Linspire, a Linux distribution company, has confirmed its acquisition by Xandros, another company of the same profile. The deal was made public Wednesday, July 2.

Linspire will keep its headquarters in San Diego, as well as most of its staff. The only Linspire employees that will have to leave the company will be some of the ones from the administrative department. Linspire will also have to change its name to Digital Cornerstone.

The good news for the users of Linspire products is that the company’s two distribution packs, Freespire and Linspire, will continue to be offered support, and there is a good chance that the two will continue to be distributed apart from Xandros packs too. What is more, Linspire’s “Click ‘N Run” service will not be discontinued, and its capabilities will be integrated in Xandros’s similar service.

While Linspire’s founder and chairman, Mr. Michael Robertson, seems to be satisfied with the deal, and considers it to be good news for his company, the former CEO, Mr. Kevin Carmony, has rushed to blame Linspire executives for not announcing these plans earlier, and for not asking the shareholders’ opinion on the matter.

Linspire gained popularity in the early 2000s, when it came on the market with the Lindows Linux distribution. The product’s name angered Microsoft who sued Linspire in 2001, but failed to win the lawsuit. Last year, both Xandros and Linspire have signed patent deals with the Redmond based company. The move made a lot of Linux lovers feel that one of the basic laws of the Linux community has been broken.

The sum of the acquisition was not mentioned.