2007-01-23, 08:17 PM
Quote:CNR - Coming Soon to a Distro Near You!
by Kevin Carmony
January 23rd, 2007
One of the biggest complaints I hear from MS Windows and Mac users about Linux, is that there are too many distributions, each with their own installation system. Desktop Linux isn't like MS Windows or Mac, where you can simply go hunting on the Internet (or at your local computer store), find a piece of interesting software, and quickly install it. With desktop Linux, you must first find the program, if it's even supported to begin with, then hope they've provided the right files and installation process for "your" particular Linux distribution. (.deb files, .rpm files, .tar.gz files etc.) It's all far too complicated for the average person, and it's no wonder they shy away from Linux. To see what I mean, just take a look at the download page for GIMP, one of the most popular open source applications: [/url]http://gimp.org/downloads .
When we started Linspire, we knew that we'd need to overcome this complexity. This led to Linspire's CNR ("Click 'N Run") technology. CNR does dozens of things to make finding, installing and managing software on your desktop computer extremely easy. CNR makes finding the right piece of software easy with user reviews, charts, screenshots, descriptions, friendly names, and so on. Once you've found what you're looking for, with literally one click, the software is installed to your computer and icons added to your desktop and Launch Menu. CNR then notifies you when updates are available, which you can then install with one click. (Visit: [url=http://www.linspire.com/gimp2.0]http://www.linspire.com/gimp2.0 Notice the differences?)
Even non-Linspire/Freespire users agree that CNR is an extremely easy, yet powerful system. Just think if this same system for finding and installing software worked for ALL desktop Linux distributions. This would not only bring Linux on par with MS Windows and Mac, but help catapult it beyond these systems. What once was one of Linux's biggest weaknesses, would suddenly become a strength and a key selling point for those considering desktop Linux.
Well, that time has come. This week we announced that CNR will soon be available for many of the most popular desktop Linux distributions, not just Linspire and Freespire. In addition to Linspire and Freespire, the first distributions you'll see supported throughout this year are (alphabetically): Debian, Fedora, OpenSUSE, and Ubuntu.
Linspire will be launching a new website, www.cnr.com, which will become the new home for all things CNR. When fully launched, CNR.com will house a completely improved CNR Warehouse. Other distributions will be able to download the necessary "plugin" for their particular distribution to enable one-click installation from CNR.com. I don't have space here to share all the exciting improvements and changes coming to CNR, but if you visit CNR.com now, you'll find a lot of great information, screenshots, FAQs, and even a forum to start discussing the new, multi-distro CNR.
Why now?
Making CNR available for other distributions has been one of the most often made suggestions we've heard over the years, and I too have always believed it to be a very good idea. However, there were two main reasons we didn't feel the time was right to make CNR available for other distributions, until now. First, we had our hands full just building and refining the CNR technology over the past five years with the Linspire and Freespire distributions. We knew expanding the system beyond our own distributions would take a substantial amount of work and require a revamped multi-distribution capable CNR. We knew adding support for .rpm-based systems (not just Debian) would prove particularly challenging. About a year ago, we felt the time was right to start working on such a CNR system. When we started this work, it definitely taxed our resources, and our old CNR system was strained as we moved resources to redesigning CNR for multi-distributions. This work is now about complete, and will benefit not only the new distributions supported, but Linspire and Freespire users will also see a much enhanced, improved and more reliable CNR system. For example, a key difference they will see is our ability to keep software in the CNR Warehouse updated and current in a much more timely fashion.
Second, there were just too many Linux distributions, each with a very small market share. There was too much volatility in the distributions, and the popularity of each changed monthly. Today, however, leaders have started to emerge. The popularity of Debian, Fedora, OpenSUSE, and Ubuntu, give each a sizable user base, making it easier to minimize the number of different distributions CNR must support initially while, still servicing a large number of users.
I know many of you will have a lot of questions, such as:
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Which distributions will be supported?
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Will the CNR Service remain free?
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Why is Linspire doing this? Isn't CNR a big competitive advantage for promoting their Linspire and Freespire distributions?
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Has Linspire met with and worked with leaders from the other distributions as they have built CNR.com?
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How is the new CNR.com system different from the old CNR previously used with Linspire and Freespire?
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I already have a CNR Gold Service subscription for Linspire. Will this work with the new CNR.com?
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Does this mean that Linspire is getting out of the Linux distribution business to focus on CNR.com?
To answer these and many other questions, we've included an extensive FAQ section at the CNR.com site. I'd encourage each of you to visit CNR.com and take a look around. The site won't be fully launched until the 2nd Quarter of this year, but there is a lot of information there now that will help answer many of your questions.
By shielding the user from the complexities of finding and installing Linux software, it is our hope that CNR.com will be the beginning of making desktop Linux easier for everyone to start using. I look forward to hearing your ideas, thoughts and suggestions, as Linspire ventures into this new and exciting territory.
- Kevin
