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An Early Look at Freespire Linux

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the lime-in-the-coconut dept.

An anonymous reader writes "DesktopLinux.com takes an early look at Freespire Linux in a recent article. Linspire will be releasing their first version of Freespire, the first community Linux distribution to include many third-party proprietary codecs, drivers, and software. From the article: 'While I still have my doubts about the long-term wisdom of using proprietary software and drivers with Linux, I must say that if you feel you need to use such programs, Freespire makes it much easier than any other Linux distribution. And, when is all said and done, that's really what Freespire is all about -- making Linux as easy as possible for users.'"

5 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. not exactly packaged with the distro... by tlacuache · · Score: 3, Informative

    ... but EasyUbuntu accomplishes the same thing (at least as far as the codecs and drivers go, I didn't RTFA) for Ubuntu and is as easy as the name suggests.

  2. Re:GPL violation? by humajime · · Score: 3, Informative

    The work around is that there is no GPL violation. The Linux Kernel has an open API. If you conform to the API and have written all the code yourself, your code isn't subject to the GPL. The Kernel source is GPL. Any module can be whatever the author deems it.

  3. Re:non-GPL Kernel modules by ardor · · Score: 4, Informative

    It is illegal to distribute non-GPL binary kernel modules (ask any kernel developer), and Freespire should respect the GPL since they are a Linux company.

    Well, the actual nVidia/ATI kernel module IS GPLed. It acts as layer between the kernel and the binary blob. This layer has an open API, which is used by the blob. Thus, the blob uses the kernel, it does not extend it. The extension comes from the GPLed layer.

    The real issue is that nVidia & ATI use GPL code from other parts of the kernel in their drivers. This is the only issue, because the way I described above makes binary blobs perfectly legal.

    --
    This sig does not contain any SCO code.
  4. Re:non-GPL Kernel modules by Chutzpah · · Score: 3, Informative
    The layer is not GPL'ed, its not even open source. Take a look at the copyright notice at the top of the source files that nVidia distributes:
    /* _NVRM_COPYRIGHT_BEGIN_
      *
      * Copyright 1999-2001 by NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved. All
      * information contained herein is proprietary and confidential to NVIDIA
      * Corporation. Any use, reproduction, or disclosure without the written
      * permission of NVIDIA Corporation is prohibited.
      *
      * _NVRM_COPYRIGHT_END_
      */
  5. It's perfectly legal in the rest of the world by parodyca · · Score: 3, Informative

    >One eensy weensy little detail distinguishes Freespire from EasyUbuntu:
    >
    >legality.

    Only in the U. S. of Eh. my friend. Up here in the Great White North, not to mention the rest of the free world, (NOT Australia since they've joined the US copyright tyranny) it is completely legal to use most of those codecs that might land an American butt in the slammer.

    What I find most frustrating is that because people are so afraid of what the Americans will do, they intentionally cripple these distros. Grrrrr.