On Monday, Michael Robertson of Linspire (née Lindows) preannounced two new applications, Lsongs (screenshot) and Lphoto (screenshot). Although details are scant, the applications appear to fill a gap in the Linux world currently being filled by iTunes, WinAmp, RealPlayer, iPhoto, and other apps on other platforms. The latest Michael’s Minute has more, as does this flash presentation on Lphoto.
Linspire Introduces New Linux Applications
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damn, that interface of lphoto is pretty much an exact copy of iphoto. Too bad Lindows/Linspire doesn’t even try to make something better.
From the newsletter:
“It also brings cross media format support to Linux by playing MP3, Ogg, Windows Media, QuickTime and Real media…The source code is also being published.”
I hope they’ve gotten around using the proprietary Real codecs and are publishing the source they’re using to play Real Media files. One of my very few remaining gripes about using Linux on the desktop is having to keep RealPlayer installed.
In any case, kudos to them open-sourcing both of these apps.
Lphoto is laid out EXACTLY like iPhoto is.
while that might be a testament to how good iPhoto really is, it is still ripping off.
also, I hope that Roberson has figured out how to make Digital cameras work seamlessly with Linux because it is really a pain as of now.
Are these applications open source? Available under the GPL?
According to the newsletter, they will be open source, but the license under which they’ll be released wasn’t specified.
can’t he make a product that does not try to rip off from the mind share of another product?
damn, that interface of lphoto is pretty much an exact copy of iphoto.
Will they rename Lindows Office to Loffice too?
Jeez – it goes to show, you can’t please everyone every time. Here, a guy gets ambitious and tries to create native copies of the apps keeping everyone off Linux, and this lot has the nerve to complain that it’s too much like the programs they are currently using? You have no program that can do these things yet – why is this bad? Yes, innovation is good. Yes, we’ll get there. In the meantime, you need to stop whining about GOOD things happening to Linux. This is good news, not reason to be upset.
BTW, is Eugenia away? The news rate is so abnormally low.
Six stories on a fairly slow news Monday is hardly “abnormally low.”
//On Monday, Michael Robertson of Linspire (née Lindows) preannounced two new applications, Lsongs and Lphoto//
“Preannounced?”
So … he announced a new application before he announced it?
That’s a neat trick.
This may be a bad attitude, but frankly, I could care less if they’re releasing ‘rip-offs’ of other apps, as long as they do what they should and do it well, and are released under free licenses. Yes, it would be nice to see innovation and creativity in this area. But un-creative, non-innovative funtional/usable applications are better than nothing at all.
I am not a Lindows/Linspire user, but I am sick and tired of whiners who complain and bitch no matter what you give them.
Here we are offered two really good apps, open source to boot and we still get some idiots complaining.
I am beginning to think that the Lindows crowd is beginning to “get open source” and that they want to play nice, which is great.
So welcome into the open source family. If all companies pledge to what Novell pledge, which is to give to the open source pool more than they take from it, the future is indeed bright.
And who cares about the branding. I don’t care what they call it.They could call it Michael’s Photo Manager. If it works and I have got the source, I can rebrand it as “Coolio Photo Manager” and it will all be good.
“Preannounced?”
So … he announced a new application before he announced it?
Yeah, something like that, wiseguy.
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=preannounce
“can’t he make a product that does not try to rip off from the mind share of another product?”
Um, excuse me but compare the size of the OS X development team with the Lindows development team, then tell us again how Lindows is supposed to out-innovate the platform known for its audio-visual apps…for Christsake, even Microsoft copies Apple so what are you bitching about?
I agree 100%. Though I must admit, I’m going to be a little worried about the licensing terms until I see them.
On the whole issue of Lin(dows|spire) ‘ripping off’ other products — I think this reflects their basic idea about building a successful Linux-based desktop OS. Maybe I’m reading them wrong, but I think their central idea is that Linux can succeed on the desktop by being a whole lot like some other operating systems, but more stable and cheaper. I think that what some people characterize as ‘ripping off’ is their attempt to keep their desktop as familiar as possible to people who’ve never used Linux before. They don’t necessarily *want* to create apps that look new and different. I don’t know if I’m correct about this being their philosophy, and I certainly don’t know if it’s tenable. But I think it explains what they’re doing.
And Lindows got ahold of the iPhoto code how?
They’re very involved in the devolopment of OSS s/w (resifer,KDE,etc). I wish other distros were this devoted *cough Xandros *cough
> this app is most likely 90% code cut and pasted from iPhoto
Linspire may have ripped iPhoto’s UI but they certainly haven’t “copied” iPhoto’s source code !
So, it’s like trying to copy a Ferrari. Most of the work is not to create a visual copy of the Ferrari, it’s to create the engine. And at the end of the day, it’s the engine that will make the difference.
