Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

LinSpire LPhoto and LSongs: bring on the lawsuits!

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the not-much-loriginatility dept.

Sir Joltalot writes "Over at OSNews they're covering the newly-renamed LinSpire's LSongs and LPhoto apps. Take a look at those screenshots, and you'll notice a striking resemblence to Apple's iTunes and iPhoto. Take a look at this flash presentation and you'll see that LPhoto and iPhoto are almost exactly alike. They look like nifty apps, to be sure, but how long will they last? I would have thought LinSpire might have learned from the whole Lindows name fiasco..."

7 of 481 comments (clear)

  1. Look & Feel by killmenow · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I thought the whole debate over "Look & Feel" was resolved. I thought you couldn't patent, trademark, or copyright "Look & Feel". It certainly can't be a trade secret. What's there left to sue over? Am I wrong?

  2. He got the word through by lennart78 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    MR has done this before, and now everyone knows the Lindows OS (now to be referred to as LinSpire).

    He's pulling the same stunt again.
    It's an ingenious move. Look at what he has accomplished. Every /.-reader now knows that he has these 2 apps out. And as soon as Steve Jobs realises it, and sues MR/LinSpire, all the WORLD will know, because the news will be covered at every Magazine/E-zine with an Internet section.

    By the time he changes the layout of those apps, a lot of people will have tried it out. Voila, instant market-share, no costs but a simple layout-redesign (which is probably resting on the shelfs as we speak).

    1. Re:He got the word through by YouHaveSnail · · Score: 4, Interesting

      They say all publicity is good publicity, but after taking a look at these apps I know exactly two things:

      1. I have zero respect for the Linspire folks.

      2. The Linspire folks have zero imagination and zero respect for other people's work.

  3. imitators... by utexaspunk · · Score: 4, Interesting

    i'm kinda sick of hearing about Lindows/Linspire. why can't these guys come up with their own original ideas instead of stealing others'? there's way too much of this going on in the Linux community, and these guys make it look like that's all Linux is- a pale imitation of the other OSes...

  4. Re:they didn't even try to be sneaky by jdwest · · Score: 4, Interesting

    No. It's blatant. All the way down to Apple's corporate identity typeface (Garamond Condensed) to brand it.

    --

    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet ...
  5. Linspire Homepage by millahtime · · Score: 4, Interesting

    They really don't try to hide it. The linspire site looks a lot like the apple site.

    --
    Evolution or ID?
  6. Re:Linux apps that are hopelessly derivative? by mgs1000 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Apple puts millions of dollars into UI research and design, why not copy their work?

    It reminds me of something one of my college professors once told me. McDonald spends a lot of money and effort studying the best locations to put a new franchises in a city. Burger King then just looks for places where they are building a new McDonalds. (I don't know if the story is true or not, but he had an interesting point)