digg

Know what the most sup rising thing was? How much he made.

$144.09, 4 packs of smokes, and gift certificates Chili’s, Applebee’s and Logan's. Thats more than I make in a day.

That's pretty cool. It kinda reminds me of the group of us who showed up outside the Denver center for performing arts, when MS was holding their big Windows 95 event. We stood at the corner and handed out Linux disks to anybody who wanted them.

Someone even showed up dressed as Tux and barged into the auditorium. He was promptly escorted out, but all in all, we gave away a lot of free software that day.

EtG

Cute story, short but cute.

haha, that's great.

That's so awesome.

$140.00 in half a day of begging!!!!!!?????

Im going to cut off my leg, buy a wheelchair, and get to work!!

Wow, $144.09... maybe I should think about a career change?

That's nothing, here in Las Vegas they did a study, and had one of their workers dress up as a bum on a street-corner and he made over 300.00 in just a few hours...

I think people should muster up more to say than "wow, that's awesome." I am under the impression that this is the very way that mankind was designed to take care of each other... after all, we're all part of one human race. We all need love and affection - and God forbid we actually take time out of our busy day to give it to another.

This story shows the importance of looking for opportunities in our everyday lives to be a light in someone else's darkness; regardless of why they are in that situation. Giving out Linux CD's may have been a contribution for the common good when it comes to offering the alternative to a corporate monopoly's operating system... but how much more life-changing to one man who has a chance at a new start?

Touching? This story is so much more than that. It should be an example to all of us.

Bravo.

In the words of Carl, "Freakin' awesome!"

That's really great, not only did he spread the word of Linux but did something great to help somebody out. Defiantly a digg!

+Digg

anyone thinking that somebody would have to be a COMPLETE moron to stick a burned CD into their computer they got from a scroungy guy on the street corner? Sure after reading the article we know better, but for the random joe, it could just as easily been a virus or trojan or the like.

If more people did this, we could spread OSS to the communting masses AND help our fellow man. Better yet, give the Linux CD's to a homeless man and have him hand them out while you watch hime from your cozy office window.

Lack of humanity in people I see.

"Lack of humanity in people I see."
He made out with $140, how is that a lack of humanity?

Very Touching...

$digg ++;

:) What a nice story. It's little things like this that make you realize all the good in the world.

+digg

:D, That story made me smile.. Touching, and as jamsea said "It's little things like this that make you realize all the good in the world."

nice guy. i'm suprised he made that much money. musta picked a good intersection, lol. i wonder how much it cost him for the cds and how long it took to burn them.

@ tzmguitarist


I agree whole heartily....well said.

"He made out with $140, how is that a lack of humanity?"

Yeah, and then he gave it to a real homeless guy. How's THAT for humanity?

good story, that's for sure. I'd digg it 5 times, but it wouldn't matter because stupid stuff like "network porn" would still hit the top.

What a beautiful story. Thank you for sharing.

That was wonderful.

I think the "lack of humanity" is more about how people want nothing to do with you if they perceive you as a "street person". They don't want to even bother to read your sign [they don't care what you have to say]. Some will give one some change just so that they don't have to deal with one, listen to them, etc..

This is the first story I've commented on and I've commented on it because it's a story that actually means something.

I think it would do humanity good for everyone to spend 24 hours homeless and broke. I don't mean with tent and sleeping bag, packaged food, etc.. I mean with only the clothes on your back. You will quickly learn why those who go without tend to spend time in or just outside of large public areas - train stations, bus stations, etc. Inside is warm, safe and you might be able to sleep for a short time there. Also, there are more travellers who might be a bit more willing to part with spare change since they don't live or see the less fortunate of society often (they're not yet as jaded). I was broke and didn't have a place to stay for two days - splitting time between Penn Station and the P.A.B.T.. It was not the best of circumstances. So, before you criticize or say "Yeah those people asking for spare change are getting a great deal!", try walking a mile in their shoes.

hmm...
lets all order free ubuntu cds and stand on streets...
PROFIT !!!

lol, j/k...

