I see the subjects of a bunch of threads that look as if they might address this question, but when I go into the actual thread and read the posts, no one answers this.

Has anyone tried using apt-get and/or Synaptic in Linspire? I'm just trying out Linspire because I don't want to prejudge it. I think a lot of Linspire-bashers out there have probably never even used Linspire. So, I want to give it an honest try. However, I don't want to use CNR.

I noticed Linspire's website has this disclaimer: "WARNING! -- both apt-get and synaptic can break a Linspire box since it might overwrite some Linspire specific stuff with standard Debians which might break some programs (apt-get works but it's not advised to be used by Linspire, Inc. staff)."

Is that just legal blah-blah-blah to cover their arses just so they don't have to answer questions about apt-get/Synaptic, or has anyone here on this forum actually run into actualy errors because of using Synaptic/apt-get in Linspire?

I may just go ahead and try it anyway, but I just want to know if anyone else has had that experience.

Okay. Well, this thread has had nine views and zero replies.

So, I just went ahead and apt-getted Synaptic. I used the sources.list from Mepis.

Here's my verdict: Linspire seems like not such a bad distro.

1. Its hardware detection is unparalleled. There's always been at least one thing buggy in my hardware detections with Linux distros (and I've tried well over ten distros). At first I got a little nervous because the sound didn't work when I booted Linspire as a live CD (I don't know why), but when I actually installed it, the sound was just fine. There were nice little touches that are "user friendly." For example, not only did it let me test the sound, but it let me set it at a default level that's "comfortable." My monitor settings were perfect--perfect resolution, perfect refresh rate, and perfect number of colors. Some distros have come close, but none so perfect.

2. I have to say I'm extremely disappointed that they not only make root the default user, but they don't even prompt you to create another user. You really have to go out of your way to make another user, then make that the default user. This security model has got to go. I've even heard rumors that Microsoft's upcoming Windows release (Longhorn) will not have people run as administrator by default.

3. Predictably, in its effort to make things "user-friendly," it's not as easily customizable as other Linux distros. For example, in the control center, I can't find how to configure keyboard shortcuts. Usually KDE desktop control centers have keyboard shortcuts under accessibility. Why is this annoying? Well, the default keyboard shortcut control-tab for KDE does something with switching desktops, which overrides Firefox's control-tab, which switches between tabs. I still can't figure out how to change this, and the "help" options--though numerous--are no help. I don't need an animated tutorial. I need the answer to a question.

4. I went ahead and used apt-get to install Synaptic. For some reason, the install went a little weird on me. Usually, when installed properly, Synaptic will open when you click on it, then prompt you for the root password. With Linspire, I would click on Synaptic and nothing would happen. I had to go to the terminal and su to run Synaptic. Some of the installations seem okay. Some just didn't happen, even though they appeared successful in Synaptic. Linspire had trouble reading some of the Debian sources in my /etc/apt/sources.list file, but I guess that's why they have a disclaimer.

5. Lsongs is great. It's a total iTunes clone, but I don't mind, because iTunes is the only thing holding me back from getting rid of Windows completely.

6. In the end, though, I just found Linspire to be... well, Linux. It's Linux with a KDE desktop, a few options tucked away that are usually in your face, a few things in your face that don't usually exist (video tutorials, for example). I hate the boot-up noise, and I think it's weird that even if you go into verbose mode during boot-up (by pressing esc) that the words just go over the graphics (the colors don't go well together).

I'm not sure if Click-n-Run is worth the subscription fee, but I can see why Linspire might be attractive for new Linux users. Good hardware detection is a hard thing to find in Linux. That's usually what makes installations so difficult. Look at these forums here. Most of them are "My sound card doesn't work" or "How do I fix my screen resolution?" When it comes down to it, Linspire is a Debian-based distro with a KDE desktop. So is PCLinuxOS. So is Mepis. So is Kubuntu.

