LindowsOS 4.0 is expected to be released this week and so the Lindows.com web site is down for upgrade at press time. In the meantime, the Lindows.com folks released a funky Lindows theme song called “Lindows Rock”. To view the video clip, you will need Flash.
Do the Lindows Rock
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Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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Made me laugh… Very catchy.
Don’t compile that Linux tar!
Bill wants XP to be as slick!
Folks at Microsoft are sick!
That’s not bad, but I have to say that “Modern SCO Executive” song that I saw Linux Weekly News posted was better. Too bad they didn’t have people sing it. It was posted by Rick Moen to a mailing list. Check it out at this link: http://lwn.net/Articles/34848/
Let’s hope they spent some time working with KDE and not just changing a theme and a couple flashy things like most KDE based ones do
Ok, I surely don’t want to be a “Lindows boy” who lives in a “Lindows world” but the video is funny.
The Lindows OS is just as catchy once you use it. 4.0 will be a great OS.
Somehow, I don’t think many will be paying much attention to Lindows on Monday considering the big Apple WWDC keynote from Steve Jobs is getting a lot of anticipation.
Mr. Robertson: Waiting till next Monday might be a bit better if you want to get more press attention.
I agree that they should have waited for Tuesday.
I think one software company just lost its dignity.
Lindows, Give Debian some respect…
Give before you receive…
Why? What do you want them to do exactly? Cut the trolling please.
Wurd!
but after listenting to that song, I’m starting to seriously question my hetrosexuality.
lol
One of my friend got a lindow box from walmart. I have to say it is pretty impressive he compared that to his windows mellinium box which crashed every 20 mins . Lindows works great as desktop for people who doesnt want to fiddle with linux . My preferenec is still Redhat but Lindows will make head way if they can make more improvements. My friend now uses his lindows as his desktop the old windows box he had is now a linux box too.
From what I have seen if people start using linux specially Redhat 9.0 or lindows they never go back to windows.
…they are waiting until Tuesday for the official announcement. The site is supposed to be up and running on Monday, but they expect there will be a few kinks to work out.
Actually, there are two announcements on Monday; Apple’s server products, and Microsoft’s Pocket PC 2003.
OMG, that flash movie is too funny. That’s what Linux needs, marketing people! Maybe you don’t like Lindows (I don’t) but that’s good stuff that will get passed around many times on the net and increase brand awareness.
I think this song is more Reggae style than rock, lol!
Kudos Lindows!
Mark
LOL, it was cheesy but its catching. Not to mention funny.
Guy I work with is a Lindows “Insider,” and I’ve been playing around with his beta release of 4.0, and it’s very slick indeed. I’m going to “get myself a Lindows box” for my daughter’s birthday. Can’t beat the price and it will be perfect for her. I’m guessing Lindows will turn my 7 year old into a Linux geek!
zz
Noticing Lindows is getting Flash heavy. Creative
<rant>
That was absolutely ridiculous. How on earth do they expect anyone to take their company or their product seriously with idiotic little stunts like that? Things like this only prove what Lindows was in the beginning and still is, a product designed to exploit the stupidity of customers and in turn be a get-rich-quick scheme for Mr. Robertson.
To understand this, let’s look at the fundamentals behind this. First, no secret Microsoft has a let’s say? less than stellar customer satisfaction rating. Most people only use Microsoft OSes due to the fact they come preinstalled on their computers. Many of those people also dislike Microsoft, but have no idea why and can only recall vague bits of the anti-trust lawsuit. They don’t understand the real reasons that Microsoft has damaged the industry such as proprietizing industry standards.
With the feelings towards Microsoft in mind, it’s obvious that a way to profit off of it would be to create an alternative to their product. However, creating a new OS from scratch is a very arduous and expensive task. In comes Debian, an OS they can alter very lightly and call their own, then turn around and sell it for profit. An OS they contributed nearly nothing to, aside from an altered installed, an uglied up variation of the Mozilla Orbit theme and the Click-N-Run warehouse, allowing users to download FREE open source applications for only $100 per year (excluding the one or two retail applications in that bunch like StarOffice).
After that little pillage, the next step was to market it. Anyone remember their bold claims of Windows compatibility, which they later recanted? Well, a lot of people do remember those claims, but a lot do not remember Lindows taking those claims back. Mis-information spreads like wildfire and it?s very slow to correct. Robertson also used his industry pull from his former project MP3.com to get a 2 ½ minute segment on CNN to promote Lindows and used outrageous claims, rants, and publicity stunts to gain exposure elsewhere (such as the Lindows name itself).
