Freespire (My new distro) This things got everything

[swoll1980]

I've been test driving Freespire 1.3 for a few days, and it seems to me barring some kind of catastrophe that it will me my distro of choice for a long time to come. It's loaded with cool features no other distro has. It's Ubuntu based so it's easy to use and compatible with the repos the only problem I had was with flashplayer audio, but with some investigation and innovation that problem was solved (I posted the steps on forums.freespire.org>freespire issues>sound>
Jack server problem (the final answer) This is a easy to follow tutorial that explains how to eliminate the bug. I heard a lot of negitive things about, but tried it anyways. Don't know what all the the fud was about. They even have a free as in beer version for the open-source junkies.. I heard there was some issues when it came out, but they have all been solved, and with Freespire 2.0 coming out later this month there's sure to be more improvements. All the codecs and licences come preinstalled so it works right out of the imaginary box. So if you haven't tried this one give it a shot.

[Bachstelze]

It's loaded with cool features no other distro has.

Like ? To me, Freespire is just a Windows-wannabe, and one of the worst distros out there.

[cmat]

I'm not really fond of it at all. But if you like it who am I to tell you not to use it.

[avik]

Don't know what all the the fud was about. They even have a free as in beer version for the open-source junkies.

I've never used Freespire, but "open-source junkies," as you said, would much rather prefer free as in speech to free as in beer.

[jrusso2]

I've been test driving Freespire 1.3 for a few days, and it seems to me barring some kind of catastrophe that it will me my distro of choice for a long time to come. It's loaded with cool features no other distro has. It's Ubuntu based so it's easy to use and compatible with the repos the only problem I had was with flashplayer audio, but with some investigation and innovation that problem was solved (I posted the steps on forums.freespire.org>freespire issues>sound>
Jack server problem (the final answer) This is a easy to follow tutorial that explains how to eliminate the bug. I heard a lot of negitive things about, but tried it anyways. Don't know what all the the fud was about. They even have a free as in beer version for the open-source junkies.. I heard there was some issues when it came out, but they have all been solved, and with Freespire 2.0 coming out later this month there's sure to be more improvements. All the codecs and licences come preinstalled so it works right out of the imaginary box. So if you haven't tried this one give it a shot.

Freespire 1 is based on debian not Ubuntu and its old and broken junk.

Freespire 2 seems to be having a lot of issues and its release has been delayed a number of times. It remains to be seen if Linspire has the depth of talent to fix it. They also seem to be having a lot of problems with the CNR plugin.

Also Kevin Carmony the Linspire CEO has attacked both Linux users for being pirates and violating Microsoft IP. So I don't really recommend them to anyone.

[kirios]

I've never used Freespire, but "open-source junkies," as you said, would much rather prefer free as in speech to free as in beer.
Freespire is a logical choice for anyone who doesn't understand the difference. :-)

[smoker]

did you have to agree to a eula, and what's the restrictions?

can you copy and pass the copies on to friends, etc?

[darksong]

Freespire is was built for the average user who doesn't give a sh*t how it work as long as it works - it does it well for the most part - the flash isuee was annoying but i fixed it by installing firefox and flash 9.

CNR is the best software installer i have seen in a long time, i can't wait untill 2.0 with the new CNR is out. (Mid-end august is the target release date)

[SunnyRabbiera]

Really there are better ways to get your problems fixed on linux if you feel linux doesnt come to your standards... buy a mac, might as well as linspire sold us out

[brian j]

Linspire, from what i have heard, are in deep trouble. Perhaps thats why they have sold out to..... "You know who."

[ThinkBuntu]

What does it have on OpenSuSE? You should give that a try if you love neat features: You get a KDE menu unlike any other (except for copycats), an awesome iPod Konqueror context, and many other features. I've found it to be generally bug-free, although package management is painful compared to Debian. For me, the system runs very quickly and seems to make more efficient use of my processor than any other distro. Case in point, my favorite little game, Maelstrom, feels far more "spry" in openSuSE, with better frame rates, etc.

