Builder's FAQ
Reseller's FAQ
Publisher's FAQ

• A new website specifically for partners, http://partners.linspire.com.
• It is now free to sign-up for the builder program.
• There is now only one level of builder - there are no more bronze, silver, and gold levels.
• All builders now receive revenue share, and can view their revenue share numbers online.
• There is no longer a Linspire cash option for revenue earnings.
• Revenue share checks are now distributed quarterly.

Linspire is designed for the average computer user, not Linux experts. This means your value-based Linspire Linux products will appeal to a broader audience, increasing potential revenues.

Linspire is the perfect product for your desktop Linux strategy, and the Linspire builder program is ideally suited for any size business. Whether your strategy is to build one system per month or one hundred, you'll have all the tools you need to build and sell quality desktop Linux systems.

Linspire is ideal for home users (particularly for second home computers), small- to-medium businesses, government enterprises, and educational institutions.

• A registration card with registration instructions and a unique registration number
• An overview of Linspire's customer support services.
• A QuickStart Guide.
• One Linspire operating system recovery disc.
• An upsell flyer with information about Linspire add-on products.
• One Linspire case badge.

• CNR Gold Service: Over 2,000 applications that can be downloaded with literally one mouse click.
• Linspire DVD Player: Flawless cinema-like movie playback on your computer.
• VirusSafe: Premium virus protection for Linspire computers. Protects the PC and prevents spread of viruses to non-Linux computers.
• SurfSafe: Unique Internet filtering service. Blocks objectionable web sites and images.

Costs vary depending on the license pack bundle you choose. Visit the the builder "Buy Products" page to view the prices

Your Gold Master image is available in the Builder Download Center.

All Linspire builders benefit from our revenue share program - it's a great way for you to increase your margin on value-based Linspire systems. The revenue share program lets you earn commission from add-on purchases made by your customers through the Linspire website.

When a system you have built reaches the end user, and the end user registers or "lights up" through the Linspire website, all Linspire.com purchases made from that system will be tracked, and you will receive a percentage (at least 15%) of the gross profits from those purchases.

You can track your revenue share commissions online through the Linspire builder website.

Revenue share checks are issued quarterly.

Yes. The builder toolbox includes burn-in and ship-it tools that allow you to test and prepare your Linspire systems efficiently. Visit the builder resource center to download the Builder Toolbox and its instructions.

You can certify your hardware yourself, and we will supply you with step-by-step instructions that make it quick and easy. Visit the builder resource center to download the hardware certification instructions

You can search a database of certified hardware at the Linspire consumer website:http://www.linspire.com/compatibility. We also feature hardware certified by our hardware team on the builder program homepage. Also, each month we announce featured hardware in the "Tipping Point" newsletter, our monthly channel partner update.

Linspire works with the majority of drivers as it's based on Linux and uses Linux drivers for hardware devices. Additionally, we're aggressively testing and supporting more and more products each week. You can check out the Linspire compatibility list, a database of just some of the many compatible hardware products.

If you're located in the United States, you can now purchase your Linspire products through Ingram Micro. Don't miss this opportunity to take advantage of their great credit terms and fast order processing!

1. Download the PDF file of the Linspire Ingram Micro product guide
2. Contact your local Ingram Micro representative and place your order

• Debian (.deb) - This is our preferred format and provides the highest likelihood of your program being added to the Warehouse.
• Tar or compressed archives of all files necessary to run your program (.tar, .gz, .bz2, .zip, etc.). If you don't know how to package your program up as a Debian (.deb) file, we can do this for you on our end, but because of the additional resources needed to publish your products, they must have higher value in other ways for us to accept them.

• Stability. We try not to publish programs that are extremely unstable or will provide the user with a frustrating experience.
• Safety. Obviously we do not want to include products containing viruses or which could in any way harm the user's computer or jeopardize their security.
• Value. The price you charge for your commercial product must have substantial value for our users.
• Packaging Requirements. Each program takes a different amount of time for us to test and package for delivery using CNR Technology. The more time a program requires, the more value we'll want it to provide to Linspire users. The more work you do on your end to deliver a "ready-to-go" package to us, the less time we'll need to invest, thus increasing the likelihood of us being able to include it. As mentioned earlier, Debian packages (.deb) properly built specifically for Linspire are the easiest for us to test and add to the Warehouse.