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Businesses Open Source Linux

Manjaro Linux Tries Forming A Company To Fund Full-Time Development (forbes.com) 26

Forbes.com shares some big Linux news: Since 2011, Arch Linux-based Manjaro has focused on being a simple-to-use, accessible Linux desktop distribution with a friendly community... But as of today, Manjaro Linux is no longer just a Linux distribution -- it's officially transforming into a company with ambitious plans for its future. Say hello to Manjaro GmbH & Co. KG.

The announcement happened just hours ago, via Manjaro developer Philip Müller. It's not the catchiest name, but the advantages to this move seem beneficial to the both the Manjaro project and the community using it. Müller says that for quite some time he's been researching "ways to secure the project in its current form and how to allow for activities which can't be undertaken as a 'hobby project.'" Crucially, he and the team wanted to reach new heights and be able to invest considerably more time into the project, without compromising the way its currently operating. To that end, the Manjaro team is announcing the formation of an established company, Manjaro GmbH & Co. KG, "to enable full-time employment of maintainers and exploration of future commercial opportunities." They'll also be taking on Blue Systems -- a German IT company specializing in Free and Libre software -- as an advisor.

Additionally, the team will transfer the ownership of all donations -- and the allocation of donations -- to fiscal hosts CommunityBridge and OpenCollective, which will both secure donations and make their use transparent... At this stage is look like there's a distinction between what will change in the immediate future, and what the company will strive for. The biggest immediate change -- one that Manjaro supporters may applaud -- is that developers Philip Müller and Bernhard Landauer can now commit to the distribution in a full-time capacity, with an eye toward taking on even more employees down the road. "One of our main goals is to improve our infrastructure and continuously work on the essentials and requirements of our distro as a professional endeavor," writes Müller. "Our hope is to soon be able to include additional contributors on a paid basis."

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Manjaro Linux Tries Forming A Company To Fund Full-Time Development

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  • by EzInKy ( 115248 ) on Sunday September 08, 2019 @09:44PM (#59172652)

    How many Linux distros have actually managed to turn a profit? I've been through a few...RedHat, Mandrake, Debian, Ubuntu, and Gentoo, and currently back to running Debian on all my computers now. My favorite would have to Gentoo, but I've gotten lazy in my old age. Back in the day I guess it made sense to pay for a boxed distro, I know I did, especially if it was included in a book. That is how I started with RedHat. Today though, I can download the entire 4 DVD Debian AMD64 testing system in less time than it takes me get dressed and drive to the store.

    • It was never about profit, before (white) women took over.
    • Gentoo was great back when the repo was full of high quality ebuilds. Now it isn't. Turn on even just a couple of interesting USE flags and you can't even install the system. If i can't even use the central feature of the package system, what good is it? Answer, I'm running Debian too...

      To be fair there is little reason for Gentoo to even exist today. I used it to get a performant build on a K6/2 laptop, that was cool. It was also an age ago.

      • To be fair there is little reason for Gentoo to even exist today. I used it to get a performant build on a K6/2 laptop, that was cool. It was also an age ago.

        Besides USE flags and CFLAGS, one nice thing about Gentoo is how it works for developers. The compiler is an integral part of the distro, and whenever you install a package, you also get its headers for building stuff on it. I find other distros frustrating because you have to hunt for the $package-devel or whatever to get the headers; it feels like I'm on Windows again, told to be a user that shouldn't try and enter a developer mode.

        This is a particular issue on Linux/Unix, because a lot of software onl

    • Redhat, SuSe (but keeps getting sold, currently EQT of Blitz investment group), and Ubuntu (as of last year, $6.2M profit on $110M revenue)

      Does anyone know of any others?

    • How many Linux distros have actually managed to turn a profit?

      Well, since they are transferring donation funds to a non-profit, I am guessing that this isn't really the objective.

  • accessible Linux desktop distribution with a friendly community

    I've lost count of how many times I've heard this. As soon as it gets any popularity it will get overrun with the "rtfm, luser n00b!" crowd and the dozen or so friendly Linux users will have to start yet another distro.

    • by mwvdlee ( 775178 )

      Especially considering that friendly community of volunteers is now considered the official support network for a for-profit company.

  • I switched from Ubuntu to Manjaro i3 a few years back and I like it. Default i3 WM ( wicked fast, no clutter), rolling updates - very nice, like that one a lot - and LAMP - my standard work environment - is a little more handcrafting than Ubuntu/Debian but still trivially easy. Package management is ok too and the community is active and helpful.

    I hope they manage to achieve critical mass and avoid spreading themselves to thin.

Were there fewer fools, knaves would starve. - Anonymous

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