The Emmabuntüs collective is an informal group of people which was formed around a project based on the use of a Linux distribution called Emmabuntüs developed to simplify the reconditioning of used computers donated to humanitarian associations, in particular to Emmaüs communities (hence its name) and encourage the discovery of Linux by beginners, but also extend the lifespan of the hardware to limit waste caused by overconsumption of raw materials.
This project started from the observation that distributions, even the simplest to use, do not take into account the overall needs of a very large audience who do not want to have to configure their machine. The proof is that the Install Parts are always full despite the ease of use, and the public, after coming the first time to install the machine, returns for additional installations.
With Emmabuntüs the initial goal was not to provide a distribution based on Ubuntu for download to everyone, but to sell reconditioned machines based on Emmabuntüs to a very large public coming to buy machines from donations within the community. Emmaus of Neuilly-Plaisance . As of February 2016, all Emmabuntüs releases are based on Debian and XFCE .
The Emmabuntüs collective adheres to the manifesto of the Emmaus movement , however, to date it is not officially recognized by this movement. Some members of the collective are volunteers in Emmaus communities.
Goal of the project The action of the Emmabuntüs collective goes beyond the creation of a GNU/Linux distribution, the goal that we are pursuing is the establishment of structures to help with the reconditioning of machines for humanitarian associations and to encourage other people to follow our approach to help fight against the following three scurges:
Poverty among certain segments of the population, by providing new sources of income to humanitarian associations thanks to the sale of these machines
The digital divide in France and in the world, particularly in Africa, by the distribution of a supplemented distribution of free data
Waste caused by overconsumption of raw materials, by extending the life of computer equipment
