Lyvim Xaphir wrote: <snip>
At the risk of offending some, I will give my thoughts, which will probably be unpopular (dons flame-retardant suit).After reading that, and considering how much Mandrake linux has come to mean to me, I've decided to upgrade my membership. I was wondering, how many peeps here are going to either join the Mandrake club or upgrade their membership? I'm just curious, and was looking for a show of hands. ??--LX
1. This whole situation leaves me with an "unsettled" feeling. I am not comfortable with "begging" as a business strategy and this is the second time this year. From other comments I have seen, this is already starting to get old for many.
2. Mandrake is one of the most popular distros. See http://www.distrowatch.com/ Of all the distros listed, why does Mandrake keep begging for cash? It looks to me like they are still suffering from some _very bad_ business decisions, mostly unrelated to Linux (the "repositioning as an e-learning company" fiasco). Are current Mandrake users supposed to bail out the company for the sins of the previous managment? Perhaps....if Mandrake is to prosper (which is different from survival).
3. It appears that current management is under tremendous pressure from their venture capital investors to become profitable so their investments will pay off. I am not sure that it is my responsibility to contribute to this.
4. I use Mandrake, like it, and have purchased boxed sets. I wish them well and hope they develop a viable business plan, but frankly, begging is an embarrassment to the entire community. M$ must laughing its ass off.
5. If Mandrake dies the torch will be picked up by others and the Linux community will survive. Those who support Mandrake now will move to another distro and help it become stronger. The future of Linux is bright, but there will be shakeouts along the way. Remember, that which does not kill us makes us stronger. Will Mandrake still be standing at the end of the day? I don't know, but the Linux community will be stronger.
Just my honest opinion.....flame away.
Mike
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Mike Larson
Registered Linux User # 246593 http://counter.li.org/
Linux Mandrake 9.0 KDE 3.0.3 Mozilla 1.2.1-xft
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