Freespire & CNR

[Scarecrow Man]

Well, I've just finished installing Freespire - http://www.freespire.org

I will be using it as often as I can over the coming weeks / months and write my ongoing reviews in this topic.

Installation:

Quite easy actually. I was asked for very little input, and the installation only took 13 minutes on a PIII 800Mhz.

I am also using a dual-display (two monitors), and although I have not figured out how to expand, or place different "desktops" onto my other monitor, it is defaulted to a mirror display.

Driver support was great. My network card, sound card, and display were all detected.

It comes pre-installed with many programs, and I am currently using Firefox, while listening to some Neil Young on Lsongs. :)

Next Task:

Just signed up for FREE CNR (yes it's now free; the yearly subscription is now gone) and will be trying it out later on.

Connecting to my HP PSC 1200 upstairs on my Windows machine.

I also need to figure out how to browse, and mount NTFS drives, and see if I am able to connect to my other Windows machines over the network.

Today's Feelings:

So far, I love it.

[Alan2273]

Downloading now, I will see how it compares with Ubuntu.

[jason.b.c]

Well, I've just finished installing Freespire - http://www.freespire.org

I will be using it as often as I can over the coming weeks / months and write my ongoing reviews in this topic.

I've been using it as my primary OS now for the past two/three months , I really like it... I just love the idea that i can purposely go to the known "Virus" websites and browse around without any possibilty of infection...

Next Task:

Just signed up for FREE CNR (yes it's now free; the yearly subscription is now gone) and will be trying it out later on.

Good luck to you getting that S.O.B. to work , It has problems.! , just so you know that.. Just use:

sudo apt-get install  <package name>

Instead... :P

Or

sudo apt-get update

then do

 sudo apt-get install synaptic

Connecting to my HP PSC 1200 upstairs on my Windows machine.

HP PSC 1315 All-in-One ----- Works flawlessly , Except for the scanner , I have yet been able to install XSane

I also need to figure out how to browse, and mount NTFS drives, and see if I am able to connect to my other Windows machines over the network.

Today's Feelings:

So far, I love it.

You can mount an N.T.F.S. partition and read from it , You just CAN'T write to it ( not yet anyway )...

[Alan2273]

Just tried it out, on my Asus NF4 it works flawlessly but on my other computer which is a Gigabyte mobo I had all sorts of problems, I could not configure the sound or my cable connection, automatically or manually.

i like the CNR c & r, it is easier than windows to download programs.

When I have time I will figure out why I have the problems on the Gigabyte board.

[Alan2273]

After some investigation the LAN chip is a Vitesse 8201 which is not supported in Linux although I did manage to get it running in Ubuntu, but I cannot remember how.

Also the sound chip is a Realtek ALC 880, and the Linux drivers for this are patchy to say the least.

Even on Ubuntu I can only get a single sound channel working.

[Scarecrow Man]

Thanks for all the info Jason.

CNR:

I was actually able to get CNR working quite easily. I just signed up, and away it went. I have now downloaded Wine, Gaim, and some Deviant Art themes.

I must say that CNR is even EASIER than doing a windows update. One click, and you can install many programs. You can even customize your own personal "aisle" and have it download programs you want.

Download and installation is flawless. 1 click, and the program is downloaded, and installed without a single prompt.

Printers:

I was able to connect to a few different printers at work today, an HP LaserJet 1100, and aslo my PSC 1200 at home. I have not yet tried the scanner.

NTFS:

I realized NTFS was supported out of the box. I was able to browse the network, open files and even create files. I am not sure of the limitations of NTFS and Linux as of yet, but I will post as I find out more.

Today's Feelings:

I am an experienced Windows user's journey into Linux. Follow along if you'd like :)

So far I am quite impressed.

Next Task:

Find the limitations of NTFS on Linux. Looks like I have some reading to do - http://www.linux-ntfs.org/

I am also going to see if FAT32 is an option, since I know there is more support in Linux for FAT32.

[cozofdeath]

I'm very interested in seeing how this turns out. I like xp and ubunu but freespire looks like a good mix of the two. I'll definitely be reading how this comes along. I've always thought it was interesting to see the many ways linux stays compatible with windows. linux is getting so good its almost hard to resist using it. The only reason I don't use it everyday is because I'm so used to windows but I'd bet its going to be getting ever more popular in the future.

[jason.b.c]

Next Task:

Find the limitations of NTFS on Linux. Looks like I have some reading to do - http://www.linux-ntfs.org/

I am also going to see if FAT32 is an option, since I know there is more support in Linux for FAT32.

