07.08.08
No, Virginia, There Won’t be Spire Under Xandros
No more than there will be a GNU/Linux under the Microsoft-reformed Corel
Let’s set the record straight. Linspire is over. The way it was finished is an embellishment. They call it an acquisition [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7], but with a sale of all assets, it’s more like a liquidation. Wishful thinkers realise that Freespire won’t be buried overnight. Well, the same goes for Windows XP, right? But does that mean that Windows XP will make a comeback? It’s a rhetorical question.
If you look at what Robertson had to say. you soon understand that he no longer has interest in Linspire. He has no high hopes for it (well, the GPLv3’s punishment for Linspire makes this deserved and inevitable).
There are those who disagree and there will probably be a vocal confrontation or legal battle, but this does not change the fate of a distribution that aligned with Microsoft’s interests and then used its position to threaten Free software.
As often is the case, VAR Guy just doesn’t get it. He is one of those who write about GNU/Linux but don’t really use it.
Goodbye, Linspire (at least as a standalone company). And thank you to Xandros for funding a market consolidation that’s badly needed. The VAR Guy applauds customer choice and open source.
This is actually a follow-up to the latest anti-choice folly, which began with a mindless ramble from Mac elitist Matt Asay. They really don’t understand or accept Free software and they are kicking a dead horse again. As for the latter, he continues to show his disdain or hatred for Linux on the desktop (another new example) and even for Richard Stallman (he has done this for years). █
Addendum: Aside from previous coverage of this closure [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9], see what Sam Dean writes: “Did Linspire sell to Xandros out of frustration with trying to promote desktop Linux?” He points to this article. It was either that or closing down then. Here is why Xandros will merely inherit Linspire’s problems (too negatives don’t make a positive).
The Xandros OS is a horrible show of what Linux could do, it actually makes peopel turn away and choose the nicer-looking XP, even though everyone knows Linux could look and perform much better. Putting this aside, I think that a merged distro would be in order to challenge the other major distributions and finally secure a good place for Xandros + Linspire in the top 5. Is it doable? I don’t know. But if they don’t do something real fast, the others are going to run them over and everybody will forget Xandros or Linspire ever existed…
For almost a year, the fate of Linspire has been gloomy. CNR is GPL-licensed, so the passing of assets will mean almost nothing. In reality, it’s almost as though the president shut down and made it look nicer (the ‘takeover’ spin).
“Linspire was a patent deal nuisance just like Xandros and it loses access to GPLv3-ed software (no grandfathering).”Linspire was a patent deal nuisance just like Xandros and it loses access to GPLv3-ed software (no grandfathering). None of these two will be missed and, over time, Novell becomes more of a Microsoft subsidiary whose role is to stomp on players like Ubuntu, Mandriva, and Red Hat. They do this using paid-for protocols, virtualisation, partners like SAP, and FUD. We’ve covered this before.
Avoid all distributions that play the software patents game with Microsoft, namely: Novell, Turbolinux, and Xandros. On top of that, avoid gadgets from LG, Samsung, and Fuji Xerox. █
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. 
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. 
Highlight: Linspire's CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company's attack on GNU/Linux. 
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. 
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. 
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft's aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy.