Linare Pro is a commercial GNU/Linux distribution based on Fedora Core. It is themed to look and feel like WinXP and aims to be a full-featured well-integrated desktop OS. Read its review at NewsForge. OSNews also learned that the very affordable Linare laptops are selling extremely well via Wal-Mart.
Distribution Review: Linare Professional
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
Out of curisoity, how was this data obtained? From Wal-Mart or from Linare? What is the definition of “extreamly well”? Are there any numbers of units shipped? Additionaly, are the laptops available at the physical stores or only via the website?
I don’t know what everyone else thinks, but their default theme is INCREDIBLY ugly! I know it’s changable, but it puts the whole distro down with a theme like that, since the first impression new lookers will have, is of something that looks shabby.
I agree, it looks horrible.
> From Wal-Mart or from Linare?
We asked for a review unit from Linare and they said that they are selling so many that they don’t have any in house to send out for reviews. I was able to cross-check this by a customer who had to wait 2 months to get his laptop, he was constantly sent an email from walmart saying that the laptops sold so well that they were constantly out of stock and they were waiting for new ones to come in.
Given the fact that Linare were always open to send us review units in the past, I am pretty sure that they are truthful saying that they don’t have any to spare.
Agreed. It looks butt ugly. The shiny green is overwhelming. Also, the window buttons look like they loaded a Win XP screenshot into Photoshop and stretched out the bottom of the buttons. Personally, I like neutral colors and non-intrusive widget designs on my themes, but that just me. I think the less the theme stands out, the easier it is to get past horrible inconsistencies in the look of applications.
I agree, they should take a hint from Xandros, that’s a much nicer looking distro. Plus, since Element computer only sells their laptops in bulk, that a niche that could be filled nicely…
Thanks for your reply.
I hate the fact that these things come with such a crapy distro, not even an update server. Well if i bought one i would like to know how well they actualy are(build qulity), also I have never seen one on walmarts website. does anyone have a link. I really do hope that who ever does buy this labtop installs ubuntu or mandrake(or whatever they call it now).
they had some sort of offer going where they would send you a free copy.
my evaluation of it was that it’s default theme was very ugly, and that it was extremely easy to break once you started trying to customize it with packages from some of the yum and apt repositorys with Fedora Core packages, as the version I had was based on FC1
I also was not impressed with the fact that the first disk they sent me was blank, and that the replacement was messed up too. I was lucky enough that when I copied the flawed disk to the blank one that it worked when I tried to install it.
IMHO Xandros and Linspire are much better than this Distro.
The whole problem is that Linare is commercial and all they are doing is trying to cash in on GNU/Linux by taking Fedora Core, changing a few small things, and then market it market it market it. They were very happy to send me an evaluation version, which arrived scratched. The case was very amateur looking. I had to get a replacement before it worked.
In my entire course of contact with Linare, which was much, I got the impression that there weren’t more than 3-5 people working there. Their website doesn’t really give many facts. The entire thing is like the recent “Generic Press Release” at NewsForge. “Join our partners team, because we offer great benefits.” Nothing about who current partners are or if they are satisfied or what the benefits are. They are always very vague about numbers and associates.
My experience with Linare the company was not that great. My experience with Linare the product was worse. It is by far the worst distribution I’ve ever used. I would not recommend it to anyone – especially not if they have to pay $40 to get it.
I am surprised, if you don’t recommend Linare then why did
you take so much pain to write an article about them !!!
Please understand all the Linux distribution companies out
there are to market Linux and make profit out of it, as long
as its a profit organization.
I visited Linare recently for a partnership with them.(press
release regarding the partnership will be out in May).
They have very few people working in the US. I visited
their manufacturing unit in Asia as well. They have more
employees there and they are using lots of contractors to
reduce their company operating expenses.
I am sure thats why they are able to offer the PC and Laptop
for $199 and $498.
But I hate their desktop color. Green desktop sucks.
– Linux Supporter
I took the “pain” to write an article about it because of the very reason you suggest I shouldn’t write an article about it. Because I didn’t like it. Why not share my experience with the world so other people don’t make the same mistake?
Perhaps Linare has many employees. Perhaps they have 1,000,000 people on full time. That really isn’t the point, I was just mentioning what *my* experience with them was like. The point was that while my experience with them was bad, my experience with their product was worse. Their product is absolute crap.
You say that every commercial company that distributes GNU/Linux does it only for profit. Perhaps so. The difference is the other competitors actually OFFER something in exchange for the money you give them. Linare offers none of that. Their distribution looks like it was put together by a bunch of monkeys. Their repositories for Linare are STILL DOWN despite the fact that Eugenia reviewed it six months ago and commented on the servers being down then. They have added very little value to Fedora Core, a mere XP theme which you can get free anyways. They added more security vulnerabilities (by making you run as root by default) and trusted third-party servers which didn’t match their original install, making it impossible to update.