Anyway, if you like a very built-out desktop system, OpenSUSE may be for you.

[kirios]

What does it have on OpenSuSE? .... I've found it to be generally bug-free, although package management is painful compared to Debian. For me, the system runs very quickly and seems to make more efficient use of my processor than any other distro.
OpenSuSE has a painfully slow boot, poorly organized control centre (YaST), too many services active by default AND painful package management.
And the OP is quite obviously looking for restricted drivers and multimedia codecs which are painful to set up in OpenSuSe.
Mint or PCLOS perhaps, but definitely not OpenSuSe.

[init1]

I've been test driving Freespire 1.3 for a few days, and it seems to me barring some kind of catastrophe that it will me my distro of choice for a long time to come. It's loaded with cool features no other distro has. It's Ubuntu based so it's easy to use and compatible with the repos the only problem I had was with flashplayer audio, but with some investigation and innovation that problem was solved (I posted the steps on forums.freespire.org>freespire issues>sound>
Jack server problem (the final answer) This is a easy to follow tutorial that explains how to eliminate the bug. I heard a lot of negitive things about, but tried it anyways. Don't know what all the the fud was about. They even have a free as in beer version for the open-source junkies.. I heard there was some issues when it came out, but they have all been solved, and with Freespire 2.0 coming out later this month there's sure to be more improvements. All the codecs and licences come preinstalled so it works right out of the imaginary box. So if you haven't tried this one give it a shot.
Freespire cannot connect me to the internet, so it is worthless to me. Nothing more to say.

[Frak]

Freespire 1.3 is based on Debian Sid and is outdated to me
Freespire 2.0 ALPHA is based on Feisty, and is very buggy (I know its alpha), I can't get CNR to start, my processor fan won't start, it never loads anything into swap, and I can't install anything via Apt because of a Root Lock error.
I know its Alpha, but since it was based off Feisty, I thought it'd be a bit better than that IMHO :P
I'm not bashing Freespire, I'm just listing some things I find ironic about it.
I'll just wait for the final release... I hope...

[ThinkBuntu]

OpenSuSE has a painfully slow boot, poorly organized control centre (YaST), too many services active by default AND painful package management.
And the OP is quite obviously looking for restricted drivers and multimedia codecs which are painful to set up in OpenSuSe.
Mint or PCLOS perhaps, but definitely not OpenSuSe.
Every fact you stated is wrong. Codecs are grabbed by one package (lib-xine) as opposed to 4+ in Ubuntu and other GStreamer-based distros. YaST is probably the best control center there is in Linux and can do much more than the Mandriva Control Center. Boot isn't painfully slow either. I count one minute from boot to being logged in (autologin enabled). It takes about 50 seconds for Ubuntu to boot on the same machine. Ubuntu, Debian, and others fail to detect my hardware properly and boot wayyyy too many services. OpenSUSE correctly detects which ones to boot and as such boots with fewer services.

[steveneddy]

I am an open source junkie and I wouldn't use Freespire ever. I would rather write my own operating system than get into bed with Microsoft Linspire.

[Frak]

Don't you mean Microspire?
:lolflag:

[kirios]

Every fact you stated is wrong. Codecs are grabbed by one package (lib-xine) as opposed to 4+ in Ubuntu and other GStreamer-based distros.
Does it matter whether codecs are grabbed by 1 package or 4 if setting up your repositories takes 2 hours?

YaST is probably the best control center there is in Linux and can do much more than the Mandriva Control Center.
YaST does allow you to do more than Mandriva's Control Center but it's not as intuitive and tasks are split between overlapping menu entries (DNS is one example). In any case, I'm not sure that a control center is necessarily a good thing if it overwrites changes made on the command line without even asking.

Boot isn't painfully slow either. I count one minute from boot to being logged in (autologin enabled). It takes about 50 seconds for Ubuntu to boot on the same machine. Ubuntu, Debian, and others fail to detect my hardware properly and boot wayyyy too many services. OpenSUSE correctly detects which ones to boot and as such boots with fewer services.
OpenSuSE takes over 2 minutes to get to the login manager on my machine. Ubuntu takes just under a minute on the same machine. Seems to be a common complaint on the SuSE Linux forums too:
http://forums.suselinuxsupport.de/index.php?showtopic=45625

[benuski]

Don't you mean Microspire?
:lolflag:

No, I mean Lindows! Oh wait...

[Frak]

No, I mean Lindows! Oh wait...
:lolflag:

[ThinkBuntu]

Does it matter whether codecs are grabbed by 1 package or 4 if setting up your repositories takes 2 hours?


YaST does allow you to do more than Mandriva's Control Center but it's not as intuitive and tasks are split between overlapping menu entries (DNS is one example). In any case, I'm not sure that a control center is necessarily a good thing if it overwrites changes made on the command line without even asking.


OpenSuSE takes over 2 minutes to get to the login manager on my machine. Ubuntu takes just under a minute on the same machine. Seems to be a common complaint on the SuSE Linux forums too:
http://forums.suselinuxsupport.de/index.php?showtopic=45625
Maybe you should run an upgrade. After upgrading, my boot time is significantly improved. Setting up repositories took me exactly one minute. The only lame part is that you have to wait for about a minute every time you go in to manage software. But honestly, beyond upgrades, I never go in to add software after I've had the OS for about a week. When I do, this minute is no obstacle.

If repositories are an issue, I suggest that you follow the guide I've linked to below. Very, very easy:

http://opensuse-community.org/Package_Sources

For multimedia, this is easy:
http://opensuse-community.org/Restricted_Formats

[kirios]

Maybe you should run an upgrade. After upgrading, my boot time is significantly improved. Setting up repositories took me exactly one minute. The only lame part is that you have to wait for about a minute every time you go in to manage software. But honestly, beyond upgrades, I never go in to add software after I've had the OS for about a week. When I do, this minute is no obstacle.

If repositories are an issue, I suggest that you follow the guide I've linked to below. Very, very easy:

http://opensuse-community.org/Package_Sources

For multimedia, this is easy:
http://opensuse-community.org/Restricted_Formats

I used Jem Matzen's guide at http://www.softwareinreview.com/cms/content/view/60/ which was similar to the information on the OpenSuSE wiki at the time. It took almost 2 hours to set up my repositories on a 512k connection.

OpenSuSE 10.0 and later has been quite disappointing (especially in comparison with Fedora or Mandriva releases during the same timeframe), which is a pity because Suse 9.3 was a very good release.

[steveneddy]

Microspire, Linsoft......

Did you know that if you use Linspire that you are no longer using open sourced software and that you are no longer legally able to copy and share it with your friends?

[Frak]

If you are using Freespire, you are allowed to pass it around because you are bound by license during the post-installation. Thus, the license is controlled via user installation.

[vexorian]

Everytime you purchase or use that thing you are harming Linux much more than if you stayed with windows.

Go around and purchase all your MS patent SKU as you want, whatever these "all things I want" are, go ahead and ruin linux just because freespire comes with a bunch of crap preinstalled.

[DreamcastJack]

Everytime you purchase or use that thing you are harming Linux much more than if you stayed with windows.

Go around and purchase all your MS patent SKU as you want, whatever these "all things I want" are, go ahead and ruin linux just because freespire comes with a bunch of crap preinstalled.

a wise man once said "white water in the morning"

[ThinkBuntu]

I used Jem Matzen's guide at http://www.softwareinreview.com/cms/content/view/60/ which was similar to the information on the OpenSuSE wiki at the time. It took almost 2 hours to set up my repositories on a 512k connection.