I think people who are interested in Linspire and not willing to shell out money for it should look into Mepis. Mepis is a point-and-click distribution. Its hardware detection isn't flawless, but it's pretty good. I won't criticize people for using Ltnspire if they want to (I'm all about choice), but apart from some superb hardware detection, I don't see much it has to offer over other distros (Mepis got my screen resolution but at a slightly off refresh rate; Ubuntu didn't get my screen resolution, but it was an easy xorg.conf fix). Just my thoughts.

P.S. I was a bit surprised that for a "user-friendly" distro, I had to manually add an .iso suffix to the downloaded file in order to get the disk image to burn.

PCLinuxOS is NOT a debian based distro. It was forked off of Mandrake. It is like Mandrake, only it's done right. Check it out. It does use Synaptic, so that may be why you are confused. It's the only distro I use now. Texstar is the man.

Sorry. You're right. I was confused. Oops!

I used Linspire for a couple of days, and I was not impressed with it. I have to agree that hardware detection was incredible. Although, it didn't detect my broadcom wireless, or my quick launch buttons on my laptop. Nor did it detect my wg111 usb wireless adapter.

I noticed some strange errors with apt-get, but all-in-all, it worked. My biggest problem was with the GUI, it would just around to different windows on me. Also, firefox would take a dump on me occasionally; which I didn't care for.

I LOVED how it autodetected my Nvidia card and set it up for 3d, since that things a pain in the arse to configure; however, I moved myself back to Ubuntu, since well, it just works better for me.

Likewise. In fact, I just recently set up my computer to quadruple-boot. I have Windows XP, Ubuntu, Mepis, and another partition for experimenting with random distributions (right now it's Berry Linux).

Well to give you an answer to the whole APT-GET Question and the quote above :

Linspire doesn't officially support 3rd party installation methods. So basically if you APT a certain package and it's dependancies screw up your installation (I think libc6 and stuff like that cause some damage on Linspire) their Support Department isn't able to help you (People at their Forums might be able to assist though).

As it has been said, Linspire is targeting the newbie computer users and the windows converts. CNR (Click-and-Run) is a service they provide for these people. Many people compain that CNR is asking money for "free" software but with CNR you don't pay for the software but for the "service". I know you can install almost all of the sofware in CNR from Source or with APT but if you're savvy enough to compile software from source you should use Debian GNU/Linux and not Linspire

For a newbie who comes to Linux stuff like CNR , Klik-it, Xandros Networks, ... are great since they don't want to bother searching the internet for software, they just find almost everything they need in CNR (or any other tool).

Offcourse you can also use APT and Synaptic but I guess APT is more likely to break something where software in CNR is older and tweaked to run on Linspire.

Hope this answers some of the questions about APT and Linspire.

so does linspire offer a free "try me" version just so I can install it and see if everything works and if I like it before I spend all that hard earned cash... like xandros OCE and others...???

You can download (Bit-Torrent) the Linspire LIVE CD that you can use to test hardware. (be sure to get the 5.0 release)
and for CNR they offer a 15-Day FREE Trial period so you can check out CNR and see if it's something you want, just make sure to cancel intime or they will charge you a 1-Year membership

Linspire offers a live CD of their latest release.

You can download it from Linspire's home page, or bit torrent.

nothing i can install tho huh....

unfortunatly not.
but they do have a Money Back guarantee (and the realy DO give you your money back if you request it). so you can try without any problems. and as it's been posted they frequently offer a "coupon code" that reduces the price to ZERO so if you can wait for one of those coupons you can get Lispire for free. and get a 15-Day free trial of CNR aswell if you would like to see it in action).

I don't know if the former coupon code still works (they offered Linspire for free to the Lycoris users when they heard Lycoris was going to be sold to another company).

Can you tell me what distros do detect and run your USB wifi adapter?

I have yet to find a distro where USB wifi is detected AND runs for more than a few minutes at a time.

I have looked at more than 20 of the top distros so far without finding one that does this out of the box. Wifi over USB in Linux is still an emerging technology.

Peter