There are new york city bums that make 6 didgits. There is a chance the bum just threw away the sack thinking it was a sack lunch. I would have donated the money to charity just in case.

Eric Wilson

im guessing that either the 144 dollars wasn't entirely his "begging' money, or people gave him extra money because they felt they owed him something for the cds. That's all i can think of - otherwise, no one gives beggars anything more than like a quarter...

Additionally, I am very against begging. I think either:
A. they should get a job
B. the government should step up welfare to those who actually need to beg.

Most beggars in my experience (and don't flame me unless you know any better) are drug addicts, alcoholics, crippled, or schizophrenic/crazy. The government should be helping all these people out, for their sakes and for all of society in general.

good read. this better make it to the next diggnation. >:E

wow.. its weird.. and i think the guy got more life lessons then anyone has :)

Welcome to the 21st century. Beggars can hand out state-of-the-art OS's and nobody even raises an eyebrow. Whatever happened to the proverbial a cup of pencils?

It's a strange new world. Feel good kinda story tho.

$144 per day working 5 days per week is about $37,500 per year (and remember that's tax free). And he wasn't even *trying*.

Find the right location, get a good shtick going (injured war veteran or something), and I'll bet you could do six figures easy, working a normal 40 hour week. No tax, self-employed, flexible hours and locations.

Not that I advocate mooching off of society like that, but dang.

Wow thats almost like 50k a year!!!

I live in austin, would've liked to meet him. Interesting story and good read.

Oh man what an awkward person, reading this entry made me pretty uncomfortable.

$144? wow.. that's what I get from Yahoo Publishing in a month!.. Just like him, I carry around at least 5 sets of Ubuntu Linux CDs (I got 100 from Cannonical, and still waiting for another 100).. and I give it to anyone who talks to me anything about computers...

$144 in a day and these people still live on the street? They deserve the title of bum. Any thought I ever had about giving those people any money is now totally gone, and replaced with the need to rid my streets of the homeless.

Ocean has eyes.

There is people in Greece that do this. Dress up begging for money, when actually they are well off. I am sure it might happen in other countries too.

These guys are better than the people I encountered in france. They accost you and weave a bracelet around your wrist and then tell you it costs 15 euros before you have the chance to protest.

ok cool idea but.. and this is to all those who say "wow this guy is genious he saved many people from the corperate overlord" .. the people who had no clue what linux was.. will either have no clue how to install it or if it is a start up disc they will just go through the prompts thinking "that guy on the street seems to know more about computer then me so I'll try to run this" they will end up formatting their hard drive losing all their data and figuring out (assumably) that linux is a virus and the guy was just on that street corner today to screw people over. This is NOT genious people who don't know what it is aren't ready to use it and probably never will be because they don't actually know how a computer works

That guy is an idiot. I bet 3/4 the people who took a CD never even put it in their computer, and 4/5 of the people that actually tried to use it never figured out how to get it to start. Who would trust a CD from a bum on the street?

Those CD's would've went to better use if he was standing at the corner dressed in a suit and giving them out.

Why did this guy go out of his way and try so hard to look like a bum? If he looks like a bum on an intersection what does he expect people to do, kiss his feet? It seems like he really tried hard to victimize himself to ultimately prove his point that people are clueless...let's roll back the tape:
If he had dressed like a penguin, and had a replace your windows with linux for free sign - a nice sign, not black marker written on a cardboard - I think he would had gotten a better response.

I do agree that most people don't have a clue, but instead of reinforcing that by doing what he did, he should have changed the manner in which he did it. It's not WHAT, it's HOW.

If you look like a bum people will treat you like one. Don't expect them to stop in the middle of an intersection to talk to you, especially in this country where life goes 160 mph.

my 2 cents

by the way i did enjoy the story, and respect him for taking the time and to support the cause. don't lash out at me all at once you linux lemmings

Heh, reminds me again of what we're going to do tomorrow. There's a big M$ event at the university for those doing ICT GCSE or A-Level, and we're all going with Ubuntu CDs, shirts with slogans like "If I wanted Windows, I'd punch holes in walls" and Adam may (if he can find it amidst his Pismo, PA and varoius SGis) bring in a small tux toy :p

Wow.. and he wasn't even asking for money..

