Canonical, the sponsor of Ubuntu, and Linspire, the developer of Linspire and Freespire, announced a technology partnership this week to merge each other’s Linux distributions.
Linspire/Freespire will be based on Ubuntu, rather than Debian, and Ubuntu will integrate with Linspire’s Click N Run (CNR) package installer/updater, reports Desktop Linux. It should be available Apr. 19, 2007.
Ubuntu users will be able to use the Click N Run client to download and install programs, media drivers and CODECs with one click of the mouse. For Linspire, that will mean moving from Debian to Ubuntu as the base for its Linspire and Freespire desktop operating systems.
“This technology partnership goes a long way in advancing and unifying the Linux desktop,” said Linspire CEO Kevin Carmony.
Meanwhile, Desktop Linux reports Linux and WiFi development brought togethr Broadcom, Devicescape, Intel, MontaVista, and Nokia to move WiFi support along at the Linux Wireless Summit last month in London.
Hardware vendors license their equipment under FCC section 15 regulations, even though technically pure software devices could be under Software Defined Radio (SDR) regulations. FCC wants all devices to have a “no trespassing” sign on radio settings but there is no consensus on what that means. The only solution that can get certified in the current regulatory environment is to have a closed source approach (so they can’t be modified). Vendors are reluctant to address the SDR issues too directly because of the regulatory impact to existing non-Linux products if there was any problem.