In short, I feel that Lindows is exactly what I said it was in the beginning, exploitation and a get-rich-quick scheme for Robertson. There are much better distributions to pick from out there, even in terms of user-friendliness (ex: SuSE, RedHat, Lycoris). Not to mention the fact two of them are free compared to the $99 for Lindows OS. Unfortunately, this is an example of how Open Source Software can be exploited by greed-mongers such as Mr. Robertson.
</rant>
I dont like lindows. I just cant. Its doing the commercial (as in PAY) waaaaayyyy tooo much. They are making some nice changes to others programming, then charging. I am a bigger fan of make changes and give it back out, provide support for $. Are they doing that? Are they really?
… did they make that Lindows World thing with Windows World Flash or with a Mac?
I always tend to ask that question, when I see all these beautiful 3D wallpapers saying something like “Linux Power!” or “Fsck Windows!”.
Not that I would have anything against Windows or Lindows, per se. Like Zeppelin (who’s he?) said.. it makes me wonder…
I’m proud to be a Lindows user! Many in the community don’t understand them, but those of us who use it know the real story. They stay very close to their customers, and that’s what matters to me. Oh, and as you can see, they even ROCK!
ZackyZ
Does Macromedia Flash (the editor) runs in Lindows or Kevin Carmony just used their Windows machine to make this animation?
With a little help Wine emulates Flash MX fine … ( http://frankscorner.org/flash_mx.html ) and there ARE great 3D softs out there for *nix !! ( maya etc )
Um, Lindows is now $49. But keep ranting, it makes it oh so entertaining when people who are misinformed get up on the soapbox.
I agree with some of what you say about Lindows being sleazy, but you really should checkem your facts if you are going to go after a person or company.
Now, for $49 dollars a year, click n run is not a bad price to pay for the average joe who couldn’t untar something or use RPM if their life depended on it. It isn’t designed for you, it is geared towards silly average windows user. You know the one – the same one that click on ILoveYou.vbs.
reminds me a bit about Microsoft’s win95 intro song(s)
Hmm… where are you finding the price of $49 per year? Also, providing the OS in question has the dependancies needed by an RPM, installing them can be as simple as simply double-clicking them depending on what RPM manager is installed.
Click-N-Run Pricing:
http://info.lindows.com/memberinfo/memberinfo2.html
Also, I beleive Lindows lowered the price of their “OS” from $99 in the past… I apologize, but I don’t keep up on their latest marketing techniques. I’d rather track legitimate distributions.
(PS: You might want to check the spelling on my name.)
as one could see in the past, people like robertson aren’t interested at all in the community or the idea of open or free software, all they’re interested in is making money in using what’s there.
and i’m quite sure many projects (not just debian) could use money (or servers, or tickets for visiting conferences etc.) for paying their websites’ trafficbills etc.
Lindows is GNU/Linux after all, and believe it or not; they _have_ contributed to the community, and they will _continue_ to contribute to the community.
Not only in software/code-ways; but also in the marketing of the GNU/Linux operating system in general. They are marketing GNU/Linux as a viable alternative to Windows, and also a cheaper alternative. Lindows is also helping out more than one Open Source projects financially.
Ok…its 49 dollars a year… But what do you get back for that? You get the StarOffice office suit, a commercial spreadsheet program, a commercial graphics/picture-editing program. I think the cost of only these are at 150 dollars. In addition to that you get access to a “warehouse” with lots of applications with easy installation (Click’N’Run, wich actually installs correctly 99,999% of the time). I don’t think it’s bad paying 49 dollars for that. In addition to all the programs you also get access to forums where the community _and_ individuals from Lindows helps you out if you have problems with your Lindows machine.
I think the way Lindows are going is the way to get GNU/Linux on the normal desktop computer. Easy installation, configuration and update of the system. Even my grandmum can install Linux!
I can understand to a certain degree that osnews.com users is not the ones who would like the “Lindows ideology”, simply because they are against Linux being commersialized (or by other reasons). You may feel you dont have the Linux as you want it…but for gods sake…use “your own” os then. I personally run FreeBSD, RedHat, Gentoo, Debian and Lindows on my computers, and Lindows is the distro/os that just do best on my main desktop computer. On the other computers I can geek around as much as I want (especially on the Gentoo); but on my desktop I want to run something that just works, without typing commands all the time.