OpenSuSE 10.0 and later has been quite disappointing (especially in comparison with Fedora or Mandriva releases during the same timeframe), which is a pity because Suse 9.3 was a very good release.
I still don't know where you're getting this two hour figure from. Like I said, it only took me a minute or so to add these repositories, plus a couple minutes for the system to update my software sources list.

Note: That was on a 180kb/s max connection.

[jrusso2]

If you are using Freespire, you are allowed to pass it around because you are bound by license during the post-installation. Thus, the license is controlled via user installation.

Since Freespire comes with proprietary drivers and codecs I am not sure you can legally redistribute it.

[kirios]

I still don't know where you're getting this two hour figure from.
I timed it! :-)
Anyway, I'm glad SuSE seems to work better on your setup. I hear that boot times and package management are likely to improve by the time 10.3 is released. Hope it will be available as a Live CD install. Also, it looks like ThinkPads may be available with SLED 10 preinstalled by then.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070806-lenovo-novell-partner-to-offer-linux-on-the-thinkpad.html

[Epilonsama]

I prefer Linux Mint it comes with all the things Freespire comes but it isn't outdated nor harms the FLOSS.

[ThinkBuntu]

I prefer Linux Mint it comes with all the things Freespire comes but it isn't outdated nor harms the FLOSS.
Linux Mint is outdated...it's based on Ubuntu repositories.

[vexorian]

At least it is not freaky MSLinux

[swoll1980]

did you have to agree to a eula, and what's the restrictions?

can you copy and pass the copies on to friends, etc?

yes you can copy it. pass it along. 2.0 RC that I am using (it's actualy 1.9.21 is based on feisty ) they have done alot of nice things with it it's nothing like microsoft this is something everybody is saying. I don't think they have tried it

[swoll1980]

Freespire is was built for the average user who doesn't give a sh*t how it work as long as it works - it does it well for the most part - the flash isuee was annoying but i fixed it by installing firefox and flash 9.

CNR is the best software installer i have seen in a long time, i can't wait untill 2.0 with the new CNR is out. (Mid-end august is the target release date)

flash issue is gone in 1.9.21

[swoll1980]

What does it have on OpenSuSE? .

Cnr. Cnr is great . I tried suse. That yast thing they have is the worst installer on earth

[swoll1980]

Freespire 1.3 is based on Debian Sid and is outdated to me
Freespire 2.0 ALPHA is based on Feisty, and is very buggy (I know its alpha), I can't get CNR to start, my processor fan won't start, it never loads anything into swap, and I can't install anything via Apt because of a Root Lock error.
I know its Alpha, but since it was based off Feisty, I thought it'd be a bit better than that IMHO :P
I'm not bashing Freespire, I'm just listing some things I find ironic about it.
I'll just wait for the final release... I hope...

The only thing that does not work for me is the cnr plugin(Itried it out on 1.1.3 though and it works realy nice) they will have that going this month. apt-get works fine for me did you try 1.9.21 I've been using it for days with out any problems

[Frak]

I used the nightly build, from which I know its buggy. Alot of programs would constantly SEGFAULT, (From trying to overwrite the OS locked part of the RAM.)

[fistfullofroses]

HAHAHA. If you are going to use that much micro$oft stuff, why not just port the entire OS to the Linux Kernel?

[Frak]

HAHAHA. If you are going to use that much micro$oft stuff, why not just port the entire OS to the Linux Kernel?
I agree, but without the $ in the name.

[swoll1980]

Does it matter whether codecs are grabbed by 1 package or 4 if setting up your repositories takes 2 hours?


YaST does allow you to do more than Mandriva's Control Center but it's not as intuitive and tasks are split between overlapping menu entries (DNS is one example). In any case, I'm not sure that a control center is necessarily a good thing if it overwrites changes made on the command line without even asking.


OpenSuSE takes over 2 minutes to get to the login manager on my machine. Ubuntu takes just under a minute on the same machine. Seems to be a common complaint on the SuSE Linux forums too:
http://forums.suselinuxsupport.de/index.php?showtopic=45625

If I were going to chose an OS based on boot time it would be XP all the way
(0-logged on in about 25 seconds

[swoll1980]

HAHAHA. If you are going to use that much micro$oft stuff, why not just port the entire OS to the Linux Kernel?

