Thursday, December 7, 2023

Freespire 10 Released


Today the PC/OS development team is pleased to release Freespire 10. We have worked on many aspects of the distribution both internal and on its user-facing front-end, making the distribution seem very familiar to new users and configurable for advanced ones. Freespire 10 continues its tradition of being the leading free desktop distribution available today. 

PC/OS has focused on improving speed, responsiveness and hardware compatibility; virtual machine compatibility has also been improved. We try to make Freespire adhere as closely as possible to the definition of “free software” - meaning the amount of proprietary code used is limited to the bare minimum. Some vendor-specific drivers are included for hardware compatibility, but Freespire does not include proprietary multimedia codecs or any other proprietary software. If that kind of compatibility is required, we recommend Linspire. 

Freespire 10 includes the following features: 

  • Customized GNOME 4.2.9 Interface 
  • Linux kernel 6.2.0-36 
  • Rhythmbox Music Player 
  • Video player 
  • OnlyOffice 7.4 
  • Geary mail client 
  • Brave Web Browser 1.60 
  • OpenSSH Client and Server Samba 

You can download Freespire 10 here:

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Thursday, July 20, 2023

Freespire 10 Beta 1 and Linspire 14 Beta 1 Released

 Today we are happy to release the newest Beta's of our flagship systems, Linspire 14 Beta 1 and Freespire 10 Beta 1.  These are Beta builds which means they are provided for testing only we do NOT recommend these to be deployed in any kind of production environment.  These builds are for users to provide us with feedback.  Both of these builds use the Ubuntu 22.04 LTS base.   Both are free downloads but as they are undergoing constant and consistent changes they are not representative of the final builds.

Linspire 14 Beta 1


Linspire 14 Beta 1 is our premium distribution it contains everything you need for a home user.  Whether you are a student, home office worker, gamer or contemporary home user Linspire contains all the tools, codecs and applications to get you started.

  • Linspire 14 Beta 1 changes are as follows:
  • GNOME 42.9
  • Linux Kernel 5.15.0-46
  • Google Chrome 114
  • Geary Mail Client
  • Steam Client
  • Discover Software Store
  • Flatpak 1.14.4
  • OnlyOffice 7.4
  • Rhythmbox
  • Totem
  • Full multimedia and codec support
  • All security updates up 7/15/2023

Other changes we have made is that we have removed the Ubuntu Advantage Tools as well as Canonical specific tools.  

You can download this release here:

https://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/Beta/Linspire-14-2023.07.29-desktop-amd64.iso

https://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/Beta/Linspire-14-2023.07.29-desktop-amd64.md5

https://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/Beta/Linspire-14-2023.07.29-desktop-amd64.sha256

Beta 2 will be released mid-August

Freespire 10 Beta 1


Freespire 10 Beta 1 is our free distribution. Freespire can be redistributed freely and installed on multiple machines and modified as the user see's fit.  This distribution can be used by the power user and Linux enthusiast.  In this release we limit the number of proprietary non-free drivers and codecs that we include.  Whether you are a developer, Linux power user or contemporary home user Freespire contains all the tools, utilities and applications that you need.  Whether you want to experiment with different desktop environments you can download multiple software packages from the Ubuntu repositories or Flatpak. 

Freespire 10 Beta 1 changes are as follows:

  • GNOME 42.9
  • Linux Kernel 5.15.0-46
  • Brave Browser 1.52.130
  • Geary Mail Client
  • Steam Client
  • Discover Software Store
  • Flatpak 1.14.4
  • OnlyOffice 7.4
  • Rhythmbox
  • Totem
  • Free format multimedia and codec support
  • All security updates up 7/15/2023

In this release we have removed the Ubuntu Advantage Tools as well as Canonical specific tools.  

You can download these ISO's here:

https://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/Beta/Freespire-10-desktop-amd64.iso

https://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/Beta/Freespire-10-desktop-amd64.sha256

https://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/Beta/Freespire-10-desktop-amd64.md5

We will be releasing Beta 2 in September 2023


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Monday, May 8, 2023

Freespire 9.5 Released

Today the Freespire development team is pleased to announce the release of Freespire 9.5.  Freespire is our free and open source release of our commercial product Linspire.  Freespire is free to use, redistribute and bundle with recycled or new hardware.  Freespire 9.5 is our latest improvements to the Freespire 9 release.  As always we aim to create the best desktop Linux distribution on the market and we strive to continue that excellence.  While there have been many improvements under the hood one of the major changes you will notice is in the user interface.  While yes, the desktop environment tjhat we use is GNOME many of our users and customers have told us that they want the more traditional user interface that is not so different from Windows 10 or Windows 11 and in this release we have delivered that.  You have your classic "dock" as well as "start" menu.  If you prefer the traditional GNOME 4 layout its easy to switch back.

We have also worked on security and reliability,  We have worked out many of the bugs and other issues that had arisen with the 9.0 release.  Some of the fixes we have made:

  • Python 3 applications crash or refuse to start
  • Graphics not displaying proper resolutions over HDMI connections

  • Bluetooth headset microphones not working
  • When using Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge web apps not showing up in the menu
  • Zoom call crashes when using Bluetooth audio devices

So as with any other release there have been changes.  Here is a list of some of the important changes:

  • Kernel 5.19.0-41
  • OnlyOffice 7.3
  • Etcher 1.8
  • Firefox ESR 102
  • Thunderbird  102
  • Discover Software Store
  • Muon Package Manager
  • Flatpak

All security updates up to May 5, 2023.  For a full list of packages included you can read that here

You can download the new ISO from here.

https://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/freespire-9-desktop-amd64.iso

https://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/freespire-9-desktop-amd64.md5

https://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/freespire-9-desktop-amd64.sha256

If you wish to support our work you can donate here











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Sunday, March 26, 2023

Freespire Spring Fundraiser

 Today we are launching the Freespire Spring fundraiser.  With this fundraiser we are hoping to raise the funds to help the distribution grow.  All funds raised do get used to help the distribution.  If you donate and would like itemized receipts on where the funds go  they will be made available.

What are we hoping to accomplish with this fundraiser:

  • Domain renewals
  • Advertising
  • Paying some of the student developers
  • Replacing the build server and other aging equipment.

You can donate below.  If you wish to donate systems for testing you can contact support at pcopensystems@outlook.com or roberto.dohnert@outlook.com








Freespire OSS Edition
Install Media
Order Notes
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Monday, February 13, 2023

Freespire 9 released



Today we are extremely pleased we have released Freespire 9. Freespire 9 features the most popular Linux GNOME desktop and is the desktop environment we use for Linspire and PC/OS has now found a home in Freespire.  This release utilizes no binary only and non-free software.  This release of Freespoire is free to download and redistribute.  If you have bandwidth constrictions and data caps you can purchase a physical copy below.

Freespire has the following features:

  • GNOME 42.5
  • Thunderbird 102
  • Firefox ESR 102.5
  • OnlyOffice Desktop Editors
  • GNOME Videos
  • Rhythmbox
  • GNOME apps, Maps, Clocks, Calculator, Weather
  • Balena Etcher 1.4
  • Bashtop replaces Htop

You can download a copy below and if you need physical media you can purchase below as well.




Freespire OSS Edition
Install Media
Order Notes






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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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