Well…Bottom line; I think Lindows is doing a great job advertising the GNU/Linux OS. Even if you don’t like the ideology of the Lindows company the advertising they do will only go back to you (the Linux community). Hardware manufactureres will be more aware of the market segment Linux makes wich will lead to better hardware support in Linux, because Lindows makes/will make it more easier to Joe Average to use GNU/Linux on his desktop (wich will lead to more GNU/Linux users). (Btw…Sorry for my bad english…I just woke up
)
> mm… where are you finding the price of $49 per year? <
The new pricing structure of Lindows. You’ll pay a fee for the oS (49 if I ain’t wrong). And then 49 a year for access to the ClickNRun Warehouse (aka Lindows Plus).
“Not only in software/code-ways[…]”
examples?
“Lindows is also helping out more than one Open Source projects financially.”
examples?
” I can understand to a certain degree that osnews.com users is not the ones who would like the “Lindows ideology”, simply because they are against Linux being commersialized (or by other reasons).”
that’s not my standpoint, but i agree that holding a balance between respecting community and making money is very difficult, but many companies are doing it (red hat, mandrake etc.).
“Well…Bottom line; I think Lindows is doing a great job advertising the GNU/Linux OS. Even if you don’t like the ideology of the Lindows company the advertising they do will only go back to you (the Linux community)”
is robertson marketing _lindows_ or is he marketing linux?! i’m quite sure that he even would not hesitate to break compatibility if he could make more money that way.
also, how commited he really is to the community became evident at the linux desktop summit where he put bruce perens off the list and held the opening speech himself.
that is also the reason that lindows isn’t member of the “desktop linux consortium”.
Lindows is GNU/Linux after all, and believe it or not; they _have_ contributed to the community, and they will _continue_ to contribute to the community.
Would you care to list or provide proof of these contributions?
Not only in software/code-ways; but also in the marketing of the GNU/Linux operating system in general.
If I were the avarage consumer and Lindows was the first I heard of Linux in their marketing fashion, I would avoid it like the plague. These people are NOT promoting Linux in a professional fashion at all. The original news bit is proof of that, not to mention other little tidbits like their blaitant ripoff of Apple’s site’s navigation bar.
Ok…its 49 dollars a year… But what do you get back for that? You get the StarOffice office suit, a commercial spreadsheet program, a commercial graphics/picture-editing program. I think the cost of only these are at 150 dollars. In addition to that you get access to a “warehouse” with lots of applications with easy installation (Click’N’Run, wich actually installs correctly 99,999% of the time). I don’t think it’s bad paying 49 dollars for that. In addition to all the programs you also get access to forums where the community _and_ individuals from Lindows helps you out if you have problems with your Lindows machine.
First, isn’t a full membership to the Click-N-Run warehouse $99? If I’m not mistaken, Click-N-Run Express is the only service at $49. With that aside, Star Office is great… except for the fact you can download the Open Source and more frequently updated suite, OpenOffice.org which is based on Star Office. Support is great, but at the same time I can name numerous online support communities that also help Linux users, except they’re willing to help with all distributions.
I think the way Lindows are going is the way to get GNU/Linux on the normal desktop computer. Easy installation, configuration and update of the system. Even my grandmum can install Linux!
I think SuSE is going to bring Linux to the desktop. With their latest enterprise-grade desktop OS they have delivered functionality, interoperability and usability beyond anything Robertson can hope to offer (or “borrow” from other distributions as he has in the past).
Hardware manufactureres will be more aware of the market segment Linux makes wich will lead to better hardware support in Linux, because Lindows makes/will make it more easier to Joe Average to use GNU/Linux on his desktop (wich will lead to more GNU/Linux users).
This is one point I do agree on. Hardware manufacturers DO need to be more aware of the need for Linux support, and commercialized Linux will help bring that about. I just hate to see someone like Robertson be the one to bring it about.
“First, isn’t a full membership to the Click-N-Run warehouse $99? If I’m not mistaken, Click-N-Run Express is the only service at $49. With that aside, Star Office is great… except for the fact you can download the Open Source and more frequently updated suite, OpenOffice.org which is based on Star Office. Support is great, but at the same time I can name numerous online support communities that also help Linux users, except they’re willing to help with all distributions.”
forgot that one.
