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Linux Software

VA hints more about going public 70

Posted by Hemos from the peez-larry-rob&i-just-want-some-stock dept.
An anonymous bastard writes "I'll be covering LWCE next week, and so I'm on a list of e-mail addresses for "the press" who get invited to interview "Linux People" for their publications. One of the e-mails was from the PR firm for VA Linux Systems (formerly VA Research) asking if I'd want to interview Larry Augustin. Interesting to note was this phrase: "Larry is one of the keynote speakers at the show, and has a lot of VA-related news and annct's to brief you on before VA goes into its quiet period." Apparently they've got a quiet period coming up, which means Linux IPO Number Two is coming. " Well, I've had a nice conversation with the press person at VA-they wanted to assure me that they are not headed directly into the quiet period post-LWCE. It'll be sometime soon, but don't hold your breath waiting for it-at least for the next couple weeks. *grin* Bottom line: Still waiting.
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VA Linux Systems Going Public More

VA Linux Systems Going Public

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  • Oh Boy.... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Let's just hope they don't use E-Trade...
  • Another Linux IPO, except this time it's a hardware company so no-one can bitch. Someone'll still find a reason, though.
    This is the best news of all the Linux IPOs so far. It's all very well having a cool OS, but with accompanying hardware, it'll be something people can really appreciate.
  • The more linux companies going public the better. That means more people might start developing more games and other software. This is really awesome.
  • VA is one of my favortite Linux companies. Go team! You guys deserve this. :)

    _Deirdre
  • Coming on the heels of the Red Hat announcement, this can only help raise awareness of Linux in circles at the opposite extreme from Geekdom.

    With several consecutive IPO's managers and investors will start to appreciate the momentum of Linux before they even get a chance to understand why it has such momentum. All of the subsequent attention also serves to detract from the what was recently thought of as the "juggernaut" of NT. Truly a good thing.
  • Do other industries have these periods of IPO frenzy too?

    ----
  • Anyone remember then? I have one of their machines from about 1995ish sitting right next to me. Working fairly well for a 486/100.
  • Thanks Dierdre.

    Chris
    VA Linux Systems
    --
    Grant Chair, Linux Int.
    VP, SVLUG

  • Of all the Linux companies out there, VA has really done the most for the Bay Area Linux community, and they haven't stepped on anyone's toes (no easy feat in this crazy GAR-fest we call a community). Keep up the good work!
    --
    I noticed

  • Chill (Score:2)

    by Goody ( 23843 )
    One thing that concerns me about all of this is that Linux grows too fast and becomes somewhat of a fad. NT rode the "fad train" for some time. Managers and VPs were recommending it before the people in the trenches knew what was going on.

    Ironically, Linux is being driven from the opposite end - the admins and UNIX gurus are pushing forward. These IPOs have the potential to push Linux into the spotlight too soon, bringing it to the attention of the IT managers who will attempt to deploy Linux in situations where certain key features are immature or not optimized, giving NT fans ammo to fire back.

    We need to avoid IPO frenzies and keep Linux on track, as it has been.
  • I use to think VAResearch was "the thing" that would make Linux be taken seriously. Well, I don't know anymore.

    Now, I have no questions about thier quality, knowledge, and service. It's my understanding that VA Res^H^H^HLinux Systems is one of the best in these areas.

    What strikes me as odd, is the staff, and the push for "talent." Maybe I am wrong here, but for about 4 months now (at least) it was looking like VARe^H^HLinux Systems was after every and any "Big Name" in the Linux community. It seemed that there wasn't a "plan" because they were all over the map, GUI people, drivers people, etc...

    Then, the plan comes to light. Get big names, get attention, get more money, get more backing, get more big name people, get more backing, get more money.... Uh. Well, that's what I see right now anyway. I hope I am wrong.

