Mandrake Asks for Support 555
Many people wrote in with this news: "Mandrake Linux today reports having a short-term money crunch. They call for users to become members to help float them through the short-term viability issue. Membership dues are the preferred method over budget/project cuts."
Mandrake (Score:1, Interesting)
OK, I will this time. (Score:2, Interesting)
Mandrake has some great Technologies (Score:5, Interesting)
Of course, like most Linux companies, most of that work is based upon the OSS that they use.
I for one say that we must rally behind them and all other commercial Linux enterprises. Many of those enterprises pay to further the development of the programs that most all of us use. From GNOME to KDE and many other applications and environments.
I for one say, enough of the preaching about how great Linux (Jesus) is, how terrible Windows (Hell) is and how bad the great Microsoft (Satan) is. Enough of forcing Linux (The Gospel) down people'r throats.
We as a community have to back those companies that have brought Linux to where it is today. I do it and will continue to do so. I have a cable modem and can download a full 3 disc ISO in no time. However, when that distro hits the shelves, I pick it up and buy it. I am also going to be one of the first to buy a copy of StarOffice 6.0 when it is released.
Why? Why am I so "Crazy"? The answer is simple, I believe in the power of Linux and OSS and I know that the companies that back and push Linux and OSS forward simply are unable to exist without any money. Do the research yourself, find out who is paying the money to have people code free software like KDE, GNOME and many others. Find out who pays to maintain the bandwidth for those groups servers.
Intereresting. (Score:1, Interesting)
[D]espite producing an award-winning Linux distribution that is a solid competitor to both UNIX and Window$, the Mandrake Linux distribution's short-term future is in jeopardy due to a simple factor: money. Entry-level membership to the Mandrake Users Club is only $5 per month, which is less than one ticket to the movies. Is the future of the Mandrake Linux distribution worth that much to you? If yes, then don't delay -- join the Club today.
I seem to recall some comapny, I can't remember who, getting flamed endlessly for suggesting subsciption based software. However, this is a superb idea because it is open source, no? After all, it is important to support open source because it is free. All those economists that always say "there is no such thing as a free lunch" are wrong.
Re:I've joined (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, make that 7,999 members more, I guess, though I didn't see where they mentioned how many members they've got.
I don't even run Mandrake, but I have been giving it serious consideration.
It seems quite reasonable for a Linux company to operate like PBS and Public Radio do, to me.. free product? Used by millions? Sure, I'll chip in for that. They've even got premiums!
Seriously, though, this shit can't go on forever, can it?
Ironic: It's better for newbies when it's free (Score:4, Interesting)
Anyways, that's what's kind of ironic about their plea for a subscription-based Member Club. Their perfect niche is Linux newbies, but those newbies probably won't grok the concept of why they should subscribe monthly for their OS. (In fact, it tends to be the Linux crowd shouting at them to NOT buy into evil subscription models that are coming down the pipe by Microsoft.) And those of us that "get" it and recognize how important Mandrake could be are likely "move on" to other distros like Debian (for their social contract [debian.org])), or maybe even dip into something like OpenBSD (for its priorities on security and robustness [openbsd.org]). Anyways, as I'm skipping around installing different distros for different purposes, it's hard for me to buy into a Membership for just one. Sigh.
Mandrake, your excellent installer has probably got you unfairly pigeonholed!
Re:Why? (Score:2, Interesting)
Support your Distro (Score:2, Interesting)
It's as simple as that. Try it out free? Absolutely. Test-drives are good. But if you're not moving to anything else (even though you swear that "some day I'm going to try
It would be a crying shame for this company to fall down at this point in their growth, especially when so many of it's users never spend a cent to support them.
WELL worth the money (Score:5, Interesting)
Back in my early teens, I thought I was *the* power user. I wrote help files telling people how they could put "C:\BATCH" in their path and start up wordperfect, games, anything at all by just typing "wp" or "wolf3d".
Thinking about starting my own ISP, I had heard about this thing called Unix and BSD being really, really good for running servers. Having lots of time on my hands, I got a copy of FreeBSD and threw myself at it, sans manuals or knowledge of "man" (at first) for 48 hours. I made SOME progress and can still remember how weird it was to have a hard drive as a file! (mount
My ego smashed, I didn't touch anything resembling Unix for a while.
I started playing around with Linux a few months before I started my CS program - not knowing that it'd end up being my developement OS for a few years - and I picked up SuSe, RedHat and Mandrake.
Suse had hardware issues and I just didn't get like their config utilities. Redhat was a step up, but I tried Mandrake and found my distro of choice. Things weren't easy at first but with a minimum of effort, I got things going.
