Oren, I think you have a valid point there with the "karma" and programmers. I don't see linspire in the same manner as a liberating software, but rather some businessmen cashing in on others works. Reminds me of a hateful article I read, " http://www.vanwensveen.nl/index.html " I especially love the part about "digging great programs out of the trash" bit. However I really don't expect Linspire to be around in five years, Microsoft has a habit of buying and killing it competition.What they don't buy, they do the wal-mart stomp and run it out of business.
I would toss another path in to your thought, free software on the items the majority of consumers have come to expect from their computer, Office software, Internet browser, email program, mp3/dvd player, small "waste 15 minutes" type of games, spyware blocker etc
Beyond that scope a small price for specialized applications. Like autocad, graphic art programs for movie making, the phone-switch interfaces, payroll, time sheets
I guess what I getting at, the stuff normally used at home for the basics; free. The stuff that requires more attention and more hands on, go on the ala carte for the end user
It's definitely good karma to contribute money to Linux coders. As far as Lindows^W Linspire goes. It's as far as I can remember still a debian based distro, so you could always still install everything for free. Sure it isn't something Joe Windows User can do, without instruction, but doable. It seems to me though they are going to live up to their original name and be a Microsoft shill. Of course, I don't know what I might do if M$ were to throw millions of dollars at me. Would it be worth my debasing myself for? I may never know. That said I do make money selling software and sometimes that software is written on F/OSS. It's what opays the mortgage on my house, and food in my daughter's mouth. Yes programmers need to eat too. ;')
What Linspire , Novell and those others are doing are really doing to themselves. Only a fool climbs into a bed with a grizzly bear, with or without a gun doesn't matter. While it may hurt the F/OSS community, we will survive, and M$ may discover they have miscalculated again. Lastly, Linspire has done some contributing back to the community, so remember not many things are totally black and white.
In every good there is some evil and vice versa.
--- Earle Beason Earle-Beason@kc.rr.com wrote:
Oren, I think you have a valid point there with the "karma" and programmers. I don't see linspire in the same manner as a liberating software, but rather some businessmen cashing in on others works.
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Earle Beason -
Jack