Linspire CNR expands

This is a very interesting development:

http://cnr.com/

It may mean the end of the Linspire distro, as the company moves to 
selling the commercial aspects of CNR using the free parts as the lure.

More from Linspire's Kevin Carmony:

http://www.linspire.com/linspireletter



Chris D wrote:
> 
> This is a very interesting development:
> 
> http://cnr.com/
> 
> It may mean the end of the Linspire distro, as the company moves to 
> selling the commercial aspects of CNR using the free parts as the lure.
> 

Chris:

Thanks for that.  While I am not a Linspire fan, this is a very 
interesting development.  I posted the link in the CompuServe Linux 
forum as well.

http://community.compuserve.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=messages&webt
ag=ws-linuxforum&tid=127728


Frank.

Sometime in the next two months, the new version of Freespire is 
supposed to be released (it is in alpha testing now). It will be 
interesting to see what they have done. [Linspire 6.0 will be based on 
it, but that is likely of little interest to you as it is being morphed 
into an OEM product primarily for system builders, who can then receive 
royalties on purchased made through CNR.]

Either way, Lin/Freespire as a company appears to be the only Linux 
distro maker that really "gets it" when it comes to what is needed to

succeed as a consumer desktop product. Linux must be MUCH better than 
Windows. Not in the sense that we geeks and nerds argue about, but in 
the sense of the user/consumer experience. For the last ten or so years 
I have watched Linux wither under silly notion that technical stuff and 
"free beer/speech" discussions will make it attractive enough to make
a 
dent in the market. That's nonsense. To most people, computers (meaning 
Windows) are a big hassle, and the only way to win is with real and 
obvious hassle reduction for the user.

It must be much EASIER to use than Windows. The CNR concept is a really 
good move in this direction.

I like Xandros, but they are only a small blip in the Linux arena, and I 
don't expect them to last. They really blew it with the new version when 
they started advertising that it included an anti-virus program. Wow! 
People want to get away from the Windows virus hassle and they brag that 
Linux can get viruses too! Really dumb.

Frank B wrote:
> 
> Chris:
> 
> Thanks for that.  While I am not a Linspire fan, this is a very 
> interesting development.  I posted the link in the CompuServe Linux 
> forum as well.
> 
>
http://community.compuserve.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=messages&webt
ag=ws-linuxforum&tid=127728 
> 
> 
> 
> Frank.
> 

Chris:

 >I like Xandros, but they are only a small blip in the Linux arena, and 
I don't expect them to last.<

Nor do I.  Consolidation happens to every industry eventually as the big 
fish swallow the little ones.  I expect Xandros to be bought (though 
they are not a public company, so I don't know how that would work). 
CodeWeavers is in the same family with Xandros, by the way, as was 
Ximian originally.

 >They really blew it with the new version when they started advertising 
that it included an anti-virus program. Wow! People want to get away 
from the Windows virus hassle and they brag that Linux can get viruses 
too! Really dumb. <

Not as dumb as activation, which was also part of X4 (they've since 
dropped it).  That sent a lot of people away.  It is possible to be too 
windows-like.  :)

I was disappointed with X4 in many ways.  No Win4Lin 5/9 support (but 
that was Win4Lin's fault, not Xandros), no bundled support for anything 
to replace Win4Lin (VMWare or Parallels), no media codecs for purchase, 
and an SP-1 that broke a lot of installs.

Too bad, but I guess no one can hit a home run each time.

I bought two copies of X4, but I'm not using it yet.  Too many snafus, 
and not enough time to switch my business over, so my home machines 
remain on X3 as well as my business boxes.  I was looking at SuSE, but 
am divided over the Novell / MS deal.  I'm waiting for that to shake down.

That leaves Ubuntu (or, for me Kubuntu), but I don't like the lack of a 
root account.  I joined the Calgary Linux Users Group, and it appears 
that there is a way to open the root account in Ubuntu / Kubuntu.  I now 
just have to learn how.

If I only had more time....

 >Lin/Freespire as a company appears to be the only Linux distro maker 
that really "gets it" when it comes to what is needed to succeed as a

consumer desktop product.<

If any Linux distro can be successful as a consumer desktop only, that 
is.  I have my doubts about that.

Xandros, like many others, is moving more to the business market to 
subsidize the desktop.  I am pretty certain that this is the main reason 
why the consumer version of X4 was both so late, and so incomplete.  All 
the development talent went into the business version.

Xandros is a bit unique in that it has aimed itself at the small 
business market where the owner is often the IT guy as well.  If they 
find a receptive market here, they may have hit paydirt.  There are a 
LOT of small businesses that are price sensitive and need an alternative 
that is easy to use.  If they can make it work, they may have found a 
market niche that no one else seems to have identified yet.

Frank.