I’m happy to see you are happy with Linare. However, they are out to get as much as they can putting as little as they can into the product. Their entire product could have been made by *one* programmer and *one* graphic designer over the course of about two months, and thats if they had little experience with it beforehand. They have no servers. Yet they expect us to make them rich by paying money for a product they so obviously put very little work into. I stand by my judgement. They are in it for the money, not to try to make the desktop GNU/Linux market better.
Which, by the way, is the same reason they can offer that PC and laptop so cheap. They put very little value into it. They can charge a very low amount and still make money because of it. Does that make the experience better for the consumer? No. It would still be cheaper to just buy a laptop with no OS or one that you are going to keep and can help you.
In your review you mentioned that Linare is a copy of Fedora
and now you are saying that Linare is a crap product. So,
Are you saying that Fedora is a crap product? You must be
crazy !!! I hope Linare doesn’t sue you.
You have mentioned in your article to download Fedora and
XPDE, so that they can get more stabilized system. You have
absolute zero knowledge in the Linux. Do you know if XPDE
is based on KDE or GNOME based? XPDE is not based on
KDE or GNOME. First learn those before writing an article.
Should complain to Newsforge for accepting some crap article
like yours and wasting up everyones time.
All the Linux companies are in a single community. Don’t
mess up with the Linux community.
– Linux Supporter
Linare != Fedora. Linare is Fedora with a bunch of really, really bad stuff added to it and some of the good parts (ie, the ability to update) taken away. Don’t put words into my mouth. I like the Fedora project. As for Linare suing me, don’t worry. They tried. Then their lawyers told them about something called “Free Speech”. They aren’t happy with me, as a matter of fact I’d go so far as to say they hate me, but that doesn’t change the fact that I am very much allowed to say all this.
“Do you know if XPDE is based on KDE or GNOME based? XPDE is not based on KDE or GNOME. First learn those before writing an article.”
At this point I’m starting to doubt your sanity. What does this have to do with anything? I’m well aware of what a window manager is, what a desktop environment is, what the difference is and how they function. Yet even if I wasn’t, you have no point at all. I said in my article that people should download Fedora Core and the XPDE. Explain to me what part of that in any way, shape, or form implies that it is “based on” KDE or GNOME. It runs on X. I said nothing that implies otherwise.
“First learn those before writing an article. Should complain to Newsforge for accepting some crap article like yours and wasting up everyones time.”
I suggest you do a Google search for my name. I’m well aware of what I’m talking about, and I’ve written many articles. Perhaps you should learn how to argue with logic and how to accurately assess the situation before you try discussing this with me. At this point, my friend, anyone with any knowledge about GNU/Linux will be looking at you like you’re crazy.
“All the Linux companies are in a single community.”
Correction: All Linux companies whose goal is to promote the use of GNU/Linux are part of a single community. Companies whose purpose is to MAKE MONEY and just happen to use Linux to do it are NOT part of the community. You are making a fool of yourself by implying it. If Microsoft started making a GNU/Linux distribution that went against standards and was incompatible with other distributions, would you say “Use MS Linux because its good and after all we are part of the same community?” I hope not. I hope you’d be smart enough to realize that MS was just in it for the money.
You speak as though you are educated. You might even fool the average Windows user into thinking you are a GNU/Linux guru. But that won’t work on this site, especially not with me. We can see through your charade. Go learn more about this thing you call “Linux”. I suggest you start with learning about the GNU project.
http://www.fsf.org/
Have fun reading.
Mike I wouldn’t worry about Preston. I’ve run into his articles, and comments in the past. He tries to act as if he is a Guru of Open source, however, he is some what knowledgeable. Once again However, his ego is always getting in the way of any kind of sensible discussion. I personally find him rude, arrogant, and simply a waste of time.
I’m sorry to see you feel that way, although you are right about my ego. Yes, it is a problem. Yes, I’ve tried to solve it. I’ve failed about every time. So I guess we’re stuck with you hating me. You aren’t the only one
If the things I say imply I think I’m a GNU/Linux guru, please forgive me. I’m not at all, and I don’t mean to imply it. But I do know more than Mike seems to. I can also use Google to get most of the answers I need with relative ease. It doesn’t make me a guru by a longshot, and I have no illusions about that. What I am is a first year computer science student who spends most of his days working with and learning about GNU/Linux. So I do have a fair amount of knowledge on the subject, enough to argue my point as I am now.
In any case, Kman, if you find me such a waste of time then why did you bother posting? Just curious. Also, you seem against me but you haven’t mentioned the subject at hand. Do you have any arguments as to why Mike should be correct? Or are you just using any opportunity you can to take shots at me? I really don’t mind either way, I’m just curious as to whether or not you believe that Linare is a good company that makes a good product like Mike does.
