FreshmanComputerDistribution

The Freshman Computer Distribution is as Dartmouth an event as Freshman Trips? or the Bonfire?, and appropriately so because they're all freshman events?.

The skinny

The Dartmouth Computer Requirement? makes it mandatory for every Dartmouth student to own a computer. Although sometimes useful for academic reasons, this ensures that everyone has their own blitz terminal where they can while away the hours chatting with everyone else.

Because most students don't have their own computers before coming to college (although this is gradually changing) the college encourages students to purchase a computer through their bulk-buy program and to pick it up just before classes at the Freshman Computer Distribution...

Basically there is this big tent set up (used to be next to Kiewit, and then students file in and get their computers and packets of software, etc....

It's kind of fun and looks like a show.

Dreams for the future

Although the computer ratio is rapidly changing from 100% Macintosh to (it seems) 0% Mac, 100% Windows, we hope that this trend will change.

If we can get Linux to be recognized and supported by Dartmouth, we hope to get a lot of people on campus running Linux. With a broad userbase I think that we can do some really cool stuff and perhaps encourage other schools to consider open source software, and help put the power and control into the hands of the consumers.

Hopefully we won't have to "dream on" for too much longer... :)

RobinsonTryon - 10 Apr 2003