Linked by Andrew Davis on Mon 22nd Nov 2004 20:12 UTC
I admit that I'm a geek. I use Linux. I use Solaris. I use FreeBSD. At times, I use Windows. And without a doubt, I download and try almost every Linux distribution when they come out. Over the last few years, I've tried all of the RedHat/Fedora releases, 2 different Lindows/Linspire releases, Mandrake, Gentoo, Xandros, Suse, Ubuntu, and the list goes on.
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1. Linspire lacks LSB certification which Novell and Red Hat both have.
You are right about this but they are working on that for version 5 and get this from Debian anyway.
2. Linspire is not a member of the Free Standards Group but Novell and Red Hat are members.
They get that from Debian also.
3. Linspire does not follow simple standards such as not charging consumers to access software that is freely available with other Linux distributions.
They don't charge for the Apps themselves, what they charge for is the ability to Click and Run, get e-mail and light phone support, and also get nice discounts on Star office (Same things Xandros charge for)
4. Linspire lacks a flexible EULA and seems more Microsoft like in their license offerings. Unlike the license agreements that Novell and Red Hat offer consumers, both of which work to follow the GNU/GPL.
Same as Xandros, it's mostly to cover their Apps like LPhoto, LSongs and Click and Run.
5. Linspire lacks support for current hardware such as Intel P4/Xeon w/EMT64, AMD Opteron/64-FX, current graphics cards, etc. Both Novell and Red Hat offer a wider support base for hardware than Linspire and as such better suited not only for home consumers but also enterprise.
They have a VERY stable OS and are not rushing out their new version that will cover most the the hardware you name. I am sorry but Linspire is much more easy to use then Novell Linux Desktop and Red Hat. It was very easy to show my mother how to use the OS, make changes, use click and run etc. Red Hat has never made a user friendly version for the desktop. I mean when you can just install Linspire in 10 minutes, get it up on the network, log into click and run, go to your programs, select all (I have like 150 apps) and say install, then go get a cup of Java. Come back in thirty and it's all done including installing apps like Star Office etc. You can't beat that because no other package manager keeps a database of what you have installed in the past, what updates you need before you even get logged in etc (Pops up a message telling you what you have that needs to be updated as soon as you get on the network.
6. Linspire lacks good distributor support. Unlike Novell and Red Hat that have support from companies IBM, HP, etc.
None of them have this for the desktop!
7. Linspire support offerings are a poor comparison to what Novell and Red Hat currently offer consumers.
You can get good support if you want to pay for it. It's a desktop OS so you are not going to get enterprise support of course for a home desktop.
8. TCO is higher with Linspire when compared to Novell and Red Hat.
You can get Linspire for free just like Novell. But getting updates etc cost more on Novell then Linspire (Novell is about 55.00 per seat for updates and support). The Red Hat desktop costs like $2500 just to start (With support and five licenses if I am not mistaken) Linspire costs to businesses about $27 a seat for 100-500 users (One time fee not yearly, as long as you keep click and run you get all the OS updates and upgrades for for the click and run fee which is $23 a machine for 100-500 users) So in the first year as opposed to novell you save about $5 a machine. But in the second year you save $28 a machine. And yes you can get hands on support, Linspire has a whole section for consultants. You just look in your area and you can find companies and or consultants who can come in and do support for you. Which is what Novell and RedHat do also.
9. Linspire and Debian based distributions in general lack support from the entertainment industry and their software suppliers. Where as Novell and Red Hat are the leading companies used by studios and their highend software developers.
Linspire was one of the first Linux OS to sell legal Codec for DVD playback, for Real Player support (Outside of the real player application) and now Windows Media player (Even though Turbo Linux offered that one first)