Freecycle (Freecycle Part 1)

(Continued from 'Freecycle Part 0')

What I needed was to take an old computer somebody has relegated to the back of a garage or closet. A computer that works, but is too old to be useful for Windows. I don't even need a working Windows, since I'm just going to replace it with Linux. There ought to be plenty of them out there, and they ought to be very inexpensive. By which I mean free.

I was thinking all this out when my wife told me about Freecycle. Freecycle is a network of Yahoo groups that works like the midwest's `Radio Tradio` People post ads for things they are offering to give away, or things they need to pick up for free. When a group member reads an ad they can respond to, a discussion follows at the email address listed in the ad.

Registration is simple. You put in a city name at their web page (http://www.freecycle.org) and it steers you to the appropriate group. Registering membership works like any regular Yahoo group. Then the moderator of your group lets you in, which can take a day or so.

Once you're in, you can post messages marked 'WANTED:', for things you're looking for, or 'OFFERED:' for things you're trying to get rid of. From there, people can email the address you provide, with private discussion about whether what they have would work for you, and to arrange detials of pickup or drop off. Once you have some solid leads, you can post a 'TAKEN:' message to let the group know you're done with the topic.

It's like a really slow, friendly eBay. With no money changing hands.

I posted a WANTED ad for an old computer. In fact, here's my ad:

I'm looking for an old computer to throw Linux on and put on our
network. Anything is fine - 486, Pentium, Pentium II, AMD K5 or K6. Just as long as it works, or used to work.

Amount of RAM or HD size doesn't matter.

I don't need the monitor or keyboard or speakers, but will take if you need to get rid of it as a package.

Having Windows doesn't matter, as I'm just going to replace it.

Anywhere in (city name) area is fine.

I posted at 7:03 AM on a Sunday. In 40 minutes I had a solid lead. In three hours I had three different offers. See? It works!

Trying to negotiate pick up and coordinating between people's days off has been the slowdown, so I am still pursuing this. (It's now Tuesday) With three offers on the table, it shouldn't take much longer.