Donate a laptop¶
That laptop in the drawer? This is its redemption arc.
What we can use¶
The bar is deliberately low — the whole point is machines nobody wants:
| Minimum | Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 64-bit (x86_64) | Most laptops since ~2010. ARM support is on the wishlist |
| RAM | 4 GB | Garage is light; 2 GB machines may still work as small nodes |
| Disk | 100 GB, healthy | The disk is the donation — bigger is better. SSDs and spinners both welcome |
| Condition | Powers on | Cracked screen? Dead battery? Missing keys? All fine — nodes don't need them |
| Network | Ethernet port or working wifi | Ethernet preferred for hosted nodes |
Don't pre-judge your junk
Bring it anyway. If it can't serve as a node, we'll harvest working parts (RAM and disks upgrade other nodes) and pass the rest to a certified e-waste recycler. Either way it stays out of landfill, which is half the mission.
What we can't take (yet): desktops and servers are technically fine but bulky to house, phones and tablets aren't supported, and anything water-damaged goes straight to recycling.
What happens to your machine¶
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Secure wipe — first, always. The entire disk is erased before the machine is even health-checked. Every byte of your old life on that laptop is destroyed. Want to wipe it yourself first? Great — we'll still wipe it again.
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Health check. Disk SMART data, memory test, thermal sanity. Machines that pass become nodes; machines that don't become spare parts and responsibly-recycled scrap.
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Imaging. We install the Junk Net node image: Debian, Garage, Nebula, and laptop-appropriate settings (lid stays closed, services auto-restart, disk health is monitored so we hear a disk dying rather than discover it dead).
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Enrollment. The node gets a signed mesh certificate and joins the cluster. Garage rebalances, and your old laptop starts holding tiny encrypted-in-transit fragments of the community's data.
What you get¶
- Free S3-compatible storage, allocated in proportion to the usable capacity you contributed (exact policy is being settled during the pilot — see the FAQ).
- Access keys and a quickstart — you'll be uploading within minutes of getting them. See Using your storage.
- The moral high ground at dinner parties, when the topic of cloud subscription pricing comes up.
Two ways to contribute¶
Hand the laptop over and you're done — we house it, power it, and run it. Perfect if you just want the drawer back and the storage.
The laptop (yours or an assigned one) lives at your place, plugged into power and your internet. This is what makes Junk Net genuinely distributed — every hosting household is a zone, and more zones means every object's three copies are spread across more of the city.
What hosting asks of you:
- a power point (nodes draw 10–25 W — roughly AU$30–80/year),
- a spot near your router (ethernet ideally, solid wifi is fine),
- and tolerance for one quietly humming laptop that you agree not to unplug on a whim. (Unplugging with notice is fine — we drain the node first and nothing is lost.)
Ready?