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Linux Software

Linspire 5.0 Free For Limited Time 302

Posted by Zonk from the free-as-in-beer dept.
drunkennewfiemidget writes "The people at Linspire are giving Linspire 5.0 away for free (digital download only) until September 6th. Simply go to purchase the $49.95 digital edition, and then enter coupon code 'freespire' to receive a $49.95 discount." From the site: "'Freespire' was the term Andrew Betts gave to a private project he had been working on. The project comprised various open source components, taken from the freely available source repository for the Linspire operating system...Linspire has no problem with anyone using the open source code from our operating system - in fact we applaud such projects. The name Freespire, however, did create some confusion in the short time it was used...We thought it would be fun, for all of those who were looking at this project to experience a true 'Freespire', to give away a free digital copy of Linspire for a few days!"
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Linspire 5.0 Free For Limited Time More

Linspire 5.0 Free For Limited Time

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  • n/t (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 02, 2005 @06:30PM (#13467037)
    Hey, BeOS did this right before they died too.

    • Re:n/t (Score:2, Interesting)

      by JPriest ( 547211 )
      Someone else start giving away a distro based on Linspire and named it Freespire. They ended up having Freespire renamed to "squiggle" to eliminate product confusion! That reminds me of another story I know :)

  • Poor server... (Score:5, Funny)

    by doxology ( 636469 ) <cozzyd@ m i t . e du> on Friday September 02, 2005 @06:31PM (#13467046) Homepage
    Looks like server suicide to me...

  • Digital Download? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Ryan Huddleston ( 759930 ) on Friday September 02, 2005 @06:32PM (#13467049)
    I was hoping for the analog one...

  • eh? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Deitheres ( 98368 )
    Now, I'll admit I've never checked out Linspire before (I always used Debian, RedHat, or Ubuntu), but doesn't the GPL require that you give away Linux? I mean, I know you can still charge for it, but you have to provide the source code free of charge (AFAIK)

    Can someone clarify this for me?

    • Re:eh? (Score:5, Informative)

      by brilinux ( 255400 ) on Friday September 02, 2005 @06:36PM (#13467082) Journal
      I think that you answered this yourself; you may sell it, but those to whom you do sell it are entitled to the source as well. Linspire, however, has a good bit of proprietary stuff in it to which the source it not available (and it is not GPLed).

    • Re:eh? (Score:5, Informative)

      by chill ( 34294 ) on Friday September 02, 2005 @06:36PM (#13467087) Journal
      Linspire does make the source available to GPL code. However, their distro includes Sun's JVM, Macromedia's Flash plug-in, Acroread, Real Player and several other non-free bits and pieces.

      They also have a legally-licensed DVD player (plug-in to Xine) and MP3 codec that are available cheaply ($5 ?) to subscribers.

      So, the entire PACKAGE isn't available for give away - normally.

        -Charles
      • That's suppose to also include some codecs for windows media that they got the rights to as part of there settlement.

    • Re:eh? (Score:2, Insightful)

      by hoka ( 880785 )
      I believe that the way it works is that you must distribute source to those people that you distribute binaries to. So if say you use something for internal use only within a company, you arn't required to publish the source. And it probably isn't a big deal for them to have a source cd or source download available. Let us also not forget that not everything used in most distros is GPL, as there are plenty of Public Domain/BSD/LGPL licenses out there.

    • Re:eh? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by martalli ( 818692 )

      Apparently the GPL parts of the repository are free, so people could use the repository to build their own project, much as White Box Linux [whiteboxlinux.org] has used the RHEL repositories to create a similar, entirely free distro.

      Moreover, the maintainers apparently have a good humor about the confusion over the Freespire project. Another company might have just served a subpoena to Andrew Betts, asking for trumped up damages and whatnot.

      • Moreover, the maintainers apparently have a good humor about the confusion over the Freespire project. Another company might have just served a subpoena to Andrew Betts, asking for trumped up damages and whatnot.

        Not they could not. They already got sued by Microsoft because they used to be called Lindows and Microsoft said it confused people. If they sued someone for the same thing, it would be very bad publicity.

  • Crap, (Score:2, Funny)

    by BAILOPAN ( 694545 )
    my browser only supports analog downloads.

