Lindows mobilizes Centrino support

I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t pay for your OS, I’m suggesting that using Lindows subjects you to the same kind of restrictive licensing that Windows and other proprietary programs have. If you want some corporation to own you and the software on your computer for the sake of an easier configuration, then go right ahead. They’re your rights, not mine.

-Jem

First, it is obvious that you are a rabid Lindows fan. Fine and dandy, but incorporating an existing ndiswrapper is NOT innovation. Ingenuity, perhaps; marketing insight, perhaps; but NOT innovation. And, in regards to the living in my parents’ basement, I would hope not, for it would be rather cold and damp, since one has been interred since 1971 and the other lives in Florida and is nearly 80. Ad hominem attacks are not necessary, and Lindows is part of a quad boot arrangement with Slackware, FreeBSD, and Wintendo on my machine. I happen to like the wallpapers, OPENGL screensavers and LILO splash at the moment. It brightens up the drab Slack lilo boot. However, if your attitude is an example of the Lindows community in general, perhaps a rethink MIGHT be in order.

The reasons individuals in the GNU/Linux community have issues with Lindows are many and legion. One, running a multiuser system as ROOT presents a security hole. Two, the omnipresent Lindows-everything all over the place, implying that THEY did the software, rather than just glued it all together (albeit very nicely, save for that Keramic theme [much prefer Plastik myself]). Mozilla becomes LINDOWS Internet Suite,e.g. vice Web Browser, as was done by RedHat in its Bluecurve modifications. The continuing hoopla attached to grandiose claims that later prove to be, shall we say, more modest in nature (e.g. the “FIRST AOL LINUX COMPUTER of late 2002, later dropped because AOL said “Lindows WHO?”). Some also object to taking Debian and turning an apt repository into a cash cow, but that is beginning to abate. Four, the basic hubris of M.R. in general is too much to swallow (e.g. THE NETHERLANDS NO LONGER HAVE A CHOICE adverts.) Please! Mandrake, SUSE, Debian, Lycoris, and many other Linux Desktop alternatives did NOT just up and vanish the day the NL judge said NO to Lindows. So, for many and varied reasons, the animosity is there and perhaps in some instances deserved.

Now, to YOUR attempted points. After that “amazingly fast” 15 minute install, which merely unzips a freaking 600 meg zip file onto the drive, the initial login asks for root password (something along the lines of Administrator). When the KDE gui finally appears, among the tutorials is a box filled with what those in the Windows world would regard as the “yeah, yeah, sure, sure” text that EULAs are regarded with in the Windows world. Sitting amongst all that text, with the advisory to visit Lindows.com and read about security is a button labelled ADVANCED. Now, how many Windows refugees are going to even THINK about hitting that ADVANCED button? Precious few. And, there, in that ADVANCED is the option to create a user. So, most if not all end up as root. So much for point one.

Point two: perhaps Microsoft should rename anything included as third party software bundled in on a PC, so that Adobe Photoshop become MICROSOFT Photoshop, Dreamweaver becomes MICROSOFT Dreamweaver, etc. Redhat renamed items on the KDE kicker and in the K menu, but didn’t call it REDHAT Internet Suite, or WordPro now, did they? It became Web Browser in the menu, and when started, Mozilla fired up. The grandstanding still goes on (see the advert at Lycoris.com to be reminded that choice STILL exists in the Netherlands, contrary to the HUGE banners/adverts that have been taken out on the Lindows site.

Your mention of “Heaven forbid someone should make money” was not germaine, since I said that SOME object to taking the efforts of volunteers and profiteering from it, but that it is abating. I did NOT disagree with the convenience of CNR for those who choose to pay for it. Feel free to use it. I also mentioned the MANY and MYRIAD claims that later resulted in backpedalling by M.R. Making the additional software available at significant discount in a centralized location is a good thing. Making claims of the nature that “Choice is denied” are pure marketing hubris, and unbecoming to a company.

And, rewording your next to last statement in a slightly less flattering way, Lindows is for those who do NOT know how to compile code, and do NOT understand a command line and haven’t a clue concerning those things. Yet, there exist drivers available only in source code format, which require compiling even now (some winmodems, for example a PCTel that was provided in my machine). All those clueless show up at the Lindows forums, asking “Why won’t it…” or “How do I…” when confronted with the GNU/Linux world. The very Centrino support you jumped up and down about will most likely be provided by Intel as a binary only package, which will require command line expertise to enable. SO sorry I kept you awake.

It never ceases to amaze me… how can you be unaware of the difference between “free as in freedom” and “free as in price?”

Free Software means free as in freedom, as in your rights are yours and you’re not owned by a corporation like Lindows or Microsoft. Free Software does not mean free of charge. You should be paying for all of the Free Software that you use.

This is Linux 101 stuff. Not understanding the meaning, contributions and benefits of Free Software is a side-effect of using operating systems like Lindows, which exploit Free Software for the benefit of a few. Lindows should be charging for every program in CNR and donating most of the money to the Debian project.

-Jem