Must be wondering what I’m up to these days, right? After all, I haven’t been posting a lot recently, unlike the past 2-3 months which saw an overflow of posts. I was just busy transitioning all my documents to the latest OpenDocument formats.
Over the years, I’ve accumulated hundreds of documents in Microsoft’s formats, and StarOffice formats which the older OpenOffice.org 1.0 (OOo) used. Since I’ve been using OOo for a long times, I’d got loads of .sxw’s and others. I finally decided that it’s highly improbable that I’m gonna come across OOo 1.x anywhere, so I decided to switch to the latest. Now OOo 2.x ships with a document converter for this, which made my task pretty easy, but then I had to move in and delete the old files, and check for multiple copies on my system, delete the redundant ones – you get my point don’t you?
And why this, all of a sudden? Well, I’ve been pretty fluid till now as far as my operating system is concerned, playing with new ones all the time. That was until last year, when I switched to Freespire 1.0, and fell in love with it, and it’s ideology. Just a month down the line, Freespire 2.0 is going to be released, and I’m getting back a bit of order on my HDD.
Freespire is a free version of Linspire, one of the ‘easiest’ Linux distros around. What sets it apart from others is that it ships with proprietary codecs and drivers, making it far more compatible and hassle-free than other Linux distros. But for me, it’s not only about that – after all, it takes hardly any effort to get those anyway in other distros too. The reason why I like Freespire is its ideology – this is first Linux distro which targeted itself at the mainstream market, and was good at it (unlike other pathetic ones I’ve used, like Xandros).
At the end of the day, I feel that Linux supporters acting all snooty and trying to create a fence between mainstream users and Linux don’t do any good for our cause. Ogg Vorbis (even though it may be good) is NOT going to replace MP3 as the de facto music media standard anytime in the near future, period; so let’s accept that and move on. It makes no sense to confuzzle a non-geek by throwing up talk of codecs and all – all he would care for is that his CD plays when it’s popped into the tray. That’s why I like Freespire – it may embrace proprietary, but it’ll only make Linux more popular.
Why not use Ubuntu then, as people like Prashanth keep on saying. After all, even it can download codecs. For them I say, it’s not about how easy it is download codecs – I’ve worked long enough to know how to do it from the terminal. It’s about the target market, and ideology. Ubuntu is being built by South African billionaire Mark Shuttleworth, for helping spread computing in developing countries in Africa – THAT is its first objective. Naturally, on the top of the list right now is to get the basics right – editing documents, web browsing etc.
Freespire, on the other hand, doesn’t target that segment. It grows up from Linspire, a Linux distro that was made with the mainstream and commercial segment in mind. Freespire has grown beyond the basics from the very beginning – instead it concentrates segments which want their graphics cards to work, DVDs to play, media collections to be ready to listen to, wireless cards to be detected – all out of the box. Freespire’s main focus has been on getting software install for Linux to be easy, via its Click N’ Run (CNR) feature. Yes, software can easily be installed via Ubuntu’s Synaptic too, but CNR offers download, documentation, and user reviews, all at the same place.
I believe in Freespire’s philosophy a lot. When Dell decided to ship laptops with Linux on popular demand, they contacted Michael Robertson, the founder of Linspire, whether he was ready to have his OS to be chosen for this purpose. And you know what? With thousands of orders right at hand, he refused! He said that the current demand for Linux is from enthusiasts, and thus Dell should use something like Fedora, Ubuntu or openSUSE. Further, he said that Linspire and its likes are targeted at the mainstream market, and Linux is NOT ready for that, it needs at least two more years. He felt that by falsely saying Linux is too easy, and shipping Freespire, he’d only be hurting Linux’s image in the long run. Now THAT is what takes real guts to do – foregoing a commercial order, all for the future of Linux!
Furthermore, he felt that one major impediment to Linux’s popularity was software install – which, until recently, took loads of work. To ensure that this doesn’t remain a drawback, Linspire’s decided to open up its CNR service to other major distros like Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian and openSUSE too, apart from its own Linspire and Freespire.
