*Open Source Guru Eric S. Raymond Joins Freespire Leadership Team*
*Urgency stressed as motive in joining Freespire's work to spread desktop
Linux to a broader audience *
*SAN DIEGO, September 27th, 2006 - *One of the co-founders of the
open-source movement has become the newest member of the Freespire
Leadership Board (http://www.freespire.org/leadership). Freespire (
http://www.freespire.org) is a community-driven, Linux-based operating
system that gives users the option of combining free open source software
with certain proprietary codecs, drivers and applications. Raymond,
well-known as both a theorist and an advocate for the open source movement,
joins twelve other Freespire Leadership Board members, composed of thinkers,
business people, evangelists, and key members of the Linux community.
In recent weeks, Raymond has surprised many by speaking publicly about the
"necessary compromise" that open source advocates must be willing to make,
by providing for an easy way for open source software to work with key
proprietary technologies for which there are not yet adequate open source
alternatives. Freespire is the most prominent desktop Linux distribution to
embrace this concept.
Mr. Raymond believes desktop Linux is entering into a critical period,
noting that historically, users have shifted operating systems during
periods of fundamental changes in hardware platforms. He believes the
movement to a 64-bit world will provide desktop Linux a unique window of
opportunity, which if missed, may not come along again for many years.
"Desktop Linux must advance now," said Raymond. "If desktop Linux is to
advance to a broader audience, it must work with iPods and other MP3
players, play DVD movies, view Windows Media and Quick Time content on the
web, and so on. I wish users didn't require these proprietary formats, but
it's naive and unrealistic to expect the masses to forgo these requirements
in the near future. Linux must make some compromises to attract mainstream
users."
Raymond believes the only way to influence ISVs and others to support open
standards and open software, is to attract enough end users to make Linux
too large to ignore. "There simply aren't enough Linux users today to put
much pressure on hardware and software manufacturers," added Raymond. "To
attract more users, Linux must support the popular drivers and file types in
use today. Freespire is the one distribution I see willing to make this
unfortunate but necessary compromise, so I'm happy to contribute to their
effort."
"We are extremely pleased to have someone with Eric's background, experience
and reputation involved in the Freespire project." said Kevin Carmony,
President and CEO for Linspire, Inc., the leading sponsor for Freespire.
"Eric has a keen interest in seeing desktop Linux become more workable with
the necessary codecs and drivers, and he sees Freespire as a good launching
off place for an ideal he and the Freespire community both share; getting
desktop Linux to just work, even if that means providing the option of
proprietary codecs in those cases where there are not yet viable open source
alternatives."
As a Freespire Board Leader, Raymond will help shape the direction of the
Freespire project, along with the other leadership board members, and those
from the Freespire community and technology boards. Raymond's participation
has already begun, including meetings in San Diego.
"Eric has already had a significant impact on our work," said Carmony. "Look
for some very exciting advancements, as a direct result of his active
participation."
*About Eric S. Raymond*
Co-founded and served as president of the Open Source
Initiative<http://www.opensource.org/>,
a 501(c)3 educational organization that builds bridges between the hacker
community and business with the aim of spreading the open-source development
method. A member of the Board of Directors of VA Linux
Systems<http://www.vasoftware.com/>(NASDAQ symbol LNUX), the leading
Linux hardware and systems company. One of
five Directors, who helped steer VA through its record-breaking IPO in
December 1999.
A principal researcher and author, Raymond often referred to as ESR, is the
author of "The Cathedral and the
Bazaar"<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cathedral_and_the_Bazaar>and
the present maintainer of the "Jargon
File" <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jargon_File> (the printed version also
known as "The New Hacker's Dictionary"). Though the Jargon File established
his original reputation within hacker
culture<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_culture>,
after 1997 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997> he became a figure in the open
source movement <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source_movement>, and is
today one of its most recognized and controversial characters.
*About Linspire, Inc.*
Linspire, Inc. (www.linspire.com ) was founded in 2001 to bring choice into
the operating system market. The company's flagship product, the Linspire
operating system, is an affordable, easy-to-use Linux-based operating system
for home, school, and business users. Linspire pioneered CNR ("Click 'N
Run") Technology, which allows Linspire users access to thousands of
software programs, each of which can be downloaded and installed with just
one mouse click. The thousands of software titles available in the CNR
Warehouse (www.linspire.com/cnr <http:///>) include full office and
productivity suites, games, multimedia players, photo management software,
accounting tools, and more.
*About Freespire*
Freespire (http://www.freespire.org) is a community-driven, Linux-based
operating system that combines the best that free, open source software has
to offer (community driven, freely distributed, open source code, etc.), but
also provides users the choice of including proprietary codecs, drivers and
applications as they see fit. With Freespire, the choice is yours as to what
software is installed on your computer, with no limitations or restrictions
placed on that choice. How you choose to maximize the performance of your
computer is entirely up to you.
*About CNR ("Click 'N Run") *
CNR, with access to over 20,000 Linux software applications, makes it
extremely easy for non-technical users to install, uninstall, update and
manage Linux software on their desktop or laptop computers (
http://wiki.freespire.org/index.php/CNR_Warehouse). With the CNR Service you
can freely install thousands of Linux software titles direct from the CNR
Warehouse ( http://linspire.com/warehouse), all with just a single mouse
click. Users also get a powerful way to manage their entire software
library, with advanced features, such as customizable "aisles" where you can
install entire groups of software with a single click.
For more information and interview requests:
Linspire, Inc.
619-851-7872
858-587-8095 Fax
pr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
--
Regards,
C.C.Chakkaradeep,
Novatium Solutions Limited,Chennai.
http://chakkaradeep.livejournal.com
http://www.yoper.com
http://wiki.freespire.org/index.php/Freespire_Community_Board_Home
--
"Sometimes it's better not to ask - or to listen - when people tell you
something can't be done. I didnt ask for permission or approval. I just went
ahead and did it." - from "Direct from Dell"
