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List:       openoffice-discuss
Subject:    Re: [discuss] Linspire linked OOo
From:       Sigmascape1 () cs ! com
Date:       2004-11-16 16:29:28
Message-ID: 2D660BD2.72711E54.3F8EDD3A () cs ! com
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Mel,

You are 100% correct. Linspire needs to succeed. They are on the commercial \
frontlines against MS, and if they grow, Linux grows.

MLF

www.sigmascape.com


"Melvin L Haun Sr" <melloe@mchsi.com> wrote:

> Well said.  I seldom use Linspire, but I purchased just to help them with a
> heads up.  I think it is important for the comunity as a whole for those
> folks to do well..
> 
> Mel
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Christian Einfeldt" <einfeldt@earthlink.net>
> To: <discuss@openoffice.org>
> Sent: Saturday, November 13, 2004 11:08 PM
> Subject: [discuss] Linspire linked OOo
> 
> 
> > Hi,
> > 
> > Linspire has provided OOo with these links on its site.  It would
> > seem that we should reply in kind with some kind of link.  I
> > haven't kept track of this issue, and so it might have been
> > resolved, dunno.  I also haven't investigated what we are doing
> > with other business entities, other than go to the support page.
> > But my point is that we would be very much assisting ourselves by
> > providing links for Linspire.  For example, the third link below
> > shows places where new Linspire installs have happened over the
> > past week, month, etc.  While that link is usefull primarily for
> > Linspire's interests, we should also keep in mind that each of
> > those new installs represents 1) a probabe install of OOo; 2) quite
> > likely NOT an install of the market leading office suite.
> > 
> > http://www.linspire.com/lindows_products_details.php?id=9423
> > 
> > http://www.linspire.com/lindows_products_details.php?id=9423
> > 
> > http://www.lraiser.com/maps.html
> > 
> > I know that some people object to Linspire's work because most of
> > their activities tend to be rather Linspire-centric.  For example,
> > Linspire's CNR program allows people to download stuff, but only if
> > you are a member, and probably only if you have Linspire as opposed
> > to some other flavor of GNU/Linux.  Some people interpret this
> > behavior as characteristic of vendor "lockdown" by Linspire.
> > 
> > To which I would reply, there is competition and then there is
> > lockdown.  Linspire is nowhere near market share that Microsoft,
> > for example, has.  This difference is important, IMHO.  Linspire
> > attempts to create its own integrated user interface (the CNR
> > button) as its way of making the GNU/Linux experience more user
> > friendly.  As a simple end user, I gotta tell you they have
> > succeeded.  The only software that I have ever downloaded, whether
> > for Linux or Windows, etc., is from Linspire.  It is SOOOOOO easy
> > to do that, and for an end user like me, that is nice.
> > 
> > Before I started needing video and stuff like that, I never would
> > have purchased Linspire, because I like the freedom of having CDs,
> > and I don't like the fact that Linspire knows exactly what I have
> > on my notebook.  But I am willing to make that compromise and pay a
> > few extra dollars because Linspire has solved some hard problems
> > for me: video, scanning, audio, etc.
> > 
> > The risk that Linspire takes is that as SuSE gets better, I might
> > opt for the greater freedom that I get with SuSE.  But that is a
> > business risk.  IMHO, we shouldn't fault Linspire for taking those
> > kinds of business risks, because they have given back to the
> > community in other ways.
> > 
> > When we interviewed Richard Stallman for the Digital Tipping Point
> > film, he was grumpy about corporations not contributing back enough
> > code, etc.  While Richard might have a point with some basic
> > things, I can see that there are some areas where GNU/Linux will
> > need to be able to improve, and to do this, we as a community will
> > need cash flow.
> > 
> > And don't forget, Linspire's competitive "lockdown" ain't forever.
> > As Jack Messman said in his interview with us for the film, the
> > water line of commoditization is always rising, and most of
> > Linspire's unique solutions will eventually be offered by other
> > open source projects.  Linspire will only have a limited amount of
> > time to derive revenue from its proprietary offerings, and then,
> > just like Microsoft and Novell and Sun and Softmaker and every
> > other company in the open source space, Linspire's unique solutions
> > will face an open source competitor, and will eventually succumb to
> > the disruptive wave.  As HP VP Martin Fink wrote in his book, "The
> > Business and Economics of Linux and Open Source," companies
> > offering open source solutions will need to anticipate that rising
> > water and will need to keep innovating in areas where the community
> > can't create solutions right away.
> > 
> > Ya gotta have some compassion for companies like Linspire, Novell,
> > etc.  They sink capital costs into innovating, and they have to
> > race to stay ahead of the very community they are benefitting!  Of
> > course, they also get lots of free marketing, code, etc., in
> > return.
> > 
> > So IMHO, to the extent that we as a community can help companies
> > like Sun, Novell, Linspire, and Softmaker make revenue ahead of the
> > open source flood, it is in our own selfish interest to do so.
> > 
> > 
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
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> > 
> 
> 
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> 


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