I was disappointed to see the menu icons for Lphoto at the bottom, which is counter to standard KDE UI. Hopefully this is something they fix in the final version.
Since when is an interface copyrighted?
If they where Apple would be rich with windows licenses!
Of course if you copy both the interface and the design… you are in trouble… because, design can be copyrighted…
As for the functionalities of the apps, they can be good in themself, but, they aren’t exactly innovative… (itunes isn’t much of an innovation by itself… itunes is innovation as a concept – the software implementation is irrelevant).
The trolls say it’s a ripoff, whatever … Show some respect to Lindows for putting their money where their mouth is, by making some great looking apps and opening them to the community. Quit your belly aching, trolls.
excuse me, but I made two separate comments. one bashing him for naming it Lphoto (give us at least a creative name for crimany sakes)
then I proceeded to comment on the iPhoto interface rip off which I did concede is a testament to iPhoto, however, as I said, such a straight copy could have been avoided and the functionality and good looks could have remained.
Interface features can be patented AFAIK.
Ack software patents!
but at least try not to make it obvious that you have no creative ability.
to me it seems like whoring and a little dirty.
names that sound nice and are not mindshare ripoffs…from the top of my head:
Photon
Photonic
Photogenic
Photographic
The most importand questions is the license, only if it is the GPL then thumbs up
from michaels minutes: “Lindows has some other surprises at the Summit”
Any hints on this?
Since when is an interface copyrighted?
If they where Apple would be rich with windows licenses!
Actually, Apple did try to sue Microsoft and lost.
On the Flash demo, the name sounds Spanish, “el Photo.” Also, I’ve never seen anyone use French to name a previous name “Linspire (née Lindows)” especially being as it has an accent and some browsers *cough IE *cough seem to load them incorrectly.
And I agree, quit complaining about everything. You go out and try to create a photo management application. Ain’t easy, is it? So who cares if they copy a little from the interface, congrats to them for their awesome programming skills. And who could copy and paste from code that no one has access to…? Yeah, just my two bits.
Dont complain about the copying of the interface, look at Adobe Photoshop Album, its a blatant ripoff of iPhoto and they made APA Windows only. My main poblem with this approach is that Linspire is starting to take the “Apple Approach” by this they are creating software for Linux and most major companies will not port software to alternate platforms if something usable already exists. LSongs looks like a modified version of JuK which I really dont care about, but if Linspire added CD Burning similar to what iTunes and Windows Media Player offers now then I will give them kudos. LPhoto they may hear some gripes from Apple over the name, but if LSongs was named LTunes then they would suffer Steve’s wrath, remember what happened to xTunes? My major hurdle for a complete Linux desktop would be seamless interfacing with the iPod, I have already tried GTKPod and it doesnt work worth 2 cents, and support for other MP3 players and consumer devices would spring Linux forward a big way. Video Cameras and Digital Cameras are not a big deal, SmartMedia readers make most Digital Cameras Linux compliant anyway.
Guys… This is a good thing… Linspiro (Agnew?) could be the Apple in the Linux world… The interface still seems too clunky (IMHO) BUT they’re trying!
I wonder when el-Movie and el-Studio (GarageBand) will be released.
I wonder what el Gato would be???
Perhaps Apple will be motivated to release the whole iSuite to the world. iTunes for windows works as good as the OS X version.
fo ipod try also the quite new:
http://kde-apps.org/content/show.php?content=11962
UGLY
You know, I wish the Apple/Windows folks would quit bitching about “copying.” Much of whats in MacOS and Windows (with the notable exception of the MacOS UI) is a copy of some form or the other. If Microsoft was, for example, prevented from copying the things other OSs had first (virtual memory, VFSs, networking, etc), Windows and MacOS would be unusable. If the inventors of technologies like semaphores, microkernels, loadable drivers, dynamic linkers, threading, etc, had patented their innovations, MacOS and Windows, in their modern form, would not exist!
Copying is the highest form of flattery, and all that. Really, iPhoto and iTunes are excellent apps, and *not* copying them would’ve been like trying too hard to be an individual (something I hope we all got over in highschool). That said, LPhoto and LSong are just not “cool” names. At least the so-called “iApp” naming scheme appeals to *some* people. The L, now, that’s just reaching a bit too far.
So now, what, we’ve got i for Apple, K for KDE, sometimes a G for GNOME, and now an L for Lindows / LinSpire… look closely, and you’ll also find a number of “x” apps that ship standard with X Windows. Then there’s “Win…” for Windows programs. I’m sure I’m missing a few.
I think the whole thing falls under the same catergory as suffixes being used in place of MIME-types. It just makes a name look clunky, and makes the whole thing seem more cumbersome than if ya just gave it a good name.