    Now don't get me wrong, VA Linux Systems and it's "partner" companies that it now owns would be a great place to work. And, I can't think of more knowledgeable people to work with than the people VA employees. And, _IF_ they are just hiring talent, and allowing these great coders to just "do thier thing" and write for Linux, that's really cool. But, it just seems a little "lurky" to me. I'd just like to see some clear information out there... For Example:

    VA Linux OS Version 6.0 Kit Now, what the heck is this? No more does VA give you a choice of OS's, they made thier own. Well, good, maybe, bad maybe... Considering the talent that is there, this could mean that they have a custom kernel for each system (duals, quads, etc), a nice professional GUI and administration package from thier GUI team, and drivers that are rock solid from the drivers guys on staff. And with all this, you know the staff will be there to "help you out" by getting you the right binary packages, optimized for you system, avaliable on thier FTP sites, orginized just for your system, ready at each software update... Waahoo... Corporate No Brainer Linux Solution. But... I don't think I see that happening, VA's FTP site is REALLY LACKING considering the staff they have there, and they don't say anything about this new "VA Linux OS" package, and I have even emailed them to ask what it's based on (Red Hat I suspect), if anything at all, and they never even wrote me back..

    So, Although I see some good there, I still see a lot of spending, and not a lot of "value" that will draw more consumers. So, I don't think I would be standing in line to get at the IPO. At least not with what I know now.

    Oh, and the Intel thing... Hard to have a low end system when Intel is your major financial backer. Ever wonder why they don't have any systems for under $2,000 and no systems with AMD processors?

  • Pardon me, but this doesn't sound too official. There was no link to an article and no real names or evidence was given.

    -Clump
  • I don't think you can compare the two, Linux and NT.

    NT rode not the "fad train", but the "marketing train" of empty promises. NT can (and will) work if placed in the correct role, however MicroSoft tried to pawn it off prematurely as the "BE ALL, DO ALL" Operating System. I have no doubt that Linux will be able to fulfill any roles it is forced into.

    What will hold Linux back are the amount of distributions, coupled with IT Manager mentality. I personally work for a large telecommications company, and ran into some "heat" awhile back for trying to implement an "unsupported" application.

    The unsupported application was 'gzip'. I was told 'compress' was the authorized choice.

    Companies looking to purchase Linux as an OS Solution are going to look for a dominant company, that can provide all support great and small. You have a few dominant commercial choices, RH, Caldera, and SuSE, however I don't believe they are yet equipped to handle Corporate Support. I think RH may be the closest right now, but my experience with their support has been mediocre.

    I believe VALinux will truly be the one to watch, they have a tested formula, selling hardware and OS (own version of linux now). If they can provide the same level, or better support as the Big Vendors (Sun, SGI, HP..etc), they will certainely do well.

    Just my take on it:)

  • Not really the case. (Score:3)

    by chrisd ( 1457 ) <chrisd@dibona.com> on Monday August 02, 1999 @10:29AM (#1769863) Homepage
    I want to say this here , right now. VA IS NOT IN THE DISTRIBUTION BUSINESS we take red hat and recompile it and add code to the kernel to support our hardware configurations. We write drivers to accomodate hardware we want to sell and make that software freely available under whatever license the developer prefers. We ship updates to our customers for thier machines.

    VA used to support more distros and we will be supporting more in the future (look at our hiring of Joey and Sean for debian) it's just that while we were growing exponentially, we had to grow fast, so we cut the product line down and settled on our most popular distribution until we had the bandwidth to handle more.

    Again, VA has it's own machine configuration and not it's own distribution As far as standing in line for the IPO that's your call, but the reason we hire the people we do is to make it possible to create the best linux machines we can. That's our value.

    We do have machines under 2000$. And as far as AMD goes, we'd love to have a broader product line and include them, and we may later, but it's more like why we chose red hat above, we had to choose what we wanted to ship a -lot- of and concentrate on it.

    So there you go.

    Chris DiBona
    VA Linux Systems

    --
    Grant Chair, Linux Int.
    VP, SVLUG

  • Now, I'm biased in this area, but I wish VA all the best of luck in this. They might still have a few kinks to bum out of their system, but all in all, they're not a bad company, contrary to what some people have said here.

    Now, if I could only NOT receive any special offers about buying stock, that'd be just great :-)

    Good luck.