Is that not what the react OS and Wine projects have been trying to do for years?

[swoll1980]

Since Freespire comes with proprietary drivers and codecs I am not sure you can legally redistribute it.

It's completely free to redistribute. All the legal crap comes in after you install it.

[ThinkBuntu]

"Swoll", who feels the need to post six posts at a time instead of integrating these into a single reply post, is not here to listen to anyone's advice about distros. He claims that YaST is "the worst installer," when it's undoubtedly the best installation process of any distro. It allows you maximum control, but is easy to use. I assume that's what you were referring to.

As far as software management goes, YaST offers the same fine-grained level of control, and the only knock on it is that updating your sources takes a minute or two. A lack of packages is a problem for the repositories and has nothing to do with YaST.

Anyway, enjoy CNR and what not while you can, because Linspire, with the resignation of Carmony, is on its deathbed.

[kirios]

If I were going to chose an OS based on boot time it would be XP all the way
(0-logged on in about 25 seconds
Not a valid comparison. After you log in to XP and the desktop appears, the system goes into a fugue-like state while the OS continues loading services.

[DreamcastJack]

freespire 2.0 is out... getting it is another story.. only a torrent link is up... horrible release

[LinuxFreak1991]

I tried SO SO many linux distros out there and Freespire was the absolute WORST distro i have used. Its slow and horrible, sry thats just my opinion.

[hobieone]

i've tried freespire 1.0 and linspire 5.0. and in my opinion it good for someone who never used linux to get thier feet wet altho ubuntu is now to that point also. but the bigest iseu i for with it is it hardware detection especially graphics cards is iffy. either i'll detect and if it does it wont enable 3d acelleration by default or dri so you still have to manually edit the file or it wont see it and use a generic vesa driver for it.

and its preformance with wine or cedega is not great at all and had he os crash several times.

but i'm not sure how it is with freespire 2.0 now that its base on ubuntu tho

[Frak]

As I have now just started using the newest version of Linux Mint (and the only other OS besides Ubuntu that I use), I strongly recommend new users try Linux Mint.
It may not be totally legal, but its definately one of the easiest Distributions I have ever used, while also retaining its identity.

[BigSilly]

I can't really slag Freespire down, as much as the business dealings of the company have annoyed me. It's a great distro for those who want to dip a toe in Linux and get to know it, but without anything too geeky. I used to use it myself, and it does a wonderful job of getting newbies into Linux as easily as possible.

The thing is though, that over time you begin to realise it's a little bit limited, and the "newbie stabilisers" are a bit tight. I started to get itchy feet with it after a short while, and hence found Ubuntu, which is a much more capable OS to me. But I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Freespire to a terrified Linux beginner.

I'll just make sure I have an Ubuntu disc handy for when they want to progress!

[jrusso2]

I can't really slag Freespire down, as much as the business dealings of the company have annoyed me. It's a great distro for those who want to dip a toe in Linux and get to know it, but without anything too geeky. I used to use it myself, and it does a wonderful job of getting newbies into Linux as easily as possible.

The thing is though, that over time you begin to realise it's a little bit limited, and the "newbie stabilisers" are a bit tight. I started to get itchy feet with it after a short while, and hence found Ubuntu, which is a much more capable OS to me. But I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Freespire to a terrified Linux beginner.

I'll just make sure I have an Ubuntu disc handy for when they want to progress!

Now that Freespire is based on Ubuntu there is really nothing that you can do in Ubuntu that you cannot in Freespire.

[BigSilly]

Now that Freespire is based on Ubuntu there is really nothing that you can do in Ubuntu that you cannot in Freespire.

Well, I don't know about that. I used the older Freespire 1.13, and it was solid enough, but limited as I say. Since moving over to Ubuntu I'm enjoying Linux more than ever before. I certainly wouldn't want to switch back to a Freespire that's based on a system I already use.

