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Several weeks ago, desktop Linux distributor Linspire announced that it was going to open up CNR (Click N Run), its Web-based software downloader/manager, to other distributions.
Now, the company is revealing more about what this new Linux software distribution system will look like.
First, in a letter to Linspire customers, Kevin Carmony, Linspires CEO and president, wrote, “Because the new CNR.com system was designed from the beginning with the intention of supporting multiple distributions (both Debian and RPM), most of the work for supporting a new distribution will already be done.
“The vast majority of the work is in building the overall system and has nothing to do with a specific distribution. This means that with just the small additional effort-specific to a new distribution, we can leverage 100 percent of the CNR system.”
Thus, once the universal CNR is in place, we can expect to see new distribution support rolled out quickly.
Why would Linspire, which supports both its own self-named distribution and the community-based Freespire, support other desktop Linux distributions?
Carmony explained, “We want Linux to succeed on the desktop. We want Debian, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Ubuntu and all other Linux distributions to get as many users as possible. The real challenge for Linspire isnt from the other Linux distributions, but from the legacy hold Microsoft has on the desktop.”