Lindows Changes Name to 'Linspire' 418
Robert Nicholson writes "As previously covered, Lindows has decided to change its name thanks to Microsoft legal threats. Well it has just announced the new name - Linspire - clever, huh? There's a site at Linspire.com. The full story and the history behind it all are covered on Techworld."
Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:3, Insightful)
This sheds some light on the real reason that they changed their name. I doubt there's a single company that could handle being dragged through the world's courts by Microsoft, let alone a small one like them.
This led to the daft situation where Lindows renamed itself Lin---s, complete with new website. Microsoft, unbowed, then incredibly claimed that Lin---s was its trademark as well.
This one just makes me say wow... Microsoft actually thingks they can claim the rights to "Lin---s"? Talk about power hungry.
Also, if they have changed their name and everything, then why does www.linspire.com [linspire.com] have "LindowsOS" plastered all over the place? I guess it will take them a while to implement the actual name change.
Re:Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, they probably don't think they can claim the rights to it so much as they think their lawyers can beat up Lindows' lawyers. And Lindows seems to agree. Yay capitalism, where even the law is privatized.
Re:Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:3)
I'm sure Mike Rowe is sitting in his computer chair and home reading this and thinking "Hm. Damn. Been there done that." Heh.
Re:Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:2)
Re:Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:4, Insightful)
"Unchecked capitalism" (I think you mean unfair business practices?) is an unwanted side effect, not the cause of the problem. The root of the problem is government.
Re:Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:5, Insightful)
I was one of the people who said that you couldn't possibly come up with a more asinine name than "Lindows". Here we all are, eating our words.
Re:Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:4, Funny)
Well, he's good at getting his competitors' legal departments to give him free publicity, but less good at turning that free publicity into an ongoing business. He'll be selling Hoca-Cola or Burger Monarch by next year.
Word marks (Score:3, Informative)
The script has nothing to do with the trademark.
Oh really? There are word marks and there are drawings. "Coca-Cola" is a word mark. "Coca-Cola" written in a distinctive script is a drawing, and the distinctive script is part of the mark. "Crack-a-Cola" not written in the script would possibly infringe Coke's rights in the word mark but not at all on the drawing. And given that "cola" has become generic (I see it on Pepsi, RC, and store-bought soft drinks with similar flavors), are you so sure that Coke
Re:Word marks (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:5, Insightful)
This lesson needs to be taken to heart, keep the clever code names internal, use sensible naming for actual products.
Re:Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:5, Insightful)
It was a PR Stunt from the very beginning. If they were really scared of MS' Legal Dept, they would have never picked "Lindows" in the beginning.
And since they made the slashdot frontpage again, their plan is working great.
Re:Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:5, Interesting)
I guess in that case, bleeping out cusswords or saying f--k is the same as just saying / writing them. The FCC should take note of the case to further censor the public.
As far as Lindows Inc., they apparently are going to keep the company name. With M$'s reasoning, I'm surprised they aren't trying to convince people that Lindows really means Microsoft and they should change their name to nothing, since all names really mean Microsoft. I'm getting images of that scene in Being John Malkovich...
Re:Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:4, Insightful)
You hit the nail on the head, except it works against the point you were aiming for. Seeing as how Lindows was already established as "Lindows" and the damage was already done (in the legal sense), then --- change really isn't doing anything to alleviate the problem, now is it?
To put it in simpler terms: They probably could have gotten away with Lin---s if they hadn't already gotten into a legal battle over the name "Lindows".
It's fun to bash Microsoft over this matter, afterall it is the 'cool' thing to do here at Slashdot, but the reality is that the CEO of Lindows has intentionally and maliciously made trouble for Microsoft. If the companies' roles in this matter were reversed, the general judgement about who's really guilty wouldn't suddenly change. Microsoft would still be the bad guy.
Re:Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:3, Insightful)
It already is a legitimate trademark if they earned themselves the little (R) next to their name. That (R) is not something you get just by saying you have it. You have to go through a lengthy application process to get it. When you haven't earned it yet, they use TM instead. If Lindows wanted to fight that trademark, they should have taken MS to court before choosing that name. "Uh well despite them having that (R), we thought it was invalid so
No. Lindows was a STUPID name. (Score:5, Insightful)
So, as expected, Microsoft played its part in this little Kabuki drama, and Lindows aka Linspire got its free publicity. And bully for them, I guess. But to suggest that they picked the name for any other reason is sheer folly.
Re:No. Lindows was a STUPID name. (Score:3, Insightful)
No they're not. Companies are free to stand back and let others appropriate a brand-name.
I have no doubt that if Bill Gates had a time machine, he'd go back to that little company spreading Vaporware in 1983 and tell them to pick a less generic name than "Windows". But that's what they are stuck with.
Absolutely backwords!! Claiming generic words as product names (and filetypes) has been a key part of Microsoft's successful strategy! "Insert
Re:No. Lindows was a STUPID name. (Score:3, Insightful)
It was wrong for MS to claim trademark on a common word.
