Linspire

Michael Whitley · From: Oxford, Mississippi, USA

I'm a new forum member. I'm also new to this computer I'm typing on. It's a cheap-o Chinese computer running the Linspire operating system. It used to be called Lindows, but apparently Microsoft frowned on that name. It's Linux for dummys. Like other Linux products, it's virus-resistant. I bought it for surfing, and have just pulled my XP-based system off-line. Anyone else use this?

Chris Lasher · From: Blacksburg, VA

I use Libranet GNU/Linux. It's excellent. LN3.0 should be out by mid-April. It's based on Debian, so it's quite hardcore Linux, but it's a desktop-oriented distribution and designed to make sure even Grandma has no problems using it. It's like Linspire, with the advantage of being able to be truly harnessed by power-users, should they want to.

I'll point out that Linux is not necessarily immune to viruses, and it's definitely not inpenetrable to crackers (evil hackers), but it is definitely more secure than Windows and this is in the nature of its design. Anti-Linux people point out that security-through-obscurity is still a possibility for Linux, although that's one argument that gets more difficult to place everyday as Linux's footprint in the server world, and finally now the desktop world grows larger by the day.

Michael Whitley · From: Oxford, Mississippi, USA

Thanks for the heads up, Chris. I am tickled with this system for what I bought it for, which was a cheap surfer requiring a minimal learning curve. However, it has made me want to build yet a third system (does this make me a geek?) with a good processor and a more hardcore Linux OS. What you are describing sounds like what I'm after. Also - you are correct - virus resistant does not mean virus proof, and I subscribe to anti-virus software.

Jeff Agnew · From: Dallas, TX

I was a beta tester for Lindows back in the day. Their corporate mission has changed somewhat since then. It was originally to provide a migration path for PC users by letting them run all their MS apps (Office, et. al.) on Linux. Results were dodgy, at best.

Then they focused on providing an easy to install/use Linux distribution on all hardware. Then it was to provide inexpensive, pre-installed Linux computers that were literally plug 'n' go. This has been the most successful.

You've got a rock-solid machine that will happily do most anything you'll want for a long time. Just don't try to add any hardware to it. That's the weak spot for Linspire. It's pre-configured and may/may not recognize any additions.

The only real problem I have with Linspire, at least the last time I looked, was that a user always runs as root, which is a huge no-no. Maybe they've changed that in recent releases. Anyway, congrats on your purchase. It's a nice way to get into a Linux desktop at a great price.

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