p2pnet - rss feed: Microsoft signs up Linspire
p2pnet.net news:- Bill and the Boyz have signed another company up in a Linux deal. But what’s interesting is the new virtual partner.
“Not so long ago Lindows was something of an oddity as much because of the identity of its founder and ceo, as anything else,” p2pnet posted way back in February, 2004, going on:
“Mike Robertson put it together and he’d made his bones, so to speak, on MP3.com, once a site where musicians could showcase their music. After many trials and tribulations, it was bought by Vivendi and finally by CNET …”
In the meanwhile, Robertson had started up Lindows, a Linux-based desktop operating system in a Windows environment. With that and, “an astute marketeer such as Robertson behind the steering wheel,” it was bound to catch Microsoft’s eye,” we said.
And it did. Some $20 million Microsoft dollars later, Lindows was Linspire and the rest is, as they say, history.
Now, Linspire will license Microsoft VoIP code, Windows Media files and TrueType fonts, says Associated Press, going on, “With the addition of the Microsoft code to Linspire’s operating system, users will be able to voice-chat with Windows Live Messenger buddies, watch Windows Media video and audio files on open-source media players, and view and create documents using familiar typefaces.
“Linspire also agreed to set Microsoft’s Web search engine as the default on PCs that run its operating system.”
We asked Linspire ceo Kevin Carmony (upper right) if this was a sudden arrangement. It wasn’t, he said. “This is something we started working on over a year and a half ago, and started formalizing in agreement form late last year.”
Nor was the Microsoft deal anything particularly new for the company, he went on.
“We have literally dozens of agreements with commercial software companies as we have licensed software, drivers and codecs, so that Linspire can support things like DVD, MP3, Flash, Java, Windows Media, QuickTime, etc. Linux exists in an ecosystem and must cooperate, collaborate and interoperate with the many partners in this space, if it has any chance of breaking into mainstream computing.”
How much will this new Linux brand cost? “Nothing,” posts Carmony. “Linspire has decided to cover the cost of these enhancements without raising the retail price of Linspire. Freespire will remain free, and the retail version of Linspire will remain at $59.95.”
And, “the agreement also protects Linspire users against legal action by Microsoft, which claims open-source software violates more than 200 of its patents,” says AP.
One way or another, Bill Gates is determined to get you to open his Windows, no matter what operating system you happened to prefer.
It’ll be interesting to see what other Linux-based companies Microsoft manages to talk into co-operating.
Also See:
something of an oddity - Microsoft -v- Lindows, February 21, 2004
Associated Press - Microsoft Signs Another Linux Deal, June 14, 2007
If your Net access is blocked by government restrictions, try Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies. Go here for the official download, and here for details. And if you’re Chinese and you’re looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent web site blocking outside of China. Download it here.
rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss | | Mobile - http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php | | And use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site
Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local politicians. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance. Don’t just complain. Do something!
June 14th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
Microsoft will buy just about every commercial distro it can in order to make some “tax” money from each person who uses a computer. Billy Gates may be a poor coder, but he is a business genius.
June 14th, 2007 at 10:56 pm
how would that work
June 15th, 2007 at 2:57 am
You need the right codec to play DVDs and Linux OSes do not ship these as standard, normally, as the codec is the property of others.
June 15th, 2007 at 10:26 am
With a licensed copy of CSS decrypter. I run Linspire on 4 machines and I have no problem playing DVD’s. Because the decrypter is separate from the player software is works fine with my DVDRipper and DVDShrink software. All commercial drivers are pre-packaged in the installation disc. I never have to go the CLI to install or modify anything. 3 of my machines have never to CLI and work just fine and that includes installing software.