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Lindows - What do Linux Users Really Think?
Harry asks: "Last week I had a laps in judgement and subscribed to the Lindows Insider program. After playing with Lindows for a few days, I decided that Lindows was not worth my trouble and un-subscribed from the program. When I did so, I mentioned my disappointments and requested that they take a survey on Slashdot to see what Linux users really thought of their product. They stated they did and received 'great results and mostly positive feedback.' After having a chance to play with Lindows, I can not believe this to be true. So, my question is: What do Linux users really think of Lindows and will they support it?"
I'm not aware of any such poll (maybe I missed it) and I don't remember many glowing reviews from our previous stories on Lindows. So maybe it's time to get the answer straight from the horses' mouth. Do you think Lindows is worth it?
If Lindows can make money on selling Lindows, its worth it. It doesn't matter what I think. I will probably not touch it.
:-)
If they make money of it, some of those money will get funneled back into the community. If they don't make money of it, well, it'll give the difficult linux crowd some more bad publicity when it comes to 'how difficult we are to make money of' - but that really doesn't bother me..
"Rune Kristian Viken" - http://www.nwo.no - arca
'great results and mostly positive feedback.'
... I'm sorry, but I just don't see Lindows being successful. Do I even consider Lindows Linux? Not really.
Nice marketing spin
Does any sane Linux user think that a distribution where the user runs with root priviledges is a good idea? No. When I read this I though it was some kind of joke. Just what we need, users hosing their own system because their distributor not only gave them a loaded gun, but put it in their mouth for them.
Let's have a look at their FAQ Section:
The Lindows.com Insider program is designed to be exclusive to the individual that signs up. As an Insider member, we ask that you not distribute copies of the LindowsOS to other individuals and that you abide by the end user license agreement that comes with our software.
Cluestick - If we wanted crappy licensing agreements, we would be running Windows.
There are two types End User License Agreements:
1. A "Family" End-User
This license if for an individual end-user and he/she agrees to use LindowsOS for personal use and is to be used only by members of the End-User's Family.
2. A "Business" End-User
This type of license is for an agreed upon number of simultaneous users or seats(computer systems), but not both.
You can read the EULA (End User License Agreement) in its entirety here.
Cluestick: Once again, if I get stuck with these contstraints, (let's call this, non-free), then why am I using Lindows? Linux is about freedom (speech, not beer), why am I tying myself down like this? This is Caldera-think. If my enterprise runs Linux, I just want to pay $X a year to Suse/Redhat/IBM for support. Sitting there counting boxes to figure out how many licenses you should pay for is a big reason to avoid close source software in the first place.
Lindows.com respects all applicable licensing and is proud to be a strong supporter of the Open Source community by helping to advance several Open Source initiatives. We are financially supporting several open source organizations.
Cluestick: Wine, anything else? You can't just say 'strong supporter of the Open Source Community.' Hell, I'm sitting here drinking a soda, I think of myself as a strong supporter too. Compare this with, let's say Redhat: Off the top of my head. Gnome, Apache, Mozilla, and gcc. That's a strong supporter of the OSS community.
Anyone else disappointed with the Walmart 'win' this company gained? No thanks, my vote is for "this company does not represent Linux or the Linux community".
Look here and the winner is "Apathy" not strong "pro" or strong "hate", just plain, boring apathy.
Get the EULA T-shirt
People are going to get this thing, thinking its finally a version of linux that runs windows apps well. But its not! Its reputation will affect linux too. I wish it never came about. What is wrong with debian? Theres lots of other points I hate about Lindows, its name, the way it charges to download free software, debian does this already but it works better and its free! I also hate the way it runs as root.
I believe this is a Microsoft project actually, to get people going away from linux and back to windows.
I hate it so much, I slam it every chance I get to people who ask me about linux.
I haven't tried Lindows yet, and to be honest, I'm not likely to - it's not aimed at me (nor, I think, at the majority of Slashdot readers). The people it is aimed at are current Windows users who want an option they can switch to with as little hassle as possible, and the ability to continue to run their existing software. And from what I've heard, it does that admirably.
I have a friend who slots very nicely into that category, and he has just installed Lindows on his PC. He loves it. He loves that it took less effort to install even than Windows did. He loves that it still runs the apps he's used to. He loves that it isn't Windows.
And that's the point: This is not aimed at the Linux crowd; it's aimed at the reluctant Windows crowd, with the aim of turning them into the Linux crowd: once they've found their feet with Lindows, they can start trying out genuine Linux software, and hopefully from there they can get into Linux properly.
Don't begrudge it for what it is - some people (even some pretty smart people) need a little hand-holding when it comes to Linux, and Lindows is doing a good job.
(Spudley Strikes Again!)
The real question is, "What do Windows users think? Will it switch them?"
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
While I realize that this forum is a great place to spout rhetoric on whether or not the ideology behind Lindows is true in spirit to the Linux community, it does not offer any real insight into the usability of the product.
Many users such as myself would be interested in using this product if people could tell me that Lindows ran my software. If I were to ask my friends who installed Windows XP on their machines if I should upgrade from Win 2k, I don't expect them to tell me "Don't, because Microsoft doesn't contribute to other closed source projects." I expect to hear whether or not it runs the apps and whether or not it runs quickly.
So please, can anybody tell us whether or not Lindows achieves its intended purpose of an alternative operating system that allows you to run Windows and Linux apps? I'll decide the politics of my operating system for myself.