  • First post (Score:5, Informative)

    by abirdman ( 557790 ) <abirdman@mai[ ]rr.com ['ne.' in gap]> on Friday September 02, 2005 @06:34PM (#13467068) Homepage Journal
    because everyone is busy downloading the software? They've already posted warnings that the site is getting "slammed" and that the coupon processing doesn't always work. And the download is a separate step via BitTorrent, so it should be great-- the more downloaders the better. They recommend trying between 11:00pm and 5:00am Eastern Time.

  • Credit Card Information? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ClaraBow ( 212734 ) on Friday September 02, 2005 @06:34PM (#13467071)
    Does anyone know if one needs to provide any personal info to download the software, like your credit card #?

    • Re:Credit Card Information? (Score:3, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      nope, just redeem the "coupon" (freespire) and check out, you can register if you want support (my.linspire) but AFAICS thats it !
      its slashdotted now , and probably will be for a while (Opera had the same problem with their download giveaway) maybe this is a trend ? nahh
      be nice if other companies [microsoft.com] could do the same, but gree^^^^ is more important, gotta get that new boat !

    • Re:Credit Card Information? (Score:4, Funny)

      by Mr. Underbridge ( 666784 ) on Friday September 02, 2005 @06:53PM (#13467188)
      Credit card to get something free? Methinks somebody's been hitting too many pr0n sites. ;)
  • They'd get alot more attention if they did a gpl'ed version that was free and available as a torrent. This is nothing more than a not so subtle attempt to pump the number of installs that they can claim are currently running. Marketing ploy anyone?

    • Re:There are easier ways to do this (Score:5, Insightful)

      by badboy_tw2002 ( 524611 ) on Friday September 02, 2005 @06:42PM (#13467124)
      Marketing ploy? Advertizing your product by giving it away in order to spread word of mouth.....uhhhhh, DO YA THINK? Of course its a marketing ploy, and a good one if you ask me. (Downloading right now...) Its a company, they want to make money. Don't act surprised.

      AFAIK they can't GPL it because of non-free portions of the distro (JVM, Flash).

    • Re:There are easier ways to do this (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 02, 2005 @07:01PM (#13467235)
      But then it would be just like Ubuntu, MEPIS, and others. Yaawwwnnnn

      Linspire is unique in that it has legally licensed things like MP3, Java, Flash, Windows Media, Quick Time, Real, Nvidia drivers, music files, etc. If you take all that away, you don't have Linspire, you have Ubuntu and have to be a friggin' genius and figure out how to get all that on your own. But of course, for this crowd (slashdot) it's not a big deal, but for 98% of the rest of the world, it's very important.
      • I was about to disagree, but, um, I can't. Linspire sounds sweet, and it sounds like something I'd be interested in, if I was trying to convert someone else to Linux, or at least something cheaper/with less strings than Windows or OS X.
      • Nvidia's drivers are freely available to everyone. Sun is similarly free with Java. What is so special about Linspire's inclusion of them?

        LK
        • Because you don't need to:
          1. Find the drivers.
          2. Download them.
          3. Use the command line to use them.
          4. Exit X and use some complicated program to install them.
          5. It JFW.

          Same with all that other crap. Yeah if you were a computer nerd you could spend a while downloading and installing it all, but if you're not a technical genius, you want something that just fucking works, so you can concentrate on important stuff, like actually using your computer.
          • "Because you don't need to:
            1. Find the drivers.
            2. Download them.
            3. Use the command line to use them.
            4. Exit X and use some complicated program to install them.
            5. It JFW."

            Ever used Ubuntu and Synaptic?

            "if you're not a technical genius, you want something that just fucking works, so you can concentrate on important stuff, like actually using your computer."

            Riggghhtt. That's why you'd want to buy an OS that 1% of desktop users use and has no support for almost anything that just came out in the stores either
            • Ever used Ubuntu and Synaptic?

              Yes. You apparently haven't, or you'd know that for example Java isn't available trough the repos, and flash is only in multiverse, which isn't enabled by default. Same goes for most of the stuff grand grand parent listed.
          • Not every distro is Debian. If the maintainers of the distro aren't free software zealots, they can add these things.

            I use Mandrake.

            Yeah if you were a computer nerd...[Blah Blah Blah]

            Do people expect to buy cars and never have to put gas in them or change the oil? Why should they expect to use something as complex as a computer while having no knowledge of what happens inside of them?

            If you couldn't be bothered, then you shouldn't bother.

