Posted by
timothy
on from the version-number-fever dept.
meisenst writes "Lindows 2.0.0 is out, and features, among other things, the ability to browse Windows network shares and map them as you would on a Windows machine. The ISO release notes are here(1), the announcement is here(2) (for now, anyway), and some screenshots are here(3). Looks good!"
Does anybody else realize how confusing buying a cheap 'lindows' PC might be for a non tech-savvy user? Their website alludes to running standard windows software, and hinting that software 'might' be compatible... but they never really come out and say:
This is what will run. Everything else will not.
I wonder how busy their 800 number is. If they are stupid enough to provide one.
I love the idea, but not educating new users about what exactly they are buying seems very misleading. I can see the mindless drones going:
"Windows computer, $899"
"Lindows computer, $399"
Lindows says it runs some "Microsoft Windows Compatible" software, and it is cheaper... I'll go for that one.
Only to find out that, two weeks later, their new version of The Sims just won't run.
I've been pretty bitterly disappointed with how Lindows has backed away from Windows compability. Early on, they was the big deal: That they were going to take Wine and expand it dramatically with the goal of having near-full Windows compatibility.
Apparently, they've decided that was too hard and/or expensive, and decided to market this ridiculous click-and-run as some "revolutionary" feature.
Sheesh, when will SOMEONE figure out that the key to HUGE fame and riches is to come out with an operating system that is FREAKING COMPATIBLE WITH WINDOWS. This is not rocket science. It just takes money and guts.
And just to head off the typical replies to this, let me deal with them:
1) But RM101! They APIS are undocumented!!!
True, in many cases. So what? Do what Wine does-- figure them out. And that only applies to Microsoft applications. There are a LOT of applications out there that use the standard ones.
2) But RM101! They'll just change the APIs!!!!
No, they can't, or they break everyone's software out there. Microsoft was built on backward compatbility.
3) But RM101! They'll just sue anyone who tries!!
First of all, Microsoft has ZERO history of suing companies in order to destroy them (See Apple for an example of a company that uses the lawsuit as a weapon). And even if they did, so what? Like I said, money and guts. They'll lose.
PLEASE!! SOMEONE OUT THERE GET A CLUE!!
I thought Lindows had one, but apparently not.
-- Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
First of all, Microsoft has ZERO history of suing companies in order to destroy them (See Apple for an example of a company that uses the lawsuit as a weapon). And even if they did, so what? Like I said, money and guts. They'll lose.
That's a funny thing to say with respect to this post! Microsoft suied Lindows over their name.
so when you finally get it, it'll cost as much as windows, because of all the effort and expense.
So what? I have absolutely no problem with paying for software. What I want are Windows-quality applications on a Unix core running on commodity hardware.
-- Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
We tested Lindows....
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
...here at work. I work for a corporation that sells everything from distributed fax databasing software to cameras. The only Linux stuff around is the few servers that I have set up for rumedial intranet and inter-departmental data management tasks. So when Lindows came along I thought that maybe it could be used to demonstrate how easy Linux really is (thus gaining some support for driver writing and new software projects, et cetera).
Boy were we (me and the other two Linux users in this company of thousands) when we sat down with Lindows to set it up as a workstation running a few printers, a scanner, some software through Wine, etc. We quickly realized that it was nothing more then a really bad, ugly, poorly concieved, library lacking Linux distribution. It offerred nothing more then your conventional Mandrake or Redhat boxed sets (in fact far, far, far less) and innovated nothing. It was laughed at by the few managers that saw it. Lindows failed us, as it will hordes of other people.
Lindows is forging forward on the desktop Linux "market" trying to be the best it can be.. with much publicity, like the other day, for example their deal with Earthlink.. While others are already using earthlink with pppd! Their low-cost PC's at walmart are pretty good deals tho.. for a little more then the cost of WindowsXP Professional, you can get an 800mhz celery with no floppy or modem.
Something else to consider...
by
ZxCv
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
...is that a good percentage, if not a majority, of the people that are the targets for these Lindows machines won't ever buy any software at all. Nearly all members of my extended family have bought a cheap machine like this in the past couple years, whether it is HP or Emachines or no-name, and not a single one has added on any software. They're using the web browser, email client, and word processing software that came with the computer. And when they want to play 'games', they're either playing solitaire on that PC, or they're out in the living room playing on the Xbox or PS2. And while I know my extended family isn't exactly a perfect cross-population on which to base any kind of decision, I still think they represent the majority of people that buy these cheap PCs.
Does Lindows have a deathwish?
by
FyRE666
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
I have to wonder if the guys behind this Linux distro are actively trying to attract court cases. Firstly the name, including the font is more than a little similar to another well known distro (they even have the L broken up into boxes, much like the flag logo).
Now their site appears to have striking similarities to Another well know OS/hardware manufacturer. I mean, come ON!
Did they release the source this time? I remember earlier there were complaints that Lindows had taken GPL code and said they would only release the modified code after it came out of beta. And here we are at 2.0.
Re:Michael Robertson Is Cooperative
by
Eloquence
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
1) What's your relationship with Michael Robertson, given that you are working together on the Sincere Choice project?
2) Have you talked to him about the "always running as root" issue? That's a big security risk that puts Lindows on the same level as Windows 95.
Someone explain...
by
Jezral
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Someone explain to me how they can do a v2.0 release without adhering to the GPL and making a free download?
