Posted by: Anonymous
[ip: 64.126.166.170]
on November 04, 2007 07:09 PM
I'd like to see the Greens begin to talk about this (maybe they do, but I haven't seen it) in terms of embedded energy waste resulting from the three to four year planned obsolescence cycle that results from the collaborative efforts of Microsoft and hardware vendors...and how GNU/Linux can address this by extending the practical service life of PC hardware to a decade or more.
Poor embedded energy utilization and excessive hardware resource requirements are how Windows causes fossil fuel depletion and increases greenhouse gas emissions. That's why machines equipped with something like the VIA C7 processor and 256 MB RAM don't sell well except in niche markets and it's why perfectly good PIII machines are sent to the landfill even though they're not worn out.
Left to their own devices, hardware vendors will begin to bray about advances in power management and how they're working side-by-side with Microsoft to reduce power consumption. They'll also publicize PC recycling programs like Dell's. But neither are going to solve the problem of IT energy waste as long as each new release of Windows renders another generation of relatively new hardware obsolete...a resource hog is a resource hog with or without better power management and premature recycling of equipment contributes to a net energy deficit of the materials recycling process.
Proprietary standards and other government sanctioned barriers to more widespread adoption of FOSS, including GNU/Linux, need to be seen for what they are: Institutional barriers to adoption of more energy efficient and less climate damaging technologies in the IT sector.
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Posted by: Anonymous [ip: 64.126.166.170] on November 04, 2007 07:09 PMPoor embedded energy utilization and excessive hardware resource requirements are how Windows causes fossil fuel depletion and increases greenhouse gas emissions. That's why machines equipped with something like the VIA C7 processor and 256 MB RAM don't sell well except in niche markets and it's why perfectly good PIII machines are sent to the landfill even though they're not worn out.
Left to their own devices, hardware vendors will begin to bray about advances in power management and how they're working side-by-side with Microsoft to reduce power consumption. They'll also publicize PC recycling programs like Dell's. But neither are going to solve the problem of IT energy waste as long as each new release of Windows renders another generation of relatively new hardware obsolete...a resource hog is a resource hog with or without better power management and premature recycling of equipment contributes to a net energy deficit of the materials recycling process.
Proprietary standards and other government sanctioned barriers to more widespread adoption of FOSS, including GNU/Linux, need to be seen for what they are: Institutional barriers to adoption of more energy efficient and less climate damaging technologies in the IT sector.
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