>>UGLY
What’s ugly to me in those screenshots isn’t the interface per se, but the window decorations and the style (scrollbars, ets.) I bet it would look amazing if you apply the Baghira theme to KDE (get it from kdelook.org), which looks an awful lot like panther (but even better in some ways).
While I think it’s great that they try to fill the void in these areas I think they could have bothered to at least come up with an original name. The interface could also have been considered a lot more, but perhaps they are lacking UI-designers.
Doesn’t seem that people learned anything from the guys that created the Rebirth clone some years ago. Where’s that app now?
Not only are they copying iPhoto, it looks like the entire web site is a blatant rip off of Apple. It made me laugh looking at it because they also try to copy the original Apple Garamond font that Apple no longer uses. Not nearly as professional looking as Apple’s site.
What irks me about the copying of Apple applications is that Linspire did not really look to extend what Apple has already done. That is what seperates Apple from many of the open source companies. Apple sees a complex problem and makes a solution that is simple and easy to understand by a regular user! Don’t get me wrong, offering this application to the community is great but extending it beyond what Apple engineers have already created is what will make this application stand out. To me this is just cool that it is available, nothing great about it other than I have an iPhoto like app for Linux.
Copying is the sincerest form of flattery!
We need to take some Gnome apps, replace gtk with QT, and call them new. Exactly what “gap” do these applications fill? So now we have iPhoto and iTunes for linux…we had gPhoto and Rhythmbox already! So NOW what do we have? We have two projects that have been re-implemented to do EXACTLY the same thing, in EXACTLY the same way! There was no gap here! All Linspire has done is moved the interface to rhythmbox around!
As much as I respect what Linspire is trying to do (go toe-to-toe with Microsoft to offer a better desktop experience), I can’t help but think that they’re going about it all wrong. They had that html WYSIWYG editor a while back which was 100% mozilla with QT thrown on the interface, and now these two, which are 100% Gnome with QT on the interface. All they’ve done is take excellent applications, forked them for no other reason than the fact that it suited them to do so, and the result is too many projects with developers spread too thin. Their time would be better spent improving Rhythmbox, or adding new features to gPhoto, but instead they’ve decided to make an all-out copy.
For this reason, it is my sincere hope that Linspire fails. They are nothing but a burden to the community. If you’re going to come up with something new, come up with something new…but don’t go trying to fake it.
>>What irks me about the copying of Apple applications is that Linspire did not really look to extend what Apple has already done.
This isn’t even the first version we’re looking at. I think it’s a good starting point. And I find it very encouraging that linux companies are looking to Apple applications for inspiration a lot more now (the next version of Evolution looks a LOT more like Entourage than Outlook) instead of copying Windows every single time. This is just going to make Linux better, especially if they do the right thing and GPL it.
While its good there are these apps for Linspire, but could the Linux community please get some original names. Putting the L in front of applications (Lphoto and Lsongs) is just as bad as the KDE crew putting K in front of everything and the Gnome crew putting G in front of everything. Good apps don’t need the single letter identifier.
So now, what, we’ve got i for Apple, K for KDE, sometimes a G for GNOME, and now an L for Lindows / LinSpire… look closely, and you’ll also find a number of “x” apps that ship standard with X Windows. Then there’s “Win…” for Windows programs. I’m sure I’m missing a few.
Ami/a for Amiga, Be/B for BeOS etc.
I think the only one it generally works for is Be, because it can result in some really corny names.
Some of the K-apps has good names as well, Kontact and Krita for example.
You should either try to quote the right person or direct the reply to the right person
Anyway, generally the best way to make original things is not to look at how other people has done it. This can be applied to pretty much everything from music to vacuumcleaners, because that’s usually where innovation starts. This can be both good and bad, you can either get it completey wrong but you can also get a completely new groundbreaking product that everyone will love.
But it also depends on how creative you are. When I heard about Lphoto I started thinking about the band Silverchair. Now their first album was an attemt to ripoff nirvana and it made them popular, in their second album they tried to rip off Pearl Jam, they were still popular but the popularity started to fade (PJ was never as popular as Nirvana, could explain it). Then they tried to be somewhat original and they just went away.
I think that’s what will happend to Linspire. These guys just doesn’t seem to have the creativity in them. They have a pretty good business sense and they are bold, but they seriously need to hire more creative people.
They both look like pure trash. Rhythmbox and F-Spot are original and non-Linspire branded.
As an insider I have beta tested Lsongs and Lphoto for a while. The interface you see in the presentation and the screenshots is the current one.
BUT, as an insider I have also seen a preview of what these apps will look like when Linspire 5.0 arrives (due in approx. 2 months), and all I can say is DAMN. It is gonna look SOOO good. (as will the rest of the OS).
I agree current look isn’t the most beautiful, but the upcoming look will exceed Applies iApps by far…
Actually, Adobe’s Photoshop album isn’t really a ripoff. They did one thing right and that is to let people categorize their photos easily rather than creating albums only. I used to like iPhoto but once I tried Album, I realized that it was much more powerful. The ease of use AND power of Album is what differentiates it from iPhoto, and now Lphoto. You can drag tags onto each photo saying what and who is in the picture. You can then go back and easily find all the pictures that have say, my cat and my son in them without having to create an album that says my son and my cat. It just shows that innovation doesn’t have to die once you leave Inifinite Loop.
On one hand I aplaud them for building these apps, because they are much needed. But, on the other I have to ask the question…. wtf?!?!?!, can you guys do *anything* original? I mean come on….you’ve decided to build two much needed apps for Linux, BRAVO! So why not take all the leading media players and photo software and make a list of what you want, another list of what you dont, a list of *shock* new ideas, a list of potential names, and start sketching out some UI design work? Is it so hard? Instead you have to completely rip-off someone elses work…..and if that wasnt bad enough you have to rip off the way they name their apps as well. LSongs isnt a spot on ripoff, though most of it is close. LPhoto on the other hand is spot on identical layout to iPhoto. I really dont want to knock these guys, but they really are starting to look like a company whose sole purpose is to make headlines or money off other ppls software, trademarks, and/or copyrights.
You can then go back and easily find all the pictures that have say, my cat and my son in them without having to create an album that says my son and my cat. It just shows that innovation doesn’t have to die once you leave Inifinite Loop.
You can do the same thing in iPhoto.. Press command-K, select a few keyword, press search.
You can then go back and easily find all the pictures that have say, my cat and my son in them without having to create an album that says my son and my cat. It just shows that innovation doesn’t have to die once you leave Inifinite Loop.
Oh yeah, I added that functionality in my Tracker on BeOS five years ago. How innovative I am.
My guess is that it’s been available in some products since the mid 90’s and in general databases even longer.
We need more apps. Good job Lindows.
I don’t get it, Juk and KimDaba are two applications I can’t live without. What hole is there two fill exactly?
On the other hand, choice is nice, and if the license is really open, I can do nothing else than welcome them.
“the applications appear to fill a gap in the Linux world currently being filled by iTunes, WinAmp, RealPlayer, iPhoto, and other apps on other platforms.”
iTunes -> Rhythmbox, Muine, Jamboree, Juk…
WinAmp -> XMMS, Beep, FreeAmp
RealPlayer -> RealPlayer
, Totem, Kaffeine
iPhoto -> f-spot, KPhotoBook, fotoon
Now, can some linux-basher please explain me how is that a gap, or a lack of good applications?
Well, as a Mac user, I feel it’s sad that they didn’t set out to create something better. As it stands now it leaves a somewhat bitter taste about OpenSource having a _very_ hard time to inovate instead of just copy.
Though as a User I whish you all the luck with these applications. I love iPhoto and iTunes and am sure you will too.
🙂
cu Martin
Well, as a Mac user, I feel it’s sad that they didn’t set out to create something better. As it stands now it leaves a somewhat bitter taste about OpenSource having a _very_ hard time to inovate instead of just copy.
I don’t think it would be that hard for opensource projects to be innovative if they would just let some designers into the game. There’s a lot of people with innovative ideas who can’t code for one reason or the other, these people are often pushed away from opensource projects. When they come to present their ideas the devs sais something like “well sure. here, have an Emacs and go code it yourself!”. I personally hate to write code, but it’s pretty much the only way to realize your ideas without starting up a company and hire programmers.
There’s a few people who are great at doing both things, and they have created some nifty apps. But those people are rare.
In a company, it’s the programmers jobs to code apps from the designers ideas, they pretty much have to or else they will lose their jobs. In the OSS world, they have no responsibility towards anyone.
iTunes -> Rhythmbox, Muine, Jamboree, Juk…
WinAmp -> XMMS, Beep, FreeAmp
RealPlayer -> RealPlayer
, Totem, Kaffeine
iPhoto -> f-spot, KPhotoBook, fotoon
Yes, there are apps, but there is no real standard. You’ve proven my point. None of the existing apps are standards. There doesn’t have to be a single app, but there are usually a few who set the bar and are relative mainstays. Like Photoshop is. Like the Gimp is. Like iTunes is. Not necessarily the one to rule them all, but certainly one that has an established spot on the map.
JuK is great, but hardly the most well known. Rhythmbox is cool, but has lots of bugs.
XXMS does NOT do what WinAmp 5 does with the music library, unless it’s been undated since I last checked.
RealPlayer SUUUUUUUUCKS. The Linux version is older than my grandmother. Totem and Kaffiene have promise. But neither is truly stable on any machine I’ve used.
I’ve never even heard of your iPhoto replacements.
You see where we’re going here? We want a few base apps that every knows about and draw people to Linux. Not ones that just serve as a functional midway point from the Windows version.
What do you think the creators of Mozilla, Apt, Dashboard, Muine and Storage feel when they hear there’s no innovation coming from Open Source?
“For this reason, it is my sincere hope that Linspire fails. They are nothing but a burden to the community. If you’re going to come up with something new, come up with something new…but don’t go trying to fake it.”
Honestly, it doesn’t take a degree in marketing to see Lindows’ (yes, I’m still calling them Lindows)strategy. They’re not competing with other Linux distros, they’re competing with Windows. They are doing more to bring Linux to the common man than any other distributor. Whether you consider Lindows being pre-installed on more different pcs than and other distro, or the fact they have a legitimate DVD player, or these new apps, or the CNR to make it easy on people…you have to look at the whole package of what they’re offering, though it’s not much for the experienced Linux user, to a refugee from Windows who knows nothing of OSS, it’s getting closer and closer to being everything they need to make the transition with as little hassle as possible.
> n’ee Lindows
I didn’t know Linspire was feminine…
Why are so many people duplicating other peoples efforts in Linux. We already have projects giving exactly the same programs. If these Linspire people are to do anything constructive then work with what is already in coding progress, get the sapps to a great standard and then everyone benefits. At the moment all I see is a hell of a lot of effort going to waste in parallel projects which are dedicated to quite trivial apps.
How about bringing to Linux some real apps that allow people to get things done or push the boundaries of computing and what we can do. All this mediocre prosumer garbage doesn’t help the platform. I would prefer more concentration on the Controller Input interfaces of Linux or the unification of Sound API’s that allow for a decent media server alla BeOS (minus the bugs but the concept is very good) where there is modularity and apps can take advantage of any sound/media module installed on the system without a rewrite. This can then be applied to video, office apps and a whole gamit of computing tasks.
Linux has a great kernel and there are some good things happening on the desktop as far as user interface goes but there needs to be some unification and modularity employed. At the moment all I see are half assed apps with many projects replicating each others work. Move on and provide a better system than any other.
This is a good thing.
As long as they are carefull not to tread on Apple’s patents (UI and not) and still be able to come close… then it is good.
Both are licensed under the GPL and the source code is available at the following URLs.
http://linspire.com/lindows_products_details.php?id=12329&pg=specs
http://linspire.com/lindows_products_details.php?id=12424&pg=specs
I agree – I am not a Linux geek, all I want in life is an OS that will Play DVD’s, Music, Store my photos. Play games. Give me email and web access. Allow me to write letters and do spread sheets, to use my scanner and printer and keep any junk I want in my documents style folder, and all this from a click of an icon form the desktop.
Linspire does this for me – except for games, I have an added bonus of not worrying about security- but I am sure this will change over time as linux gets more popular.
As for who did what first and how it looks compared to another like application, I really dont care, just want to get on with my life and have a bit of computing fun
Thats my input – not really contributing to your debait – but I am avarage user who maybe represents the general user market, and to be fair this OS works for me. Oh and i like have applications that have nice freindly names
I agree completely. But I have two reservations.
The first is a personal pet peeve, and will likely mean nothing for the success of their business: It gets under my skin that they don’t distribute all their software under free licenses. Obviously it’s their choice, and again, I don’t think it’ll impact their success or failure.
The second is why I think they won’t succeed in making their product a mainstream desktop OS: I don’t think that the subscription pay-per-month idea is going to take off. I don’t believe users want to subscribe to a download service of that sort, even if it is a fantastic deal. I don’t think it’s marketable. Of course, only the future will tell.
“The second is why I think they won’t succeed in making their product a mainstream desktop OS: I don’t think that the subscription pay-per-month idea is going to take off. I don’t believe users want to subscribe to a download service of that sort, even if it is a fantastic deal”
I, for one, like the Click N Run subscription. It works extremely well and I havent had any dependancy issues like I did with Mdk, SuSe and the like. Contrary to what has been said, it downloads fast, installs fast and puts icons on the desktop. I dont mind paying a measly 4.95 a month for this ease of Linux use. Looking forward to enjoying Lsongs and Lphoto as well. Yes, I have tried the some other linux apps for this but they were cumbersome and I still had to use GIMP for simple editing which for new users is a fairly steep learning curve. I hope Linspire makes it to the Big top!
I agree – I am not a Linux geek, all I want in life is an OS that will Play DVD’s, Music, <snip>
You’re not asking much
Lucky you. And here I walk around wishing for friends, family and happiness 
But I know what you mean. Even though there are other easy to use distros some things can be a hassle to install and setup. I haven’t been able to watch DVDs on my Mandrake 10 install yet, the apps either quits or play a very distorted version.
However, I can do all those things in BeOS with no hassle. That’s why it’s my main OS. I just use linux for web development.
Fair point…each to there own OS and many happy years of using it too;)
…and yes my life is rather sad isn’t it
Time to experience the outside world and leave the keyboard alone for a day or 2 – eeeekkk!
Waz
…I’d honestly have to say that Apple legal is going to rip Linspire a new one.
As a linux user it’s great to see applications that do what other operating systems already do so easily. It is sad however to see that they cannot even come up with their own interface. Hell it may have been better!
Guys, do something innovative and stop imitating other platforms.
At this point, the real innovation in this industry would be to create a viable competitor to Windows. Someday, maybe someday soon, we’ll have developers creating wonderfully innovative applications for Linux – maybe some of the people who have said here how easy it would have been! Creating an innovative platform is the job of distribution makers. Creating innovative applications is the job of independent developers.
” I haven’t been able to watch DVDs on my Mandrake 10 install yet, the apps either quits or play a very distorted version.
”
Are you using Totem? Because I find Totem freezes up on me everytime I use it. Finally gave up and put in Mplayer.
Why is it that Apple can borrow the Mach kernel along with BSD and make OS X out of it, and that’s called innovation? But if anybody else copies/imitates, then it’s imitation?
Very interesting, both applications are written with Python.
I have been waiting for a click and run sort of thing for linux for a long time. I have been a Stardock ODNT member since It’s inception and love the way they distribute software. Think about it from average joe’s point of view.
One He don’t care if the app looks like some other one he just want’s it to work( try the newest PS and PSP they look so much alike it’s hard to tell then apart if you have them both running)
Two grabbing software from a “warehouse” and getting it installed or upgraded with no hassle is great for the average person.
Give linspire some credit for getting the app into the hands of the noobie or other lazy guys like me.. who wouldn’t have fooled with downloading and compinling or screwing with rpm or deb dependencies.
I still use WinXP as my main os because of the lack of polished software, still haveing nightmares from trying to install sofware on mandrake and suse, I refuse to go back to a CLI to install a display driver( I can do it but I shouldn’t have to.), and headaches with my usb mouse.
I may soon be a Linspire user if they keep putting new polished software in the warehouse and keep the prices low.
iPhoto is a trademark of Apple, and the interface may copyrighted-LPhoto could be considered infringing on both.
Are you using Totem? Because I find Totem freezes up on me everytime I use it. Finally gave up and put in Mplayer.
I’ve tried them all. And yes, I did install all the thousands of libs and codecs *sigh*.
Totem works best, because it can actually play the vob-files if I open them manually, it’s just that they aren’t really watchable
Mplayer will just freeze and I’ll have to kill it. VLC will just close whenever I open it (i suspect this is a lib issue but I’ve been unable to resolve it). I haven’t given this a lot of time (only a couple of hours) since I can play DVDs in BeOS anyway. But it still bugs me how tricky some things can be to get working in linux. In BeOS i just download the zipfile and unpack it. Works out of the box. No need to hunt all over the web for newer or unsupported packages or trying to resolve dependancy issues (yes, they do happend with apt-get).
And some people claim that BeOS is too idealistic. Then what is Linux?
Linspire gets my kudos. Two new sweet looking GPL apps for GNU/Linux. Good on them, look at the desktop Linux competitors, Xandros and Lycoris, what have they given back to the community? Not much, if anything. Xandros file manager is propreitary. Whereas Linspire have sponsored Nvu (which is shaping up really nicely), Lphoto, Lsongs, KDE-Look and Everaldo’s icon theme for kids. Lindows 5.0 sounds like it is going to be a great product too, from what i’ve read – kernel 2.6, KDE 3.2 and the new apps.
Three words for Linspire: Keep it up!
Oh yeah, the names (Lphoto, Lsongs) really suck hard though.
The programs are written in Python. They both require PyQt, so the look&feel seamlessly integrates wih the KDE desktop (I’m running it here with the Plastik style). LSongs is based on the Pyxine bindings, so it can play basically every file xine does.
“excuse me, but I made two separate comments. one bashing him for naming it Lphoto (give us at least a creative name for crimany sakes)”
Yeah, nothing worse than copying the name of another companies product. No originality at all there, and they should be ashamed to try to just modify the name a little bit to make it seem original…
Now if you will all pardon me, I have to get back to reading the PDF manual for some image processing, organising, and capture software that I’ve had for years.
It was made by U-Lead Systems, copywrited 1992, and the name is…
iPhoto Plus…
For Windows, no less…
The original…
Thank you for that. I was just about to post that and saw someone else had.
Having said that, the names are a bit awful, but I can’t see much way of making them better unless they just dropped the L and maybe changed the songs to tunes.
So you’d have Web Browser, Email, Photos (maybe Pictures), Tunes…
It would fit with the rest of their (re)naming conventions and would really leave users in little doubt as to what the programs did.
Simple (and familiar) is good remember.
This is to everyone complaining about the similarity to iPhoto, etc.
Damn those Knoppix rip offs! Why can’t they be more original!! — Think before you post.
Dashboard isn’t really so innovative as it began as a Mono implementation of the sidebar that MS was first demoing back when the details on Longhorn were first coming to light (based on some of the work done in MSN Explorer more than a couple of years ago). Either way, it is something of great use and pretty cool at the same time; sorry to burst your bubble though
Of course, this is the same as the Mozilla folks trying to claim tabbed browsing as innovation, even though there were implementations long before… which by definition means that Mozilla did not innovate there, but rather imitated.
I wasn’t thinking about tabbed browsing, but rather on XUL, XBL, etc. Mozilla isn’t only a browser, it is a whole development platform.
…I suppose you all contemn OpenOffice for being a MS Office rip-off, XMMS for being a Winamp ripoff, KDE for being a Windows ripoff, Mozilla for being a Mosaic ripoff and Kopete/Gaim for being an ICQ/MSN ripoff.
I tried Rythmbox 0.8 yesterday and was very disappointed. I really like the UI, but when you import 60.000 MP3s, Rhythmbox isn’t usable any more. iTunes for Windows has no problems with the same big library on the same computer.
I really hope Lsongs will be able to work with that many songs – however, I don’t understand why they ripped off the iTunes UI. Rhythmbox also uses the iTunes paradigm but has it’s own UI.
Good job Linspire. Linux needs these kinds of apps.
I’ve tried Lindows Live CD and it’s great, and especialy is nice how they changed names of apps. It is less confucing for first time Linux users who come from Windows to find apps in menu. names of most Linux apps are uber-confusing. Linspire will be very good distro with nice selection of no-nonsence apps that do their job.
I’m isntalling mono to try out Muine, but this lsongs app looks very nice.
And I like music choice in screenshot.. Jethro Tull rocks!!!! 🙂
damn, that interface of lphoto is pretty much an exact copy of iphoto. Too bad Lindows/Linspire doesn’t even try to make something better.
Ok…I don’t use Lin{dows,spire} and I don’t like Lin{dows,spire} either. But if you’re going to pick on them for something, you picked the wrong thing to pick on them for.
If you’re going to slam LPhoto and LSongs, why not slam XMMS too? It completely copies WinAmp’s interface–it even uses the WinAmp 2 skin format as its native skin format. Hell, in the past, it was called X11Amp and used the same default skin as WinAmp.
That’s just what linux needs – inferior, messy looking clones of iTunes and iPhoto…
No, those are equal-quality, good-looking clones of iTunes and iPhoto. The identical interface makes it easy for people to switch, since no retraining is required.
Providing quality, near-identical and cheap alternatives for commercial programs is a good thing. If you cannot understand that then you are a zealot.
Lphoto ist a very arrant clone of iphoto, i’d be amazed if Linspire doesn’t get trouble.
I am amazed at the complaining. In these days where computer hardware keeps getting more powerful and less expensive, our ‘Point and Click’ ‘Internet Appliance’ friends and family members generally are stuck with buggy, virus plagued bloatware that keeps getting more expensive! Along comes a truly solid, easy to use and affordable alternative for a desktop operating system, but many who should applaud would rather denigrate. Kinda sad. I find it wonderful that “Cross Platform” issues are fading away because “Binary Compatiblity” is becoming more of a reality. Pick nits and flame away, but companies like LindowsInc. and Mandrake are making everyones lives much better. A PC OS for $49.95 software for the cost of $4.95 per month (pay as you go, btw). is a great price compared to the high priced alternative with all the support software and all its downtime for maintenance.
First off, these apps look like they’ll make a nice addition to the Linux desktop. I doubt I’ll use them much, but I’ll be sure to install them on mom’s machine when they’re ready.
Secondly, to everybody whining about these being “rip-offs” …I say screw ’em. After all, they stole X
;-P
As a ui designer, artist and programmer I have to say those are two of the butt ugliest applications I’ve ever seen. How much crack do you smoke before that pinstripe traffic light crap looks good??
I’ve seen plenty of photo organising apps and music player apps that look similar to iPhoto and iTunes anyway, the interfaces of those 2 apps were never 100% original. theres only a certain number of ways to make a certain function look.
most word processors look like Word for example, are they all copying each other or is that just the way the task needs to be done.
Innovation, well, not interesting really. People don’t care who came up with something first, they want good software. I think we may have something here.
However, I don’t think this Lsong thing is any good. Lsongs doesn’t fill any gap. That’s nonsense, rhythmbox and juk are both doing very well and if linspire needed a music player they should have helped juk development, or even rhythmbox or even better, both. I’m sure the linspire people have some talented developers who can do great things for open source, but please, join us, don’t work your asses of doing duplicate effort. And using xine as backend is good, but what about gstreamer? Where is the open discussion? How can I send my suggestions? I don’t get it.
