I would like give Linspire a try and install it on my familie's computers.
But it appears that Linspire wants to nickel and dime you like $MS. Pay
for this and that.
If I buy one box set can I put it on all my family computers or do I have to buy a box
set for each person.
And since Linux is free, do I have to pay on CNR to download Linux updates?
It disgusting to stand in front of a BestBuy software section and see how people
are getting ripped off over software prices, I can understand that people need to
be payed for their work. But $MS software has put a bad tast in my mouth, and
it appears Linspire wants jump on the bandwagon .

Jim

I think you can install it on several Pc's. The only thing I dislike is click and run coz you have to subscribe to it. It's ok for some users, but I feel like I'll be paying for stuff that other distros include free of charge.

Charging for a distro is nothing new and is nothing to be shocked about. If you really don't want to pay you have 2 options: wait until one of those "coupon offers" come around again to allow for a free download or grab something like Xandros or Libranet or Mandrake.

As a private individual you can put Linspire on as many non-commercial computers as you wish. And use them as often or as little as you want to.

If you don't believe me, go check out their website.

I believe that is exactly the same situation with all other commercial flavours of Linux.

Nobody forces you to use Click-n-Run. You are free to use apt-get or anything else that will install Debian type programs from other repositories.

It's all about "choice"

If you sign up for the short-term click-n-run evaluation you get to keep all the click-n-run installed software. For ever. That's just like any other Linux.

Same goes for the regular Click-n-Run you buy by the year.

All you are paying for with Click-n-Run is the service. Like a phone connection. Or broadband internet. Or electricity utility supply.

Or car registration. Think of the number of miles you drive while your car is registered. Nobody stops you viewing the photos you took while you were on vacation. Or gives you back the rubber you left on the road when you did donuts!

As the man said, nothing unusual about commercial linux software. RedHat. Mandrake. Sun Java Desktop. SuSE....

I didn't mean that charging for their distro is wrong. I have always paid for my Mandrake or Suse distro, but I just feel that after paying for a distro and then having to pay to install extra packages and update them is a bit like Windows. Also some people have said mixing Lindows packages and those from other Debian repositories is feasible but can potentially break your system.

I don't see that it's anything like Windows, lol.

Microsoft does not have any such steamlined installing and updating service.

CNR is a service. That is what I was describing in my last post. Please re-read it in that context.

And yes, you can break the Linspire system by mixing using their download system (which you pay for if you choose to) and apt-get (if you choose to use that) because the Linspire versions are slightly tuned (like all distros will slightly tune their downloads to suit their MO).

It seems that the problem usually appears to occur if someone continually mixes and matches

CNR is an optional service you can choose to pay for if you wish. The choice is yours. You don't have to use it.

Saying that, should you decide you want to use it, the client side is already there as part of the OS, so you don't have to download and/or install anything to be able to switch it on.

There are plenty of parallels in the issue of paying for a service. It should be emphasised that you aren't paying for the downloads you get through CNR.

Again, saying that, CNR can also be used on a number of software items that are normally available only for purchase.

For example Star Office, as opposed to Open Office.

You can actually recoup your cash outlay on CNR because Click-and-Buy software titles are heavily discounted; what you save in dollars can actually put cash back in your pocket if you buy enouigh software.

You can actually fully cover your annual subscription that way, and more!

And that money does not go to Linspire. It goes to the people who wrote the software.

I think there is a lot of misinformation being pedalled, because of ignorance (I'm not insulting you, please don't take it that way).

The ignorance lies mainly in the fact that people write as gospel truth what someone else has told them they think, and it snowballs without any checking. Like urban myth emails.

Most of these myths about Lindows/Linspire would be dispelled quickly if folk would go read what is on the linspire.com website.

I remember a saying from many years ago... "ensure brain is engaged before energising mouth" lol!

An addition question I have is, If I buy the boxed set and want to install
it on my family members computers and get a CNR service on a yearly
basis, can I update their boxes on the same yearly plan I purchased or
will they have to pay for their boxes separately.
And if I update my box with Debian instead of CNR and it will gradually
crash because I don't use CNR, it would appear to me that Linspire
is modifying the debian apps so you will be sure to be locked into them.
If this is the case, Linspire is pulling the same ploy as $MS
The ideal here is that people are getting fed up with companies trying
to control there freedom to do as they want to do.
This is why Opensource Linux is gaining in popularity , people are
tired of having their freedoms controlled by companies with only one
objective, make money.
But it is good that we live in a capitalist society, that people do have the right
to have their lives controlled by Government's or Companies if they choose.
I rest my case.
Thanks for allowing me to spout off.

Yes. You can read this on the linspire.com website...
http://www.linspire.com/lindows_news...hives.php?id=7
Note the date. 2002. The policy has not changed.

You can take this link about the free (yes, free as in beer) CNR trial
http://www.linspire.com/trialmember_info.php and if you take the link to the next page you will see this...

You would have to agree that this is an excellent offer, designed for skeptics like you!

Umm, no, another urban myth...

The reason there is a slight difference is because of dependencies and versions of them and of the downloaded software. There can be a difference. For example, I looked to seed if I could download from CNR the latest version of the specially updated Mozilla browser, mail etc suite. Because of special features written in by the Linspire engineers in collaboration with the Mozilla engineers, it would have broken the dependencies on my computer for two other browsers. So I elected not to update it because I write html and like to see what it looks like in as many as possible different browsers.

In due time, those special features will become part of the regular Mozilla suite, and there will not be a problem with breaking dependencies.

Many software manufacturers (mozilla.org is no different) will use a batch of people as guinea-pigs. Not beta testing, a production version that is different.

And yes, the source that Linspire and Mozilla came up with is available for download.

Nothing money-grabbing at all. Nothing hidden. All above board. Just that this blasted urban myth seems to take a lot to get rid of.

Maybe you should restart your thinking from a reboot situation, with no false assumptions?

Actually you did little more than perpeptuate an incorrect urban myth, lol! But yes, it is only in a capitalist society where we can have the total choice that free enterprise allows.

Actually, just about every question about Linspire (and its predecessor Lindows) on this forum, and just about every urban myth azlso, can be set right by a visit to their website.