Re:Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:5, Funny)
>This one just makes me say wow... Microsoft actually thingks they can claim the rights to "Lin---s"? Talk about power hungry.
The name still infringes on Microsofts rights. Notice that there are common characters in the names:
wINdowS
lINSpIre
I suspect this conflict will lead to product confusion and continued loss of sales by Microsoft until this evil Linspire changes its name to resolve the conflict.
Re:Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:2)
Ahem....Eolas [forbes.com]?
Little guys CAN and DO fight giants (Score:4, Insightful)
Caldera International purchased the rights to DR-DOS, then sued Microsoft for the damage that Microsoft had done to DR-DOS.
Caldera settled for an estimated $150 million from Microsoft.
Microsoft settles Caldera Antitrust Case [bbc.co.uk]
To be sure, Caldera later turned to the dark side in a big way. They are now suing another software giant.
Re:Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:2)
Re:Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:2, Insightful)
Joe Sixpack goes to Wal-mart to buy an OS upgrade for his computer. He sees "Windows" for $300, and next to it is "Lindows" for (say) $50.
Now Joe Sixpack isn't a stupid man, but he's not familiar with the various OSes available to him. Joe assumes that "Lindows" must just be a lower-cost version of "Windows" (because he simply doesn't have the knowledge to make the right distinction) and is essentially tricked into buying "Lindows" when what he needs is "Wind
Re:Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Little guys can't fight a giant... (Score:2)
It's easy to protect monopolies by making sure their customers are not even tempted to look at other products that are
In other news... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:In other news... (Score:5, Funny)
Discussion summary (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Discussion summary (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Discussion summary (Score:2, Informative)
Ventanas.
Finestre.
Fenêtres.
Fenster.
Re:Discussion summary (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Discussion summary (Score:2, Insightful)
First, the grandparent post--wrong because the discussion is NOT about whether or not Windows was registered as a trademark, it's about whether the trademark is valid. So the argument is: "Your trademark is invalid" "No it isn't" "Yes it is" "No it isn't" Nobody is arguing with the fact that Microsoft has the trademarks, as this post suggested.
Secondly, the parent post--wrong because generic words in themselves ARE patentable as long as th
Re:Discussion summary (Score:2)
Re:Discussion summary (Score:4, Insightful)
Maybe the term "window" for a specific part of a graphical interface was in use, but I am unaware of anyone using the word "Windows" to refer generically to an operating system. That particular argument seems to be sketchy at best.
Re:Discussion summary (Score:2)
Re:Discussion summary (Score:3, Funny)
What's that fruit you're eating? Apple! What's that light coming from outside? The Sun! Who's that chick from the Matrix? The Oracle! Who's your date from last weekend? Palm!
How MS was able to trademark it (Score:5, Insightful)
"Windows" is not a common noun in countries that do not have English as an official language. Among European countries, only the UK and Ireland seem to speak English in the trademark office.
In other news ... (Score:5, Funny)
The fine folks at Mozilla have decided to join forces with the Linspire team.
Please await *drumroll* LinFire 0.9 any day now..
Re:In other news ... (Score:2, Funny)
A pinky ring, perhaps...
First post! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:First post! (Score:4, Funny)
Did you mean: inspire ?
Re:First post! (Score:2)
I've wondered how google knows when to not suggest something. I've run into the same problem when I wrote a program I call Attesoro [ostermiller.org].
The google suggestion is:
Did you mean at tessoro? [google.com]
When you make up a name, how many uses of it do you have out there on the net before google stops suggesting something else for it?
Re:First post! (Score:5, Funny)
Oh no (Score:5, Funny)
Not that I could do any better, I'm sure... but Linspire really sounds boring.
Re:Oh no (Score:2)
At least it's not Expire
Re:Oh no (Score:3, Funny)
Is it an OS or a car? (Score:5, Funny)
Linspire. Whoever thought that up needs to get more linspired. Jeeeebus O'Reilly McChrist in a dead DeLorean.
Re:Is it an OS or a car? (Score:2)
Maybe all those things, as Lindo^H^H^H^HLinspire takes over the desktop from Microsoft, and seeks licensing agreements with other vendors for use of their future good name.
Linspire......an air of sophistication that will give you inspiration!
I should head up marketing for them, huh?
Terrible, terrible name (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Terrible, terrible name (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Terrible, terrible name (Score:2)
LinDOS a bad idea (Score:2)
I wonder where they get... (Score:2)
Maybe by drinking too much wine???
Re:I wonder where they get... (Score:2)
Well said! Then I wonder if they entertained "Line" as a name?
Linspire? (Score:5, Funny)
They might as well have saved us a step and just named it "Freedom Linux" before we do it for them.
