Does Linspire 'just work'?
 

I want a Linux distribution that produces a >functional< multimedia PC.

I see many distros offering trackers, TV applications, movie editing software, MP3 players and more. Problem is, after installing those other distros, they don't actually work.

I'm on a budget and stuck with dialup and I am not interested in buying yet another Linux distro that does not work when 'everything' is supposedly installed - it is obvious that more files and (re)configuration is needed after installing each new distro and that stuff never works out for me.

So I ask... will Linspire install and configure midi such that midi works correctly, and will Linspire install and configure xine so that xine plays common mpgs, and will Linspire install and configure the necessary applications such that my ATI all-in-wonder TV tuner actually uses the tuner correctly, and will Linspire install and configure arts such that the synthesizer actually works, and will linspire install and configure midi such that a midi keyboard actually sends information to a tracker, etc?? In other words, when I install everything, does linspire install all necessary things also configure everything?

Remember, I'm on dialup; the idea that any distro could work is not well founded when the necessary missing files (e.g. dozens of dependencies in total) and all the configuration information are each located on the internet and the missing files are tens of megabytes each, requiring hours of dialup time, recompiling, etc.

In my opinion, yes.
 

I am running version 5 and it works as it says.

More information, if you please?
 

Thanks for the reply... the following questions remain:
Do you have a TV card in your system and can tell me that Linspire properly configures it and also properly configures a TV application that properly uses the TV card?
Do you have a midi keyboard and it works properly in a tracker?
Can you play divx and mpeg encoded movies in xine?
Can you play MP3 audio files?
:)

MP3? definitely.
TV Card? depends on chip.
Others? I don't know.

Why don't you try Freespire...you won't be out of any money.
Good Luck

I already know I can get MP3s to play in Linux; many distros have configured this hardware to play MP3s.
I already know the TV card hardware IS supported in Mandrake ... my thread asks if Linspire will configure the system correctly.

Try Freespire... over dialup??

IMO not anymore than most distros! Especially since most distros are newer and likely JUST WORK better. Some have a good experience with *spire many others have anything but...

I am VERY experienced with installing MANY distros of Linux (newer and older) which ultimately do NOT work completely; my experience is that newer distros have failed more often (and have failed more thoroughly) than older distros.

I seek a distro that actually follows my installation instructions where it PROPERLY installs and configures what I select. LinSpire sounds as if it wants to be the answer for my needs, so I ask if LinSpire actually does what I want.

For the record, the effectiveness of various distros is not not what I seek to discuss in this thread.

You can easily buy the disks for any linux distro, there are sites that will specially hunt down your desired distro so you dont have to down load it.

I doubt that a single distro will be able to configure everything 'correctly' most are set up to configure on the widest range of hardware and more complcated tasks the user is expected to figure out or find documentation. A specalist distro ( see slackintosh) with a smaller but highly acitive community would suit you, but you will always have to configure something yourself.

pardon me! I consider the effectiveness of one distro to be relative to other distros, how else do you measure effective. If you are simply asking if *spire is going to be perfect and want nothing but a yes or no answer then the only answer I can give is a - NO!

Look.... I wasn't trying to be fresh by what I posted, I only wanted the thread to stay on topic. Most often, forum threads degenerate into zealous people wanting to discuss how RedHat does this better or Debian does that better... not interested in such.

So, if you can forgive my prior harshness... why do you feel that *Spire does not configure everything?

Got Freespire 1.0.13 CDR from MadTux in hand.I know what you mean, after suffering with partial system configurations under the following distributions:

SuSe Professional 9.1/9.2/9.3,
Slackware 9 and 10.2,
ArchLinux 0.2 - 0.4,
Debian 3.0.0,
Fedora Core 1 and FC2,
Mandrakes 7.1 - 8.2 and 10.0

and more... after all that, I have discovered one thing: various distros have each configured different portions of my hardware correctly, so I have learned that complete hardware support is available in total. As I indicated above, I do not want to discuss why those distros failed in the past, simply because they each had some success. The lesson is: it can be done.

So, if *Spire:
can properly and fully configure a normal midi interface,
can properly and fully configure an application to play MP3s/OGGs/FLACs,
can properly and fully configure an application to play MPEGs, properly and
can fully configure my nVidia graphics card to allow hardware acceleration and 3D...
then I'd use it.

Now that I have the MadTux CDR, the next step is mine to take: install it.

It will likely do all that, provided you configure it correctly. Then just think, while its loading programs, starting up, or whatever, you can read an entire linux manual of instructions...

No way I use any *spire Linux.

Edit, by the way, I'm assuming you've tried Ubuntu.

IGF

Now booting FreeSpire 1.0.13 and...
 

Look folks... I am actually quite experienced in the realms of installing Linux.

I have installed dozens of distributions, and seen them all fail. So if I come across as a hard core, negative person, I remind you that you need to walk a mile in my actual experiences to know why I'm so focused on only discussing *spire distributions.