  • I hate to disappoint everyone, but we're not exactly announcing an IPO today.
    I do find it really amusing to come to work and see everyone buzzing about us going IPO because they read it on slashdot, though. We were all running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to figure out who it was that sent this email out, and then after I read the email that this guy ACTUALLY got, I thought to myself "oh, he figures we're going public just because we say we're IPO track? oh nevermind, this guy's just a donut" *grin*
    enough for now.
    --
    Geoff Harrison (http://mandrake.net)
    Senior Software Engineer - VA Linux Labs (http://www.valinux.com)
  • I'm not saying how or why or how much or even if, but {when|if} VA goes public we will find a way to do it. The trick is in doing it in such a way that doesn't alienate anyone and is still legal.

    I invite anyone who cares to to email me thier suggestions on the best way to do it. Or just post here on slashdot.

    Again, I'm not confirming anything but our intentions to do this right, in case some VA IPO style event should happen. I have some great ideas, but I'm wary of sharing them until I get more legal feedback.

    Chris DiBona
    mail me here. [mailto]
    VA Linux Systems.
    --
    Grant Chair, Linux Int.
    VP, SVLUG

  • Ok, those are reasonable answers, I don't doubt them to much, even though I usually have a very tough time believing anything that comes from a guy with "Marketing" in his job description (joking) :-)

    But since your here, and answering questions, how about these.. Why did VA buy out Mandrakes company then, thier mostly GUI related. And have you hired Raster yet? Something is in the GUI pipeline there, it's not that easy to hide who you hire and who you talk to ;-)

    And, any ETA on the AMD systems or return to other distributions? Even a wild guess? 1 year too long before the groth settles? 6 months? 2 years?

    And... I really would LOVE to see someone with VA's quality enter the FreeBSD market, anyone at VA Linux Systems considered a "VA FreeBSD Systems" branch?

    Ok, I'm done for now. Don't wanna press ya, never meant to make VA look bad. I just have questions about the company from a "potential IPO" standpoint. As far as what company I would recommend for someone looking for a quality Linux box, VA is _THE_ top of my list. But when I see "IPO" pop up, and then the topic of the story changes within the first few minutes, the type of questions I have completely change... But... That's buisness.

  • Paranoid delusions? I saw one just hours ago! ;)
  • I dunno. The e-mail (I got one) is pretty clear that there is a quiet period coming up, and it implies that it is coming SOON.

    I think the poster was fairly justified in extrapolating an upcoming IPO in the short-term future. Larry will have plenty of other opportunities to speak his mind in the future, so if this is the "last chance before the enforced hush" as the e-mail implies, then that means short-term.

    Now perhaps the PR people misspoke themselves, or perhaps the PR people let slip something VA didn't really want to let slip, but I don't think calling the reader of the email a "donut" is fair, since the tone of the e-mail is certainly to imply that it is coming soon.
  • That mandrake is right, we have not officially announced anything yet.

    Chris DiBona
    VA Linux Systems
    --
    Grant Chair, Linux Int.
    VP, SVLUG

  • "Buy Linux"... (Score:3)

    by pb ( 1020 ) on Monday August 02, 1999 @10:43AM (#1769871)

    Gee, at this rate, we can buy a Linux portfolio of funds... I'll just wait until I can "buy Linux" as a mutual fund or something. Maybe a Penguin family of funds?

    At this rate, we should have it in a year or two, about when we achieve world domination for the next eon or so. ;)
  • This was supposed to go under the LinModem item.
  • Sam ?? Is this you Sammy ?

  • Questions answered... (Score:3)

    by chrisd ( 1457 ) <chrisd@dibona.com> on Monday August 02, 1999 @10:49AM (#1769874) Homepage
    I'm sure Mandrake and Ras may answer this, but here's why. And yes we've hired raster, but we'll announce that officially with some other key people we've brought on.

    VA Feels that the desktop will be a huge part of the business. We love E. So there you go. And we write tools all the time that could use a good interface and I don't have as much time as I'd like to write interfaces anymore. Hence, Mandrake , ras and Michael Jennings.

    I have no eta's for you. Sorry.

    As far as BSD goes, VA concentrates on Linux only and that won't change any time in the forseeable future. What's funny is a bunch of companies buy our boxes and run bsd on them anyway, which is pretty funny, but they run well so we're happy about it.

    And don't worry about the questions, watching slashdot is part of my job and I'll answer whatever I can.