            The en masse migration of grandmothers and children to the world of co

  • Worth it? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by OnceWas ( 187243 ) on Friday September 02, 2005 @06:36PM (#13467081)
    From what I have read, people haven't been all that impressed with Linspire. Even if it's free, is it worth the trouble with all the other distributions out there?
    • I could see a Linux poweruser not being overly satisfied with Linspire. If you're used to running Debian or Slackware, then you'll probably not be all that impressed. Linspire aims to make Linux easy to use. And in doing so they may alienate users who prefer the power of a more traditional Linux distro. But for a person who is new to Linux, it provides a very enjoyable and usable experience.

      It all depends on what type of user you are, and what sort of system you're looking for. While it is great for new use

    • Re:Worth it? (Score:5, Informative)

      by joeljkp ( 254783 ) <joeljkparker.gmail@com> on Friday September 02, 2005 @09:06PM (#13467738)
      I have a subscription, and I've tried 5.0. I quickly moved to Fedora and Ubuntu, though. I suppose if you like KDE and the KDE way of doing things, you might be happy with it. I was very impressed at its installation, and the fact that it configured absolutely everything (including ndiswrapper and Windows Broadcom drivers!) properly the first time.

      But it's an extremely inelegant system... you've got package names like nvidia-driver-modules-2.6.10_1.0.6629.is.1.0.6111- 0.0.0.50.linspire0.3.0.4.m10.1.deb [linspire.com]... what?? Those who like the simple and elegant would perhaps enjoy Fedora or Ubuntu more.

  • It's rather quite impressive. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by CyricZ ( 887944 ) on Friday September 02, 2005 @06:36PM (#13467086)
    Linspire is actually quite impressive. It is a step in the right direction for desktop Linux. While not as easy to use as Mac OS X, for instance, it is still an ideal system to set up for office use, and is quite friendly to the new Linux user.

    It provides an excellent stepping stone towards SuSE or Debian. A new user gets the basics down pat easily and quickly, and soon he or she is ready to use a more traditional Linux distro.

    • I've started using Ubuntu, which I feel is set up very nice as an office system. It is very well integrated, (for example) providing one good application for each of the normal uses rather than flooding the user with "Kate (an editor), KEdit (an editor), gedit (an editor), gvim (an editor)" all in the same menu.

      How does Linspire compare? I've never tried it, though I'm currently working on downloading this to get a sense of what the buzz is about.

      • Re:Ubuntu (Score:3, Informative)

        by CyricZ ( 887944 )
        Linspire is far more specific, in terms of applications. The user really isn't informed what specific editor or browser they are using. It's just labelled "Web Browser" or "Mail Client" or "Text Editor". So it does take away a lot of the confusion from new users. It feels far more integrated.

        To be honest, I'd say Linspire is somewhat easier for a new user. But they would likely be quite at home using Ubuntu, especially after becoming familiar with Linux.

      • I used both. Now I use Ubuntu because it installed "out of the box" in my new Toshiba laptop. It was Christmas and Linspire Five-0 was not available when my Laptop arrived, so I tried Linspire 4.5 that was running fine in my workstation, but it didn't started the graphical installer. So I thought it was time to see was the fuzz was about with Ubuntu. And it worked. Then, when Linspre Five-0 was released, I tried it in livecd mode and it reconized my hardware, but I was to lazy to change again, since I inves
    • Interesting that you mention OSX...Linspire's site design bears a striking resemblance to Apple.com.

  • Slashdotted already (Score:5, Funny)

    by ahecht ( 567934 ) on Friday September 02, 2005 @06:38PM (#13467100) Homepage
    What, were they running the server on Linspire?

  • Silly question (Score:3, Interesting)

    by zakezuke ( 229119 ) on Friday September 02, 2005 @06:39PM (#13467102)
    I've only seen Linspire once on a Fry el cheepo machine. When trying to add on a wireless adapter I navigated to their software page and while what I needed was offered on their software update, access required a subscription.

    Does this coupon only apply to the software?

    • Re:Silly question (Score:5, Informative)

      by ilyaaohell ( 866922 ) on Friday September 02, 2005 @07:17PM (#13467312)
      No.

      In fact, this isn't so much a publicity stunt as a way to get more users dependant on their subscription download services, Click-N-Run (CNR). Links to that service are imbedded into practically every single menu you can find on the desktop, with no way to take them out. They are EVERYWHERE, within every sub-menu, on the taskbar, imbedded within web browsers and other programs, etc.