An office I sometimes work out of looks onto a McDonald's' parking lot. It is near a major intersection where there is a "beggar" rotation on every corner. The amazing this is that over the course of a day these gentlemen get given allot of burgers, soda, money, cigarettes (sometimes they just throw the food away - I kid you not). They make a point to stay away from luxury vehicles and like to target young people (who seem to take genuine and extra level of pity on them). The worst that happens is people say NO and perhaps tell them to "get a job". The amazing thing is that there is a guy in a blue van who shuttles these guys from intersection to intersection, area to area. Makes me think that Mr. Blue van and his crew have a business model at work!

What a retarded idea

"What a retarded idea"

Did you even read the article? Read before you post man...

I'm sure bluevan just gives them a warm place to stay for a few hours and a bottle of cheap vodka in exchange for the cash

I'm switching my occupation to begging.

best thing i've read all week

very nice story, but I seriously doubt about the $144.
Anyway, digg+ !

"Who would trust a CD from a bum on the street?"

The same people who trust that Nigerian widows need your bank information to collect their husband's estate, or that click on any link in an email having the subject "account verification required".

"Not knowing any better" is not a selective thing. Many people seem to prefer the bliss of ignorance.

wtf linux people cant sink any lower to try and make people love them

from using Porn stars in their ads and now dressing up like homeless people

if someone handed me a linux cd id punch them in the face and slit their throat with the cracked os


guess what losers? most people like knowing how to use their computer and dont have time to rub smegma all over their body and learn linux.


jezus khrist

this is funny. i just read some hilarious reviews of linux by a guy who says that somebody walked up to him on the street and gave him a disc.

quote from the page;
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Henry's Damn Small Review
My name is Henry the Adequate, and I am a superhero.

Now that I am also a computer expert it is only right that I share my experience with those less fortunate, who do not have access to the powers of my enormous brain. To that end I present my first distro review...

Getting Damn Small
So, some long haired hippy guy walks up to me in the street and hands me a CD and announces "Damn Small two, man. You gotta try it!"

That is a little strange because at this moment I happen to be right in the middle of a furious battle with The Robot League of Chaos - some really serious robots who ride around on giant pink rats and wreak havoc upon the innocent and unwary. But that is another story, so let's just say that somehow I escape with my life, and the CD. The hippy dude is not so lucky.
/quote
http://henrytheadequate.blogspot.com/2005/11/henrys-damn-small-review.html
http://henrytheadequate.blogspot.com/2005/11/henrys-damn-ubuntu-review.html
http://henrytheadequate.blogspot.com/2005/12/henrys-damn-ubuntu-review-part-2.html

"He made out with $140, how is that a lack of humanity?"

HE MADE OUT??? was she hot?


anyways 2 diggs from me.

Awwww, now I've got the warm fuzzies.

> anyone thinking that somebody would have to be a COMPLETE moron
> to stick a burned CD into their computer they got from a scroungy
> guy on the street corner?

I'd probably stick it in a vmware session of a test ghost image on a spare machine that I keep for exactly this purpose...

Everyone has one of these, right?

While I think it's a great gesture and an interesting
story, I can't help but wonder if the word "Linux"
evokes a knee-jerk reaction to people:

1) clueful techies: we already have our own copy, thanks
2) tech-phobic: Windows is scary enough!

I've offered Knoppix CDs and the like to people who
are extremely frustrated with Windows, and they won't
go there!

"I'd probably stick it in a vmware session of a test ghost image on a spare machine that I keep for exactly this purpose...

Everyone has one of these, right?"

Yes, we all keep a spare system running specifically for CD's given to us by the homeless.

Like its been said before, I dunno about giving out complete installs from a street corner, too many people either couldn't do it or might end up reformatting.

What is really needed is a Knoppix release that lets you try everything out and has easy to see instructions on where to get a full linux distro and how to install it if you like it. A linux outreach knoppix.

