Linspire for free??

C

Chakolate

See http://info.linspire.com/freespire/index.html
Click to expand...

Their servers have been jammed since I started trying late yesterday
afternoon.

Can I ask a totally dumb question, that I haven't been able to get a
clear answer to?

Some places say that Linspire is a UNIX-based operating system that will
run Windows programs, others say you can't run Windows programs on it,
you need a separate Windows emulator like WinE. Which is true?

And if you can't run Windows apps on it, how is it any better than, say,
KDE?

Chak
 
W

Wayne Boatwright

Their servers have been jammed since I started trying late yesterday
afternoon.

Can I ask a totally dumb question, that I haven't been able to get a
clear answer to?

Some places say that Linspire is a UNIX-based operating system that will
run Windows programs, others say you can't run Windows programs on it,
you need a separate Windows emulator like WinE. Which is true?

And if you can't run Windows apps on it, how is it any better than, say,
KDE?

Chak
Click to expand...

Linspire is crap! It came pre-installed and configured on a new PC we
bought recently. It took at least 10 minutes to boot, and the apps that
also came pre-installed were slow and kludgy, and crudely designed.

I don't believe Windows apps will run on it, but I didn't wait to find out.
I couldn't wait to reformat and install XP Pro.



--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four,
unless there are three other people.
 
D

Dugie

Chakolate said:
Their servers have been jammed since I started trying late yesterday
afternoon.

Can I ask a totally dumb question, that I haven't been able to get a
clear answer to?
Click to expand...

The server is still jammed.
I've been wondering about the same thing, after doing some surfing and not
getting clear info. I don't know what Linspire is, nor KDE.

After checking the info from Star's post, "the ISO and torrent files are
already on eDonkey," since I don't know about eDonkey, I can't get the
files. It sounds easy. :)

Dugie
 
A

Andy Axnot

Their servers have been jammed since I started trying late yesterday
afternoon.

Can I ask a totally dumb question, that I haven't been able to get a
clear answer to?

Some places say that Linspire is a UNIX-based operating system that will
run Windows programs, others say you can't run Windows programs on it,
you need a separate Windows emulator like WinE. Which is true?

And if you can't run Windows apps on it, how is it any better than, say,
KDE?

Chak
Click to expand...

Chak,

Linspire is a Linux distribution that is tailored for Linux novices and to
appear very much like Windows. Nonetheless, it is still Linux and
requires Wine to run Windows programs.

KDE is a windows manager for Linux. It is not a complete operating
system, it needs a kernel, specifically Linux. Without a windows manager
such as KDE (others include Gnome, Fluxbox, etc.) to provide a desktop
interface Linux appears a command line interface OS, like an extremely
powerful version of MS-DOS.

I have not tried Linspire myself, but I have heard some (mostly) good
things about it as a good "starter" Linux. If it doesn't work out for
you, I would recommend Mepis Linux http://www.mepis.org/
which doesn't strive quite so much for the Windows XP look, but works well
and is user friendly. It's not perfect, but is very usable and comes in
"live CD" form. That is, you can put the CD in your CD-ROM drive and run
the OS from the CD without installing it to the hard drive. This way you
can try it before making the commitment that hard drive installation
involves. Of course, it runs slow from the CD, but it's fine for testing,
etc.

You might want to read about the different distributions, or "distros", at
Distrowatch http://distrowatch.com/

Finally, let me say that Linux is improving at a rate many times that
of Windows, but that it still has a long way to go to reach the level of
convenience available in Windows. The number of polished applications
available is nowhere near the number available in Windows, either.

There are several ways to run Windows programs in Linux, but this can
be very problematic.

Good luck.

Andy
 
B

Bernd Schmitt

Finally, let me say that Linux is improving at a rate many times that
of Windows, but that it still has a long way to go to reach the level of
convenience available in Windows.
Click to expand...
I beg to differ.
I have to use win (on one machine) at work - and I miss a lot of
KDE-features. Fortunatly many apps are ported to windows, so that I can
keep compatibility.



Bye,
Bernd
 
C

Chakolate

Chak,

Linspire is a Linux distribution that is tailored for Linux novices
and to appear very much like Windows. Nonetheless, it is still Linux
and requires Wine to run Windows programs.

KDE is a windows manager for Linux. It is not a complete operating
system, it needs a kernel, specifically Linux. Without a windows
manager such as KDE (others include Gnome, Fluxbox, etc.) to provide a
desktop interface Linux appears a command line interface OS, like an
extremely powerful version of MS-DOS.

