Hi Mandrakians - I'm sending this message regarding yesterday's message about
Civilme. This message is from Jacques Le Marois, CEO- he currently doesn't
have direct Internet access- Gaël.
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Hello,
We have been reading the messages in this thread and understand the strong
emotions that are being expressed regarding Civileme. Civileme has always been
extremely devoted to the community of Mandrake users, and he will also be
deeply missed within the company.
But here's our current situation: Just like any other organization,
MandrakeSoft needs to cover the high cost of salaries with revenue -- this
has not yet happened . MandrakeSoft needs to reach the break-even point, or
will eventually disappear. This goal can be accomplished by two methods: by
increasing revenue, and by reducing costs. Both of these techniques have been
used for more than a year, and we should reach break-even before the end of
this current year. But this means, among other things, making some difficult
decisions.
The dot-com era has ended, and we no longer receive money from venture
capitalists -- we depend entirely on our customers and users.
Fortunately, the Mandrake Club (http://www.mandrakeclub.com) has been
successful enough to limit the number of new layoffs. The health and success
of the Club directly translates to the number of employees who will continue
to be paid to deliver our community support services.
These difficult decisions are based entirely on finding a balance between
income and expenses. Even though the company's revenue growth is very good
(even higher than expected), we must continue to make important (and
sometimes painful) decisions to ensure profitibility. As soon as the
financial situation improves, we would like to provide the opportunity for
Civileme, and others, to rejoin the company if they desire.
Sincerely,
Jacques Le Marois, CEO
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