[KLUG Members] New PC's without Windows? Say it ain't so! :-)

[Gettig,Tony]

I agree with Bob. This is a bit fishy.

I am not passing judgement, but let me ask this: if one of
 the great ideas of Open Source is to have many eyes
 looking at the code, flushing out the bugs, etc., why
 would someone have to PAY to work FOR these folks? Isn't
 that what it is if you have to join their club to get
 access to the OS? Actually, I can't even determine from
 their website whether you can actually get the OS code by
 becoming an "insider". With Linux, aren't we all supposed
 to be "insiders"? How about the idea of "release early,
 release often"? Where is that in their strategy? How do
 you know what is new, what is stable, etc. with this
 besides joining their club? I'm not much of a hacker, but
 I am an evangelist and power user. Why would they want to
 charge people like me (and most every Linux proponent I
 know) to test their product? Let me think about that for
 three dots...no.

Besides that, is something that is 99% Windows compatible
 really the goal here? For me personally, I am after
 complete freedom. Freedom to use or not use M$ products as
 I desire. I recognize Lindows could be a great
 introduction and transitional OS from Windows to Linux.
 I'm not slighting that. But I daresay there are others out
 there who, like me, are after freedom. When I first heard
 of this Lindows, I thought hey, that's kinda neat. That'll
 be interesting to see. Having now seen some of their
 approach not just at their website, but their actual
 marketing of the product, I am rather miffed. It seems
 like it's not just giving in to the M$ standard, but
 saying you're not giving in while giving in. This just
 really doesn't sit well with me.

And these are just some philisophical arguments. Bob raises
 the great point of legal ramifications in regards to the
 GPL. Talk about being a lone ranger, these folks are
 already in the firing line of Microsoft, and are probably
 teetering on the edge with the Linux community. This will
 be interesting to watch in the weeks ahead.

Tony Gettig
http://www.penguindude.com
GBY!

>>>>>>>>
I have concerns about possible GPL violations with these
 people; I'm
just not sure. I poked around their site, and there doesn't
 seem to be
any way of downloading anything (even a trial version)
 without paying
$99.95 up front. In my cpacity asa KLUG functionary, I have
 requested 
a trial copy and any distribution agreements (or
 NON-distribution agree-
ments) required for such a purpose.
...