Freespire, a claimed "free" (and apparently unsanctioned) variant of Linspire Linux with proprietary components and trademarks removed, is reportedly available for download. The initial release, dubbed 5.0, is currently offered in liveCD format only, and is supported by a free repository of some 1,500 Debian Linux packages, DistroWatch reports.

"It certainly looks like an interesting idea: combining the benefits of Linspire´s excellent usability and hardware auto-configuration with a free repository of Debian packages," says DistroWatch.

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