The lphoto thingy might be useful and I love how these two applications are released under the gpl, but I don’t understand why they don’t include the community more. We can all help you know, and most of us are willing. Get an open mailinglist going, get this thing on sourceforge or similar, develop this thing as an open application and I’ll love it to death.
WOW! Notepad is laid out EXACTLY like WordPad!!! Really people, if the interface works, it works. Have you seen another layout or “innovation” in any of your other apps? Say, a mixer, spreadsheet, etc? How about the K-bar or Start Menu? Same thing. A button to get to yer stuff. The GUI interface isn’t always what makes an app, but it is what the user is going to have to see. In the case of Linspire (and linux in general) I think it’s a great idea tyhey take cues from other apps out there in the market, as that’s what they are up against.
Apple put money and effort into designing the iApps, and Linux distro do like Microsoft and steal from them?!
Linux can do well on its own merits, without making carbon copies of other programs. Linspire should rightfully be paying Apple to license its UI, but they stole it instead. Free software is great, but only when all the contributors agree to contribute. This is theft.
I hope “Linspire” gets sued…
You people really are pathertic. Why dont you just stop playing with these crummy linux builds on POS intel/amd boxes and just move to Apple. You get great hardware, great software, and BSD unix that is very open-source friendly. Then instead of trying to copy a good thing you can just have it.
I sure hope so. It’s one thing copying someone’s ideas. It’s another to rip the names as well, and swap one letter. I’m all for re-implementing, just not unashamed copying. Just seems lame to me.
They didn’t lose they settled when billy boy bought a bunch of non voting stock and promised to keep developing Office for the Mac.
iPhoto is more then just the interface it is the engine and the way it is weaved into the OS and complimenting apps. That being said the least they could of done would be to move things around a little and at least make it a little different . This is the worst “design around” I have ever seen even the icons are near copies.
“On the whole issue of Lin(dows|spire) ‘ripping off’ other products — I think this reflects their basic idea about building a successful Linux-based desktop OS. Maybe I’m reading them wrong, but I think their central idea is that Linux can succeed on the desktop by being a whole lot like some other operating systems, but more stable and cheaper”
This may very well be true, but here’s the thing, everything that ticks me off on the rip-offs:
– I don’t think things get more stable than OS X, but that aside;
– copying good ideas is not wrong, following “standards” isn’t either;
– however copying to this degree is very uninspired and disrespectful;
– especially if you’re planning to use the rip-offs in your commercial ventures. We’re not talking about bringing OSS to the needy, we’re talking about making a buck;
– however: as rip-offs go, they could have done better on the looks, a lot better. This doesn’t inspire at all;
– and the naming is L-ame. The i-Rage at least has *some* meaning and talks about the USER, Linspire’s naming scheme talks about itself while cannibalizing on other people’s efforts. It shows the degree of un-inspiredness (sorry, horrible word) they try to aim for.
– and Linspire now should become at least as good as Apple in actually handling the media. I think they stand a chance with iTunes – apart from the shop- supporting Ogg etc gives them a good edge. But iPhoto? Bring out the drivers… Go ahead and make my day. See, being almost Windows suddenly isn’t good enough anymore.
Anyway, regardless of what they try to provide, imo Linspire means”LEAST-inspired” distro around.
On my Linux adventures, Linspire is one distro I’ll really try to avoid using. I already have an easy and stable platform (OS X), but I am willing to be surprised by new ideas, fresh approaches and original solutions to existing problems though… And there’s a lot of good and inspiring about OSS, both in principle and in actual accomplishments. These programs however are more interesting as controversial marketing tools than as accomplishments.
Get a grip, Linux is a rip-off of Unix. An awful lot of open source projects rip-off proprietary programs in one way or another, open your eyes, it’s hard to be original, very few products manage to be.
I am very impressed that someone in the Linux world has looked at other companies (Apple and even MS) to see what has kept them (Apple being the most interesting) around and on-top for so long.
Looking at the Linux world to see what is missing (Not just the OS) and then try it’s best to provide those missing “links” to Linux users. What I hope is that Lindows will do something smart like make the apps free for Lindows users (Click and run) but low in cost to other Linux OS users (I would pay a small fee for each to use them in Mandrake or Xandros etc)
Ether way as I have said in the past, the thing killing Linux is not the useability of the OS which is growing in leaps and bounds. The killer right now is the lack of well known applications. If and when companies like Adobe and Macromedia make applications native to Linux (Like they do for Apple) Linux will take it’s place in the desktop world. When a person goes to buy a Linux machine and they look on the shelf and see the Linux version of TurboTax next to the Windows version of TurboTax, people will start to pick up the Linux machines. Until then Linux will be heard but not seen.