Is OSNews falling behind times? I was expecting a big EXCLUSIVE, the first review of LindowsOS 4.0 in the known universe by now, but all you have is a link to some Flash media? Come on, you can do better than that!
By the way, that Flash movie is not an original Lindows creation – I saw it floating around on some web sites at least 6 months ago.
I may never use lindows but I am very appreciative of this type of marketing. If only they had the money to run this ad on one of the major networks……………. Ok, I’ll donate the first dollar to help. Any of my 2,000,000 friends care to chip in too?
I can understand some people are complaining about lindows more or less taking credit for efforts the whole linux community has made. But Linux makes differentiation possible: I myself (novice linux user) use mandrake, other people might prefer debian or whatever. The thing is: all these distros make it possible to have an OS catered to your needs AND remaining compatible file-format wise etc.
Lindows has its market, and even if it doesn’t contribute code to the community as others do, it does enchance the popularity of Linux, which might lead to hardware manufacturers making drivers for linux etc. which in the long run is good for linux users.
btw.: is the GPL not *obliging* lindows to return their added code under the GPL?
I’m sure any of these free software projects licensed under the GPL or otherwise would not mind what Mr. Robertson is doing. The license permits it, so if they were to frown upon such use of their software, they would have chosen a different license in the first place. The thesis of open-source software is that people are free to do as they choose; if you dislike Lindows or Mr. Robertson’s strategies, simply don’t buy Lindows.
I laughed so hard I made other people in the office come over to my cubicle.. then they laughed too
Very funny.. especially the picture of Ballmer!
To me, it doesn’t matter that what Mr. Robertson does is technically legal. A lot of things are legal, but that doesn’t make them right. The GPL was established and intended to be used with _INTEGRITY_, a foreign concept to most corporations, or excuses for corporations in this case. The principal behind the GPL was that these people with integrity could take the work of a project under the GPL, make additions to it or alter it in a way that’s beneficial to their purposes and then open up their source so that others can benefit from their project in the same way that they benefited from the original project.
We’ll have a LindowsOS 4.0 review shortly.
So flippin what?
The authors of GPLed software know that this is a potential problem to be had with the license.
Anything GPL that was modified has been returned to the community.
I guess I don’t see your point…what has Lindows done that makes it such a bad citizen?
They even sponsor some important open source projects…
gaim being one of them…
http://gaim.sf.net/
(look at the little sponsored by lindows image in the upper right hand corner)
plus, any publicity for them is publicity for the community at large…people start with Lindows…then move onto to bigger and better things like RedHat, Gentoo, “real” Debian, Slackware, the BSDs, etc.
I wonder if Lindows even bothered contacting the creator of the tune they ripped off for this promotion let alone getting permission to use it.
Oh, I forgot, open source means never having to pay.
“I laughed, I cried, I sang, I danced”…
Over that? Wow.
I wonder if Lindows even bothered contacting the creator of the tune they ripped off for this promotion let alone getting permission to use it.
Oh, I forgot, open source means never having to pay.
And ummm, who would the creator of this tune be?
Any chance Lindows wrote it themselves?
And ummm, who would the creator of this tune be?
Any chance Lindows wrote it themselves?
Considering their track record, not a chance in hades. After all, they couldn’t even make their own Netscape theme… they ripped the Orbit theme and changed the colors.
From http://info.lindows.com/LindowsRock/lyrics.html:
Parody of Chubby Checker’s “Limbo Rock” (Sheldon/Strange)
There…now don’t you feel stupid 😛
On a serious note, people may hate what Lindows is doing…but it’s still a ligitimate and LEGAL product
More linux users can’t hurt, right?
Actually, I don’t feel stupid at all. It doesn’t take much effort to take an existing song and re-write the lyrics. So, instead of ripping a Netscape theme and changing the colors, they ripped a song and changed the lyrics. This is a prime example of EVERYTHING they do, they never create anything that’s truly their own, they always build on (or destroy) another work to get what they want.
It IS legitimate and it IS legal, it’s simply not ethically sound. In theory, more users wouldn’t hurt… but I fear that Lindows may actually hurt them more in the long run. If these people should ever come across a real distribution, there will be questions like “what’s a command line? I don’t need it for anything, right?” or “no Click-N-Run? how am I supposed to install software, geez this OS sucks!”
I think it’s better to teach people how to use software right instead of giving them training wheels.
