Submitted by Linspire launched a revamped partner program on September 14 that will pay system builders a percentage on all commercial Linux software and services purchased by users of either Linspire or Freespire pre-installed desktop and laptop computers using the company’s CNR technology.
I wonder if system builders would really adopt Linux if they get a portion of the cake. Microsoft can threat them to not get price reductions, but if they will make money providing Linux…
… in a business sense, and in terms of getting Linux preinstalled on PCs (the biggest hurdle for desktop Linux adoption), a very gentle introduction for newbies and Windows users, and really extending apt with CNR (and pushing the market for ISVs that target Linux).
Yes, Linspire is a distro that a lot of the geeks that lurk here at OSNews love to hate – the whole log on as passwordless sudo issue, looking heavily like Windows, including proprietary codecs/drivers, etc, etc.
But for adoption for the masses, we could hardly ask for anything better.
Freespire and PCLinuxOS are my two favorite desktop oriented Linux distros.
I’d like to see Texstar of PCLinuxOS really develop a partner program with PC builders, a la Linspire.
Edited 2006-09-14 19:37
Oh there are a few more reasons than that to hate Lin/Freespire.
http://borkedweb.com/mini-reviews/freespire.html
“Oh there are a few more reasons than that to hate Lin/Freespire.”
Hmm. Right, so quoting to your own website as a reason to hate something is any more valid than me producing a piece of paper on which I’ve written “it is good” as proof that it is good.
Did you even bother reading it? The whole point of it, was that a lot of people were bashing Freespire/Linspire without any current knowledge of the OS, and yet even when they were right the Freespire/Linspire user, such as yourself, refused to admit any faults in the OS. This is why I wasted a whole day of my time to load this POS on my box and actually get a current status of it.
“Did you even bother reading it?”
Sure did. Saw nothing more than the sour stuff thats pushed around on OSNews like cold cabbage on a plate.
“yet even when they were right the Freespire/Linspire user, such as yourself, refused to admit any faults in the OS”
Actually I don’t use Linspire/Freespire. I have tried it a few times (as I tend to try all the new distros/releases) but thats it. What I saw was a very user friendly system and that seems to really kill some people.
I have no vested opinion or interest here. I just think that it’s rather pathetic that some people will rail against Linspire just… coz.
“I have no vested opinion or interest here. I just think that it’s rather pathetic that some people will rail against Linspire just… coz.”
Well said.
It’s most definately not “just coz”. If you had read it, which I can tell you did not, I actually took the time to prove each and every one of my bitches about the OS. I even captured screenshots, so the same trolls wouldn’t come along like they do week after week, deny everything and call anyone who doesn’t pull KC’s pud pathetic.
“deny everything and call anyone who doesn’t pull KC’s pud pathetic.”
That’s a good line. 😉
However, nobody is pulling KC’s pud. People are just giving credit where credit is due. Lin/Freespire present a very slick, beautiful, super easy Linux distro for total non-tech newbies and Windows users.
And your link proved nothing.
Yes, it has you create, by default, a passwordless sudo user, which is less than ideal. But it does not prevent you from using KUser to change it to what you want it to (including traditional regular Unix style users and a root account).
CNR does allow you to do updates, under “MyProfile”. If I understand correctly, you have to pay to be a Gold Club member in order to get updates. But I think that’s fairly reasonable, knowing that they are otherwise making CNR free.
In your example, you used apt-get to do updates. Not a good thing to do, because apt-get just points to the regular Debian Etch/Sid repos, while CNR points to Linspire’s own managed repos (their CNR warehouse). Of course it broke stuff when you did that, due to incompatibility.
The same thing would happen if you reconfigured sources.list on an Ubuntu install to point to the Debian Sid repos instead of the Ubuntu ones.
Actually, having seperate managed repos is part of the value added proposition of both Ubuntu and Freespire over regular Debian. When you use Debian Etch or Sid, due to the volitilaty of those repos, it can be quite risky. If you are not extremely careful, stuff can get screwed up. If you stick with Debian stable, no worries. But then you’re stuck with older software. But Ubuntu and Freespire come along and freeze the Debian Etch or Sid repos, do extra testing, and only do updates for security patches. But the repos remain stable, so long as you stick with those repos. Go back to the regular Debian Sid repos, and you are only asking for trouble.
When you did this, it was if you were specifically trying to break your Freespire install. You were either deliberately trying to make Freespire look bad, or you simply did something dumb. No worries there, we all make mistakes.
As for leaving various servers on and open, that’s a legitimate criticism, for security’s sake. I guess Linspire made the design decision of “path of least resitence for the user”. But, it is completely trivial to turn those services off, close them, or launch configure the firewall.
Well, there is no really on-topic time to ask this sort of question. So I’ll ask it now.
Are you the same ill-dispositioned fellow who wrote this recently?
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=248313&highlight=kerne…
For those who don’t care to read the thread, it’s a parting shot from someone posting as “kernlpanicked” on the Ubuntu Forums. The complaint? That the Ubuntu community don’t tell each other to RTFM enough. Claims they don’t force people to learn enough for his tastes.
So he’s off to Fedora because of that. Can’t wait to hear what he hates about Fedora.