I have not tried Linspire myself, but I have heard some (mostly) good
things about it as a good "starter" Linux. If it doesn't work out for
you, I would recommend Mepis Linux http://www.mepis.org/
which doesn't strive quite so much for the Windows XP look, but works
well and is user friendly. It's not perfect, but is very usable and
comes in "live CD" form. That is, you can put the CD in your CD-ROM
drive and run the OS from the CD without installing it to the hard
drive. This way you can try it before making the commitment that hard
drive installation involves. Of course, it runs slow from the CD, but
it's fine for testing, etc.

You might want to read about the different distributions, or
"distros", at Distrowatch http://distrowatch.com/

Finally, let me say that Linux is improving at a rate many times that
of Windows, but that it still has a long way to go to reach the level
of convenience available in Windows. The number of polished
applications available is nowhere near the number available in
Windows, either.

There are several ways to run Windows programs in Linux, but this can
be very problematic.

Good luck.

Andy
Click to expand...

Thanks, Andy, that was very clear.

I've used KDE and FreeBSD at school, and I like them just fine. One
thing I've noticed about Linux though, is that they just don't have the
game software that Windows has. I don't play many games, but the few I
do play I play often and love.

I'll go take a look at DistroWatch, thanks. But I doubt I'll actually
switch to Linux until there's a Windows emulator that is, er, shall we
say a little less trouble-prone than WinE.

Chak
 
J

John Hood

Chakolate said:
Thanks, Andy, that was very clear.

I've used KDE and FreeBSD at school, and I like them just fine. One
thing I've noticed about Linux though, is that they just don't have the
game software that Windows has. I don't play many games, but the few I
do play I play often and love.

I'll go take a look at DistroWatch, thanks. But I doubt I'll actually
switch to Linux until there's a Windows emulator that is, er, shall we
say a little less trouble-prone than WinE.

Chak



One exists, but you have to pay for it. I wish I could remember hte name.
Click to expand...

John H.
 
C

Chakolate

John Hood said:
Anyone have any luck? After 5 hours of waiting I finally got my copy.
Click to expand...

Yes, I got mine, too. I expect that all it really took was patience.

Chak
 
D

DarthChaosofRSPW

It really is a good starter Linux. In fact, I took Windows XP off the
laptop and now have Linspire Five-0 as my OS. The CNR service is also
more affordable (they now have a $19.95/year CNR Basic service in
addition to the original $49.95/year CNR now called CNR Gold). When I
installed Linspire, it automatically set up my hardware (including my
Intel Extreme Graphics 2 and my internal WLAN), and I can use a
serial-to-usb cable to connect my Zoom 3048 56k serial modem to a USB
port in order to get online. In fact, this message is being written on
my Linspire laptop.

There are some really cool games available for download using
CNR...Frozen Bubble, Marble Blast Gold, Quake II, Ultima-style RPGs,
and even a Warcraft clone called Free Craft.
 
R

rich

Rich_on 5-Sep-2005 said:
It really is a good starter Linux. In fact, I took Windows XP off the
laptop and now have Linspire Five-0 as my OS.
Click to expand...

I downloaded Linspire 5 a couple of weeks ago using a 'voucher' which gave
100 percent discount, effectively making it free. I got it for a buddy who
had read all the blurb about 'ease of install' and 'great hardware
compatibility' and 'linux with a Win feel for beginners'.
Being of a curious nature I installed it in a virtual computer to see what
it was all about. I have a little experience with linux and currently run
Kanotix from hard drive - Kanotix like Linspire can run as a live CD or
install to HD.

I have to agree that it installs very easily, seems to find all the
hardware, and has a pleasant interface. In fact it uses the KDE environment
as a desktop same as a lot of other linux distros.

But

There is no advantage in using this distro over say, Knoppix or the Kanotix
which I use at the moment. Knoppix / Kanotix are very definitely free and do
not pester you to buy software from their online shop. Also the software
included on Linspire is a tad out of date, example OpenOffice 1.1.3 v. 2.0
(kanotix); Konqueror 3.3 v 3.4 ; NVU web author 0.9 v 1.0 ... and so on.

The Linspire Internet Suite (sic) is actually Mozilla 5 which is fair
enough. However Kanotix, as well as Konqueror, has Firefox and Thunderbird
for web browsing / email / newsgroups plus other email / newsgroup clients
as well.
The CNR service is also
more affordable (they now have a $19.95/year CNR Basic service in
addition to the original $49.95/year CNR now called CNR Gold).
Click to expand...

The equivalent for knoppix / kanotix / gentoo / and some other distros is
klik install ( http://klik.atekon.de) - big difference - it is free.
When I installed Linspire, it automatically set up my hardware (including
my
Intel Extreme Graphics 2 and my internal WLAN), and I can use a
serial-to-usb cable to connect my Zoom 3048 56k serial modem to a USB
Click to expand...

