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Linspire OS
schi0249 - Sep 20, 2004
  schi0249 Sep 20, 2004
Has anyone used or heard anything about Linspire? I was at Microcenter picking a few things up, and I noticed a line of PCs that came with Linspire. Once I looked, I realized it was Linux. I was going to build a new server. But when I saw that, I thought cool.

 IceDigger Sep 20, 2004
I sold a couple linspire based pc's for clients. They love em. It's a good OS for computer illiterate people who do not want to use windows anymore.

It only uses the 2.4 kernel though and v5 shouldnt be out untill sometime in November.

 slinga Sep 20, 2004
You might know it better as Lindows. I guess they lost the suit to M$?

I went through half of their flash demo, and I must say that I am impressed. It seems like a great alternative for windows on the desktop for small businesses.

 schi0249 Sep 20, 2004
OK. Now I'm familiar with it. Thats why it seemed so windows like. I think it rocks that some stores are selling linux based PCs.

 Alexvrb Sep 20, 2004
I wouldn't pay money for it though, nor for a subscription to that idiotic click n run thing they have. One of the big original draws for it was that it had some windows emulation capabilities (borrowing in part/whole from WineX). So it could be used as a nice transitional OS. But now they seem to have almost entirely shifted momentum away from that effort.

 slinga Sep 21, 2004
Alex: I disagree with you. If I were a small business owner and I was trying to reduce IT costs, something like Linspire with CNR would be very appealing. Think about it, if your used to double-clicking exes to install files, program installation on linux will terrify you.

Furthermore, shifiting away from windows emulation is an excellent idea. Why should I pay licenses for emulated Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc, when it would be slower on Linux. At that point all your saving is the cost of the Windows OS license. Use openoffice and abhiword and gimp and all the other great (FREE) stuff that's 90%+ compatible with the windows stuff (unless of course your company uses the windows version of these in which case it's 100% compatible).

Now if your a hardcore linux user, then I could see your argument that lindows is not worth the money. If you can install programs easily, patch your linux shell, and update your programs without hassle, the Lindows is not for you. If your a linux newb like me, then Lindows isn't such a bad deal.

 it290 Sep 21, 2004
Uhm, most of the mainstream distros have rather nice GUI-based package management tools. And of course, they come with openoffice, abiword, gimp, etc. Install GNOME or KDE, and all these items will be integrated into a menu system just like they are in Windows. I haven't tried Linspire, but it doesn't seem like any additional ease of use would be worth the cost... the newest releases of many distros are extremely easy to deal with already.

 schi0249 Sep 21, 2004
Is installing Linux on newer hardware easier? I always had a difficult time with my old NIC. I couldn't find a compatible driver for it. Also, what version of Linux would you recommend for using. I'm gonna buuild a new server and I planned to through Linux on it instead of my current MS Windows 2000 Server. What should I look for when buying hardware?

 antime Sep 21, 2004
Get hardware that is plain and popular, then you have the best chance of the drivers both working and being supported.

 Alexvrb Sep 21, 2004

  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by slinga@Sep 21, 2004 @ 01:54 PM



 Furthermore, shifiting away from windows emulation is an excellent idea. Why should I pay licenses for emulated Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc, when it would be slower on Linux. At that point all your saving is the cost of the Windows OS license. Use openoffice and abhiword and gimp and all the other great (FREE) stuff that's 90%+ compatible with the windows stuff (unless of course your company uses the windows version of these in which case it's 100% compatible).


OK, let's say you're switching from Windows. You already HAVE licenses for all the stuff you use. You want to keep using said software. A lot of stuff runs quite well via emulation as long as you're still on an x86 platform. But if they stop working on the emulation aspect, then it's no longer a specialized transitional OS. Why not just use Linux? As it290 said, what's so special about it these days, except the higher price? Although honestly it's not even that much cheaper than Windows licenses, which are really not that bad. It's the office software that is so expensive, and you can get alternatives without switching your OS.

Edit: Honestly as Iceman2k said, I think it's right for people who just plain don't want to use Windows at any cost, but don't know their way around a computer very well.

 it290 Sep 21, 2004
schi0249: Not sure when the last time you installed a Linux distro was, but hardware support has improved dramatically over the past few years. But the best thing to do is just check compatibility lists before you buy anything new. Also, any winmodems you may have are going to be either a pain in the ass to get working or won't work at all. If you need a modem, a full hardware PCI modem or an external modem is probably your best bet. Another thing to keep in mind is the video card -- if you plan on gaming or doing any 3d stuff, Nvidia's drivers are much better than ATi's at this point in time. As far as the nic is concerned, as antime said, your best bet is something that's from a well-known brand. Most onboard nics will work fine as well, depending on the motherboard chipset.

As to the question of which distro to use, it's really a matter of preference. I really, really like Gentoo and have been using it for some time now. However, it doesn't have a nice installer, and a lot of maintenance must be done in the shell. If you want something a little bit easier to use, I'd suggest Debian.