The Vision:

Our goal has been to help create a grass-roots network of independent organizations and individuals who, by following the instructions on this website, can create and run free public web stations both for those made homeless by the hurricane Katrina and for the aid workers helping them.

Long term, we believe this project can help to provide a volunteer technical response as part of the larger coordination that takes place with any disaster or disruption anywhere in the world.  A grass-roots response by individuals is able to provide help within a matter of hours while other services and agencies are preparing broader measures.

The Opportunity:

Older computers, Pentium 2 level or above, can run as Firefox web stations (or kiosks), requiring only 128mb or ram, a CD-ROM drive, a network card, and access to an Internet-connected network.  Schools, libraries, agencies, and businesses could easily and quickly provide free public web stations to assist those displaced by the hurricane.

The computers needed are available in abundance for free or minimal cost, and many organizations have an excess of these older computers with no use for them.  The technology needed to turn them into web stations is both free and effective, being based on the Linux operating system and the Firefox web browser.  A single file is downloaded and burned to a CD-ROM, placed in the CD-ROM drive of the computer, and then the computer is booted from the CD-ROM.  The computer quickly boots up directly to a Firefox web browser window, not requiring any keystrokes or skills to get there.  

A working web station would take no more than 5 minutes to set up, and requires no ongoing maintenance except in the case of hardware failure.  In case of any difficulties, the machine is just rebooted.