-- Tino Didriksen
GPL Violations
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 1, Interesting
OMG they're violating the GPL! How dare they!
Of course, you would only say that if you knew little if anything about the GPL.
Can lindows not release the source to ppl who haven't bought their product? Yes.
From the GPL faq:
'If I distribute GPL'd software for a fee, am I required to also make it available to the public without a charge? No. However, if someone pays your fee and gets a copy, the GPL gives them the freedom to release it to the public, with or without a fee. For example, someone could pay your fee, and then put her copy on a web site for the general public. '
So by FSF's own admission, lindows is not violating their GPL agreement. They're only required to give source to those individuals to whom they destribute binaries.
Still under root?
by
NaveWeiss
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I was hoping they would find a better way to run the system rather than running under root... is it still like that in version 2.0? I submitted a question to their FAQ..
-- Slashdot community, please notice: I am looking for a girlfriend.
Nave H. Weiss
Slashdot Mirror
i'm a Microsoft(tm) user, could i use lindow with my ms experience without too much trouble? how different are they?
Being able to easily mount share drives is a big plus.
I hope someone pulls all this into the free distributions.
User space mounting would be very nice, as it is mounting my digital camera and various nfs/samba directories makes quite a mess of my fstab
Does anybody else realize how confusing buying a cheap 'lindows' PC might be for a non tech-savvy user? Their website alludes to running standard windows software, and hinting that software 'might' be compatible... but they never really come out and say:
This is what will run.
Everything else will not.
I wonder how busy their 800 number is. If they are stupid enough to provide one.
I love the idea, but not educating new users about what exactly they are buying seems very misleading. I can see the mindless drones going:
"Windows computer, $899"
"Lindows computer, $399"
Lindows says it runs some "Microsoft Windows Compatible" software, and it is cheaper... I'll go for that one.
Only to find out that, two weeks later, their new version of The Sims just won't run.
I wonder if they get a lot of returns?
-S
We Apprentice Developers and Designers
...here at work. I work for a corporation that sells everything from distributed fax databasing software to cameras. The only Linux stuff around is the few servers that I have set up for rumedial intranet and inter-departmental data management tasks. So when Lindows came along I thought that maybe it could be used to demonstrate how easy Linux really is (thus gaining some support for driver writing and new software projects, et cetera).
Boy were we (me and the other two Linux users in this company of thousands) when we sat down with Lindows to set it up as a workstation running a few printers, a scanner, some software through Wine, etc. We quickly realized that it was nothing more then a really bad, ugly, poorly concieved, library lacking Linux distribution. It offerred nothing more then your conventional Mandrake or Redhat boxed sets (in fact far, far, far less) and innovated nothing. It was laughed at by the few managers that saw it. Lindows failed us, as it will hordes of other people.
Lindows is forging forward on the desktop Linux "market" trying to be the best it can be.. with much publicity, like the other day, for example their deal with Earthlink .. While others are already using earthlink with pppd! Their low-cost PC's at walmart are pretty good deals tho.. for a little more then the cost of WindowsXP Professional, you can get an 800mhz celery with no floppy or modem.
...is that a good percentage, if not a majority, of the people that are the targets for these Lindows machines won't ever buy any software at all. Nearly all members of my extended family have bought a cheap machine like this in the past couple years, whether it is HP or Emachines or no-name, and not a single one has added on any software. They're using the web browser, email client, and word processing software that came with the computer. And when they want to play 'games', they're either playing solitaire on that PC, or they're out in the living room playing on the Xbox or PS2. And while I know my extended family isn't exactly a perfect cross-population on which to base any kind of decision, I still think they represent the majority of people that buy these cheap PCs.
Perl - $Just @when->$you ${thought} s/yn/tax/ &couldn\'t %get $worse;
I have to wonder if the guys behind this Linux distro are actively trying to attract court cases. Firstly the name, including the font is more than a little similar to another well known distro (they even have the L broken up into boxes, much like the flag logo).
;-)
Now their site appears to have striking similarities to Another well know OS/hardware manufacturer. I mean, come ON!
Not that I'm saying it's not funny though
Code, Hardware, stuff like that.
Did they release the source this time? I remember earlier there were complaints that Lindows had taken GPL code and said they would only release the modified code after it came out of beta. And here we are at 2.0.
Remember "Bring 'em on"? *sigh
2) Have you talked to him about the "always running as root" issue? That's a big security risk that puts Lindows on the same level as Windows 95.
Someone explain to me how they can do a v2.0 release without adhering to the GPL and making a free download?
-- Tino Didriksen
OMG they're violating the GPL! How dare they!
Of course, you would only say that if you knew little if anything about the GPL.
Can lindows not release the source to ppl who haven't bought their product? Yes.
From the GPL faq:
'If I distribute GPL'd software for a fee, am I required to also make it available to the public without a charge?
No. However, if someone pays your fee and gets a copy, the GPL gives them the freedom to release it to the public, with or without a fee. For example, someone could pay your fee, and then put her copy on a web site for the general public. '
So by FSF's own admission, lindows is not violating their GPL agreement. They're only required to give source to those individuals to whom they destribute binaries.
I was hoping they would find a better way to run the system rather than running under root... is it still like that in version 2.0? I submitted a question to their FAQ..
Slashdot community, please notice: I am looking for a girlfriend.
Nave H. Weiss