      Of course it's INCREDIBLY useful for people who DO end up subscribing, since this is probably the easiest, most user-friendly way to install without any effort a MASSIVE library of software. However, if you would prefer to get your software packages on your own (through apt-get or whatever) and have no use for CNR, you're just gonna be stuck with a desktop operating system whose main purpose is to get CNR subscribers.

      • Re:Silly question (Score:3, Informative)

        by Beavey ( 95400 )
        Links to that service are imbedded into practically every single menu you can find on the desktop, with no way to take them out.

        Actually, it's pretty easy to take them out:

        Start the CNR app (you don't need to subscribe), "Settings" menu, "Configure CNR", choose "CNR Warehouse" in the left pane, then uncheck "Add CNR More... options to the Launch Menu".

        Click OK and you're done.

        If you want to avoid CNR altogether, just right-click the "Launch" menu and choose "Menu Editor". Take the entries out that way, thr

  • Freedows (Score:5, Funny)

    by Theovon ( 109752 ) on Friday September 02, 2005 @06:43PM (#13467130)
    Well, Lindows had to change its name to Linspire, because it was too much like Windows. Well, now Freespire is too much like Linspire. So how about we call it Freedows?

    Mind you, Frito-Lay might raise an eyebrow.
  • This is just the basic OS, right? You don't get access to their repository, what is it, click n run?
    • Isn't Ubuntu, using Synaptic, pretty much click n run too?

      What makes Linspire's click n run that much better?

      I do like trying all these new flavors of Linux, it is quite fun, to say the least!
      • I think he meant the name of the repository, which, if I recall, is "Click N Run" and abbreviated as CNR.

        Hmm, there's a thought. "Nice app! CNR?"*

        *Obscure joke that you'll only get if you grew up watching TV in the 80s.

      • Synaptic vs CNR (Score:3, Informative)

        by ilyaaohell ( 866922 )
        There's a very clear difference to casual computer users between dealing with these two screens:

        Synaptic [nongnu.org]
        Click-n-Run [operating-system.org]
  • The name Freespire, however, did create some confusion

    Unlike a name like Lindows, which people would never confuse with Windows.

    • I didn't know anyone actually confused those two companies.

      However there is software called freespire which is not the freespire you ger from linspire.
      THAT'S the confusion.

      freespire.org

  • Just great... (Score:4, Funny)

    by waynegoode ( 758645 ) * on Friday September 02, 2005 @06:52PM (#13467182) Homepage
    Just great...

    I've been trying to just "order" the software for 3-4 hours, not download it, but the shop site is S L O W. Just had to go and post on Slashdot, didn't you? Coundn't wait until I finally got my "order" in. Just great...

  • First, next (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Nom du Keyboard ( 633989 ) on Friday September 02, 2005 @07:01PM (#13467233)
    First Opera.

    Now Linspire.

    Can Microsoft be far behind?

    After all, nothing kills piracy like free software.

  • Slashdot to the rescue! (Score:5, Funny)

    by minus9 ( 106327 ) on Friday September 02, 2005 @07:07PM (#13467261) Homepage


    A freely available operating system for PCs. Why slashdot you've done it again!

    Whatever will you chaps come up with next.

    We dream of the day when telegrams may be sent around the world for the price of a local telephone call. God bless you technological pioneers and God speed to your radical new endeavours.

    I just noticed you say it's available in "digital form" too. Why I almost vommited my evening dose of laudenum in excitement.

    Once again slashdot has lowered me to the lowest form of wit.

  • "The name Freespire, however, did create some confusion in the short time it was used. The name implies a "free" copy of Linspire, which of course it is not."

    Now isn't Linspire the linux formally known as Lindows that was taken to court all over the world by Microsoft because of the "confusion" in the name?

    As I can tell, he isn't making a fuss over the name freespire, but this is the exact thing he went to court over, trying to prove that there was no confusion with the name Lindows and Windows.

    I do realize

    • Re:Freespire (Score:3, Informative)

      by cybersaga ( 451046 )
      From what I understand, the confusion between Lindows and Windows was hypothetical. Microsoft took them to court over the possibility that it would confuse the user.

      In this case, it was actually confusing users. If you read the old Freespire site [freespire.org], the author explains the confusions that were going on and why he decided to change the name. There was no force from Linspire to change the name.

