| Linspire's new CNR solves major Linux desktop problems |
Jan. 23, 2007
Opinion -- One thing desktop Linux users, and prospective users, complain about most is the lack of hardware drivers and software. Often there's an answer to a user's particular problem, but the driver isn't included in the user's distribution, or the software is hard to find and harder to install.
Desktop Linux distributor Linspire Inc. says it has the answer: standardize software installation across Linux distributions by expanding its popular CNR ("Click 'N Run") digital download and software management service to support several popular desktop Linux distributions.
CNR has long been used in Linspire's own distributions, the commercial Linspire and the community-based Freespire. Finding, installing, and updating software has been confusing for many desktop Linux users, since each distribution requires its own installation process. The CNR Service makes installing any application, however, into a one-mouse-click operation.
The new multi-distribution CNR technology standardizes the installation process for the user without requiring a new or altered packaging system. CNR uses standard .deb and .rpm files, while shielding the user from the complexity of these packaging systems. This allows developers to continue using their same packaging methods, and the different distributions can continue with their normal release management practices. CNR users will be able to install programs without worrying about any of the complexities of software packaging.
Sounds good: Free, simple, easy... what's not to like?
Of course, this doesn't solve the problem of rationalizing all the software package management systems under CNR. The Free Software Group (now the Linux Foundation) started work on creating common ground for the various Linux software package installment program developers and ISVs (independent software vendors) last December.
While Linspire's new plans for CNR don't address the needs of ISVs (independent software vendors), if successful, it will address the needs of Linux desktop users who want a simple-to-search software catalog and easy-to-install programs.
The new distributions that Linspire plans to support during 2007 are (in alphabetical order): Debian, Fedora, openSUSE, and Ubuntu -- with other distributions planned to follow. Users will access the new CNR service via the CNR website. Given that Linspire and Freespire are Debian-based distributions, it seems likely that Debian and Ubuntu will be the first distributions to be able to use the new CNR.
With the new CNR, users will be able to use their Web browser to search for applications by title, popularity, user rating, category, function, and so on. An open-sourced plug-in for each supported distribution will be used to add the required one-click installation functionality. The new multi-distribution CNR system will also support different versions within each of the supported distributions. So, for example openSUSE 10.1 and 10.2 might both be supported.
With the new CNR, you'll be able to see which distributions support a program
(Click to enlarge)
You'll also be able to see what other users think of an application before downloading it
(Click to enlarge)
That's fine and good, but it's what CNR will bring to some of these distributions that's really good news for Linux desktop users. CNR isn't going to just include the usual free software favorites like OpenOffice.org and Thunderbird. No, indeed, the new CNR tackles the often contentious issue of whether to include proprietary programs in Linux head on.
Free software supporters oppose including such programs and drivers. Pragmatic users, however, want to be able to view Windows Media Files, play MP3s, run Java, and so on, without any fuss. The new CNR, like Linspire's Freespire distribution before it, sides with the pragmatists and will include proprietary offerings.
As it is now, some distributions, like Fedora and openSUSE, don't include any proprietary software. Others, such as Debian and Ubuntu, reluctantly include some proprietary programs, and a few, like Freespire and the Ubuntu-based Mint, include a great deal of proprietary software. When users of a distribution without proprietary software wanted to use, say, a non-supported WiFi driver or get a codec to watch a DRM-protected DVD, they usually have to find a solution on their own and hope that someone else has published a guide to installing the "forbidden" software, or use a program -- such as Automatix2 for Ubuntu and MEPIS -- that lets users easily download proprietary programs and drivers.
This is why the new CNR is really important. It's not just an easy, one-step software management program. It's a universal gateway to all available Linux programs, and not just the ones that are blessed by a particular distribution's managers. Based on what people continually complain about in the DesktopLinux forum, I know this bigger and better CNR is going to be very popular.
How popular? I think this is a major step forward in making the Linux desktop a mainstream desktop. Here's hoping that Linspire can deliver on its new CNR promises.
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
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