Free Software is available as download from Internet. This software is created by many gifted software developers from around the world. Software packages put together on CD or DVD is called distro or distribution and is easy to install and use. Internet in South Africa is slow and unreliable with cap on total bandwidth usage. You can't download free software for free as ADSL users are paying minimum R68 per Gig therefore to download 4.5 Gig DVD will cost R306. As you can see free software download is slow and problematic with often dropped connections. Our SA Linux distributor service lowers the pain and cost of downloads and also provides technical support. Save time and money !
Practical Tech: "When Linspire was bought by Xandros, everyone expected changes. No one expected Xandros to decide to switch Freespire back to Debian from Ubuntu but that’s exactly what’s happened."
nerdyH writes "Following Xandros's acquisition of Linspire, some feared for the future of Freespire, the free version of Linspire. However, Xandros today announced a new version of Freespire that will return the popular free Linux distro to its Debian-based roots."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
distro-review: "Freespire is one of those distros that I'm always being recommended to try, so this week instead of reviewing a brand new release I'm stepping back to try Freespire 2.0.3 and see how it measures up..."
A while back the good folks behind Freespire, the free version of Linspire, sent me a CD with version 2.0 for me to review. I was very happy to look at it as Linspire has been a leader in getting preloaded Linux systems into retail and online outlets, something I believe is critical for mainstream Linux adoption. I knew going in that Freespire was “free as in free beer”, not an OS that would be considered free by The Free Software Foundation or most free software advocates. For those of us who are not free software purists Freespire does have one compelling feature: Linspire’s settlement with Microsoft allows them to offer Win32 codecs for playing DVDs, MP3s, etc… at no cost to the end user. For those of us who use our Linux systems for both home and business, who use laptops in front of consulting customers, who simply wish to comply with the law of the land here in the U.S., namely DMCA, whether we agree with it or not, Freespire offers a real option. Having said all that one of the first things you see when you boot a Freespire CD is their End User License Agreement (EULA), a mass of legalese reminiscent of the Windows EULA. I tried to read through it and it seems to me (and I may well be wrong about this) that if I use my system for both home and business the Freespire is NOT free for me as I can’t fall under both the “family license” or the “business license”. I can’t freely copy or redistribute the OS as a business user. I’m limited to “solely up to the number of Seats you have.” The EULA also says that I, as a business user: “You may not (and shall not allow any member of Your Business or any other third party to): (i) copy, reproduce, distribute, relicense, sublicense, rent, lease or otherwise make available the Software or any portion or element thereof except as and to the extent expressly authorized herein by Licensor; (ii) translate, adapt, enhance, create derivative works of or otherwise modify the Software or any portion or element thereof; (iii) decompile, disassemble or reverse engineer (except as and to the extent permitted by applicable local law), or extract ideas, algorithms, procedures, workflows or hierarchies from, the Software or any portion or element thereof;…” That read to me entirely like a proprietary license. Of course I am not a lawyer and I may be misinterpreting something. Still, I am seriously uncomfortable about having Freespire on my system based on their EULA. My review was also postponed by the release of version 2.03 which corrects many of the bugs I ran into. So… do I review 2.03? Probably not, at least until Freespire makes clear that they are truly an Open Source OS that I can use as I see fit without fee. I’m not at all sure Freespire is even free “as in free beer”.
DesktopLinux: "When I downloaded Freespire 2.03 for review, I wasn't sure what I was going to get..."
DesktopLinux: "Linspire... has announced the immediate availability of its first commercial paid support offerings for Freespire 2.0 users..."
Linux.com: "Despite its attractive appearance, it left me with mixed feelings..."
ReviLinux: "'The Freedom of Choice' is the slogan for this distribution and this is its associated definition..."
Community: "Freespire has a long way to go before being competitive with the really serious Linux distros. While Freespire may be the base and testing ground for its parent company, one would have to cautiously question some of the logic it uses for the attraction of potential clients..."
Linspire: "Building on the best of open source software using Ubuntu as its baseline, Freespire 2.0 adds legally licensed proprietary drivers, codecs, and applications in its core distribution, to provide a better user experience..."
Open Review: "It seems like commenting on half cooked solution, when everyone knows that it is not finished yet. But I would like to make an exception in case of Freespire..."
Linux-Watch: "When you put this all together, do you indeed end up with a loophole that will enable Microsoft to deny its foggy patent protection to Linspire 6.0 customers...?"
Linux Dummies: "The most suitable distros for a total Linux dummy are Freespire, OpenSUSE, Mandriva, and Ubuntu, according to online test called Linux Distribution Chooser..."
PR: "'Interoperability within the PC ecosystem is extremely important for Linux to find acceptance on the desktop,' said Kevin Carmony, CEO of Linspire..."
Category: Freespire Size: 683.95 MB Status: 53 seeders and 16 leechers Added: 2007-12-04 04:47:20
Category: Freespire Size: 679.25 MB Status: 55 seeders and 23 leechers Added: 2007-10-13 16:32:54
Category: Freespire Size: 677.05 MB Status: no seeders and no leecher Added: 2007-07-25 14:19:43
Category: Freespire Size: 677.21 MB Status: 2 seeders and 1 leechers Added: 2007-07-20 15:21:07
Category: Freespire Size: 667.01 MB Status: no seeders and 3 leechers Added: 2007-07-18 19:53:08