Then all this guy would have to do is tell them to stick it in their CD drive, restart their computer and see what a free OS can offer!

Not only are people clueless about Linux, but they are also clueless about people. Look at these comments, some just don't get it. They don't understand the concept of the clothing, location, or sign. People automatically judge someone by just how they look. They don't even look up to read the sign and see what this individual has to say. If your dressed as a comical kid like animal everyone is going to pay attention, he would have given away the Cd's in minutes instead of hours. People are odd, they slip back up into they shell, when they see someone at a street corner and avoid they at all costs. I'm not surprised by the money collected either, I met up with an individual after a long conversation this guy made more money in a few hours than i made in a day, tax free. So is this digg true, are the people with signs on street corner really homeless you'll never know...

Beautiful...

Great story.

Glad to know that there still is some good on this planet...

Beautiful....what an experiment. Wonder why a lot of people here is just talking about the dollars he made... :S

That is so cute. I particularly loved the photos taken from a discrete distance to add color and authenticity to the whole event.

/sarcasm.

This actually speaks more about the public perception of linux than the perception of bums.

Perhaps the labor department needs to reclassify the "poverty level" if "Street Bum" is paying $37,500 a year!

That's $10,000 a year more than almost any entry level 9-5 job.

digg++ .. this is an great story and touching as well

For anyone who thinks that guy's dumb for wating time and money:

Blank CDs cost, at most, about $.30 each. That's like $18.00 for all 60. He could have very easily replaced the money he spent on those CDs and done it a second time.

If more people did this, even if they have nothing else to do so they do it for about an hour, hundreds of less fortunate people could be helped. I bet that guy made that bum happier than he's been in the past few years.

I agree that the government should be helping these people, and they should try to get a job, but it's not always that simple. In many cases, you have to spend money to make money. And we all know Bush doesn't give a damn about poor people, or even middle-class people!

Dugg!

> People automatically judge someone by just how they look.
> They don't even look up to read the sign and see what this
> individual has to say.

The last time I walked down the street interviewing everyone I met, asking them about their current situation in life, about their past and what they might want to the future, I got punched in the nose and didn't make it to work on time.

> They don't even look up to read the sign and see what this
> individual has to say.

I stopped giving money to bums after doing some time in Seattle... I gave a "street poetry" bum a buck for a minute of verbal crap only to run into him at the Safeway buying some wine while I spent what pocket change I had left on my lunch. Once you see a bum throw away food that you've offered in lieu of money it'll break you of any habits or predispositions that you might have had for helping anyone who says that they're in "need".

> Yes, we all keep a spare system running specifically for CD's
> given to us by the homeless.

[sarcasm detected]
Your trust model is flawed. Eventually, you will get burned by this.

bad story, bad idea. the writer actually TOOK $$. This nullifies any of his intentions. He's no better than the other bums in my regards.

I saw an article on the news that said bums make tons of money.

I dunno why, but this strikes me as arrogant a self-righteous. Yeah, getting people who can afford to buy a computer to switch OSes is soooo much more important than getting the homeless off the streets and into a better life.

No digg. It's really kinda creepy how some people act. So wrapped up in their own little world they fail that what they do in the name of what they're fighting for may drift into the realm of unintended consequences. It's just stupid.

"...they fail to see that what..."

best digg ever, you have my vote.

No thanks, my computer already has an operating system.
It's called XP, and if I suddenly decided I needed to make all my hardware and software useless I'd install one of those CDs.
That would totally free me from whatever it was I need freeing from.

Glad to see that not all of us are ignorant. Great story man.
__________
-en3r0
http://virtenu.com

Dugg it... I half expected the "What?! $140+?!" comments too. What I hope people realize is that something happened to many of these people to put them in the situation they are in. Those making these comments should be happy they have stability or at least a heck of a lot more stability than the homeless. It's going to take a lot more than the money to get these people back on their feet and even more than that for ignorant people to respect them as our brothers and sisters.

