How do you go green without going to the lengths of installing solar panels on your roof? If you are using Linux, or thinking of using it, you are already one step ahead of most people. Here are 10 solid ways to start thinking green in your home/IT department.
1. Reduced landfill
With Linux, you can keep using older hardware, even if you are using the latest version of your distribution. When you use Linux, you do not have to throw away the ugly packaging that typically comes with software. And there are no transportation costs for shipping distributions from the warehouse to your retail store.
According to a study by the Office of Government Commerce in 2004, Windows users are obliged to upgrade their computers twice as often as Linux users: “Industry observers quote a typical hardware refresh period for Microsoft Windows systems as three to four years; a major UK manufacturing organisation quotes its hardware refresh period for Linux systems as six to eight years.”
2. PowerTop
This little gem of an application can help you learn how to make your laptops and desktops more efficient.
When you run PowerTop, it examines your system and provides tips on how to improve your energy performance. When I run PowerTop on my laptop, I get this suggestion: “Disable ‘hal’ from polling your CD-ROM with: hal-disable-polling —device /dev/scd0 — ‘hal’ is the component that auto-opens a window if you plug in a CD but disables Sata power saving from kicking in.”
Some of PowerTop’s suggestions will even tell you how much wattage you can save by killing or reconfiguring services. Even though the main page for PowerTop states it is for machines with Intel processors, it will work on AMD-based machines as well.
3. Netbooks
Not only are netbooks here to stay, they are growing faster than many predicted. And a number of these netbooks are optimised for long battery life by minimising power usage.
The primary goals of the Moblin operating system, a project originally led by Intel, are low power and high battery life. Moblin is Linux-based and is only for netbooks.
Another feature that makes netbooks especially green is their no-moving-parts storage, which means they should have a longer lifespan than the standard notebook. So netbooks are one of the greener options available. And no matter how well Windows 7 is received, it cannot beat the cost of Linux on a netbook.
To find out more about using a low-power Linux PC check out GreenNet’s 8 watt PC running Ubuntu (popular distribution of Linux) or simply give us a call on 0330 355 4011.
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