Amongst the many distros I've TRIED: I've purchased and installed (and seen fail): Mandrake 8.2, SuSe 10.0 and Slack 9.0 and Slack 10.2; I've also installed, used and seen fail: Archlinux 0.4 and 0.5, RedHat 4.0-7.1, Debian 2.x and 3.0.0, Mandrake 7.1 - 8.1 and 10.0, Fedore Core 1, FC2, etc., etc., etc.. They have all had their limitations in regards useability and configurability.

*spire is about the last step before I go back to Windows, where I can get accurate support (forums are definitely quick, but usually only a few posts are accurate) and with Windows I can get at least 5 times the application choices.

Optimist! The following sentence is RHETORICAL: Exactly HOW does one configure anything when instructions are not provided on the installed system and configuration file locations are not revealed???What... sarcasm? "Ouch... that hurts" or something. I've been looking for that NONEXISTENT Linux manual for a number of years, I know you can't provide any links. This forum exists BECAUSE people can't Ifind nonexistent manuals. Books??? Nah: I already have Nutshell 3 and Nutshell 4, and a few other books, those books are not explaining where the config files are stored for any of the distros I've used, the books speak of commandline options and for config files, the books only offer what might be in the contents of a config file if I ever find those config files. Oops, those books only refer to older structures too. Yep. Tried 2 versions of Ubuntu thus far, neither of the Ubuntu versions configured my AC'97 sound system (the same sound system that Slackware 9.0 and 10.2 configured); neither version could handle a STANDARD Soundblaster 16 ISA card. I feel sad when STANDARD hardware is not configured. The later version of Ubuntu failed to configure my ATI All-in-Wonder card as a TV tuner. On top of all that, the 2 versions of Ubuntu that I tried were both Gnome based... Before you reply, even though Ubuntu offers a KDE version, I think the history of not configuring the rest of the system speaks for itself as t why I am asking about *spire.






Anyways.... FreeSpire 1.0.13 seems to work quite well: I now have flash drive automounting with read and write access, my scrollwheel works (Slack can't get either of them right), I have 3-d acceleration for my nVidia card (most distros failed there), my sound system works, my CDRW can at least read CDs as a user and my DVDROM can read CDs as a user without any editing my lilo and fstab files (and the drives are labeled correctly and the correct icons appear in KDE) all unlike many recent distros... etc., etc..

FreeSpire (and I might think LinSpire) is worth the money, by comparison to the way other distros have failed at my hands.

I have found both Linspire and Freespire to work really well!
 

I liked the idea of Linspire a lot, but it wasn't quite for me because it lagged the technology curve a bit much for my taste and I had to download a lot of the stuff I liked from elsewhere. Great distro, though, really simple to set up, good, if not great with detection, near or at the top of the league with it. You really have to consider which hardware you're running on. Linux is getting so much better with hardware detection and configuration, but even like Windows, it doesn't come with everything, but it really tries hard to deduce and configure all hardware. As a result, it is more sluggish than most distros coming up. One of the other sluggish distros on my system, SUSE, is also terrific at hardware detection. MY hardware is easy to configure; only bonehead systems have trouble with it; I've only had Alpha quality OSs have any trouble at all, and by the second or third build, they get it right too.

I think Freespire is even more on the mark than Linspire and somewhat newer. The initial 1.0.13 version is a bit more stable at the moment, but this week I had VERY GOOD results with 1.1.73, so it is almost solid enough to recommend to people now. If you did not have a modem connection, I'd have even fewer reservations.

If it were me, I'd go with Freespire. For you, depends on whether you want really current software (the latest Freespire build) or you want stable (Linspire 5.0) software.

Freespire includes all the codecs and plugins you could ask for if you choose the one that has a blend of free and "non free" licensed software.

For cryin out loud, I don't know if you need help with Linux or a diaper changing, geez...

This forum exists, because most people(myself included), don't want to read a 600page manual on Linux. There have been plenty of references here to Linux Print materials(Linux For Dummies, etc.).

As I've said many times before, it all boils down to your hardware. "Distro jumping" as some call it, is silly. Its better to understand what is wrong, and how to fix it. My ATI video card works fine, my Hauppage TV Tuner card works fine, My on-board sound works fine, my internet connection works fine.

Does that mean this all worked great right when I installed Linux? No, I had to research, find help, read, etc. Many here on this forum helped me with several different things. You see many posts on certain distros that "JUST WORK"... Some say it about PCLinuxOS, that distro, I can't get my sound or Tuner card to work. Some say it about Suse, that distro is slower than Christmas for me, I could go on and on with various distros I've tried and didn't like for whatever reason. Everyone likes their disro to "JUST WORK" but many times, its just not plausible. My personal favorites are FC5 and Ubuntu 6.10.. I personally hate Linspire/Freespire.. you're obviously hoping for a different experience..

Maybe you're better off using Windows..

Good luck

IGF