As far as i know it isn't possible ( not yet anyway ) to "write" to an NTFS partition or drive but you can "read" from it , Now with windows thats a differant story altogether , In windows you now "can" Read and Write to an EXT 2 , EXT 3 and Reiserfs partitions -- Look Here ==> http://www.fs-driver.org/ and Here==> http://www.chrysocome.net/explore2fs wich allows you to do it...

FAT 32...???? All i can say is "Yes" , You can read and write to FAT 32... Easy...

When you installed Wine you also installed wine tools didn't you..??

I think:

sudo apt-get install wine-tools

should do it... :D

I dare you to try to install this one , You'll need to compile it.... :P I dare you to try it...

[Scarecrow Man]

I dare you to try to install this one , You'll need to compile it.... :P I dare you to try it...

I'll give it a try tonight when I get home :D

[jewelrywe]

I'll give it a try tonight when I get home

[Boris]

I'll give it a try tonight when I get home

You may have problems ????

The final release of Freespire was 2.0.8, released on 30 November 2007.

This was based on Ubuntu 7.04 which reached end-of-life in October 2008.

Freespire therefore receives no security updates. and is now considered "Discontinued" by distrowatch.com

[MANEMAN]

jewelrywe

Version 3.11.3a is available for download here: http://hplipopensource.com/hplip-web/gethplip.html (Slow loading website so be patient)

The minimum system requirements are still a bit daunting. I'll include them here:

What are the minimum system requirements?

Answer:

Linux kernel 2.4.19 and above (2.6.x recommended).

GNU software tools are required to build from source code. This includes the ANSI C compiler, ANSI C++ compiler and POSIX compliant environment.

libusb 0.1.8 or higher.

ppdev/parport kernel modules for parallel port support.

GPL Ghostscript 7.05 or higher.

Foomatic 3.0.2 or higher.

Qt 3.x or higher for UI toolkit.

PyQt 3.14 or higher for Qt wrapper for Python.

Python 2.2 or higher and python-devel (Python 2.3+ for fax support)

Reportlab (optional-provides fax cover page support)

CUPS 1.1.15 or higher and cups-devel.

libjpeg 6b or higher and libjpeg-devel.

net-snmp 5.0.9 or higher and net-snmp-devel for network support.

CUPS DDK 1.2 or higher for dynamic PPD support.

HPLIP has been tested on most major Linux distributions

This is an ongoing review on the forum, so thanks for offering to keep it going. Sadly the last post prior to yours was December 2006. :(

Perhaps you would be good enough to share a video, or some other type of tutorial with us, should anyone wish to continue on the same path.

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The final release of Freespire was 2.0.8, released on 30 November 2007

(Original review starter on the forum here was "Scarecrow Man")

But is still available as 684mb download at: http://dl3.afterdawn.com/download/1ba3b797d8a9097ebb3324f3f43e10db/4d9311e0/2.0.8_full-feisty_skipjack-feisty_20071129-1746.iso

I kind of doubt that many still use it, and the original community seems to have dissipated.

** Alan 2273 ** was at one time using it, perhaps he can shed some light.

As always it's forwards with a positive, and "Game On" attitude towards things like this, so we look forward to your contributed tutorial.

Thanks for posting.

John.

[-pops-]

Exhumations going on?

[MANEMAN]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I hadn't thought of it in that way Pops.

Clever! - I do enjoy dry humour :) - Thank you !

Based on the theme of "exhumation" we could of course work our way back to much earlier computing systems, throw in a bit of teaching about how to present a question on a forum, and all other currently accepted and "The Norm" forms of social intercourse.

We could of course start working our way back right now with the help and contribution of our 15,000 + members.

As a suggestion, I feel that we primarily need to exhume no further than this perhaps ?

(Based purely on me watching Crime Scene - CSI on T.V.)

Thanks again for the original post "jewelrywe" - Here's hoping that you are a genuine poster, and are going to supply us with some useful contributions about the HP software pretty soon, and not gonna change your "Username" and "Spam Us" in the future with some crap jewellery website.

"Carry on Exhuming" -

Boy ! That has just given me an idea for a film title !!!!!

Hang on whilst I phone my agent. :P

.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.

The original post can easily be exhumed, along with the HP software if we wish. To get the ball rollin' Can someone with a bit of insider knowledge "volunteer" to contact "jewelrywe" to see if this person is "Kosher" ?