On Fri, 15 Mar 2002 00:14:33 -0500, sda <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Wed, Mar 13, 2002 at 02:50:14PM +1100, Sridhar Dhanapalan wrote: > > On Tue, 12 Mar 2002 22:07:54 -0500, Michael Osten <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > wrote:> Some where in the universe on Tue, 12 Mar 2002 19:26:54 -0700 > > > Lorne Shantz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > > Well said. I have made my contribution to help. I figure I've gotten > > > lots of fun > > > > from this version. Now what really makes me crazy is after helping them > > > out I > > > > would at least like to be able to leave Mandrake a test report. The web > > > site says > > > > I need to give them more money to do that!?!?!? Am I missing something, > > > or is that > > > > a work in progress. > > > > > > > > > How long has Mandrake been around? It would seem that they were doing > > > fine on a smaller budget before. The only Linux companies that are going > > > to be around in the near future are the ones that can be operated within > > > their means. > > > > I don't know one pure GNU/Linux company that can truthfully claim to be > > operating "within their means". Even Red Hat, which is probably the most > > viable company right now, is still indebted to venture capitalists. > > Mandrakesoft has never been profitable, and past (mis)management by former > > CEO Henri Poole made this worse. They are still on track to become > > profitable by the end of the year, but not without laying off some workers. > > They don't want to do this, hence their plea for help. Mandrake is not > > dying, it just doesn't want to downsize its workforce to become profitable. > > How exactly are they on track to being profitable if they have a > shorterm cash crunch?! Does anybody not see the irony in this? Exactly > how do they intend to become profitable? They can only become profitable > if they a/ increase revenue substantially b/ layoff employees [cut > overhead c/ combination of both. Now, I can hardly see them making moves > that would increase the revenue that would impact by the end of the > fiscal year, [through sales, unless this plea is one that been > incorporated in the business plan].
Here's the deal according to how I see it. Mandrake are currently losing money, and has done so since its inception. Mandrake have an opportunity to become profitable by the end of the year, but only if they lay off some staff. If they don't, they are destined to stay in debt. Mandrake is asking for people to join the Mandrake Club so that they can continue to hire as many people as they do now. They are _not_ asking for donations, as some seem to believe. The Mandrake Club offers many benefits to members, and IMHO is very good value for money. With a Mandrake Club membership, all of your money goes to Mandrakesoft, whereas with a boxed set much of the cost goes to others (distributors, packagers, retailers, etc.). I see nothing wrong in Mandrake asking people to purchase such a membership, particularly when given their excellent reputation for supporting free software. Everything they make is GPL, unlike some products from the other major distro companies. In other words, all of your money will be channeled back into creating free software (and repaying debt, of course) and into hiring developers to create this software. > Don't get me wrong, I like Mandrake, but I only wish to contribute if I can > see that I'm simply NOT throwing money to a ship which will go down anyway. > I've previously purchased the 8.0 powerpak, but wasn't too happy with the > MandrakeExpert support, basically it was useless, so I'm not really sure > why I paid the extra $$ for it. MandrakeExpert is volunteer-based support, not unlike this mailing list. It is not a professional service. -- Sridhar Dhanapalan What's this script doing? unzip ; touch ; finger ; mount ; gasp ; yes ; umount ; sleep. Hint: not everything is computer-oriented. Sometimes you're in a sleeping bag, camping out with your girlfriend.
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