  • Outstanding (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Mad Ogre ( 564694 ) <ogre@ m a d o gre.com> on Friday September 02, 2005 @07:09PM (#13467275) Homepage
    I am a Linspire PC builder... and I love this OS. As far as Linux distros go, it might not be the "best" out there, but for Windows Refugees just turning to Linux - its perfect.
    • I dont understand how this would be any different from doing another build? Build the box and load the OS, same way with Yoper, or even with slackware.
      • I agree. What does Linspire have to offer that's particularly special? The setup. The premade package is suitable for newbies.

        When you're the builder, however, you have the advantage of configuring linux on the box so that the home users don't have to. What this gets you is the option of using just about any distro you want and doing the special add-ins and tweaks--that is to say, be you own Linspire.

        Why do this? Simple. You can build a better system than Linspire did because you know *your* custome

  • Seems suspicious (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Linegod ( 9952 ) <pasnak AT warpedsystems DOT sk DOT ca> on Friday September 02, 2005 @07:10PM (#13467277) Homepage Journal
    Maybe its just me, but does anyone see this more in the light of 'In order to create confusion between Freespire and Linspire, we are releasing our own Freespire on the Linspire site, so the sheeple will believe we created it, and won't find out we suck'?

    • Doubtful, given that the creator of Freespire had already changed the name before they started the publicity stunt.

      It's not the first time they've offered limited-time free downloads, either--they offered a "Linspire Developers' Edition" some time ago, in a similar way.

      It's just a way to drum up interest in their product. I don't see any deception in it.
  • Linspire is free? I doubt it even matters now since Linspire, like other distros, has always been freely available on the eDonkey network.

    One thing I like about it is that apart from being Debian based, and therefore easier to manage as compared to rpm based distros, it's one distro that is beautiful (especially the fonts), and has everything about it working *as* advertised - out-of-the-box.

  • Torrent (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 02, 2005 @07:34PM (#13467385)
    Since the servers are pretty much crawling already, here's a link to the torrent [linspire.com]
  • Since its free, that shouldnt be a problem.

    Never looked at linspire ( even before the name change ), but if its free, why not?
  • you still would have to pay a subscription fee to access the package repository after a brief trial period. That isn't exactly free. Stick with Ubuntu - it will always be free and is a much better distro to begin with.
  • Thought this would be a good post to air out my views on Software firms charging subscriptions for software (no sure linspire does this, but I know Opera & the OSS drivers do).

    I whole heartedly agree with paying for software which I use on a regular basis/prefer, but would great software manufacturers PLEASE stop forcing the loyal users to have their money leeched away for the REST OF THEIR LIVES for the 'priviledge' of being allowed bug fixes/updates?!!

    All this does is turn away users (like it did with

  • Torrents are crawling (Score:2, Informative)

    by Soloact ( 805735 )
    Am on cable internet connection, but the torrent is crawling, slower than when I had dialup (just a few days ago). Where are all the seeders/re-seeders? I'm doing my part by re-seeding, c'mon everyone, please help out. Thank you! Cheers!

  • Well, I booted it as a live CD.

    First it gave me a Konqueror message that "/mnt/cdrom0 was not found." Okay, I can let that slide.

    And I admit it handled my old ViewSonic 6 monitor much better than most other distros do, including Knoppix. None of them get the horizontal sync right, and I have to tweak the X config. No surprise, it's an ancient monitor.

    Then I tried getting on the Net. This thing uses that stupid plug icon in the system tray. Tells you nothing but that you're not connected, but does have a bu

  • A tip for "buying" Linspire... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Datoyminaytah ( 550912 ) on Saturday September 03, 2005 @05:18PM (#13472547)
    The servers are very busy. When you are in the process of going through several screens to "buy" Linspire for "free" with the coupon code, very often you will be redirected to a "busy" page. Refreshing the page will not resubmit your request, it simply refreshes the "busy" page, so very often you have to start over. Sometimes you can go "back" to the previous screen and try again, and sometimes going "back" just sends you to the "busy" page. So...

    On every page where you have to continue, check whether the link can be opened in a new window/tab. Some steps can, some can't. Open the next step in a new window/tab if you can. If it comes up "busy" just close it and try again from the previous screen that is still in its own window/tab. Repeat this until you are done.

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