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Keep in mind who the target market is for Linspire. It's for the non-technical user. Everything we do is to make desktop Linux SUPER easy to use.

For example, Linspire computers are very popular in Mexico because they are so affordable. 85% of the homes in Mexico don't have a computer yet because they've been too expensive. That's now changing with Linux-based desktop computers which are free of the "Microsoft Tax."

If you sell a Linux computer to someone who's never owned a computer in their life, it needs to be SUPER easy to use. That's our market.

Yes, we charge for our products and services. It's how we pay our 100 employees to work here and make Linux better. We think our pricing is fair and offers a quality service for the price charged.

People pay for convenience all the time with things we could do ourselves "for free." We pay to have our hair cut, the oil in our car changed, someone to baby sit our children, someone to cook us a hamburger, someone to mow our lawn or clean our house. Just because one person would prefer to do these things for themselves, rather than pay someone, doesn't mean these services shouldn't be made available to those who find them worthwhile and convenient.

Many of the people reading this post will know how to use apt, but the average person wouldn't have a clue. If you know how to use apt, and you're happy with that, then of course you shouldn't pay for the CNR service. That would be like asking an auto mechanic to pay to have the oil changed in his car. But, just because the mechanic knows how to change the oil, doesn't mean that Jiffy Lube should be run out of town for charging for that service to those who find it a convenience.

Here are some of the differences between CNR and apt, as far as ease-of-use goes....

- CNR presents the products in an easy-to-browse "warehouse" with screenshots, user reviews, etc. (http://linspire.com/warehouse)

- CNR installs software with ONE click.

- CNR uninstalls software with ONE click.

- CNR notifies you of updates to any of the software you have installed on your computer, and those updates can be installed with ONE click.

- CNR can fix itself if it becomes wedged.

- Linspire tweaks, updates and enhances many of the programs in the CNR Warehouse to make them easier to use. For example, we default everything to use the My Documents folder. For new users, that's important. If you were to install GIMP using CNR, you'd see a very different layout, etc., designed to make GIMP easier to use.

- The CNR servers are kept on state of the art servers with a solid bandwidth pipe.

- CNR comes with support (phone, email, community, etc.)

- All programs are tested in the Warehouse to interoperate so that you don't break anything or have any dependency problems.

We've spent four years making CNR better and better, and it's come a long way. I wish it was just as simple as using apt, but it's much more than that.

Ease of use isn't critical to many of you reading this post, but if Linux is ever to get to the 98% of average computer users, it needs to be extremely easy to use. That's what Linspire is trying to do.

Kevin Carmony
President, Linspire, Inc.