THAT is the reason why I like Freespire, and its been a record that I didn’t change my distro for a interminably long time (almost one year). Because Linux is not about loading a distro, working with it for 30 minutes, taking a few screenshots, writing a ‘review’ and then going back to Windows for me. It’s not only about the OS – it’s the ideology behind it that counts too.
That’s why I haven’t installed Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn (well ahem…the actual reason is that I haven’t received my Ubuntu CD via ShipIt, but…).
That’s why, I’m waiting for the June release of Freespire 2.0
21 replies on “A Little Less Conversation On Freespire”
@Abhi: Do read the Linspire Letter I mailed you. It has some points I wanted to say, and it says it well. And THAT’S what I said in the post – Ubuntu is about basic computing / web browsing in Africa – Mark Shuttleworth has STATED that as his mission. Freespire is for the rest of the world which needs more uses, and as an example, you yourself claimed Freespire was the only one to detect your wireless card out of the box (correct me if I’m wrong).
Once again, you say you can order a DVD, and then go on to say many people don’t have it and thus can’t use Fedora. Same for Ubuntu. Rural areas = no DVD drives. I hate Fedora, you HAVE to do install codecs separately, its installer is SLOW, and it’s package manager is NOT good.
BTW, DPS VK does NOT use pirated Windows. You can check that yourself, all PCs have preloaded XP license stickers. And I’m talking about official digital divide bridging projects – where any corporate sponsor will get sued if they use pirated. These programmes are profile, and the Big G watches them. You think ITC will have the guts to risk a lawsuit in its eChoupal program? No it doesn’t.
Fiesty Fawn is different. It’s as good if not better(for Wireless connectivity). It’s more stable.
Ahem, you can order custom CDs too.
Well, my cousin brother in DPS VK told me about the popup which came while he was working on one of the computers. He said it read “This copy of Windows is not genuine”. Maybe you guys switched to legal software in the past 4 months.
Windows is going to cost just $2. Anyone can afford that. Windows starter edition is great for the average user who doesn’t multi-task. Most people usually see only one application on their taskbar. And for $2 you’re getting that + Microsoft Office and Math 3.0.
Linspire isn’t exactly free. There’s is an annual license. Windows turns out cheaper.
You’ll think a lot differently once you’ve installed fiesty fawn. The LIVE CD has never been an ideal way using an OS. Install the Gnome 7.04 and lets have your next comment here only after that.
BTW, Ubuntu has started using proprietary software. I never said it was wrong. They’ve got the complete package with great support which you can get from Linspire only after you pay them a heft amount.
You did ignore my comment on HD video and Freespire stability.
@Abhi: Sigh. My point is not getting across. All that I’m saying is as far as comparisons between Ubuntu 7.04 and Freespire 1.0 is concerned, that is unfair because Freespire is older. For a proper comparison, compare Dapper with 1.0 and THEN you’ll see which one is better. All I’m saying is you should reserve your judgment until Freespire 2.0 comes out in June-July. Then maybe we can see.
I don’t have any HD content right now. Period.
Yes, Linspire isn’t free. Who’s talking about that? I was talking about Freespire. Linspire is targeted towards corporate users, which is not what I was talking about. What’s your point then?
When I said Kubuntu was bad, I didn’t mean as in the OS. What I was saying was they hadn’t done much of customisation with the interface, like they do with GNOME using Ubuntu. They simply took the default thing, and dumped it.
Microsoft hasn’t released the low cost version yet, as far as I know. Reserve comments on how useful it’ll be until it comes out.
An ‘oops!’ moment here. I think I wrote yesterday that Mark Shuttleworth owned VeriSign. Sorry fr that one! I was pretty sleepy when typing that at night, after having come back after getting my new cell, and I just noticed that when I was reading this discussion again. Mark has lots of friends in the tech field. He’d sold Thawte to VeriSign, and that’s what I think I wanted to say then. Oops, and sorry again!
