Hi Ed,

As I understand it, these devices were a donation to GCEA. As GCEA does not have a dedicated space at Omni, and since the delegates assembly agreed having more devices in te library hall wouldn’t be an issue and could maybe be a plus, that was, as I recall, OK’d. Obviously passwords limit their common use. Nonetheless, I see no reason why, nor has anything happened to my knowledge to suggest otherwise, we shouldn’t continue to consider GCEA and Almaz (as the regular GCEA delegate, and all around Omni volunteer) as the stewards of those device. So before anything more gets done to them, I believe it should be cleared with Almaz and GCEA.

My personal opinion is that a dual boot using that minor of a portion of the HDs is a good solution. I see no reason why GCEA would object once the proposal is communicated clearly (not everyone knows what a “dual boot” is); it makes sense that there be a way for Commoners to use the devices since they are in a Common area; it also makes sense that GCEA have the installation they want on there for the youth etc to study with. But again, I think this suggestion should first be cleared before acted on further. I can understand why you and “someone” went forward with the previous Linux installations previously without asking, given the locations of the devices and given hacking habits of Sudoers, nonetheless I think that when the fate of a given set of devices is unknown, and the devices themselves are not in, e.g., Sudo Room itself, now and in the future it would be best for people to ask and wait for confirmation before going ahead rather than going ahead and asking after the fact. Cleary, you’re currently asking. Relatedly, would it be possible to restore Windows to the first device down there with Linux on it, from which it sounds like it was removed?