Yes it is OK: but Kanotix is the only distro I have used which
automatically finds my Moto Surfboard USB cable modem and has set up my
printer with less hassle than windoze.
There are some really cool games available for download using
CNR...Frozen Bubble, Marble Blast Gold, Quake II, Ultima-style RPGs,
and even a Warcraft clone called Free Craft.
Click to expand...

See the bit above about klik install and;
I have never tried it but apparently Knoppix Gamers distro has all this and
more for free.

Bottom line, Linspire is a bit of a rip-off. They have tried selling it for
49-95 and I suspect have had no takers. I suppose that giving it away free
might generate some income if they sell some software and updates, but
generally this stuff is free anyway so why buy it?

Back to the top of the post; If you want a good starter Linux get Kanotix.
 
M

Mel

I downloaded Linspire 5 a couple of weeks ago using a 'voucher' which gave
100 percent discount, effectively making it free. I got it for a buddy who
had read all the blurb about 'ease of install' and 'great hardware
compatibility' and 'linux with a Win feel for beginners'.
Being of a curious nature I installed it in a virtual computer to see what
it was all about. I have a little experience with linux and currently run
Kanotix from hard drive - Kanotix like Linspire can run as a live CD or
install to HD.

I have to agree that it installs very easily, seems to find all the
hardware, and has a pleasant interface. In fact it uses the KDE environment
as a desktop same as a lot of other linux distros.

But

There is no advantage in using this distro over say, Knoppix or the Kanotix
which I use at the moment. Knoppix / Kanotix are very definitely free and do
not pester you to buy software from their online shop. Also the software
included on Linspire is a tad out of date, example OpenOffice 1.1.3 v. 2.0
(kanotix); Konqueror 3.3 v 3.4 ; NVU web author 0.9 v 1.0 ... and so on.

The Linspire Internet Suite (sic) is actually Mozilla 5 which is fair
enough. However Kanotix, as well as Konqueror, has Firefox and Thunderbird
for web browsing / email / newsgroups plus other email / newsgroup clients
as well.


The equivalent for knoppix / kanotix / gentoo / and some other distros is
klik install ( http://klik.atekon.de) - big difference - it is free.


Yes it is OK: but Kanotix is the only distro I have used which
automatically finds my Moto Surfboard USB cable modem and has set up my
printer with less hassle than windoze.


See the bit above about klik install and;
I have never tried it but apparently Knoppix Gamers distro has all this and
more for free.

Bottom line, Linspire is a bit of a rip-off. They have tried selling it for
49-95 and I suspect have had no takers. I suppose that giving it away free
might generate some income if they sell some software and updates, but
generally this stuff is free anyway so why buy it?

Back to the top of the post; If you want a good starter Linux get Kanotix.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the review of Linspire and Kanotix.

For additional reviews check out: http://distrowatch.com/

Linspire: http://www.linuxelectrons.com/article.php/20050529133312225

Kanotix: http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=review-kanotix
 
D

David

It really is a good starter Linux. In fact, I took Windows XP off the
laptop and now have Linspire Five-0 as my OS. The CNR service is also
more affordable (they now have a $19.95/year CNR Basic service in
addition to the original $49.95/year CNR now called CNR Gold). When I
installed Linspire, it automatically set up my hardware (including my
Intel Extreme Graphics 2 and my internal WLAN), and I can use a
serial-to-usb cable to connect my Zoom 3048 56k serial modem to a USB
port in order to get online. In fact, this message is being written on
my Linspire laptop.

There are some really cool games available for download using
CNR...Frozen Bubble, Marble Blast Gold, Quake II, Ultima-style RPGs,
and even a Warcraft clone called Free Craft.
Click to expand...

Freecraft? That was threatened with lawsuits by Blizzard some years
back so production ceased. Has someone else picked up the source and
continued development? It was an excellent clone as far as it went.
 
A

Andy Axnot

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For about $85 you can get WinXP Home on eBay and be done with
incompatible hardware problems, Linux' Achilles heel, IMO. Personally,
I'm glad to pay the extra and not have to worry about which hardware
works. XP runs 'em all.

Mr Bill
Click to expand...

Largely true. And it's available for $87.95 on sale at NewEgg right now,
free shipping. And it sure would make life a little easier, at least in
the short term.

I have used XP at work, but have not, and will not, buy it for personal
use. I'm not going to further support a company that is working so hard to
limit our rights and choices as computer users.

Besides, Linux for desktop users is already catching up with Windows in
most areas, surpasses it in some, and will in another couple of years be a
superior OS in all respects, IMHO. I want to be part of that.

I'm told that Linux is already a better OS fundamentally and for network
servers and the like, but that is well beyond my level of "expertise" :)

Andy
 

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