“Built on a Debian Linux core, Linspire is designed for simplicity of use, and it delivers this in spades. Linspire eliminates the need for me to be technically proficient in the nuances of Linux to successfully operate and enjoy the OS.” Read the article at NewsForge.
My Workstation OS: Linspire 4.5
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Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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doesn’t ignore the users like some other OSS project.
I will definatly consider PURCHASING “five zero”.
Go Linspire ….. Go KDE
Well, I admit, debian may be more difficult to configure first time Hardware, but Linspire has a bad installer, well, I never got running it on different PC’s, and look, I run debian unstable and gentoo stage 1 install, all running perfectly configured.
I surely would miss the huge repository of debian or gentoo.
But given the facts, buying it preinstalled, what would it be with all other distributions. I do not think, they are harder to use. And SuSE made a lot afford to get even installing never so easy and unproblematicas ever seen on distris. (And no, ubuntu is straight forward installing, but lets not configure all hardware on installation.)
But arent there any good things about Linspire?
Yes, as commercial distri you have special support from Linspire and get answers on the dumbest question, and not RTFM.
BUT, this support is also available from SuSE, RedHat, Mandrake aso.
In fact, a year ago it was the best newbie distribution I’ve used. however, now with all the new hardware and software, it has fallen behind. You will be lucky if it supports all your hardware.
Thankfully, they plan to release Linspire Five-Oh in the secon half of this month. I hope we will see a lot of reviews, I’m curious as to how it has improved.
For it’s target market of first time Linux (or first time PC) users, Linspire fits the bill perfectly. If it was easier to pick up a Linspire loaded PC in your local Walmart, there could be explosive growth in users.
Though it is true that the system has few apps when first installed, the ease of installation is unmatched in the Linux world. (I know “apt get” but does your grandmother?)
The $5 a month to access click and run is a great deal compared to buying a new OS every couple years, along with all the free apps that are available. It fits the needs of curious novices in a much safer and less frustrating way to check out programs without spyware/virus worries.
Linspire may not be the OS for your average OSnews reader, but for it’s niche, it is a great system…
There is a 4.5 tour at this website
http://shots.osdir.com/slideshows/slideshow.php?release=249&slide=1…
‘$5 a month I pay for the Click-N-Run service is a good value for the convenience of not having to spend time configuring software or recompiling the kernel.’
Yeah , that makes people jump up and down and want to switch to linux.
Can’t anyone make a small secure os with working x window support??????????
NO !
I agree. I don’t honestly feel like recommending it to anybody until 5.0 has been released.
And then another problem: Linspire is based on the assumption that you have broadband, which the vast majority of PCs owners in this country still don’t have.
> Though it is true that the system has few apps when first installed, the ease of installation is unmatched in the Linux world.
>(I know “apt get” but does your grandmother?)
Yes, it does my grandmother, but with synaptic. Ok, has not nice screenshots integrated, but the search is good enough to get quick and good results and descriptions are available.
(1. And really, what needs my grandmother? webbrowser, email-client, camera-client, scribus for printing and openoffice, thats almost all
2. Earlier times, I also preconfigured windows for parents and grandma. There is the same problem of installing. They could not do it ontheir own. Installation seems not easier.)
Even if grandma (or dad for that matter) turned on synaptic, then what; 44bsd-start, 6in4tunnel, aalib1-dev, etc… She’ll be lost among the package names. On the other hand, setup.exe is probably too much too. If you ask me; osx is more confusing in its supposed simplicity than anything else. Everytime I’ve been to my grandfather-in-law’s he’s got the zip file, the dmg file, the mounted disc image and the app folders for everthing he downloaded right there on the desktop.
Let´s wait for Linspire 5.0 According to some forums it should be released at the end of march 2005.
The idea of Linspire is that it’s an easy interface for those new to linux, right?
That’s all well and good, but there many such distros out there, better, cheaper, and just as newbie friendly.
How about the free Xandros? Or Mandrake? Both of those are a cinch to install and use.
Personally, I found Linspire to be inflexible, and bloated. It’s not a bad distro in many respects, but I see no way they can justify the price.
Another one of those bland, short and vague “My Workstation OS” articles from NewsForge. No screenshots, no nothing. I know there are plenty of Linspire reviews out there with screenshots and there are tons of screenshots on OSDir also, but that only makes this article even more redundant.
Mod me down, but ’tis the truth.
I tried Linspire just before the name change, when it was called Lindows. I didn’t care for it in comparison to other Linux distros, but it was fairly simple to use. Paying for additional software is something I also don’t care for, but it’s a commercial distro, there’s other choices, so I won’t go on about that.
What I do applaud is Linspire’s efforts elsewhere (like with Nvu) to help the Linux community.
I’m glad you’ve had a good experience with Linspire. I installed it on my Grandparent’s machine and they didn’t care for it, which was my own opinion, as well. The email marketing campaign drove me away from trying it ever again..
SuSE works for me now.
Linspire has no e-mail marketing campaign. All they have is Michael’s Minute and that is only if you specifically request to be sent it.
Well, I admit, debian may be more difficult to configure first time Hardware, but Linspire has a bad installer, well, I never got running it on different PC’s, and look, I run debian unstable and gentoo stage 1 install, all running perfectly configured.
I surely would miss the huge repository of debian or gentoo.
You’re so absolutely right. Next time my sister, who can barely operate a can opener, asks what kind of computer to get, I’ll tell her to build her own box and put a stage 1 gentoo install on it. It may be a little tiny more work for her, up front, but I’m sure she’ll be thanking me for that nice repository! and i’ll bet her box will stay up to date and perfectly configured… etc-update with it’s awful diff output is geared at the new user who knows nothing about computers and doesn’t care to learn. [/sarcasm]
So this is the run-up to Linspire 5.0 … cut to the chase and tell us when its being released … they’ve been screaming about it since Nov 2004 (at least) but now it seems to be a long drawn-out marketing campaign to me …
So this is the run-up to Linspire 5.0 … cut to the chase and tell us when its being released … they’ve been screaming about it since Nov 2004 (at least) but now it seems to be a long drawn-out marketing campaign to me …
You’ll soon take it back
I wasted a bunch of money on Linspire 4.5. It’s the only distro I’ve seen that won’t install on a secondary hard drive. It won’t even see a second hard drive after the install even unless you hack it yourself. Mounting USB drives is ridiculous as it constantly assigns it ownership in a users /home directory instead of its own mnt point like other drives do which makes multi-user scenarios a pain in the butt. Nvidia cards I’ve never succeeded to install the drivers for even though I have successfully on Slackware without any problems, and its built in to Xandros.
But it is the only distro I’ve seen to be able to run my hp psc1210 out of the box with both printing and scanning ability – a feat even Xandros, my favorite system can’t do.
So for me, 5.0 has a LOT of things to address before I recommend it to anyone.
My mother actually uses Linspire (has been doing so since 4.0). She absolutely loves it. She’s happy to avoid the insecurity of MS Windows, and doesn’t need to bother with the learning curve associated with most distribution.
I tried switching her to PCLinuxOS, since it is very user friendly as well (it’s the distro my four year old daughter uses), but she wasn’t comfortable with Synaptic.
She purchased a Microtel PC for $200 and got in on a deal for a lifetime membership in Click ‘N’ Run for another hundred, which also includes free downloads of any new ISO images. Since I had a spare monitor and a combo drive to give her the only other thing she needed to pay for was five bucks for a legal DVD player.
200
+100
+ 5
____
$305
$305 for a computer and an operating system with lifetime updates, along with technical support seems like a great deal for a proprietary company.