After finding out "Mandrake = stupid user linux" and "Debian = if you are smart enough, THEN you can use this one", I started feeling I need to prove myself. Which put me back to my teen years and reminded me *way* too much of high school. This time, I didn't bend and I stuck with Mandrake - I could get things done, the company seemed to be going in a direction I liked and the software seemed to be fairly new and easily updatable (when MandrakeUpdate worked).
Mandrake might not be the best linux for everyone. But I wanted to get something done, without learning EVERYTHING. I had time for that when I was younger.
The $60US I just sent (direct credit card payment, SSL and took less than 30 seconds) might not save the company, but for the effort they saved me, it's not nearly enough.
I hope Mandrake has a long and successful future, and if you are using Mandrake now - how much time has it saved you? Can you afford to eat if you give them $60 per year? Likely, yes.
Re:Why pay for something that you alreadt\y own? (Score:2, Interesting)
"We all own it" sounds a lot like "I'm a spoiled leech, waaaa!"
I'm pretty sure the spirit of GNU was supposed to be "let's help each other out", not "gimme gimme gimme and don't let the free market hit you in the ass on the way out". In this case, many people are working FULL TIME to make Mandrake a high quality product that many people have enjoyed for free. They've supported themselves by selling box sets and support, but times are a little tough now and they're asking for some additional help.
If you don't think it's worth money or you're too cash-strapped to contribute, then don't. But it's childish to say "well I already own it, so if they can't give me updates for free in perpetuity then fuck them."
Mandrake pays programmers (Score:4, Interesting)
Mandrake pays programmers to develop this GNU you are talking about. so unless you want to code your GNU/Linux apps, and update them, and patch them, yourself, by hand - don't talk about what a waste paying money to Mandrake is. You are paying for the future.
Re:Weed the Herd ! ! ! ! (Score:3, Interesting)
Mandrake does a lot of work in internationalizing code and has bought and freed several programs. As a Debian developer, I certainly prefer them around to SuSE, who rarely helps anyone but themselves.
Save the money would would normally spend to bail out a distro company, and instead spend it on Linux apps. (Have you forgotten about Loki already?)
Why do I care about Loki? What Linux apps do I want to spend money on? Mandrake has given me much more than spending money on any Linux apps would.
Pay those that help you (Score:5, Interesting)
The Mandrake crew ( like many others) are turning out terrific software and asking those that appreciate the work to compensate the makers so they can continue working on their distribution. If you don't want to donate, then just close your hole and stop trying to convince others to ignore the request for help.
If people are intelligent enough to earn enough to support themselves and have some left over that they have to decide how to spend, then they just may also be intelligent enough to spend it wisely.
I'm not so tight that I begrudge these people a bit of support for their work. I also bought RedHat and Caldera boxed Linux when I was running them, it dosen't bother me to pay for quality software, how about you?
It's a shame (Score:2, Interesting)
Redhat has almost certainly stated that it believes linux is not destined for the desktop market. Loki went out of bussiness. Mandrake still claims to be very much interested in the desktop market, and IMHO, is the best for the job, and the only one I know of still interested in it.
As much as linux users (especially
If Mandrake goes under, it will be because people do not support it. And if it does, I don't want to hear anyone complain about windows desktop dominance, because we let it happen.
Getting money for Linux is hard (Score:2, Interesting)
here's hoping... (Score:2, Interesting)
Come on people--put your money where your mouth has always been. We talk and talk about supporting open source and free software--that support can't merely be verbal. as the saying goes, "Freedom isn't free." If you really want to see free software succeed, especially on the desktop, then this is definitely a worthwhile cause.
If you don't support mandrake now, you may not get the chance to later. and if you don't care for mandrake, then for the love of Linus support SOME distribution, be it Debian, Suse, RH, or even BSD. Penguins of the world, unite! take a stand!
/end_pithy_rhetoric
This makes no sense. (Score:1, Interesting)
If you like their product, buy it.
Re:I've joined (Score:2, Interesting)
I (somewhat) seriously wonder if that would float over at Revenue Can. (IRS for most of you).
Wasn't there some similar deduction plan for investing in research technology?
Re:Hard to use means poorly engineered. (Score:2, Interesting)
No OS I've used is near perfect - I'm going to kill my new karma by saying this, but I'm have a great time with XP. It'll probably end up that Linux is my development OS, Mac is my "office"/other work OS and XP is my game/toy OS.
It's a good time to be playing with computers right now.
Re:Why? (Score:2, Interesting)
Your customers are going to want to pay in installments, not in an up-front lump sum. Or perhaps by the service incident, as with many proprietary companies. Either way, it's very easy to see how they could foresee positive revenue growth a year away - but not be able to collect on that right now.
