Krita can be used to also create fabulous works.
We’ve also seen a very wide range of people adapt, and take interest in Linux. Many people we’ve seen at the project have had no prior exposure to Linux and learned to adapt without too much difficulty. We realize that some things in Linux are going to be a struggle, that’s why the project is focused on helping people move off proprietary systems and on to Linux.
Much of our equipment is in the range of Intel 3rd to 7th generation systems. Windows 11 doesn’t officially support any of these systems, but Linux can run well on this equipment.
Slower, but also can be faster
As a not-for-profit project, Computer Recycling runs on a very tight budget. Ideally, we would install Solid State Drives (SSDs) in every computer. The reality is our project relies on donatations and simply doesn’t have enough 2.5" SSDs to be able to install an SSD in every computer. This means some older computers feel a bit slower, even with lightweight Linux Mint XFCE installed.
SSDs are not particularly expensive, so if someone buys a system from us, then buys an SSD from elsewhere, we’re happy to reinstall/port Linux Mint to the newer faster drive for free.
Fig 2. Lenovo ThinkCentre M700 running Linux Mint 22.1 Cinnamon
The computer beside me - Lenovo ThinkCentre M700
As I’m writing this article I’m also working on a recently donated Lenovo ThinkCentre M700. This particular M700 is a slim desktop system with an Intel Core i5-6400 4 core, 4 thread CPU, 8GB DDR4 RAM (desktop DDR4 RAM is still very, very rare for the project, we have a large shortage of desktop DDR4 RAM). The system was dropped off with a 1TB hard drive, which we kept installed. With systems in this range we usually debate whether to replace the drive with an SSD (we have more m.2 drives than 2.5" drives), or keep the existing drive. 1TB is a good amount of space, so for this build we decided to keep the hard drive (we typically add a little for systems with SSDs as we’re so short of them). The onboard network controller is a gigabit controller.
Because this computer is a bit more powerful, we decided to install Linux Mint Cinnamon edition rather than our usually Linux Mint XFCE. The user interface is very slightly different, but when we provide help most of the advice would be similar, and this edition of Linux Mint has a lot more support around the Internet.
This is the kind of system that might be handy for someone who is into photography. The 1TB of space provides ample space for lots of photographs. For a photographer we’d recommend some additional software, programs like:
- Darktable - An open source alternative to Lightroom that’s capable of working with RAW images.
- RapidPhotoDownloader - A simple program for importing photographs from various devices, including RAW files from digital cameras.
- RawTherapee - Another image editing program with a different workflow than Darktable, but advanced features for dealing with RAW images.
Gaming, not so much
Gaming computers, and more powerful video cards are few and far between at the project. Typically most PCIe video cards at the project are in the 1GB to 2GB range, well below any modern gaming standards, but we do occassinally get something slightly better. Computers with Ryzen processors are still very rare to see, and we’ve only had 1 or 2 on our shelves ever.
Laptops, mostly business class laptops
Most of the laptops on our shelves are business-class laptops. This is in part due to the fact that a lot of consumer-grade laptops end up in our hands with broken hinges, or other phyiscal issues. Business-class laptops just tend to be better built. Lenovo ThinkPads and Dell Latitudes make up most of the laptops on our shelves and the range is anywhere from a ThinkPad T530 to T480 (3rd to 8th). We occassionally have some really great deals on consumer laptops, but these tend to be one of’s and in very good condition.
A better look at hardware in a future post
This was just intended as an intial look at some of the aspects of the Linux hardware and software offered at the Computer Recycling Project. I’ll post more here in the near future about the kinds of equipment we see and some of the challenges we face refurbishing equipment.