If they were really clever... (Score:2, Funny)
Hmm... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Hmm... (Score:2)
Probably waiting for all the images to be changed first
Mon Dieu! (Score:5, Funny)
PR and Cybersquatting (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:PR and Cybersquatting (Score:2, Informative)
Re:PR and Cybersquatting (Score:3, Interesting)
http://arbiter.wipo.int/domains/decisions/html/
http://seclists.org/lists/politech/2000/Mar/001
http://www.fool.com/specials/2000/sp000523b.htm (Tu-cows.com)
Another poster may be right that mp3.com was purchased from a third party. But, Robertson has a history of typosquatting, etc.
Re:Just like X *Windows* is cybersquatting? (Score:2)
The dates from x.org are not very precise, but it looks like mid-80s could be intepreted as 1985 which is 2 year after Windows 1.0 was announced.
Common use of the term clearly predates Microsoft (Score:3, Insightful)
The X Window System may not have been in common use yet, but the term "window" was already in very common use for creating UIs. You can find code all over that shows this. Even Emacs called the concept a "Window" [google.com] long before that time.
Microsoft has no right to claim "Windows" (or Office, which was in common use for Office Automation, etc.) and even less right to complain about Lindows or the X Window System. It should be "Microsoft Windows", and nothing shorter should be protectable, just like "X Window
Linspire? (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually, it really sucks. Sorry, Michael Robertson, but you could have done better.
"LindOS" cuts it better.
I Never Thought I'd Say This, (Score:3, Insightful)
Hasn't this been done before? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Hasn't this been done before? (Score:2)
YIKES!
Re:Hasn't this been done before? (Score:2)
Re:Hasn't this been done before? (Score:2)
I'd have much preferred (Score:2, Informative)
Oh well, bland name but still a cool company. I'm just glad they escaped their (first) legal stint with Microsoft more or less unscathed..
The lindows announcement. (Score:3, Informative)
http://info.lindows.com/linspire/Linspirelandin
Related article on The Register (Score:3, Interesting)
clicky clicky [theregister.co.uk]
Acer (Score:3, Interesting)
S
Big Deal (Score:5, Interesting)
But seriously how many average joe's just walk to best buy and buy a copy of windows OS and install it on their PC. Let's face it, most people just use the OS their PC came installed with.
Given this fact, I fail to see how the name Lindows, was any beneficial. I mean, most people don't even know what an OS stands for, so what are the chances they go to buy Windows OS and install it on their own, and Now take a percentage of those extremely small nos. who will be fooled by the Lindows boxes sitting next to Windows boxes.
And the ones who are comfortable installing their own OS, any ways are not likely to be misled. So the name choice was unfortunate to begin with. All it did was gave them a lot of publicity (which is not a bad thing) but I really wonder how many customers really bought it think it to be windows.
Re:Big Deal (Score:2)
It's unfortunate that our legal system is so corrupt that Microsoft can literally do anything and get away with it simply because they have $50 Billion in the bank.
On the other hand, Lindows by any name, is crap.
So I guess it all evens out.
In other news (Score:5, Interesting)
Anyway, they seemed to have known this for quite some time. From a whois on linspire.com and linspire.org:
Record created on 15-Jan-2004.
Can't wait... (Score:5, Funny)
Lat least lhey lon't lave lo lange lilo's lame!
Solly, lounge got louse.
Back in the Day (Score:2)
XPire rejected? (Score:5, Funny)
ok, i'll stop.
Too late for a suggestion... (Score:2)
What a Lincredible name! (Score:5, Funny)
The more likely play on words (Score:2, Funny)
Subliminal message: IN PERILS (Score:3, Insightful)
What about... (Score:2, Funny)
Better names? (Score:2)
Shoulda Called It Luck Lou Lill Lates (Score:2, Funny)
Linspire sounds kind of linsipid... (Score:2)
Just Wondering (Score:3, Interesting)
Wouldn't that have given them a name that was remarkably similar to their previous name to have recognition yet distinct enough to avoid
Whispering-Windows forced.. (Score:3, Interesting)
Next thing you know, when you build a house your going to have to purchase large panes of glass to be mounted in the side of a wall. When will this insane madness stop and common sense start to prevail? but then again I guess, common sense is not all that common.
A more apt name would've been... (Score:4, Funny)
My name idea after everything... (Score:3, Funny)
Linnovative (Score:4, Funny)
Just as long as Linus doesn't come along and claim he owns the letter 'L' - which is hardly going to happen. He and Bill Gates weren't born on the same day, or come from the same mold.
But let's not have any lillusions: Microsoft are a lillegal monopoly. They bode lill for the rest of the Linternet.
Lindows in bed with SCO? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:what (Score:2)
This way they get out of it entirely and are able to continue to sell in foreign countries.
Meanwhile they can continue the battle at home, and hopefully prove that Microsoft hijacked the generic term "windows" (like from X) for themselves.
While this may not be the ideal solution, it will work until they win the court case, which I'm certainly hoping for.