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Re: [News] Linspire (Lindows) to Offer Freespire

__/ [ B Gruff ] on Tuesday 25 April 2006 12:48 \__

> On Tuesday 25 April 2006 02:21 Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> 
>> ,----[ Quore ]
>> | Linux software seller Linspire is planning to offer a free version of
>> | its Linux desktop operating system called Freespire, the company
>> | announced on Monday. Users can download the first beta release beginning
>> | in August.
>> `----
>> 
>>
> http://news.com.com/2110-7344_3-6064512.html?part=rss&tag=6064512&subj=news
> 
> Do me a favour and read through this Roy - a pretty scathing comment on it!
> 
> http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20060424164142296
> 
> I'd be interested in reactions:-)

At a certain level, this is similar to what Novell, Red Hat and a few others
are already doing, with the exception of proprietary software, of course.
All camps invest in their free offerings and expend the bandwidth in hopes
of getting hold of prospective business customers, either because the user
(or "lamer") recommends or is already hooked. Lispire tempts you to use
something which you can never truly get for free on the contrary. Think
about Oracle databases and their introductory offers for 1 processor, or
even Microsoft's new express edition for a design studio (that which
supersedes FrontPage). It's like a drug dealer giving you a free sample or
even a vendor lockin (printer cartridges come to mind).

Much like GROKLAW, I am not a fan of this strategy. Then come idiots like
Larry Ellison and his discussions with Linux giants. It seems like IBM are
among the few that are not freeloaders. That's very arguable though. I also
have some mixed feelings about Google. Summer of Code is coming soon. Woot!

Best wishes,

Roy

-- 
Roy S. Schestowitz      | "Computers are useless. They only solve problems"
http://Schestowitz.com  |    SuSE Linux     ¦     PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
  1:05pm  up 2 days 22:02,  8 users,  load average: 0.41, 0.49, 0.41
      http://iuron.com - Open Source knowledge engine project

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