Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Freespire 8.2 Released




Today, the Freespire development team is pleased to announce the release of Freespire 8.2, the latest incremental release for our FOSS product line. 

With a broad application lineup ready for our users, Freespire 8.2 is the logical continuation of a great desktop product. Aside from updates, we have listened to our users and made several changes. Most noticeably, we have switched from the GNOME desktop environment to the latest LTS of Plasma KDE, 5.18.8. Additionally, many of our users have requested them, so we have included the full range of multimedia codecs for our users to consume / create content in whatever format they like. 

Another request was to switch from Google Chrome; we have honored that, switching Freespire’s default browser to Falkon, widely available, fully open source. 

For security reasons we have disabled the installation of SNAP and SNAP packages.  If you try to install a SNAP package it will fail.

Freespire 8.2 comes with no support options available except for its community. Forums are available to let us know of any problems that may arise as well as interact with members of the Freespire community


If you do need a fully supported operating system environment you can get Linspire here. 

The distribution includes : 

KDE Plasma 5.18.8 - fast and lean Linux desktop, fully functional and performance enhanced; peerless in terms of speed and user friendliness. 
Kernel 5.13.0 LTS - Long Term Support kernel designed to stand the test of time. 
Flatpak - Alternative package manager to SNAP, the current Ubuntu standard. 
Falkon - Open Source Web browser based on QTWebKit 
Kpat - Solitaire game 
Calligra Office - Office suite. Part of the KDE Application suite 
DragonPlayer - Multimedia player 
Juk - Music Player 
Balena Etcher - Utility for writing ISO’s to a USB stick 

This release also contains many functionality / security updates. 

You can download Freespire 8.2 below.


If you have data caps or metered internet connections you may want to consider purchasing a physical copy.  It gives you physical media and helps us out.

Freespire OSS Edition
Install Media
Order Notes









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Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Freespire 8.0.1 Released



Today, the PC/OpenSystems LLC FOSS development team is pleased to release Freespire 8.0.1, This update delivers needed security fixes and adds some functionality that some users have requested. This update ships with most of the requested Google services. But we have also listened to users who said they wanted a local Office suite so that they could continue their work uninterrupted in case of travel or internet outage and we have included the full LibreOffice suite. Freespire core again has not changed at all. Even though we do include LibreOffice as the default office suite it’s still a full featured desktop OS and an excellent platform to deploy any and all of your cloud applications. The way we deliver cloud applications has also changed. Zswap is also enabled to help with performance with Chromebooks and other hardware systems that have less that 4 gb of physical memory.  Dark mode is now enabled by default.  Freespire does not incorporate any proprietary media codecs; aside from the use of Google Chrome there are no other vendor-specific software applications pre-installed at all. 

Freespire 8.0.1 features a new stable kernel which fixes bugs / broadens hardware support. Google Chrome version 97 includes security patches and other general browser improvements. 

The distribution includes : 

  • XFCE Desktop 4.16 - A very lightweight and easy to use Linux desktop environment 
  • Kernel 5.4.0-94 LTS - A long term supported kernel that has been enhanced for functionality and security 
  • Synaptic - Linux package manager and alternative to the Software application. We also put Synaptic back in the whisker menu per user request. 
  • Google Chrome 97 - A web browser from Google uniquely engineered for privacy, security and performance. 
  • Ice SSB - An application that takes any web property and makes it a desktop application 
  • Kpatience - Suite of solitaire games 
  • Dreamchess - A fun and entertaining game for the chess enthusiasts out there 
  • Gmail - E-mail client from Google 
  • Google Drive - Access your online Google drive with this application. You can download and upload files and more. Google Drive integration is not present in Thunar 
  • Google Calendar - Online calendar application. 
  • Google Translate - A utility to translate text to any language you wish 
  • Google News - Online world wide news 
  • Video Player - Video and multimedia player 
  • Rhythmbox - Music player 
  • LibreOffice - Dedicated office suite for word processing, spreadsheet, presentations and vector drawing 

All security and application updates until January 10, 2022. 

You can download the ISO from here.






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Friday, December 10, 2021

Freespire 8.0 GNOME Released


 Today we have a very special release for you guys, Freespire 8.0 with the GNOME desktop.  A freespire build with the GNOME desktop has been the most requested build that we have ever received.  We do not like to release anything unless we think its functional, beautiful and ready.  We released Freespire 8.0 last week to much fan fare.  It was our most successful release to date.  We have been working on the GNOME release for months and a testing issue kept us from releasing it with the XFCE build.  This GNOME release is identical to the GNOME desktop release of Linspire.

The GNOME release does not mean we will stop making an XFCE build.  We will be doing both parallel with one another.  Our GNOME release is based on GNOME 3.36.8.  With Freespire 10 we will be moving to GNOME 4.  Our GNOME desktop features a single panel with app launchers and "show applications" button which brings you to the App drawers.


For flexibility, users can switch back to the traditional GNOME desktop through the tweaks application.  Aside from the desktop and a more recent kernel build the Freespire GNOME release is identical to the XFCE build. and focuses on web centric applications though traditional desktop applications are available through the software center.

Freespire GNOME features

Linux kernel 5.11

GNOME 3.36.8

Dash 2 Panel GNOME extension

Rhythmbox

Totem

Google Chrome 96

Ice SSB

Gmail

Google Docs

Google News

Google Keep

Google Calendar

Google Meet

Google Translate

Solitaire

Dreamchess

as with our traditional Freespire releases aside from Google Chrome there are no proprietary codecs or drivers included although they are available through the software center.

To install Freespire GNOME is very simple click on the "Show Applications" button on the taskbar and when the drawers open click on the Install icon and setup is very simple and straightforward.

