No one has commented on the spec of these machines. I read Linux is happy to operate on old computers but is this really so? Given the tasks Ive suggested, what is the minimum spec that is worthwhile for this idea?
It all depends what you want to do with it.
*Linux* as such doesn't need much. For example I have used Freesco providing a router, firewall, dns and timeserver (and a print server as well if required) running very happily on a 486 with no hard drive. Hence people will say quite accurately that linux runs well on old hardware. But it is text-based only - fine for a server, not so useful for an office desktop machine.
Unlike windows, where everything is bolted together into one, a linux-based computer runs a desktop as a separate program, in effect.
So the point is - and apologies if this seems like splitting hairs but it is really a fundamental distinction - if we want to show an alternative to a desktop PC rather than a server, what spec is required to run an app such as KDE or Gnome?
I have run KDE 3.1on a 233Mhz PII laptop but it is a bit slow and in my experience less than a 450 PII with 128Meg ram is not very satisfying for running KDE 3.x Of course other people may have other opinions and smaller desktop apps can be used. But it is something like KDE that the average new user is likely to want to use IMHO.
Syd