Linspire facts for kids
Linspire (formerly called Lindows) is a computer operating system. It is based on Linux, which is a type of software that controls a computer's basic functions. Linspire is owned by a company called PC/OpenSystems LLC. Before this, it was owned by Linspire. Inc. from 2001 to 2008, and then by Xandros from 2008 to 2017.
On July 1, 2008, the company Linspire. Inc. changed its name to Digital Cornerstone. Another company called Xandros bought all of its assets. On August 8, 2008, the CEO of Xandros, Andreas Typaldos, said that Linspire would no longer be made. He also said that Freespire, another operating system, would change its base from Ubuntu to Debian. However, on January 1, 2018, PC/OpenSystems LLC bought Linspire and Freespire from Xandros. Linspire 7 became available for $79.99, and Freespire 3 was offered for free.
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Screenshot of Linspire
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| Company / developer | PC/OpenSystems LLC |
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| OS family | Linux (Unix-like) |
| Working state | Active |
| Source model | Mixed (open and closed source) |
| Initial release | August 2001 |
| Latest stable release | 14 / December 18, 2023 |
| Update method | CNR |
| Kernel type | Monolithic (Linux) |
| Default user interface | GNOME, Xfce |
| License | Mainly GNU GPL and other free software licences; as well as some proprietary software licenses. |
| Official website | linspirelinux.com |
Contents
Linspire's Early Days and Changes
Lindows, Inc. started in July 2001 in San Diego, California. It was founded by Michael Robertson. The company began selling its products in January 2002. Robertson wanted to create a Linux-based operating system. His goal was for it to run popular programs made for Microsoft Windows.
The Name Change: Lindows to Linspire
In 2002, Microsoft sued Lindows, Inc. Microsoft said that the name "Lindows" was too similar to their "Windows" trademark. The court did not agree with Microsoft at first. The court said that Microsoft had used the word "windows" to describe computer screens before their Windows product came out. Also, other companies like Xerox and Apple Computer had used similar ideas many years earlier.
Microsoft wanted another trial. Before it happened in February 2004, Microsoft offered to settle the case. As part of the agreement, Microsoft paid about $20 million. Lindows, Inc. then gave the "Lindows" trademark to Microsoft. After this, the company changed its name to Linspire, Inc.
Early Computers with Lindows
In 2003, a laptop called the Lindows Mobile PC was launched. It started at $799. Lindows claimed that programs like Excel, Word, and PowerPoint worked well on it. This laptop was designed to be affordable. It had a 933-megahertz processor, 256 megabytes of RAM, and a 20-gigabyte hard drive. It weighed 2.9 pounds and had a 12.1-inch screen.
Leadership and Partnerships
On June 15, 2005, Michael Robertson stepped down as the CEO of Linspire, Inc. He remained as chairman, and Kevin Carmony became the new CEO. Linspire also joined the Interop Vendor Alliance in 2006.
On February 8, 2007, Linspire, Inc. announced a new partnership with Canonical Ltd. Canonical Ltd. is the main company behind the Ubuntu operating system. Linspire planned to start basing its desktop Linux products on Ubuntu.
Later, on June 13, 2007, Linspire and Microsoft announced an agreement. This agreement focused on making their software work better together. It included things like document compatibility, instant messaging, and digital media. Some people criticized this agreement. However, Kevin Carmony said it would give Linux users more choices and a "better" experience.
Linspire's Fishy Code Names
Linspire used names of fish found near its headquarters for its product versions. For example, Linspire/LindowsOS 4.5 was called "Coho." Linspire Five-0 (versions 5.0 and 5.1) and Freespire 1.0 were called "Marlin." Freespire 2.0 and Linspire 6.0 were named "Skipjack."
CNR: Easy Software for Linspire
Linspire's CNR (which stood for Click'N'Run) was a service for getting software. It was based on Debian's APT system. CNR was made to be a simple way for users to download and install many different programs. These programs included both free and paid software. Users could install programs with just one click.
CNR also had "Click and Buy" (CNB) software. This included many commercial programs that members could buy at a lower price. CNR offered over 38,000 different software packages. These ranged from simple apps to big commercial programs like Win4Lin and StarOffice.
At first, CNR required a yearly payment. There were two levels: "basic" for $20 per year and "gold" for $50 per year. The "gold" level offered discounts on some paid applications. In 2006, Linspire announced that the "basic" service would become free.
Linspire also planned to make CNR work with the Ubuntu operating system. On April 24, 2006, the company said that CNR would be released as open-source software. The free CNR client was planned to come out with Freespire 2.0 and Linspire 6.0. On January 23, 2007, Linspire announced it wanted to offer CNR for other Linux systems too. This included Debian, Fedora, OpenSUSE, and Ubuntu. This support was expected in mid-2007.
Freespire: A Community Version
In August 2005, a person named Andrew Betts created Freespire. It was a special version of Linspire that could run directly from a CD. Some users thought this was an official product from Linspire, Inc. Linspire, Inc. then offered a "free Linspire" (meaning the purchase price was $0) using a special code until September 9, 2005.
On April 24, 2006, Linspire announced its own project called "Freespire." This was similar to how other companies like Red Hat and Novell created community versions of their software. Freespire was a project driven by the community. It was connected to the commercial Linspire system. It included parts of Linspire that used to be paid, like the CNR Client. However, some parts that Linspire licensed but did not own, like Windows Media Audio compatibility, remained closed-source.
Because of this, there were two versions of Freespire. One had the closed-source parts, and another, called Freespire OSS Edition, only had open-source parts. Freespire 1.0 was released on August 7, 2006. Freespire 2.0.8, released on November 30, 2007, was based on Ubuntu 7.04. This was the last release until the system was brought back with version 3.0 in January 2018.
Linspire's Support for Open Source
Linspire, Inc. supported many open-source projects. These included popular programs like the Pidgin and Kopete instant messaging apps. They also supported the Mozilla Firefox web browser and the ReiserFS file system. Linspire also helped with the Nvu website editor and the KDE-Apps.org and KDE-Look.org websites. In the past, Linspire hosted several events for Linux and open-source software. These included the Desktop Linux Summit, DebConf, and the KDE Developers Conference.
See also
In Spanish: Linspire para niños
- Commercial use of copyleft works
- Zorin OS, Linux Mint, MX Linux, free Linux distributions designed to imitate Windows or recommended for longtime Windows users
