Linspire 5.0 Reviewed

2 Responses to “Linspire 5.0 Reviewed” »»

1. Gary
   Comment by Gary
   04/01/05 at 5:29 am

   Linspire is touted as being designed for newcomers to Linux and I’ll grant that it has made strides in that direction compared to many other distributions. I’ve not attempted to install it, having only played with the LiveCD version, so can’t comment on its installation process, but most comments I’ve read on that issue indicate that it’s an easy install.

   There, I’ve said the good stuff and in rereading, find that it definitely whiffs of damning by faint praise. That was my intent.

   My impression is that Linspire’s stated goal and actual goal are two different creatures. Based upon their website, it seems pretty obvious to me that Linspire’s actual goal is to separate the marks from as much money as possible while masquerading as a cheap alternative to Windows.

   I haven’t seen anything in Linspire that isn’t equalled or exceeded by SimplyMEPIS or Mandrake, with one exception: Linspire’s terms of use contract is a marvel of doublespeak, intended to con people into believing that Linspire is composed mostly of proprietary software. It takes prior knowledge of Linux and some persistence to glean through all the legalistic jargon and ascertain that Linspire is like any other Linux distro: 99%+ open source software with a few proprietary logos and one or two proprietary tidbits of code.

   In my opinion, Linspire’s ease of use is far overshadowed by the less desirable aspects. Were I a newcomer to Linux, I would NOT, in the long term, be happy if someone pointed me to Linspire as a good starting point.

   Of the current distros, I suggest that the #1 choice for a beginner’s distro (and suitable for more advanced users as well) is Ubuntu/Kubuntu. Their stated purpose (to provide a free distro for all) is admirable, the installation process a breeze, hardware recognition is top drawer, and it comes with a reasonable selection of software. MOST impressive feature? They will send a CD set, free of charge, to anyone who asks. I asked for 10 x86 CDs and 5 AMD64 CDs, and received them in the mail a few weeks later, free of charge…postmarked Switzerland. To my surprise, these were two CD sets, a LiveCD and an installation CD, professionally created and packaged.

   Walmart has provided Linspire with considerable publicity and some business. However, I don’t see any real longterm benefit to anyone except those two parties.

   There’s enough evidence in this comment to deduce a viable alternative that would have a longterm beneficial effect, not only for Linux, but for computer users as well. I leave it unstated as an exercise in logic.

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