Linspire, Inc., which has a commercial Linux distro of the same name, has decided to release a free Linux distro, named Freespire. According to the Press Release, we’ll see the first beta of Freespire in August.

Kevin Carmony said the Freespire project has six major goals:

1) Provide users freedom of choice by making available a “free marketplace” for all Linux software, including proprietary, open source, free and commercial products, plus provide easy access to this marketplace with open sourced tools such as CNR and apt-get. When necessary for the user experience, include proprietary software as an option in the core distribution, which will always be available for download at no cost;
2) Offer a very easy-to-use, yet powerful, Linux distribution;
3) Provide exceptional “fit and finish” with a professional and polished operating system;
4) Create a Linux that can expand more broadly to the masses;
5) Create an active community of developers and users; and
6) Include worldwide language support. A more detailed discussion on the Freespire mission can be found at www.freespire.org/about/vision.

I posted this yesterday over at Overclockers Club, but forgot to say anything here.

You can get Linspire Five-0 free between now and Sept. 6, 2005. Click here for more information.

The Linspire.com forums have been upgraded and migrated to phpBB. So far for me things are running considerably slower, and others are reporting the same problem.

I was browsing OCC the other day when I noticed a link on how to get Linspire Five-0 for free.

Simply use the coupon code, LycorisWelcome, between 7:30AM and 1:00 PM PST.

I had already told myself that the next time Linspire did a promo like this that I would give it a try. And so I did. I currently have Linspire 5.0 running on my linux box, replacing Fedora Core. Fedora and Slackware had been my Linux distros of choice for sometime. Now I’m giving a new flavor a try.

I’ve not had enough time to decide if I like it or not. So far I have mixed feelings, and I’m sure using it for a few more days will help. :p I’ll post some more thoughts about Linspire later.

Michael Robertson, has announced on his blog michaelrobertson.com that he is leaving Linspire and handing the CEO position over to Kevin Carmony, Linspire’s president.

Michael Robertson started the Linspire Linux Distrobution (formally known as Lindows), while he was still running MP3.com. Michael said he plans to spend more time with some of his other companies, such as MP3Tunes, REEF, and SIPphone.

While I don’t personally use Linspire on a regular basis, based on my past experience I can say that it was a killer distro, and Michael did a killer job on it. It’ll be interesting to see where he takes his other ventures.

Linspire, Inc. has released what it calls the “World’s Easiest Desktop Linux” today with Linspire Five-0. According to the press release, the new version of Linspire includes “more than 1,200 improvements” as well as “provides the most secure, reliable and easy-to-use desktop Linux experience available for home“.

More information about Linspire Five-0 is available here.