I know this is cliche, but look at Amazon - nobody's run up that stock because it was making a profit at inception. Now it has double-digit market share after quarter after quarter of red ink. Business doesn't always pay off short-term - if you're going to support Mandrake, do it now. As they've made abundantly clear, they need it - now.
Welcome to PBS Linux (Score:1, Interesting)
If you pledge at 20 Euro per month level you'll receive an RMS mug, featuring a picture of that zany and lovable guy that got this all started in the first place.
Pledge at the 100 Euro per month level and you become part of our Kernel Club. Not only will we send you the RMS mug, but you'll also receive the "Shove it up your *ss, Bill!" T-Shirt. A collectable that you'll surely enjoy, while being the envy of your cube farm. You'll also receive our monthly news letter, and discounts tickets to the next BierWanderung.
So don't wake CALL NOW!
Simple Economics (Score:3, Interesting)
There's a market for Linux distros. That's obvious. RedHat's making a profit, Mandrake's on track to. However, that doesn't mean there's a market for all the distros out there that want to make money on packaging, services, and support.
If the market isn't large enough to support all the distros that are in business today, some of them have to go, plain and simple. Either through closing the doors or consolidating with another distro to lower costs. Once that happens (perhaps a few times over), the market will have itself a few distros who can actually operate profitably. And this is a good thing, even if it means we lose some distros!
Sure, Mandrake wouldn't be my first choice to prune from the list, but that's not up to me, or to any of us as individuals, it's up to the market as a whole.
I don't know why anyone feels commercial Linux distros should be treated as though they're special. They're selling a product. They're a business. Yes, they love Open Source, we do to, and we're glad they're here. None of that matters when it comes down to keeping the doors open, because if they can't keep the doors open on their own, the sure as hell aren't going to by panhandling before their userbase. And frankly, I'd rather see just a handful of Linux companies succeed than a whole lot of them scrape by.
Investment in the Future (Score:5, Interesting)
1. My thanks to the great work done by the Mandrake developers.
2. My investment in the future. Mandrake developers contribute heavily to Open Source. By giving them money, I invest in the future of Open Source Software. No matter what occurs in the future, their work will always exist for free and open usage. 5 years from now, I wont have to buy it again from a proprietary vendor.
Re:Investment in the Future (Score:4, Interesting)
This money isnt for the connection to the net, that prolly costs $2 a month for AOL to connect you to the net, you are paying $25 a month to pay for Mozilla, Netscape, Winamp, ICQ, AIM, etc
All of this software is free because PEOPLE ARE DONATING MONEY TO PAY FOR IT.
The diffrence is, AOL doesnt give people a choice.
Re:You just dont get it, open source isnt about fr (Score:3, Interesting)
Window$ (Score:1, Interesting)
A PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANY is asking its users to pitch in and donate (sure, it's a "club", right, ok..) money. And while doing so, they are making fun of a competing project by mis spelling their name on purpose (Window$). I don't know about you, but with an attitude and lack of professionalism like that, I sure as hell wouldn't invest in it or buy their products.
Re:Plex86 (Score:1, Interesting)
A Mandrakesoft employee
Re:The Sickening Reaction (Score:4, Interesting)
Any distribution created after Redhat is pretty much doomed. Redhat does the job well enough, it has the necessary marketshare and corporate mindshare, it has the best long-term chance of survival (of the commercial dists), and it's giving back enough to the community.
The fragmentation in the distribution market does little good for the community. There is room for maybe two or three distributions total, and those would, in my opinion, be primarily Debian and Redhat. One is a not-for-profit, and one is a commercial vendor who has, since the beginning, understood that they wont make money selling free software.
SuSE has been playing far too close to the line of proprietary to be well accepted among the Free Software people and, like it or not, those are often the ones who push linux internally in corporations, the market SuSE is after.
Mandrake is nice, but began as RedHat+KDE, which aint exactly a major selling point. It has since improved and diverged, but the very diverging that makes it not-redhat makes it not-supported-by-vendors for server use. For the desktop market, what is needed isnt another distribution, it's improvement of the existing distributions. Ximian got that one right, but it remains to be seen if they can capitalize on it.
The rest of the distributions have a snowballs chance in hell of ever making any money.
Re:Why pay for something that you alreadt\y own? (Score:1, Interesting)
Yes, Scientology is an advanced commercial religeon. So?
Some services are direct-pay (HBO, Microsoft Windows, Scientology, slashdot w/sub), some are ad-funded (most TV networks, Slashdot w/out sub, Opera), and some beg (PBS, old-fashioned religeons, Mandrake). If you partake of the services using the third model, then paying the beggar is the correct way to proceed.