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Freespire RSS Feed DistroWatch.com: Freespire

Freespire


Last Update: 2024-02-02 02:44 UTC


Freespire was once a community-run Linux distribution sponsored by Linspire. Freespire was discontinued in 2008. Starting in 2017 Freespire became a free operating system based on Ubuntu and run by PC/OpenSystems LLC. Freespire features the Xfce desktop environment.

Popularity (hits per day): 12 months: 199 (37), 6 months: 241 (25), 3 months: 231 (25), 4 weeks: 233 (26), 1 week: 238 (26)

Average visitor rating: 8.9/10 from 10 review(s).


Freespire Summary
Distribution Freespire
Home Page https://www.freespire.net/
Mailing Lists --
User Forums http://linspire.boards.net/
Alternative User Forums
Documentation https://www.freespire.net/p/documentation.html
Screenshots DistroWatch Gallery
Screencasts
Download Mirrors https://www.freespire.net/p/downloads.htmlDistroWatch Torrent Archive
Bug Tracker --
Related Websites Wikipedia
Reviews 3: DistroWatch
2.0: Linux.com
1.0: OSNewsPC WorldFree-BeesLinuxOS.sk (Slovak) • LinuxForumsTechgage
Where To Donate, Buy, or Try

Recent Related News and Releases
  Releases announcements with download links and checksums:
 • 2021-12-06: Distribution Release: Freespire 8.0
 • 2021-07-31: Distribution Release: Freespire 7.7
 • 2018-01-02: Distribution Release: Linspire 7.0, Freespire 3
 • 2007-09-25: Distribution Release: Freespire 2.0.3
 • 2007-08-08: Distribution Release: Freespire 2.0
 • 2007-03-24: Development Release: Freespire 2.0 Alpha 2
 • 2007-03-09: Development Release: Freespire 2.0 Alpha 1
 • 2006-12-22: Development Release: Freespire 2.0 Alpha 3
 • 2006-12-08: Development Release: Freespire 2.0 Alpha 2
 • 2006-11-23: Development Release: Freespire 2.0 Alpha
 • 2006-08-08: Distribution Release: Freespire 1.0
 • 2006-07-29: Development Release: Freespire Release Candidate 1
 • More Freespire releases...

