Free
Computer
Shop

This is the home page of the Free Computer Shop, now at its new location in my basement.

Check the bottom of this page for information on how to contact me.

Free Computer Shop: What is it?

So what is the Free Computer Shop? You give away computers? Well, no. We don't give away the hardware. (You didn't really expect that, did you?) But the software is free. Not just software for no money, but software you are free to copy, free to learn from, and free to change.

The Free Computer Shop has undergone a change of business plan since I first put up the web page. The original plan was a computer store specializing in Free (Open Source) software. We would sell computer systems with Linux installed. In the past year or two, several large corporations have taken up that project, and seem to be doing an adequate job.

Well, I can't make computer chips, and there is not much money or glory in retail sales. It seems to work better if I stick to doing something I do well, so the Shop is now a software contracting service.

Here's a copy of the FCS License and Guarantee I have been giving to clients. Other licenses are possible if you have reasons to want it changed.

If you have a specialized project, we can write special purpose software to your specifications. Projects completed in the past include:

: -- a boot ROM for an embedded Motorola ColdFire processor
: -- integration of an Oracle database into a robotic production line
: -- X.25 communication software
: -- compiler porting and modification
: -- PhD in computer science (University of Pittsburgh)

Free Computer Shop: What's in it for me?

Free answers to questions. Frequently asked; maybe not, but if your question is here, the answer is free.

: What is a Modified Discrete Cosine Transform (MDCT)?
: What does NB stand for?
: I am totally failing to get TX interrupts on my MCF5272 evaluation board.
: What did Zarathustra say?
: What should be done to install DSL if I have an old burglar alarm?
: What does the invention of the smiley :-) tell us about computer security?

Free Computer Shop: Where is it NOW? (and how do I contact you?)

The storefront has been closed down, it was taking too much money without adding much to the new plan. The shop is the Web page you are looking at.

Email:: I have had the address kwright@free-comp-shop.com since forever. It is at the point that more than 99% of mail comming to that address is stinking spam. So mail to that address will probably be rejected unless it has the string [fcs] somewhere in the Subject: header. Put those three letters in the Subject, or you may have your mail rejected.
That seemed like a good idea, but I could not figure out how to do it without torquing up something else.
Web:: http://www.free-comp-shop.com

(checked 2006-11-26)

This page best when viewed through the bottom of a beer mug...
but any browser should work, so if it looks wrong to you, let me know. I'll try to fix it, not blame it on your software.