You ignored a lot of what I wrote in that ubsurdly long comment…
Ubuntu was one of the first mainstream aimed distro of linux to come out, although things like Fedora existed before it, it was perhaps the first big distro to come out of the Debian-based house.
Ubuntu therefore, although the first release was back in July 2004, it wasnt very good as the community wasnt actually very big. Not many developers wrote programs in Debian style. Ubuntu actually started this buzz about Debian programming. Red hat based was linux before it.
Freespire, when it was released on July 2005, had the advantage of Debian based programming matured, which it didnt make good use of. Ubuntu had frequent release cycles even when it was just launched in the form of Warty Warthog. It maintains that till feisty and plans to do the same for even Gutsy Gbbon..!!
Ubuntu actually keeps people on a distro watch, new features are implemented as and when they get matured. Beryl was just one example. As Nandu just put it, it implemented this Live cd way of installation as it matured, thus speeding up things. Freespire didnt put its debain advantage tot he fullest, which Ubuntu did. And Ubuntu is basically a Gnome based distro. KDE is just another option you get. If you dont want Gnome, you better not use Ubuntu.
And tell me who in the world other than you uses freespire. Everyone vomits at it. I tried to show this to my Dad and his colleagues who do need to run linux quite a few times. They all prefered Ubuntu. Ubuntu was popular ever since hoary, which had lots of publicity and stuff. Warty wasnt publicised very much. It was still a beta, unstable distro, not really recommended.
Just search CNR for any software, after the most popular one, it would display some stupid never-heard-of software, which is there only because CNR earns from i. Why exactly is it there..?? To earn money, thats Linspires commercial interest. When it realised that companies started backing off as no one was interested to pay a fortune for running CNR, they made it free thinking that they can atleast make some money out of companies who want to publisise their software. It mostly shows paid results and gives options to buy stuff, Linspire must be getting some commission out of that… Thats was what CNR was like till a month ago after which the CNR site went under a maintainance rewamp. The new CNR feels good… I would keep some hopes on that…
On a lighter note, freespire doesnt ship cds for free, neither does it give those cool stickers and covers. And BTW, ever seen the UI of Ubuntu fiesty, Gnome rules…!!
@Prashanth: If you haven’t seen France, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. If you haven’t personally met any other Freespire user, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Ubuntu started getting its act together much later, as you yourself pointed out. So what’s wrong with giving Freespire more time?
As for CNR, of course after searching Firefox it’s going to show other browsers too. I call that more choice.
And you still aren’t answering the whole thing you said about supporting OSS, when you don’t use it. Hit-and-run arguments don’t help you in a debate.
@Prashanth: PS – I don’t think Ubuntu should have the claim to first mainstream distro. Neither is it Linspire. That credit goes to Mandrake (now Mandriva). It seriously was one of the best distros, although now it’s losing ground quickly.
Even if you call out freespire fans all over the world, you would be counting them in a handful. Look at how widespread the use of Ubuntu is, freespire doesnt even stand close.
Freespire has had about 10 months of time. It hasnt kicked out. Because of the slow release cycles, freespire doesnt give the user the bleeding edge technologies that are maturing at a breakneck pace…
Now you might start a charade saying that non-geeks are happy with sticking with one stable OS for a long time. Well, upgrading from dapper to edgy was a 100Mb update for me. Same for Fiesty as well. If you dont want to download, just order a cd, pop it in, open synaptic, and select upgrade. There you have it, a brand new distro with all your settings and data preserved!
Freespire doesnt even give frequent major updates. Correct me if I am wrong. And once again, freespire goes against the OSS ideology to show more software which are 100% proprietary. Freespire does get money out of this. Its nothing but commercial interest, all CNR is, a repository to download stuff.
Synaptic is much better. It checks your systems, downloads the required libraries, runtime files, and even drivers after scanning hardware whenever you try to download something. CNR does make it easy but it isnt advanced enough. Good that freespire gives users the option to go to Synaptic as well, as CNR is yet another shitty endeavor by the Linspire team..!!