    And as far as my job description goes, It's been changed to , get this, "Linux Community Evangelist". Which means, um, well, whatever I like :-)

    Chris DiBona
    VA Linux Systems
    --
    Grant Chair, Linux Int.
    VP, SVLUG

  • heh. I wasn't intending donut as an actual insult.

    "I'm a big donut"
    it's so fluffy...
    --
    Geoff Harrison (http://mandrake.net)
    Senior Software Engineer - VA Linux Labs (http://www.valinux.com)
  • Actually, Mandrake is an Eclair at best.

    Chris DiBona

    --
    Grant Chair, Linux Int.
    VP, SVLUG

  • nice to see the krueller step up to the plate.

    --
    Geoff Harrison (http://mandrake.net)
    Senior Software Engineer - VA Linux Labs (http://www.valinux.com)
  • Debian was supposed to be included in that. No ETA, but I would be surprised if we did not do debian again.

    Chris
    --
    Grant Chair, Linux Int.
    VP, SVLUG

  • Does VA Research have a public SEC registration yet? Can't really have an IPO without one...




  • Mmmmmm creamy gooey sweet mmmmmmm je meal deal for upper class homers mmmmmmm Napoleans

    --
  • >> And don't worry about the questions, watching slashdot is part of my job and I'll answer whatever I can. Until your quiet period, of course ;-)
  • In ten years you'll be able to auction it off for big bucks lotsa yucks

    --
  • It's worth noting (the original) President John F. Kennedy's famous proclamation "Ich bin ein Berliner." Of course anyone who's ever been to a bakery in Germany can tell you that a Berliner is the German name for a jelly donut. So whoever it was who got called a donut here is in good (if rather dead) company.
  • To a degree. A quiet period is a tricky thing. Then there will be some things I can't talk about. I don't think that the quiet period would cover political questions and such though.

    Chris DiBona
    VA Linux Systems

    --
    Grant Chair, Linux Int.
    VP, SVLUG

  • Actually, in most countries, you can take part in an IPO using a bank, even if you plan to invest a smaller amount. The bank will then work with the underwriting syndicate to get the order filled. Of course, the probability of actually getting any shares may be very small, as the underwriting syndicate is still free to privilege its larger customers.

    However, if VA would draw up a "letter" which would be useable through this channel, that would take care of that probability problem as well.

    One way to do this would be to send out paper letters (maybe only on request, in order not to waste postage to people who are not interested anyways), or to communicate names to their "lead underwriter" (i.e. the equivalent of Goldman Sachs).

    Advantage for the investor: he would deal with a bank of his own countries, with a bank that already knows him well enough, so there would be no silly questionnaire, nor any place of residence restrictions.

    I hope VA explores this possibility, as indeed the E*Trade solution has been less than satisfactory for most of us.

  • I'll just wait until I can "buy Linux" as a mutual fund

    Actually, you could already create this. Who would be in it? Geeze, who wouldn't (except MS). Here's a quick list:

    • RedHat
    • IBM
    • Intel
    • Netscape
    • Applix (public?)
    • Corel
    • Sun
    • Dell
    • SGI
    • Oracle
    • Sybase (kinda)
    • Slashdot ;-)
    • Not to mention anyone else who announces a software product for Linux only or which has the same or better support under Linux as everywhere else.


      Just a few in the fund, but always growing. Anyone else?

      Yep, someone with connections should mention this to a mutual fund company. It'd be fun. I think they would need at least 100 companies, but if you include the companies that use Linux heavily or are likely to benifit from Linux the most (e.g. Bowing, Cisco, etc) you might get enough. Hmmm....

  • I would just like to say that the International Crackmonkey Syndicate is not going to go IPO any time soon, either.
    --
    I noticed
  • I believe your boss said that although VA installs Redhat by default they try to remain distribution agnostic,

    so if you want Debian or Slack or S.u.S.E, then try asking nicely....

    I believe the interview was in Linux Magazine. If i misquoted "the man who put the `A` in VA" then i apologize.
  • actually I think the faux pas occurred because the article ein preceded Berliner in JFK's sentence. If he had left it out, (Ich bin Berliner), he would have been ok. Feel free to correct me, real speakers of German! :-)

    ________
  • If I remember any of my three years of German this
    is it. :-) My instructor may not have been 100% correct (I think he was) but this is how he explained it to us.