From the article:
The renewed Builder Program has no annual fees or volume commitments
So when a friend or member of your family asks you to pick out and setup a new computer for them you get a barebones, ‘build’ it with Freespire, don’t tell them about apt-get, and wait for the kickbacks to start rolling in. We’ll be rich! Rich I tells ya!
If Lindows is installed on new computers in stores, people will thing that Linux = Lindows, and this would be a very bad thing.
Let’s be serious. If people buy computers with Linux, it’s to avoid the Windows tax, and as soon as they get home and unpack the brand new computer, what do they do? They install Windows and erase Linux. I know, I have seen at least two people doing it.
What is the value added of CNR if you have Ubuntu’s Synaptic, SuSE’s Yast or PC-BSD’s PBI for free?
http://www.linspire.com/products_cnr_whatis.php?tab=why
None.
Wow, just a few things here:
1. It pretty much stopped being Lindows a while back.
2. Linspire so totally rebrands Linux that the connection would be tenuous at best.
3. Saying what “people” will do and citing two people you anectdotally know to have done something is pretty poor research. I know two guys who tried to hold rubbing alcohol in their mouths to spray fire out (I really do!). That doesn’t tend to tell me what most people do with rubbing alcohol.
4. Unless “they” pirated said Windows, they’re facing installation hurdles, registration hurdles, update hurdles, etc. The Windows tax just isn’t that high, in my opinion.
5. There is no substantive advantage of CNR over those other methods you listed, but the perception of the neophyte will be a centralized place to safely get their software for minimal cost, so more’s the better. However, people aware of YAST and apt-get aren’t going to be impressed by much of anything.
6. If people buy computers with Linux, they’re typically not mass-market offerings and thus offer little or no savings over a Windows box (initially). I believe that if people buy Linux-native PCs, it’s because they desperately want Linux.
“What is the value added of CNR if you have…SuSE’s Yast…”
As a long time SUSE user, I can tell you: SUSE native package management was never too good, but in 10.1 it is particularly bad. That is why I use apt4rpm and smart instead.
Having helped thousands of people with installing packages in SUSE, especially the “extras”, I can confirm that CNR is a welcome help for newbies.
What is the value added of CNR if you have Ubuntu’s Synaptic, SuSE’s Yast or PC-BSD’s PBI for free?
7 – CNR can also be for free.
http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=15672
That is interesting. Still doesn’t address the shortcomings of the operating system though. Also what happens when a builder install 5.0.100 and it works great, yet the user upgrades to 5.0.500 to get support for his camera and that upgrade breaks his network card or similar.
Trying to support a linux computer is pretty much madness and will be viewed as a linspire problem as well as a builder problem, with both passing the buck back and forth. As I said, most interesting…interesting to see if builders do this.
such as…
http://forum.freespire.org/showthread.php?t=1497
Generally, Linspire 5.0.xxx versions would detect cameras and scanners , but 5.1.xxx and Freespire will not.
http://forum.freespire.org/showthread.php?t=1859
It worked with Linspire 5.0, but not with Linspire 5.0, Version 2.
I think some people here are missing the point. Linspire is trying something new, and only one other company can really say the same thing, Ubuntu. All the other companies just quietly work on making small improvements to their OS, hoping that some computer manufacturer finally realizes that GNU/Linux is on par with Windows and OSX (which is true for many scenarios). There is nothing wrong with a patient, level-headed approach, but their only feather in their hat is Lenovo saying the will bundle OpenSuse with a laptop and then later saying that OpenSuse is certified to work with a certain laptop. All the while, Windows and OSX users are laughing, saying, “Let me guess 2007 is the year of the Linxu desktop, or is that 2008, or 2009, or…”.
Ubuntu’s free shipping of cd’s (as far as I know) has not coverted an overwhelming number of people to using Linux. It has however, gathered a lot of good press, and I am sure that some have benefited from the discs. I think the same can be said of the CNR profit sharing; don’t expect mass adoption, but there will be somebody who benefits from this arrangement. The point is that companies are now starting to think outside of the box to break into a market like the USA which is already dominated by a particular desktop. While Ubuntu and Linspire may not have “the idea” that gets more acceptance of a Linux desktop, it will take thinking along these lines. Waiting for parity with Windows and OSX can be costly becasue “parity” is a very subjective word.
If you want to use Windows, go ahead. The same with Ubuntu, Linspire/Freespire, Suse, Redhat, FreeBSD, SkyOS, BeOS, Zeta. What ever you like and suits your needs. It is as simple as that.
Personally I used Windows until a few months ago. I have always had one flavor or another of Linux on my system, but it was only when Microsoft decided that on every update it would change the authentication method, that I decided it was time to get way from Windows all together.
As I am a software engineer, I have no trouble learning new things, so I changed to Suse and not an easier Linux Distro. However this is not the case with everyone. For a newbe or an occasional user (pc user that is 🙂 ) I would always recomend he uses the easiest possible OS that does all he wants.
There is no doubt that if you play 3D Direct X games you will need Windows, but what if you just need to occasionaly burn a few CDs/DVDs, or write a document and surf the net? Then almost any OS would do. So the choice is out there. Just choose and let others be.
Edited 2006-09-15 07:41