[wellylug] linspire

[Bret Comstock Waldow]

On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 21:30, Rosemary McGillicuddy wrote:
> Hi listers
>
> Has anyone tried linspire - and if so what is it like?

You mean, what do I think it's like (just pointing that out).

I'll speak against it.  I have used it briefly, and a similar distro called 
Xandros some more.

It's a proprietary version of the sort I think of as "hand-holding" distros.  
Not a bad idea in and of itself, but there are trade-offs.

The idea is the user pays to keep the distro up to date, and the business 
guarantees the support.  Essentially like Microsoft.

Many items are renamed (to be more 'intuitive'), moved in the menus, and the 
like.  Custom setup and configuration tools are provided.

I set up a determinedly non-computer-savvy friend with Xandros, thinking that 
it has a good reputation, is geared to non-computer types, and will be kept 
up to date.  In general, all this is probably true.

There turn out to be several problems.  Some things aren't where we expect 
them, aren't named as we expect them - this means many sources of Linux info 
aren't useable.

Some choices are made to restrict how things work - to make them simple.  As a 
result, if you don't know about that particular choice, you can't make it 
work.  I spent half an hour on the phone with my friend attempting to figure 
out how Xandros provided access to some of the file system in a way she could 
use with their File Manager.

The underlying Linux system is there, but the choices they make to 'simplify' 
the system are also straitjackets, as the distro no longer may match the 
howtos and FAQs on the net.

I would recommend Ubuntu or Kubuntu now for equivalent use.  The community 
seems vibrant, things work or get fixed, and the large body of knowledge 
generated by the community at large remains appropriate (as much as any 
distro, and much more than some).

A user is only a newbie for a few months - and Ubuntu or Kubuntu will take 
good care of them for that time.  But after that, more of the knowledge they 
gain will be useable in other distros, as opposed to the more proprietary 
distros like Linspire or Xandros.

Between the two of them however, I'd chose Xandros.  They seem to have a 
better reputation (as of last year when I researched), and they make the 
excellent CrossOver Office tools to provide Windows program support - it's 
included in Xandros.

My Dad didn't finish High School, and is pretty non-verbal (so tech support 
phone calls are a trial for me).  He's learned enough to install Libranet, 
and now he's happy on his own with Kubuntu.

Cheers,
Bret
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