    Ich bin Berliner == I am a person from Berlin

    Ich bin ein Berliner == I am a cream-filled donut


    --Kit

  • Why I disagree with you:

    1) The hardware business is very low-margin compared to the software business. A software sale takes maybe $3 worth of components to ship (assuming you're ordering CD-ROMS, boxes, and manuals 10,000 at a time). The highest margin you'll see on a typical low-end server is 50%, and even that is pushing it in today's highly competitive server market.

    2) Price pressures in the hardware business continue to increase, especially on the low-end, where companies such as EBIZ (with their "LinuxStore" subsidiary of their Windows business) have economies of scale that boggle the mind (due to the fact that they can leverage the volume of their Windows business to drive down the cost of their Linux boxes). This will further cut margins.

    3) Competition from the "big names" is coming, and they are better organized, have higher volume, and have higher visibility within Fortune 500 companies. SGI, IBM, Dell, all are names that have announced they're going to be selling Linux hardware. Their outside sales people take IT directors out to lunch every day and are on a first name basis with CEO's. Can VA Linux Systems break into this chummy club, or are these folks going to place orders with the guys they golf with every Saturday, rather than with some virtual unknown that they've never heard of (VA Linux has a great name in the Linux community, but do you seriously think the CEO of Dow Chemical knows who VA Linux is? But I bet he knows who IBM is!).

    Don't get me wrong, I wish VA well, but they're going to have to do some really nifty moves to pull off what they're trying to do. They could indeed become the "Next Dell", but in order to do so they're going to have to become as standardized and commoditized as Dell (Dell has engineers on staff, but every other computer company with close to their sales has ten times the engineering staff -- Dell mostly relies on slight modifications to stock "reference" designs created by partners such as Intel and Mylex). They're also going to have to spend a LOT more time thinking about supply chain and manufacturing issues. Dell keeps a tight rein on their supply chain and manufacturing and does limited outsourcing in that area (preferring to outsource design work instead). Dell's pride and joy is their "just in time" manufacturing and delivery system which gets you the computer that you want, with the selection of components that you want, shipped generally within three days of placing the order. Attaining that goal requires a manufacturing genius, not a GUI genius.

    -E
  • wow. Looks like somebody discovered the "yes" command.
  • Having spent a year and a half (quite possibly the best year and a half) of my life in Berlin, I feel qualified to say that 'Berliners' are certainly not cream-filled, and only qualify as containing jelly in the loosest sense of the word. In reality, the filling is something entirely unlike anything I have ever seen (tasted) in an American donut (I happen to hate the Berliner filling).
    Just my opinion - the Berliners and Europeans in general make pastries to put the stuff around here to shame.
  • VA is such a stock fraud. Larry is doing the IPO because he feels bad for not being at the Yahoo! IPO, so he feels he has to do it before time
    runs out. Frankly, the fact that they have taken so long to go IPO says volumes about them:

    When a company takes too long to go IPO with the exposure that VA has received, it says that they have a hard time getting their shit together. IPOs are a means to raise cash, not get rich.

    Why did it take them so long to do this? Because they lack the credibility as a professional organization! These people go around yelling at one another, they yell about their customers, and give their employees only cheap soda to drink. I bet when Sequoia Capital went to see them, Larry's wife was throwing the baby at him and calling him names. VA, for those who don't know better, has a high turnover rate. People just hear figures like 400% monthly revenue growth rate, Linux this and that, VA as "the next Dell", and then you have these English-major magazines calling them "the coolest place to work".

    So, if an IPO is meant to raise cash, why didn't they do it last year, when Linux was already a big thing? Why ride a wave of hype and allow competitors to take root? Why did Penguin Computing take root and is now a big name? Why are the likes of IBM, Dell, HP, and SGI of all people announcing Linux servers while VA has its balls tied? Because VA does not have its shit together, that's why. They lost a CFO in one year, needed a second round of funding, and still are raising hype about an IPO?! Common people, it does not take a genius to take a company public! It takes determination, and Larry lacks that because he sorrounds himself with the likes of Chris DiBona, Doug Bone, Alice Kitsuta, and who knows who else.