Table Notes and Explanations

(Please refer to the table below.)
  • Select view:
  • To compare the software in this project to the software available in other distributions, please see our Compare Packages page.
  • Notes: In case where multiple versions of a package are shipped with a distribution, only the default version appears in the table. For indication about the GNOME version, please check the "nautilus" and "gnome-shell" packages. The Apache web server is listed as "httpd" and the Linux kernel is listed as "linux". The KDE desktop is represented by the "plasma-desktop" package and the Xfce desktop by the "xfdesktop" package.
  • Colour scheme: green text = latest stable version, red text = development or beta version. The function determining beta versions is not 100% reliable due to a wide variety of versioning schemes.
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Feature 9 8.2 8.0.1 7.7 7.1 6.0 5.0 3.0.9 2.0.8 1.0 Feature
Release Date 2023-05-08 2022-03-02 2022-01-12 2021-07-30 2020-02-11 2020-02-11 2019-10-16 2018-06-18 2007-11-30 2006-08-08 Release Date
End Of Life                     End Of Life
Price (US$) Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Price (US$)
Image Size (MB) 4600-4700 3100-3200 1700-1800 1400-1500 1500-1600 2000-2100 1900-2000 1400-1600 0-0   Image Size (MB)
Free Download ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO Free Download
Installation Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Installation
Default Desktop GNOME KDE Plasma Xfce Xfce Xfce MATE KDE Plasma KDE Plasma, Xfce KDE KDE Default Desktop
Package Management DEB DEB DEB DEB DEB DEB DEB DEB DEB DEB Package Management
Release Model Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Release Model
Office Suite OnlyOffice Calligra LibreOffice -- GOffice GOffice GOffice LibreOffice OO.o OO.o Office Suite
Processor Architecture x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 i386 i386 Processor Architecture
Init Software systemd systemd systemd systemd systemd systemd systemd systemd Upstart SysV Init Software
Journaled File Systems btrfs, ext4 btrfs, ext4 btrfs, ext4 btrfs, ext4 btrfs, ext4 btrfs, ext4 btrfs, ext4 btrfs, ext4 ext3, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS   Journaled File Systems
Multilingual                     Multilingual
Asian Language Support -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Asian Language Support
Full Package List 9 8.2 8.0.1 7.7 7.1 6.0         Full Package List
Package 9 8.2 8.0.1 7.7 7.1 6.0 5.0 3.0.9 2.0.8 1.0 Package
abiword (3.0.5) -- -- -- -- 3.0.2 3.0.2 3.0.2 3.0.1 -- -- abiword (3.0.5)
alsa-lib (1.2.12) 1.2.6.1 1.2.2 1.2.2 1.2.2 1.2.2 1.1.3 1.1.3 1.1.0 1.0.13 1.0.9 alsa-lib (1.2.12)
amdgpu (23.0.0) 22.0.0 19.1.0 19.1.0 19.1.0 19.1.0 19.0.1 -- -- 8.34.8 8.22.5 amdgpu (23.0.0)
bash (5.2.37) 5.1 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 4.4.18 4.4.18 4.3 3.2 3.0 bash (5.2.37)
bind (9.20.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- bind (9.20.2)
chromium (129.0.6668.100) -- -- 97.0.4692.71 92.0.4515.107 87.0.4280.88 79.0.3945.79 68.0.3440.106 -- -- -- chromium (129.0.6668.100)
cups (2.4.11) 2.4.1 2.3.1 2.3.1 2.3.1 2.3.1 2.2.7 2.2.7 2.1.3 1.2.8 1.1.23 cups (2.4.11)
dhcp (4.4.3-P1) 4.4.1 4.4.1 4.4.1 4.4.1 4.4.1 4.3.5 4.3.5 4.3.3 3.0.4 3.0.1 dhcp (4.4.3-P1)
e2fsprogs (1.47.1) 1.46.5 1.45.5 1.45.5 1.45.5 1.45.5 1.44.1 1.44.1 1.42.13 1.39 1.38 e2fsprogs (1.47.1)
firefox (131.0.2) 102.11.0 -- -- -- -- -- -- 58.0.2 2.0.0.6 1.5.0.4 firefox (131.0.2)
freetype (2.13.3) 2.11.1 2.10.1 2.10.1 2.10.1 2.10.1 2.8.1 2.8.1 2.6.1 2.2.1 2.1.7 freetype (2.13.3)
gcc (14.2.0) -- -- 9.3.0 9.3.0 9.3.0 7.4.0 7.4.0 5.3.1 4.1.2 3.3.5 gcc (14.2.0)
gimp (2.10.38) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gimp (2.10.38)
glibc (2.40) 2.35 2.31 2.31 2.31 2.31 2.27 2.27 2.23 2.5 2.3.2 glibc (2.40)
gnome-shell (47.0) 42.5 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gnome-shell (47.0)
gnucash (5.9) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 2.6.12 -- -- gnucash (5.9)
gnumeric (1.12.57) -- -- 1.12.46 1.12.46 1.12.46 1.12.35 1.12.35 1.12.28 -- -- gnumeric (1.12.57)
grub (2.12) 2.06 2.04 2.04 2.04 2.04 2.02 2.02 2.02beta2 0.97 0.97 grub (2.12)
gtk (4.16.3) 4.6.6 3.24.20 3.24.20 3.24.20 3.24.20 3.22.30 3.22.30 3.18.9 2.10.11 2.6.10 gtk (4.16.3)
httpd (2.4.62) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- httpd (2.4.62)
inkscape (1.3.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- inkscape (1.3.2)
k3b (24.08.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- 17.12.3 2.0.3 1.0.3 0.12.7 k3b (24.08.2)
kmod (33) 29 27 27 27 27 24 24 22 -- -- kmod (33)
krita (5.2.6) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 3.3.2.1 -- -- krita (5.2.6)
LibreOffice (24.8.2) -- -- 7.2.5rc2 -- -- -- -- -- 2.2.0 2.0.1 LibreOffice (24.8.2)
linux (6.11.3) 5.19 5.13 5.4 5.4 5.8 5.3 4.18 4.10 2.6.20 2.6.14 linux (6.11.3)
Package 9 8.2 8.0.1 7.7 7.1 6.0 5.0 3.0.9 2.0.8 1.0 Package
lxpanel (0.10.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- lxpanel (0.10.1)
mariadb (11.4.3) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mariadb (11.4.3)
mate-desktop (1.28.2) -- -- -- 1.24.0 -- 1.20.1 1.20.1 -- -- -- mate-desktop (1.28.2)
mesa (24.2.4) 22.2.5 21.2.6 21.0.3 20.2.6 20.0.8 19.2.8 19.0.8 17.2.8 6.5.2 6.9.0 mesa (24.2.4)
mysql (9.0.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mysql (9.0.1)
nautilus (47.0) 42.2 -- -- -- -- -- -- 3.18.4 -- -- nautilus (47.0)
NVIDIA (560.35.03) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 1.0-9631 1.0-8178 NVIDIA (560.35.03)
openbox (3.6.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- openbox (3.6.1)
openjdk (23) -- -- 11.0.13 -- -- -- 11.0.4 8u151 -- -- openjdk (23)
openssh (9.9p1) 8.9p1 8.2p1 8.2p1 8.2p1 8.2p1 7.6p1 7.6p1 7.2p2 4.3p2 3.8.1p1 openssh (9.9p1)
openssl (3.3.2) 3.0.2 1.1.1f 1.1.1f 1.1.1f 1.1.1f 1.1.1 1.1.1 1.0.2g 0.9.8c 0.9.8a openssl (3.3.2)
perl (5.40.0) 5.34.0 5.30.0 5.30.0 5.30.0 5.30.0 5.26.1 5.26.1 5.22.1 5.8.8 5.8.4 perl (5.40.0)
php (8.3.12) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- php (8.3.12)
plasma-desktop (6.2.0) -- 5.18.8 -- -- -- -- 5.12.9.1 5.8.8 -- -- plasma-desktop (6.2.0)
postfix (3.9.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 2.4.5 -- postfix (3.9.0)
postgresql (17.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- postgresql (17.0)
Python (3.13.0) 3.10.6 3.8.2 3.8.2 3.8.2 3.8.2 2.7.15rc1 2.7.15rc1 2.7.12 2.5.1 2.3.4 Python (3.13.0)
qt (6.8.0) 5.15.3 5.12.8 5.12.8 5.12.8 5.12.8 5.9.5 5.9.5 5.6.1 3.3.8 3.3.3 qt (6.8.0)
samba (4.21.0) 4.15.13 4.13.17 4.13.14 4.11.6 4.11.6 4.7.6 4.7.6 4.3.11 3.0.24 3.0.9 samba (4.21.0)
systemd (256.7) 249.11 245.4 245.4 245.4 245.4 237 237 229 -- -- systemd (256.7)
thunderbird (131.0.1) 102.11.0 91.5.0 78.7.1 78.7.1 78.6.0 -- -- 52.6.0 2.0.0.4 1.5.0.4 thunderbird (131.0.1)
vim (9.1) 8.2 8.1 8.1 8.1 8.1 8.0 8.0 7.4 7.0.164 6.3.031 vim (9.1)
vlc (3.0.21) -- -- -- -- -- -- 3.0.4 -- -- -- vlc (3.0.21)
wayland (1.23.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- wayland (1.23.1)
xfdesktop (4.18.1) -- -- 4.16.0 4.16.0 4.16.0 -- 4.12.3 4.12.3 -- -- xfdesktop (4.18.1)
xorg-server (21.1.13) 21.1.4 1.20.13 1.20.13 1.20.9 1.20.8 1.19.6 1.19.6 1.18.4 1.2.0 (6.9.0) xorg-server (21.1.13)