You can download the GNOME release from here

https://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/8/freespire-8G.iso

https://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/8/freespire-8G.iso.md5

https://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/8/freespire-8G.iso.sha256

If you wish to donate to the freespire project you can do that here as well







If you have bandwidth caps or would like to recieve a copy of Freespire 8 GNOME or XFCE on a USB key you can purchase that here as well

Freespire OSS Edition
Install Media
Order Notes








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Sunday, December 5, 2021

Freespire 8.0 Released


Today, the PC/OpenSystems LLC FOSS development team has released Freespire 8.0, an update which delivers much needed system enhancements and security fixes. Once again we have let users decide; they have spoken, and we have included all the most requested Google services; Calendar, Docs, and Gmail. For more traditional use cases, Freespire core has not changed at all : it’s still a full featured desktop OS, with all of the applications and resources of the Ubuntu repositories available as always. To repeat : Freespire does not incorporate any proprietary media codecs; aside from the use of Google Chrome there are no other vendor-specific software applications pre-installed at all. 

Freespire 8.0 features a new stable kernel which fixes bugs / broadens hardware support. Google Chrome version 96 includes security patches and other general browser improvements. We have upgraded Xfce 4.16, X11, Samba and other system fundamentals including non-UEFI and secure boot systems.. 

The distribution includes : 


XFCE Desktop 4.16 
Kernel 5.4.0-91 LTS 
Google Chrome 96 
Ice SSB 
Kpatience 
Dreamchess 
Gmail
Google Docs 
Google Drive 
Google Calendar 
Google Translate 
Google News 
Kolourpaint 
Video Player 
Rhythmbox 

Plus several other security and feature updates. In step with keeping the distribution as close as possible that we can get to the definition of free software no proprietary multimedia codecs or drivers are enabled but are available via the repositories.  We provide an ISO that you can "burn" to a USB key or DVD media.  To create a USB key you can use the following programs:

Ubuntu Startup Disk Creator (Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Freespire, ElementaryOS)
Unetbootin (Linux, Windows)
Balena Etcher (Linux, Mac, Windows)
Rufus (Windows)

You can download the ISO from here:


If you have bandwidth caps or would like to support Freespire you can purchase a copy here

Freespire OSS Edition
Install Media
Order Notes







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Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Freespire OSS Fall Fundraiser 2021



Today the Freespire OSS team is launching our fall fundraiser for 2021.  Freespire uses these fundraisers to pay for web space, URL renewals as well replace aging equipment.   Any amount you wish to contribute will help the Freespire team immensely.  At the end of the fundraiser, Nov 15, 2021, we will publish the names of all people who contributed on our website.  Also, we do provide receipts for everything purchased upon request so contributors can see exactly what the funds were used for.

Anyone who wishes to contribute hardware can do so but you must pay the shipping costs as well. (Due to COVID-19 Restrictions all physical contributions will be quarantined for 10 days)

You can contribute below 









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Friday, July 30, 2021

Freespire 7.7 Released





Today, the PC/OpenSystems LLC Open Source Development team will release Freespire 7.7. This update launches an entirely new direction for our distribution products, Freespire, Linspire and Xandros, by incorporating a cloud app approach. Since this is Freespire, our community-support build, we did not incorporate anyone’s (read : Google, Microsoft) specific web apps into the distribution. Which they select is entirely the user's choice. And for more traditional use cases, the core of Freespire has not changed at all : it’s still a full featured desktop OS; all of the applications and resources of the Ubuntu repositories are available, as always. To repeat : Freespire still does not incorporate any proprietary media codecs; aside from the use of Google Chrome there are no other vendor-specific software applications pre-installed at all. 

Many of these changes are the result of feedback from users.  As always we do appreciate all their participation and contributions to Freespire.

Freespire, for those not in the know, is the open source equivalent of Linspire and Xandros, containing mostly libre / FOSS components. 

The distribution includes : 

  • XFCE Desktop 4.16
  • Kernel 5.4.0-80 
  • Synaptic 
  • Google Chrome 92 
  • DuckDuckGo set as the default search engine and homepage
  • Ice SSB 
  • Kpatience 
  • Dreamchess 
  • Geary Mail Client 
  • Kolourpaint 
  • Parole 
  • Rhythmbox 
  • Caja is now the default file manager (Thunar is still in the base install)

Plus several other security and feature updates. 

You can download the ISO from here.


If you have Bandwidth restrictions you can purchase a bootable USB key at a nominal charge


Freespire OSS Edition
Install Media
Order Notes




Windows 11 Mode



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Sunday, May 9, 2021

Freespire 7.5 released

 

Hey guys, 

Today we’re releasing Freespire 7.5. While incremental, it does incorporate some important OS fixes to version 7.0 which we will detail. Freespire, for those not in the know, is the open source equivalent of Linspire and Xandros, but with strictly libre / open source components. There are no proprietary code or codecs included with Freespire; the team tries to adhere as closely as possible the definition of free software. 

Some of the patches implemented : 

FIXED: XFCE has been upgraded to the latest release with all patches implemented 

FIXED: Kernel 5.4 has been upgraded to the latest version 

FIXED Air Pod support has been improved 

The distribution includes : 

XFCE Desktop 

Kernel 5.4 

Synaptic 

Firefox 

Thunderbird 

Kpatience 

Dreamchess 

Abiword 

Gnumeric 

Gdebi 

Kolourpaint 

Parole 

Rhythmbox 

Plus several other security updates. You can download the ISO from here. 

 https://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/7/release-750F.iso

https://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/7/release-750F.iso.md5

https://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/7/release-750F.iso.sha256

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