Lindows: Linspire, Mandrake and Fedora in one package

San Diego (CA) - Lindows rolled out a new package of its Linux distribution dubbed Linspire. The company cut the price in half and throws in Mandrake and Fedora.

Lindows has launched the unusual campaign to promote its Linux for the desktop, at least this is the official reason. It does not happen very often that a software company tries to increase sales by adding competing applications to its own product.

Lindows customers who buy the download version of Linspire operating system, currently only pay $30 and will get Mandrake’s free 10.0 Community Edition and the Fedora Core 2, which Red Hat recently transferred to a community-supported open source project. The Linux Shootout, as Lindows calls this package, is also available on 8 CDs for $40.

Lindows refers to the ongoing litigation process with Microsoft when asked what prompted this move. Instead, Lindows founder Michael Robertson tries to answer questions about the campaign in his newsletter to users. "Much has changed over the last few years and there’s been great competition between a few of the Linux companies. I liken it to playing football with your cousins. Sure you want to win, but whoever wins, it’s still a family victory," Robertson writes.

Lindows believes that its strategy will work out, because "every Linux fan should be interested in seeing how well the Linux leaders compare, so they can assess how quickly the desktop products are maturing." However, the company runs the risk of confusing its potential entry level customers. Each distribution appeals to a different user group. So which distribution do you use, if you never have worked with Linux ? On the other hand, savvy users are capable to decide which distribution is best for them. The obvious reason for buying the Shootout package is having a choice of convenience to get the three distributions on one CD package.

Lindows declined to comment on the cooperation between Mandrake and the Fedora project. We were not able to reach representatives from Mandrake, RedHat and the Fedora project to provide details on the "Linux Shootout".