    VA may make it to the pros, but not for long. It is a great idea, business model, and great ambitions. However, with the kind of people working there, it will end up getting bought out or pushed aside by someone else because it can't execute for market domination. After all, it was founded and is run by Amazon Jr. geeks, not business-minded people.

    Penguin Computing has a better chance of getting somewhere because it is run by an entrepreneur, and they eat better food in SF, not Taco Bell and coke in Silicon Valley.
  • Hiya. Does Sam still say he has 40 employees in that little 4 room office suite of his? Folks with glass houses should not throw stones (grin).

    Anyhow: I have my own reservations about VA's management, but it's nothing to do with their professionalism and everything to do with where they're coming from (the Apple and Sun "proprietary" worlds rather than from the commodity PC industry). I'm not sure they understand what made Dell so successful (which is not their technology, but, rather, their advanced manufacturing systems, that can get you the machine you want custom-built, tested, and shipped within three days in most cases). But those are my own personal opinions, and are a far cry from the warrantless slander that you just engaged in.

    I think if you read a prior posting of mine about the minefields of the personal computing industry and what VA has to do in order to be successful, you'll see that this isn't a matter of "get lots of money from an IPO and you'll be successful." VA is going to need salesmen golfing with CEO's and service teams showing up at customers' sites in order to be successful in the Big Leagues, and you don't put together that sort of organization in an afternoon. Putting together an IPO prior to getting all your ducks in a row is NOT a Good Thing!

    Like it or not, folks like Penguin are always going to be small fry. I've been there, remember, albeit on a different coast -- no matter how good your reputation, when the time comes for the big 1,000 computer orders, someone like Penguin is NOT going to get those orders. They're going to get someone who can have field engineers actually come and fix any problems with the machines, they're not going to get machines from some guy with a web site and a 1-800 number.
    I wish Sam well, and think he is going to make a very good living from what he is doing -- his proximity to the Silicon Valley alone is enough to insure that, even if his machines weren't so solid (and they are, for the most part -- I have my reservations about some of his parts choices, but those are my own personal opinions about the best way rather than any flaw in his hardware). But let's not confuse the small frey with the big leagues that VA is trying for. VA is trying to build themselves into a company that the Fortune 500 is comfortable ordering a thousand computers at a time from. Will they succeed? I don't know. I think there's enough doubt that I wouldn't put any of my own money into a VA Linux IPO. But there's no denying that this is an order of magnitude different from doing onesies and twosies on a custom basis from a walk-up office suite in San Francisco.

    -E
  • The major difference between Red Hat 6.0 vs VA Linux 6.0.x . Is that it installs on our own hardware. If Redhat 6.0 installed correctly on 4-ways, DAC960's, or with 2 gigs of RAM we might not have created the cdrom. We could of created an addition cdrom with just a bunch of rpms, and a post installation script.

    The main advantage is it allows our customers to reinstall and have some thing that is very close to what came out of our factory. In addition we get to fix all of our favorite bugs, and add our favorite programs like xemacs. (I don't look at me I use vi.)

    VA is a hardware company. It's simply not in our best interest to be a distribution vendor. It's a reinstall cdrom with a few added extras. Nothing different than what Dell or as one else does with win9x. Of course we have the source so we can do a lot more;-)

  • I don't think Chris (or anyone else at VA) has any paranoid delusions about Penguin. Truth be told, VA seems to spend most of its time working on Linux, and not with any paranoid preoccupations.

  • Yes, JFK should have said "Ich bin Berliner" (with no ein) to identify himself as a resident of Berlin in spirit. Instead he did the equivalent of calling himself a hamburger instead of a resident of Hamburg.

  • Sheeze, bitter much?

    Chris DiBona
    VA Linux Systems


    --
    Grant Chair, Linux Int.
    VP, SVLUG

  • Just for the record, it's not Sam who's writing this. It's a greater nemesis that will catch you in a twisted paradigm in the future. You think you've got it made with Linux, just wait.... Don't say things about Allison. She is a very nice woman and does not deserve any of this rant. Keep it to the hogs that you are!

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