Wow. Here I was all this time thinking that the general idea of the linux community was to offer choice, and let people use a system suited to them. Based on the posts in this forum, I was wrong. The aim is to get them to use a non-Microsoft Operating System that's really hard to use and they give up on after a few weeks.

I am a lifelong MS man, and I do not apologise for that. I have just stuck a second hard drive in my machine and installed Lindows on it. I have tried other distros in the past, but alway given up in frustration. I have always found irritating the need to know more jargon than I can be bothered with. Then along comes a distro than installs straight off the CD and which, for a TINY fee, I can install software easily on click.

I mean, really, are people actually getting upset at charging $4.95 a month for CNR? Have you looked at what's in it, and then compared that with the cost of installing equivalent packages on Windows? I know this stuff is available free elsewhere, but to most users, paying $4.95 - and I'm British, so that's about £3.00 - a month in order not have to mess about with tarballs and so forth is a small price to pay.

So, now you are saying "Well, if you like the Windows environment, why not stay in it?". Fair point. Because I develop in PHP, and am fed up up- and downloading to the Red Hat box for testing, that's why. So you see there's a market out there of people who are a bit techy, a bit geeky, but not OS driven, for whom Lindows is great.

I may well learn huge amounts about Linux and ultimately move on to another Distro, but Lindows seems a good bridging point - familiar enough not to scare me off, but Linux enough to bring me into the community. How many linux people would say my coming over to Linux from MS is a bad thing? How many other users on Lindows rather than MS are a bad thing? I just don't see it I'm afraid.

The subject of this thread comes from Life Of Brian. The People's Front Of Judea and the Judean People's Front fight for the same thing, but mainly they fight each other. Lindows seems to be being pushed in a similar direction by linux purists who can't see the bigger benefits for the whole OS community of bringing people over who would otherwise remain with "the market leading desktop operating system"

Nick

there is a os for everyone and i think the goal of a os is not to be the only one but to help users to control and use their computers the best way possible and i also think thats a great thing if you can choose if you want it easy and pay for it or if you like it bit more tricky and want to compile everything on your own.
Thats why i love linux so much everyone can find his favorite way to use it

i disagree in that there is infact a lindows forum for anyone to post their ?'s and input. i have read many negative things as you point out, but, the fact that the largest online community that i am aware of for linux users has embraced it dispells the notion that all linux purists are against it. that said, i'm thinking of turning my dad onto lindows, as recently he tried knoppix and it was still a little much for him. i feel that lindows even w/the fees involved for software that is free elsewhere, is still a good thing, and, it is still linux.

When I downloaded the ISO, I was told it was $14.95/mo for CNR. Where do I get your access to it?

Bah. Don't worry about it. I have to get it to install first (holds my hand a bit too hard, I think. Can't get inside to fix whatever it seems to have a problem with, and I ain't calling support over what I never have to do with any other distro I ever used). But, I might still get it installed yet (if I put it on a different puter...)

Shit. This turned into a rant. Sorry. I was hoping to at least get it installed so I could see what grandma was up against.

I couldn't agree more with you nickelis. And may i add that I hate the blown up ego's of all those folks in the Linux camp thinking they are the creme-de-la-creme in the whole pc scene and Linux is a match to their intelligence...!!
Simple fact of life is people want an alternative to Windows and Microsoft. Some folks start to think of maybe using Linux....... but get thrown off that path by the new lingo they need to learn in order to be half as productive with Linux as they are in Windows. Developing (and try and keep this in mind for a change!!!) is not only developnig a fantastic piece of software, but also to making it easy to use, without bothering the user with too much technical lingo!).
Lindows does exactly that, and more...... More than you accredit it for...... This distribution is more of a bridge for doubters than all the other ones....... I can only recommend Lindows to all those that need a change. And i wish all those with a blown up ego success in that world of their own....please stay there.....

twosocks

Blessed are the cheesemakers.........

There are a lot of dreamers out there that think all the Linux dev's don't have to pay their bills since the users don't pay for the software ;-)
Lindows is probably nice to get for people that don't want to be bothered with issues and are ready to pay for it although I doubt that they will be of much help if you try to install it with a nvidia fx card on a nforce mobo.So you are basically back to square one with some hardware minus the cash you shelled out.

Exactly the kind of users that do not want to be bothered with hard- and software issues.... They are called users.....

TwoSocks

You're partly right about a snooty attitude, but I find that's a rareity. If you encounter it, you're at the wrong forum. Try this site. I have found no GNU/Linux user being mean or 'holier than thou' towards anyone new.

I am no guru, but I know my way around and I got to where I am by asking questions and sorting out stuff from googling and reading. If you ask a meaningful question and are willing to do the same work as the person who answers your question, you'll not come up against that which you state (especially here). If you show no willingness to do anything yourself (or buy a boxed set and read the manual - supporting the distro at the same time), or even read the answer to your question, then you'll get nowhere fast.

If you don't believe that there are helpful people out there, look at my posts in this site (I dare you). Tell me if there is even one of the 349 at present where I have asked for help. You won't find it. That day may come soon, but for now I have been able to get by and share what I know with the community. You will not find my answers condescending or demeaning (even when its glaringly obvious that the person is not listening or willing to help themselves). If I know the answer, you're gonna get it. I got it from someone and I'm paying it foreward to you (by the way, I expect you to pay it foreward to the next person as well ). I think that you'll find that I'm not a one-of-a-kind. There are 1000s of members here and they all have a goal - to get that *nix box running. I think that you'll find that you're in better company than you realized. Linux is an entity that brings people from all ages, cultures, and walks of life to one place. Here we are.

Welcome.

I agree also. I have (for the past 3 years now), used Redhat, Mandrake, SuSE, Knoppix and Slackware. I found something in each that I liked. I am now using Lindows and like it. It is nice to not have to do anything but just install it (10 minutes flat) and then just use it. Like it has been said: that is the great thing about Linux - there are SOooooooo many flavors and not one is lining Bill Gates pockets!

You can buy the OS and a one-year membership to CNR for about $89 which works out to about $3.25 a month. If you already own LindowsOS you can go here: https://shop.lindows.com/member/lind...mber_step1.php

And, sign up for $49.95/yr. or pay $4.95/mo. with a 1 year committment required.

If you are having trouble installing it is most likely hardware related. Right now LindowsOS does not have support for controller cards or RAID systems. Your video card has a lot to do with it too. If you can post some of your system specs and the problems you are having I'll see what I can do to help you out. One suggestion would be to choose "Diagnostic Mode" during boot up and post the last 2-3 lines where it fails. I'll see what I can do to give you a hand getting it installed.

Is anyone using the preloaded machine? If so hows it working out.

And is anyone loading on to a older manchine? if so hows that working?

Thanks

Anyone have a username and password for the CNR so I can try it?

Go to the NVu site. www.nvu.org and sign up for your own free 6 week trial. They're giving it free to Nvu users (and hey. its a good web page editor anyways, regardless of Lindows freebie.)

I have tried, but it crapped out at the end. Likely a simple X config problem, but I'm using the freebie developers ed and it doesn't come with a manual. I couldn't get in to a terminal to fix it (although they told me I could call customer service). I reinstalled with just one drive plugged in and I got it to install but it crapped LILO. At that point, I plugged in my other drive and started using my machine again. (Its a BX-based machine Slot-1 P-III - some would say its old). So, I still don't know how it works.

I haven't given up yet, though.