But as I say, for newcomers it's a nice, simplified Linux. I don't care for how Linspire joined up with MS, but that's another thread altogether.

[thegnome87]

I had Freespire installed last year and really liked it.

Hardware detected, one of the fastest installs of any Linux distro I've tried, and of course paid for codecs and CNR. I don't know if it was a bug in CNR, but I even got a free DVD player (PowerDVD).

I don't assent to Carmony's high brow pirate accusation, but I commend this distro for having legally licensing codecs that many of us (esp. in the US) were going to download anyway if we had chosen another distro. All this while remaining free of cost.

My only problem with it was a somewhat lacking community and how outdated it can get (granted 2.0 is out and I plan to try it)...delays here delays there, barely much activity news. It makes it hard to stay and at first I wondered if it was jusy a distro to propel CNR Gold.

Overall it's a distro that can function as a great gratis intro to linux (love the kde theme) but unfortunately it suffers the stigma of being "uncool" to use in the community when in my opinion it's a unique distro in its own right. :KS


So yes it has a lot of goodies...and then some ;)

[Frak]

That DVD player wasn't a bug, Linspire actually has rights to patents to DVD codecs. They decide to release it free to the Freespire and Linspire community only.
When its ported over to the rest of us, we'll have to pay for it. (i.e. advertising for Linspire)

[BigSilly]

My only problem with it was a somewhat lacking community and how outdated it can get (granted 2.0 is out and I plan to try it)...delays here delays there, barely much activity news. It makes it hard to stay and at first I wondered if it was jusy a distro to propel CNR Gold.


Yeah that's one of the reasons I decided to move on. There's some nice people on the forums, but they're (sorry guys!) quite often not much help when you're new to Linux. Also, there were never any updates, security fixes, or any other type of fix that you might normally be needing from a modern OS. You got this feeling that once they'd got the OS out, that was their job done and that's all you're getting. Every other distro I've used provides important security fixes. What makes Freespire different?

I also got fed up of not being able to burn a DVD or a CD. I got annoyed that it kept "forgetting" what codecs I had, so it got progressively harder to watch movie trailers etc. I got a bit fed up of being tied into CNR. These things and more where supposed to be fixed with Freespire 2, but I didn't see the point in hanging around when there are mountains of other distros with better support.

Somebody on their forum said "it's a day late and a dollar short", and I think ultimately that sums up Freespire very accurately at the moment. Blessing from Microsoft or not.

[darksidedude]

it does stand a bit of a chance if Carmony would think b4 he speaks,

I am useing freespire 2.0 right now, it works good I dont see any bugs just yet, I just wonder if "we" can keep up with ubunt, meaning when 7.10 comes out what about freespire, if "we" can't keep up I'm comming back to kubuntu until then its a watch and see kinda thing:confused:

[myke]

Why must opensource ... especially Linux ... users bash each other so much? No wonder Linux can't get a foothold on the desktop market. Microsoft's Ballmer must laugh when it's so easy to notice how each of the distros users chop each other up. Every time some one posts something that alludes they like an alternate distro, KDE vs. Gnome, etc etc. ... flame, name calling, and general put downs start automatically. It really is sad. I personally prefer Ubuntu. I personally prefer Gnome over KDE as a desktop/file & window manager. But I also prefer most QT/KDE based apps over their GTK/Gnome based counterparts.

It's all about CHOICE! People should be applauded for using Linux ... any version ... rather than monopolistic Windows. Each distro's user groups/forums and such bashing each other only fractures the ability for Linux to get a true foothold on the desktop market.

