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Page 2 of 2 Zonbu, gOS On Everex Boxes and the ASUS Eee. What do each of these have that Linspire seems to be missing? Well, a reason to buy for one. That and two of them have notebook options for a reasonable cost and the other one is coming soon. You see, while Linspire had once done fairly well in the OEM market historically, it's not near that position anymore: - $199 Everex TC2502 Green gPC w/ Via C7-D Processor DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive (low impact power consumption machine). - $378 Microtel SYSWM7010 Desktop System, 2.8GHz Intel Celeron CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive. So what, if any, possible advantages can Linspire produce at this point? Well, their CNR utility, if they can get it working successfully on other distributions, could become a nice bridge to fill gaps currently filled by things like Automatix. Why Wal-Mart Linux PC Is A Bad Deal If Linspire was able to (and I have no idea if they can) license restricted formats over to other distributions and pushed their PR staff into overdrive by explaining just how cool it is to have used aisles for installing the same software on multiple machines, things would be different. This can be done with existing package managers, but not nearly as easily. As things stand right now, I'm concerned about Linspire's future. I was a huge fan back in 2004-2005. Despite not being a full-time user, I had a number of clients using their platform because it worked and it worked well. But it seems as though they have fallen asleep at the wheel and are no longer able to differentiate themselves clearly. Linspire's own business model for CNR is working with closed source software vendors looking to get themselves into the Linux market. As we have seen with Parallels, Crossover Office and Cedega, people are buying. So Linspire, seriously, unless you have one heck of an ace up your sleeve, consider my point - this is the same advice I would be giving you as a consultant. I realize that financially, your profit center is largely OEM. But based on what I'm seeing, this is not going very well for you. Perhaps it's time to bite the bullet and consider partnerships with other, more successful distributions by providing them with access to your services. In the long run, it will prove easier and perhaps even more profitable. Click here to get the latest prices on Linux distributions! |
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