Linpus Linux
Encyclopedia
Linpus Linux is a Fedora
-based operating system
created by the Taiwan
ese firm Linpus Technologies Inc. Linpus was designed specifically to fully support the Asian market, with full Unicode
support for the Chinese and Japanese languages. A special version, Linpus Lite, was written to run on devices with lower-cost hardware such as netbook
s. It has both an icon and tab-based "Simple mode", designed for new users; and, a conventional style "PC mode" for those wanting a more Microsoft Windows
-like interface. It is targeted at handheld devices with smaller screens, and supports resolutions as low as VGA (640×480).
The Acer Aspire One
and Norhtec Gecko netbook
s come with Linpus Lite Linux pre-installed, there is also a version of the Acer Revo
3610 with Linpus Linux pre-installed.
A version for normal desktop computers and servers is also available, as well as a Multimedia version called Linpus Media Center. The Media Center version offers an "Upgrade pack" to purchase patent
licenses from MPEG-LA for DVD
, MP3
, WMV and a few other codec
s.
operating system, but also Acer-specific "shareware
" - users classify this as "nagware," because it asks you to register on Acer's website and purchase a full version. The fact that the Acer distribution contains this software that is not available in source code
prevents the system from being considered a fully free
/open operating system.
Fedora (operating system)
Fedora is a RPM-based, general purpose collection of software, including an operating system based on the Linux kernel, developed by the community-supported Fedora Project and sponsored by Red Hat...
-based operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
created by the Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
ese firm Linpus Technologies Inc. Linpus was designed specifically to fully support the Asian market, with full Unicode
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
support for the Chinese and Japanese languages. A special version, Linpus Lite, was written to run on devices with lower-cost hardware such as netbook
Netbook
Netbooks are a category of small, lightweight, legacy-free, and inexpensive laptop computers.At their inception in late 2007 as smaller notebooks optimized for low weight and low cost — netbooks omitted certain features , featured smaller screens and keyboards, and offered reduced computing...
s. It has both an icon and tab-based "Simple mode", designed for new users; and, a conventional style "PC mode" for those wanting a more Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
-like interface. It is targeted at handheld devices with smaller screens, and supports resolutions as low as VGA (640×480).
The Acer Aspire One
Aspire One
Acer Aspire One is a line of subcompact notebook computers, or netbooks, released in July 2008 by Acer Inc.It is based on the Intel Atom platform, which consists of the Intel Atom processor, Intel 945GSE Express chipset and Intel 82801GBM I/O controller, and is available in several shell colors:...
and Norhtec Gecko netbook
Netbook
Netbooks are a category of small, lightweight, legacy-free, and inexpensive laptop computers.At their inception in late 2007 as smaller notebooks optimized for low weight and low cost — netbooks omitted certain features , featured smaller screens and keyboards, and offered reduced computing...
s come with Linpus Lite Linux pre-installed, there is also a version of the Acer Revo
AspireRevo
Acer AspireRevo is a nettop computer line from Acer Inc. first released at the end of April 2009. It is one of the first desktop computers to pair the NVIDIA ION chipset with Intel's Atom CPU....
3610 with Linpus Linux pre-installed.
A version for normal desktop computers and servers is also available, as well as a Multimedia version called Linpus Media Center. The Media Center version offers an "Upgrade pack" to purchase patent
Software patent
Software patent does not have a universally accepted definition. One definition suggested by the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure is that a software patent is a "patent on any performance of a computer realised by means of a computer program".In 2005, the European Patent Office...
licenses from MPEG-LA for DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
, WMV and a few other codec
Codec
A codec is a device or computer program capable of encoding or decoding a digital data stream or signal. The word codec is a portmanteau of "compressor-decompressor" or, more commonly, "coder-decoder"...
s.
Nagware
The Linpus system contains not only the free and open sourceFree and open source software
Free and open-source software or free/libre/open-source software is software that is liberally licensed to grant users the right to use, study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code...
operating system, but also Acer-specific "shareware
Shareware
The term shareware is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a...
" - users classify this as "nagware," because it asks you to register on Acer's website and purchase a full version. The fact that the Acer distribution contains this software that is not available in source code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
prevents the system from being considered a fully free
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
/open operating system.