"I've offered Knoppix CDs and the like to people who
are extremely frustrated with Windows, and they won't
go there!"

I've done the same thing with Ubuntu, OpenSuSE, Mandriva, Knoppix, Debian, and even Fedora Core...Except for the latter two, I've recieved nothing but thanks,,,and the occasional..."how do i do 'X'?"

most of my friends currently use linux because of me, especially Ubuntu, thanks to the free professionally pressed copies. a couple of my friends even use Gentoo now.

all this said, great story...guerilla marketing rox!

digg +6x10 times!!

i tried to educate my fellow classmates about linux by giving a speech on it. it was the final speech for my speech class and my teacher loved it.

Why linux disks? I don't see what the big deal was with the Linux disks! Sure, not many people realize that linux is an alternative to windows. I don't need an in depth, in field researcher to tell me that. You also have to consider that he was dressed like a bum. Would you approach a bum offering who-knows-what on a cd? I surely wouldn't. I'm not saying I'm not humane or anything like that, just that he isn't really the most approachable or reassuring person to talk to about computer software and operating systems. Overall, I would have had much more respect for the man if he held a sign saying something like, "I have a full-time job and make $23.21 an hour." That would be much more interesting to see the responces that he got then. If you're testing to see who actually reads the sign, do that. Way too many variables for my taste, and way to many conclusions drawn on each one individually.

+ anti-digg.

cool experiment and a pretty cool guy too, but lord knows he is an attention whore. well i guess everyone with a blog is.

"very nice story, but I seriously doubt about the $144."

why? you dont live in a big city do you? anyways, this guy is a puss, i would have kept all of that shit. in a major metro area, those cigarettes are at least 20 bones, the 144 would be a goldmine for me right now as i am broke as hellllll.

interesting social experiment. great read. dugg!

He should've given out an OS that normal people could actually make use of.

Awesome story. People didn't even read the sign. It really shows the assumptions that people make.

Not only are they clueless about Linux, but where does a bum on the street keep his computer to burn Cd's????? lol anyway cool story. Shows you how people value others, the Bum on the street can make as much as a Nurse that helps people everyday. Sad.

He should've given out an OS that normal people could actually make use of....

PCLinuxOS was the Linux Distro I handed out. My organization, Lobby4Linux; has after school linux labs at local Jr high schools and monthly meetings with senior citizens at different senior assisted living centers. They pick up PCLinuxOS in two to three hours. It is so easy, even XP folks understand it quickly. Give it a try and if you have trouble, I know a few 12 year olds or an 84 year old great grandmother that would be happy to help you. Each disk I gave out on the street corner came with printed instructions and my email address if they ran into problems. So far, I have 22 new registrations from the disks I handed out.

You obviously know nothing about Linux...at least PCLinuxOS. It is Linux the way Linux should be.

helios

Never, ever give homeless people money! I can not stress this enough. If they really are homeless, and not con men looking to scam people out of a few hundred bucks, they are likely to spend the money on drugs and alcohol. If you feel guilty, find a shelter to donate your time or money to, but NEVER, EVER give the homeless guy money!

Also, never install from a disc that someone else burned without verifying the checksum!

This would be really cool of LUG's did this all in one day. Get like 10 or 15 people out there cause a commotion, I am sure that local media would pick up on the stories. People do need to know that there is an alternative to Microsoft AND Apple. Sure we don't all have multi-million dollar advertising budgets but anything at this point would help. People need to be informed that there is a viable alternative for most situations. More developers would write programs for Linux if there was more demand from the public. I hope that one day I can stroll down the software isles and see commercial software for Linux as abundant as it is for Windows and Mac's.

Now for a shameless plug, Everyone google Pixel for Linux. it is a great alternative for Photoshop for only about $35.00

Well, it's good to see that you left your house, and now understand that the rest of the world has no clue what linux is, nor do they care.

Another thing is, you're in texas!!

Try doing that somewhere like Venice beach, or somewhere that people actually have (and rely upon) computers, and I'm sure you'll get a much better 'real world' experience. =p