Linspire CEO dispels Linspire Linux Myths

An anonymous reader writes "Chances are that you think Linspire lets you run Windows applications, that you have to run it as root, and that it's really not quite a proper Linux. Wrong, wrong, and wrong. At LinuxWorld in Boston this week, CEO Kevin Carmony explained what Linspire Linux is, and isn't all about. Carmony said that people are still getting these things wrong. Yes, in the beginning, Linspire had the goal of letting Linux users run Windows applications with WINE, but it dropped that theme years ago. As for requiring you to run as root, that was, Carmony said, only the case with an early alpha release that was never put in the public's hands. As for not being a real Linux, that's nonsense, too."

Comments

Linspire doesn't equal linux?

[reklusband]

I don't think anybody ever thought it wasn't linux, just that it was a CRAPPY version of linux. I also don't think too many people thought about linspire in terms of OS, more in terms of questionable politics.

Re:Linspire doesn't equal linux?

[tonymus]

"I don't think anybody ever thought it wasn't linux, just that it was a CRAPPY version of linux."

That's bullshit-ese for "they dare to charge for their product".

I've been using Linspire for years; it's my third try at Linux (after Mandrake ver 7 and Lycoris Desktop L/X). It's stable, has lots of eye candy, runs KDE, and install and runs much Linux software with one click, thanks to Click 'N Run, the killer Linspire application. It supports many Internet file formats automatically, and lets me use my computer DVD player without becoming a pirate (per US laws).

I understand the OS is a bit slow loading, and some OS'es may be a bit quicker in spots, but this doesn't bother me much at all. Linspire is MY choice for linux; YMMV.

Really, these religous wars among distributions doesn't do Linux as a whole any good...

Getting ahead of themselves?

[Kijori]

Aren't they getting a bit ahead of themselves trying to dispel 'common myths' about Linspire when the vast majority of people have no idea what it is, let alone whether its main goal is to run Windows applications?

Uh... okay

[Anonymous Coward]

But here's the important thing. There's, like, ninety-six linux distributions. I already know that Ubuntu is friendly when you don't want to spend a lot of time configuring things, and Redhat is friendly to people in suits. But why the heck should I care about this one, Linspire? What, if anything, differentiates it from the other ninety-four linux distributions I don't personally have a use for at the present time? Because if there isn't a good answer to that question, it needs to go get back at the end of the line.

Re-tree

[x2A]

Many complaints I hear about moving over to unix like systems is the filesystem hierarchy. I think for a really easy-for-noobs and for grabbing windows users, I'd like to see a patched distro where /dev, /proc, /sys etc are moved to (for example) /system. Put them all together and move them where the users knows they're not gonna need to go into.

Could even have a chrooted dir with mount --binds to make a seperate namespace for unpatched/closed source apps.

We really could do with tidying the root. Yes it breaks compatibility with unpatched software, but as it is breaks compatibility with users.

(let the flaming commense)

Re:Re-tree

[Eideewt]

I would say that root is a place that users never need to go into. A user's home directory is the only part of the computer they ought to mess with. Ideally, a noob will never know about the directories above /home/yournamehere unless they decide they want to learn some stuff and muck around with the guts of their system. The current way puts the user's zone in its own litte branch of the file system, which is pretty much the same as hiding the rest of the system in a subdirectory, except instead of knowing not to enter the dreaded system folder, users don't even have to be aware of it (and they can't rm -rf * it). A user should never ever be messing around in root. That's why a normally configured system doesn't even let them do more that look at it. It's true that most home users will at some point need to be their own admin as well, but in that case, it doesn't much matter that the system files are right there, since the admin is working with them anyway.

Seems to me...

[Otter]

My impression is that Lindows/Linspire has always been viewed as outside the world of "real Linux" because:

1) None of the ultra-user-friendly commercial distros have ever really caught on with the Linux enthusiast community.

2) Linspire's business plan has alwasy been based on charging users for installing sofware, something that is free everywhere else in the Linux world.

3) As #2 illustrates, there's always been something sleazy about Linspire. They appeared, making ludicrous claims about Windows compatability, stepping on Microsoft's trademark while prominently advertising rebadged KDE apps as their own, and they've been like that ever since. They may not do anything wrong but it's always ... off.

Re:Intersting statement from TFA

[evil agent]

Translation:

Many people download Linspire
Implies: geeks are using Linspire
Conclusion: who cares, nothing new

Many people buy computers with Linspire on them
Implies: regular, 'non-geek' people are using Linspire
Conclusion: increase in Linux adoption

Long Overdue

[drDugan]

After reading TFA and reading about CNR, all I can say is... great. I had written off Linspire when I first read about it - the wine stuff that I knew was impossible and buggy... etc. But the philosophy is a good one: bring Linnux under the hood on a polished, housewife/housewide audience - not just the hackers.

I wish him all the best. Now I'll get back to trying to my dkpg-reconfigure and apt-get'ing the latest Ruby Gem from unstable while not upgrading my Standord C libs.

good stuff

[aurelito]

People on Slashdot often speak of Linux as if it's a finite resource: that if Linspire takes off, it must mean distributions like Slackware or Debian or Gentoo are losing users. That's not true at all. Linspire's target market is a niche previously untapped (not even by Ubuntu or short-lived Caldera) of people who just want a workstation with a web browser, a word processor, a calculator and maybe solitaire. All the power to to Linspire for doing this. There's room in the Linux world for this. I think they're doing a useful thing, and if they come up with some good, non-crippling ideas that improve usability, perhaps other distros will benefit from their innovation one day too.