Reader Ratings
Reader supplied reviews for Freespire

Average rating
8.9
from 10 review(s)



What are your thoughts on Freespire?
Please include a few pros and a few cons, along with your overall impression of the operating system.
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Version:

Rating:    out of 10

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Past reviews - sort by:

Version: 8.2
Rating: 10
Date: 2022-04-27
Votes: 3


Freespire does the one thing all OS should aSPIRE to do: get the ... out of the way

The user should not really notice the OS, except to say, good job OS.
IDK what freespire (perhaps benefiting from the professional version, Linspire, there being a pro version; i think it's just support though, but don't quote me; the idea is that they get paid to make Linspire work, and they give you the same stuff for free but without the support, ie help from actual ppl in real time, etc.)

The KDE is good, i got it doing what i want, mostly (left bar, button bottom, tray top, tasks middle, but it won't do half transparency when mouse leaves, like XFCE, so I'll be switching to xfce, or adding it in). I'm even getting used to the single click, like it more. It's odd though, not always single click. I think it's kind of a apple/mac thing, the single click, so i don't mind not using it. Probably just use xfce and not look back.

Been a couple of weeks with this so far and it's great. Just no hiccups, no headaches, no hassle. Why should it be a hassle? lol

So, two doors, one says "hella big hassle", the other door says "freespire".

lol

.

to be fair, ubuntu works well; this is not ubuntu exactly. IDK what 'spyware' might be embedded in it, as someone said, but I'm not finding anything to complain about, at all. Except for that taskbar transparency thing, lol. Also, the login manager (as when coming out of sleep/standby) is a bit ugly and irritating, have to punch keyboard and whack mouse to get it to show password input field.

I did install "ubuntustudio-installer" and all that, which is why i decided on an ubuntu base. Works good.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 8.0.1
Rating: 9
Date: 2022-03-03
Votes: 2


An excellent switch from Gnome to KDE in 8.2 due to user feedback. Now based on Kubuntu but with SNAP disabled by default. Yes there are plenty of other Ubuntu clones around but each will suit a different set of users depending on the software mix. For my needs I'm pleased it includes Calligra Office, Flatpak and Balena Etcher. It's also faster than most I've installed with a lower resource usage rate. I just installed the MX Conky Manager to have access to their range of themes. Nice logo and default wallpaper.



Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 8.0
Rating: 1
Date: 2021-12-20
Votes: 1


Another uninspired bland clone of Ubuntu. Not really much to rave on at all about it. It used to be a good Linux distro many years back when the original developers made it an independent distro and not based on anything and including custom tools to make it very simple and easy to use. It was back in the days of Xandros and such and when more Linux distros were more difficulty to use and heavily relied on the terminal. But all of that image of a great distro has faded away when another company bought Freespire and Linspire and made it another bloated, slow and buggy Ubuntu clone. The real only difference here is themes, some different applications and different wallpapers. It baffles me why there are so many Ubuntu clones that keep its spyware and just modify the look and feel.


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