LaunchSA Tech & Builders
Machines written off as junk, back online.
In the hands of students, families and non-profits.
- Donate
- Drop-off · Sept 28 – 30
- Workshop
- Friday, October 2, 2026
- Time
- Time to be announced
- Where
- LaunchSA, Central Library, 1st Floor
The drive
Nothing here is junk.
A working computer stops being supported on the day its vendor decides it does. That is a business decision, not a technical one — the hardware is usually fine, and most of it ends up as e-waste anyway.
DEVSA and learnOPENtech spend the week collecting those machines, rebuilding them on Linux and open source software, and putting them back into the community.
Free with Startup + Tech Week registration. Donations are welcome from anyone, whether or not you are attending the week.
Sept 28 – 30
Curbside drop-off
Bring working laptops, desktops or components to the collection point. The exact location and hours are announced closer to the week. Nothing needs to be wiped first — drives are erased as part of the rebuild.
Friday, Oct 2
Intro to Linux & Open Source Software
A hands-on session at LaunchSA on what open source actually is, how a machine gets rebuilt on it, and why a computer written off by its manufacturer is usually the fastest one somebody in the room has owned.
Friday, Oct 2
Community computer giveaway
The machines collected across the week go home with students, families and non-profits, set up and ready to use.
Vendor lock-in is the reason a five-year-old laptop feels slow, and open source is the reason it does not have to. Every machine that leaves this room is one that was headed for a landfill and is now somebody's first computer, running software nobody can switch off remotely.
Bring a machine. Take one home. Both count.
The running order
Still being locked.
Times go up as they’re confirmed. What’s fixed is the room and who’s running it.
- Where
- Central LibraryEverything else at Central Library
Free registration · Sept 28 – Oct 2
Get on the list.
One registration covers the whole week, Give-a-LOT Computer Donation Drive included.