The Xubuntu team hears stories about how it is used in organizations all over the world. In this “Xubuntu at..” series of interviews, we seek to interview organizations who wish to share their stories. If your organization is using Xubuntu and you want to share what you’re doing with us please contact Elizabeth Krumbach Joseph at lyz@ubuntu.com to discuss details about your organization.

Back in September we heard from Chris Wiley of Techs for a Cause and were put in touch with Justin Henneberg to answer some questions about their organization and how they use Xubuntu. Justin replied with an exceptionally thoughtful and inspiring reply which we’re happy to share here.

“We are a small group of like minded individuals that have a strong belief in decreasing the digital divide. In other words, we are dedicated to helping others gain access to an essential part of modern life - a computer. We also want to do the right thing for the environment by keeping otherwise good computer components out of landfills. Working with computers is a hobby for us. None of us are employed in the IT field, and each of us have our own unique backgrounds. For example, one of us drives a truck for a living, another works in a local school district, and another does adult foster care with developmentally disabled adults.

“Our choice to use Linux was a conscious (and logical) decision since it is an open-source operating system, and we have no official budget or source of income. We chose Xubuntu in particular because of the large repositories offered through Ubuntu and Synaptic. It offers the low resource requirements that run best with the systems we rehab, and is balanced with more functionality and ease of use than some other distros such as Lubuntu.

“Personally, I believe in open-source because it is a gateway for innovation, accessibility, and equality. Open-source software is the future, as can already be seen by the explosion of the Android fork of Linux. Android had become what it is, because it is open-source. There are many great programs that are open-source, and they often are better than the paid versions because it is passion, rather than profits that drive them.

“A couple of final great things about Linux: You get the opportunity to learn! If you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. Lower virus exposure (not as many viruses are written for Linux due to market share) coupled with increased security measures. I truly could go on and on about the benefits of Linux and open-source, but so many of the things I would say would be redundant and obvious, needless to say I LOVE Linux!”

Learn more about Techs for a Cause on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/techsforacause

Thanks to Justin for taking the time to talk about their project!