Slashdot Mirror
LindowsOS Softens Microsoft-Compatibility Claim
jukal writes: "As seen originally at newsforge: On Friday we reported the appearance of Microtel PCs with LindowsOS pre-installed at Walmart.com. Then, Walmart.com and Lindows were claiming that LindowsOS 'delivers the stability of UNIX with the ease of Windows and the ability to run most Microsoft programs.' Today, that last phrase has gone missing and there is no more talk of running any programs designed for Windows, let alone Microsoft products"
Since the link is broken in the article, the full phrase is:
"The low cost alternative to computers preloaded with Microsoft Windows. These PCs ship with an exciting new Linux based Operating System (OS) named Lindows. This exciting new OS delivers the stability of Linux with the ease of Windows and they include a trial membership to a library of over 1,000 software programs so they can be outfitted for any purpose whether business, home, or entertainment."
The link
The world moves for love. It kneels before it in awe.
Evil ZEN Scientist
Correct as written - there's no phrase explicitly about being able to run Windows applications. ..but is it sinister? Or just a precursor step to keep Microsoft from bashing the living hell out of any merchant agreement they might have?
Check the EULA for VS.net. In order to distribute the redisributables, they must "only operate in conjunction with Microsoft Windows platforms". 3.1(a)
.net derived programs.
Also 3.1(b) seems (I'm no lawyer) aimed at forbidding open source licensing of
Sourcecode for the changes they made to KDE can be found at http://net2.com/lindows/source/ As for the changes to wine they seem to have submited them all to the main wine tree, at least the says so in
l es.txt
http://net2.com/lindows/source/AboutTheseSourceFi
"Specifically, there are no WINE source code mods here, because ALL of our WINE changes (even those changes we made when WINE was X11) have been submitted for inclusion to the main LGPL wine tree. Pretty much all of our changes were accepted and are currently in wine. Lindows.com currently does all their development on the LGPL wine tree, submitting all our changes back."
THat never made it into the shipping product. However, it was there in the prerelease sent out to reviewers, causing them to conclude that dr-dos wasn't yup the the task.
THis was a factor in the half-billion dollar settlement . . . though I thought that trebling ten per cent of the current market would have been a more interesting remedy . .
hawk
If Lindows is not windows compatible, then what are users paying for? Why not just put Mandrake (or other desktop-friendly distrib)?
Lindows (tm)
"Our name sounds like Windows and starts with an 'L'. We are clever."
Software Wars
If you read the article or check Lindow's site you'll notice the part about they're Click 'N Run warehouse. With a $99/year membership you can get any software out of it you want. When you buy Lindows you get three free downloads to start.
.debs and install them yourself, (2) you can of course get the tools to make the software yourself from source, or (3) you can get it from the warehouse. Now why would you want to do that? Because it's "one click and you're up and running." No worry about configuration or install scripts. Considering this, I think Lindows is justified in charging for the software since they really are adding something of value (convenience) to the end user. Linux geeks can still install the software the old fashoned way too.
The whole Click 'N Run Warehouse confused me when I first read about it. $99 a year to download essentially GPLed applications? If you check the warehouse, you'll notice most of the applications there are the sort that you'll usually find included in any large distrobution. Everything from gcc to OpenOffice is there. Now why in the world would you pay $99 a year to access applications that are already free? Well, that was my question, so I emailed Lindows and they responded promptly saying that: (1) Lindows is a debian based distro, so you can download
Who said Freedom was Fair?
PCs preloaded with Lindows are not replacing Windows-preloaded PCs (or well, not primarily), they replace OS-free PCs that Walmart already sells for quite some time.
Lindows-PCs are perfect for those tasks IMO:
Lindows costs not much if anything, I don't see a complelling reason NOT TO put it on PCs that would otherwise be sold without an OS.
I think his point was that the punishment does not fir the crime. Yes, it is worse to mow someone down with a car, but it seems like you get in more trouble for hacking a computer. IIRC, there was a story not long ago about getting more jail time for killing a dog than a person by way of sentencing guidelines...
Murphy was an optimist.