If you’re just here to insult me, have at it. There is nothing you can say that others haven’t said before. I really don’t mind. If you want to argue logic, I’d be happy to match you anyday, but as for the childish insults – you’re on your own.
I agree with kman. I have been in the BeatrIX forum and have seen that Preston with all his great online internet freedom started shouting at people with arrogant words and finding mistakes in their English.
As usual he got kicked out of the forum within few days same as with any other forums he joins.
Maybe, Preston’s trying to find a spot in OSNEWS and Newsforge for the next couple of days before he gets blocked
BTW, I tried installing Linare and it’s just a clone of Fedora with a horrible green theme.
“As usual he got kicked out of the forum within few days”
Wrong
Contact Steven Watsky, the owner of BeatrIX. When I left it was because I quit. At the time, I had moderator access. I quit because of the very reasons you say he kicked me out – I felt it would be better for the forums. I am anal about grammar and spelling, and if I was a moderator I know I would correct those things. So I erased all my posts and told Steven I wanted it left that way.
But hey, why get the whole story when you can just insult me using what works best for you, even if its not true? I’ll leave you be to continue making ad homenim attacks on me. Enjoy it. Doesn’t bother me. As mentioned, I’ve been called much worse things by much better and more influential people than you. On the grand scale of things you are about as important to me as a grain of sand is to the universe.
Anyone else want to continue on? It appears its “I hate Preston so I’m going to post” time, so come on! Join the fun! Quite honestly, I don’t care. If you have something against me, let me know because you can rest assured that if I have something against you I’m for sure going to say it.
Then again, I’ve never heard of you. Any of you. And you’ve all heard of me. There’s that arrogance thing of mine coming out again. But this time, you’re feeding it. I hope you feel better about yourselves now that, in your attempts to point out my ego, you have simply enlarged it by showing how many people know of me. Do I care that its in a bad way? No. Simply knowing of me is enough. I long ago decided that the majority of the human race was too stupid for me to care about their opinions. Anyone who is strongly against the stupidity of the average person is going to have the average person hating them. So, welcome, average persons
Funny, it doesn’t bother you and that’s why you are trying to justify yourself. I am sure you will spend some time to reply back to this thread.
Didn’t I tell he will start his favourite comments? Here you go…
I long ago decided that the majority of the human race was too stupid for me to care about their opinions. Anyone who is strongly against the stupidity of the average person is going to have the average person hating them. So, welcome, average persons
Oh well, here’s another funny thread…
http://software.newsforge.com/comments.pl?sid=43139&cid=104616
“Funny, it doesn’t bother you and that’s why you are trying to justify yourself.”
The insults don’t bother me. When you call me a name, I feel no need to justify myself. However, when you talk about something that happened and make claims that are completely false, yes I will defend myself.
“I am sure you will spend some time to reply back to this thread.”
Naturally. I’m amused by this thread.
That comment about the vast majority of the human race being too stupid? Again, arrogant. Again, true. My IQ ranges anywhere from five to six standard deviations above the norm, depending on what test you believe. Sure, there are lots of people smarter than me. Hell, for all I know one of them might even be you (though I doubt that, because on average those who are smarter tend to agree with me and those who can’t follow simple logic tend to argue with me). But the majority? Nowhere close.
By the way, everyone follow that link. You’ll see how Tina Gasperson is against Free Software. You posted it as a link against me, but look at it this way: If I saw, in any way shape or form, that post as being derogatory to me I would have posted as anonymous. Just like I would have here.
When I post under my name, you can rest assured I’m ready for whatever criticism will come. Criticism always comes. There are pretty much no strong opinions one can have where there aren’t critics. Couple that with the fact that I act like I’m smarter than everyone and you have a warzone. You have the people who don’t like me (lots), then you have the people who don’t like my ideas (also lots). They are usually pretty quiet. Then you have the people who hate me and hate my ideas – they are the vocal ones, like you, that I get to argue with
This post is turning more and more amusing by the minute. Post more links! Also, make more comments about how I’m arrogant despite the fact that I’m agreeing with you
Come on now. I’ve gotten into at least a thousand arguments online, and likely at least half of them are still archived somehow somewhere. Waste more time and drag them up for me. It’d be nice to have some kind of portfolio showing my arguments, but I’m really too lazy to do the work. I’d appreciate it if you did.
I’ve been around for quite some time, and so far noone has yet blocked me. From anywhere. Sure, I’ve had posts modded down on OSnews (a number so low that you’d be surprised, hell I’m even surprised) but noone has ever threatened to kick me out. I may be arrogant, but you’ll note that unlike you I’m not sitting here trying to attack the other party. All I’m doing is logically countering what you say. So, I’d say you’re closer to getting *you* kicked out and banned than me.
Its also nice to see that you never have been able to logically respond to me, only resort to personal attacks.