With that out of my way, my other problem is the fact Lindows does not give credit where it’s due… show me where they explicitly give credit to KDE and Debian for the existance of Lindows “OS”.
Actually, I don’t feel stupid at all. It doesn’t take much effort to take an existing song and re-write the lyrics. So, instead of ripping a Netscape theme and changing the colors, they ripped a song and changed the lyrics. This is a prime example of EVERYTHING they do, they never create anything that’s truly their own, they always build on (or destroy) another work to get what they want.
And that makes them so much worse than the dozen or so Red Hat knock-offs? Nevermind the fact that Linux itself is a knock-off of Unix
Also, what’s wrong with ripping a Netscape theme, that is what those themes are there for, right? Are all of the themes on http://www.themes.org/ completely original? Oh the horrors…people actually base their work off of other people’s work
Despite what say, think, or believe, Lindows has put considerable effort and polish into their product, and those changes they have made have been given back to the community, plus they have sponsored some open source projects.
They are also increasing the visibility and of Linux, which is a good thing.
It IS legitimate and it IS legal, it’s simply not ethically sound. In theory, more users wouldn’t hurt… but I fear that Lindows may actually hurt them more in the long run. If these people should ever come across a real distribution, there will be questions like “what’s a command line? I don’t need it for anything, right?” or “no Click-N-Run? how am I supposed to install software, geez this OS sucks!”
I think it’s better to teach people how to use software right instead of giving them training wheels.
Riiiiight, so you started using computers by picking up an old 486 and installing Debian on it?
Maybe you’re brighter than i give you credit for, but ya probably started out on DOS or Windows or *HORRORS* Classic MacOS
And just because the command line is hidden doesn’t mean it’s not still there. It’s hidden because that’s what their target audience expects, Click N’ Run is also there for its target audience.
Nobody forces you to use Lindows. Oh and I believe at least the source code has to say the originator of the code, so at least in that aspect they give each product credit. I’ve never used Lindows, but I’d assume they also left the About dialogs intact…ummm yeah that should be enough credit to the developers…otherwise they’d need a whole freakin’ page to list all the contributors to their product. Be realistic. Sheesh.
More linux users can’t hurt, right?
I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Computer platforms are like cities – the more people you get, the more crap you get. (Ever wonder how long it’ll be til we get a Linux version of Gator or Bonzai Buddy?) Besides, more Linux users also means more ex-Windows users. Need I say more?
I think it’s better to teach people how to use software right instead of giving them training wheels.
You could also teach people how to swim by simply throwing them in the water. Of course, most of them will drown that way …
Sure…
http://lindows.com/contributions
Roger
It installed in 5 minutes, dedected my net connection, and I was running Linux in no time.
I think that’s why some get upset. Lindows is letting the average person, like me, into their secret club.
Lindows is a great product and their services are very fairly priced and worth every dime.
Zack
Do these same people rant about Crest toothpast because THEY happen to like Collegate?
Variety is the spice of life. Linux is about choice. No one is forcing you to use Lindows, so why do SOME want to try and FORCE me not to use it?
I really don’t get geeks sometimes.
Sharon S
>> … did they make that Lindows World thing with Windows World Flash or with a Mac?
Who knows? Could well have been done using ‘Windows World Flash’ running on Linux (via WINE, or one of its variants).
>> I always tend to ask that question, when I see all these beautiful 3D wallpapers saying something like “Linux Power!” or “Fsck Windows!”.
Why would they use anything else when there are plenty of 2D and 3D graphics tools (both free and proprietary) available for Linux?
“It installed in 5 minutes, dedected my net connection, and I was running Linux in no time.
I think that’s why some get upset. Lindows is letting the average person, like me, into their secret club.”
I find it funny how the hardcore Linux geeks are always saying how they want Linux to become more popular, and even overtake Windows in popularity, but as soon as a “non-geek” distro comes out (such as Xandros or Lindows), they’re quick to bash it, saying its a disgrace to the Linux community.
The community needs distros like Lindows for Linux to gain acceptance outside the geek world. User-friendly distros such as Mandrake and the aforementioned Xandros and Lindows are just what’s needed for Linux to become more popular.
Considering their track record, not a chance in hades. After all, they couldn’t even make their own Netscape theme… they ripped the Orbit theme and changed the colors.
If I am not mistaken, We, (lindows.com) paid the author of the original orbit theme to make the the LindowsOS orbit theme.