[karellen]

I've tried the live cd. it couldn't detect or set properly my old monitor, which is inexcusable. it's the only distro that couldn't. even fedora core 5 did ok. not mentioning ubuntu (dapper, edgy, feisty)

[LT1Caprice57L]

I tried the Freespire 2.0.0 liveCD on my sony vaio pcg-k33. It ran no better than ubuntu, still could not suspend or hibernate, and as an added bonus, it refused to shut down. No thanks.

edit: plus, I'm not a huge fan of KDE. I find it too much like running windows.

[Taino]

Freespire or (Lindows as it use to be called until MicroSoft threatened to sue) is a for profit business and as such they are selling to a Windows user market, They took a Linux distro and dressed it up in Windows clothing to make it more appealing to Windows users, it was always their intent all along to do just that, I have a few "Lindows" CDs here, free ISO's they made available in the early days of Lindows.

I tried it and didnt like it, simply put it felt awkward and strange to use it.

These Linux distros dressed in Windows clothing are like the mutant offspring of a drunken night of passion between Linux and Windows. :)

But hey im glad your enjoying yours its all about individual choice. \\:D/

[the_darkside_986]

This is not something I would ever use, but anyway, please tell me that you are not running everything as root. I heard that in an attempt to copy Windows, the *spire distro sets up root account only by default. But unlike in Windows where most apps won't work right without Admin priv., this is completely useless and a very bad idea to do in true multi-user systems such as Linux, BSD's, etc. where software actually runs properly w/o root priveleges.

[jrusso2]

This is not something I would ever use, but anyway, please tell me that you are not running everything as root. I heard that in an attempt to copy Windows, the *spire distro sets up root account only by default. But unlike in Windows where most apps won't work right without Admin priv., this is completely useless and a very bad idea to do in true multi-user systems such as Linux, BSD's, etc. where software actually runs properly w/o root priveleges.

The original Lindows and Linspire's did run as root by default. And their are many in their forums that are convinced that there is nothing wrong with this, and I have been there and argued with them about it.

Freespire however uses sudo and so does the new Linspire 6

[kotek_14]

I've been using Freespire 2.0 for about 2 weeks now and have had no issues with it. Kubuntu gave me nothing but grief and I had given up on it. I decided to try Freespire and wow, what a difference! Anyone who says that Freespire is like Windows is wrong. It is KDE, I know many criticise KDE for being too much like Windows, but hey, we have choices in Linux, use another DE. I have tweaked and made my Freespire more like Ubuntu/Kubuntu, I don't use CNR. I use apt-get, Synaptic and Adept. Since Freespire 2.0 is based on Ubuntu "Feisty Fawn" I used the "Medibuntu" repositories and Synaptic to get all the drivers and Codecs I need. "My Freespire" is more like Kubuntu without all the "bugs". I know some in the "Linux Community" may see my using Freespire as a "sellout" but the fact remains rather than giving up on Linux and going back to MS Windows I stayed with and plan to stay with Linux. BTW I still use Ubuntu as well. The thing is Linux allowed me to take a particular Distro (Freespire) and for all practical purposes turn it into another Distro (Ubuntu/Kubuntu), try doing THAT with MS Windows.

[Depressed Man]

Why must opensource ... especially Linux ... users bash each other so much? No wonder Linux can't get a foothold on the desktop market. Microsoft's Ballmer must laugh when it's so easy to notice how each of the distros users chop each other up. Every time some one posts something that alludes they like an alternate distro, KDE vs. Gnome, etc etc. ... flame, name calling, and general put downs start automatically. It really is sad. I personally prefer Ubuntu. I personally prefer Gnome over KDE as a desktop/file & window manager. But I also prefer most QT/KDE based apps over their GTK/Gnome based counterparts.

It's all about CHOICE! People should be applauded for using Linux ... any version ... rather than monopolistic Windows. Each distro's user groups/forums and such bashing each other only fractures the ability for Linux to get a true foothold on the desktop market.

Just pointing out. Windows users bash each other too. 2000 vs XP vs Vista, etc..

[rosswmcgee]

I used Linspire for years and it was a good start for me. However now that I am grown up ,no way would I go to Freespire from Ubuntu 7.04