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Linspire, previously known as LindowsOS (also Lin---s, pronounced as Lindash), is a Linux distribution based on Debian. It targets the consumer user - its distributors market it to home users more intensively than all other Unix-based or Unix-like distributions except Mac OS X. Michael Robertson, the founder and former CEO of MP3.com functions as the CEO of Lindows, Inc. It is still called "Lindows, Inc" even though the product is now Linspire. Microsoft Corporation sued Lindows, Inc for its use of the term "Windows", which Microsoft claimed constituted a trademark infringement. In February 2004, a judge rejected two of Microsoft's central claims. Though Microsoft lost the core of its case, and says it will appeal the decision, for uncertain reasons it also called the decision "a victory". (See Microsoft vs Lindows for more information.) Lindows was renamed Linspire to avoid further legal action by Microsoft. Michael Robertson called the legal action "Sextuple Jeopardy", which is like " Double jeopardy" but sextuple d.

Lindows, Inc had the initial goal of developing a Linux-based operating system capable of running major Windows applications as well. It based its Windows compatibility on WINE. Lindows.com later abandoned its initial approach in favor of making Linux applications easy to download, install and use. They achieved this using an application called Click-N-Run, a program based on Debian's Advanced Packaging Tool, providing an easy-to-use interface and a slightly modified package system for an annual fee ( apt-get costs no money, but has less user-friendliness). Click-N-Run has almost 2,000 pieces of software for download.

Lindows, Inc sponsors many open-source projects and events, including the Gaim instant messaging client, the KDE-Apps.org and KDE-Look.org websites, and the NvuNvu (pronounced N-view is a WYSIWYG Web authoring system, presently in public beta testing, based on the Composer component of Mozilla. It is intended to be an open source equivalent to proprietary software like Microsoft FrontPage and Macromedia Dreamwea project, which has started to develop an open-source WYSIWYGWYSIWYG (pronounced "wizzy-wig") is an acronym for W hat Y ou S ee I s W hat Y ou G et, and is used in computing to refer to the technology that makes sure the image seen on the screen corresponds to what is printed out on paper. Today this is expected fo website editor (based on the Mozilla composer code) to rival FrontPage. In the past, Linspire.com has contributed over $500,000 to the WINE project.

Linspire has something of a bad reputation in the Linux community. They have been accused of not adhering to the GPL, under which most of the products in their distro are licensed [1]. Also, their distribution has many users running as rootFor other meanings of root, see Root (disambiguation). In vascular plants, roots form the portions of a plant which generally lie below the level of the soil (cf. stem, rhizome). But this is not always characteristic for a root, since a root can also be a by default, thus eliminating many of the security benefits of running a Linux machine.



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