Red Hat/Corel Takeover Rumors 200
zDooder writes "According to Yahoo
Finance, rumors are flying on Wall Street about RedHat buying
out Corel. " Corel's stock has been all over the place as a result (Discloser:I own some Corel stock). It's definitely an interesting match. Corel's distribution is based on Debian, and Word Perfect is a decidedly closed source product. I'm not putting a lot of weight in this one, but I've heard stranger rumors so who knows.
Re:Rumors (Score:2)
A) MS would just mess it up and release an inferior product.
B) The Open-Source Movement would provide a better product, assuming there's interest in Corel Draw and WP for non-Linux amongst Open-Source contributors out there. It's also possible it would be ported to other OS's like BeOS and help those OS's gain a foothold (we all know, painfully, that availability of apps make or break an OS).
C) 90% of desktop computer users out there would buy the inferior product because they are chained to MS's OS and believe that they have the best there is to offer. Bill Gates is a genius, after all...right? (don't step in my dripping sarcasm)
D) Us Nerds would continue on our merry way and nothing would be any different...we'd have good software...that, in some cases, is too difficult for the novice to configure...and continue to stick our noses up at the technologically-challenged and the MS-centric.
I would hope that Red Hat (and other Open-Source co's/orgs out there) would see this as an opportunity to provide software that is user-friendly enough to appeal to the novice while maintaining its technological superiority...and seize this opportunity without falling into the same traps as MS.
Re:Red Hat becoming a nuisance... (Score:2)
Not to worry, my friend... Open Source will live happily ever after just by grabbing the last gpl distro and starting it's own Eyes Wide Open Linux, carrying all the previous benefits from the famous distro. Fewer people would buy Red Hat CD's, and ultimately they either will have been taught a lesson and become good boys again [but with a very low image], or go bankrupt.
I am not afraid of any would-be-Microsfot-linux-distro... that is FUD thrown from the inside into opensource movement. It's not a monopoly which is bad, it's abusive monopolies (personal opinion, I simply agree with what's on the pulpit) we should care about.
If buying Corel would mean its tools GPL'ed. well, as far as I see it, they can damned well be bought, for all I care
hugs
Re:A bad thing? (Score:1)
No one is obligated to get linux from any one company, or ftp server, or whatever. That is the strength of linux. Successfull companies can package popular distributions of linux, but no one says that you have to use any particular distribution.
It is impossible for a monopoly to form on the basis of free software. There will never be any "free software microsofts".
And business should not have any major effect on linux's evolution. There are many people working on linux that 'believe in the holy Right Way' (myself being one of them). They will balk at any corporate attempts to 'pollute' the 'spirit' of linux.
Grammar checking feature is lacking (Score:1)
Re:what is this open source obcession? (Score:1)
Yes, I can read the source.
#include
int main()
{
int retval;
#ifdef __LINUX__
printf("Yes!! A real operating system!\n");
retval=0;
#else
printf("I puke at thee!!\n");
retval=1;
#endif
do {
;;
} while(1);
return(retval);
}
Let's not forget... (Score:1)
Dyslexic.
I dunno about RH (Score:1)
I guess I'm just paranoid, but RH thinking about buying up all these dists seems like they want to try and gain exclusive control.
It just seems weird to me I guess, but what do I know about RHs corporate strategy?
Re:Why all the Red Hate? (Score:1)
But seriously. Red Hat has brought a lot of new people to use Linux that simply wouldn't understand the screwy Debian or Slack install program, let alone know where to get it. Once they know what Linux is and does (learned on Red Hat) they'll likely move to something else like the Debian or Slack or SuSE. And if they don't switch? Who cares. We've another convert.... Isn't that the point?
Re:Maybe not a bad thing. (Score:2)
What I can see, though, is RedHat pushing further development of Corel's apps on the Linux desktop, including their integration into GNOME or possibly KDE. This will probably happen anyways, though, regardless of whether RedHat buys Corel or not. The only thing I am pretty sure of is that this would be the end of the Corel Linux distro.
-cr
Re:I hope not (Score:3)
I disagree. Cygnus made sense since they're the gcc maintainers and the kernel is definitely written in GNU C, not ANSI C! They also may help RedHat support embedded Linux. Given their (IMO) massively inflated stock price, any stock based aquisition of slightly more tangiable assets makes sense, really! The allure of Corel could be the applications and distribution network, with the shareholder bonus of eliminating a potential Linux stock market distraction.
I hope it isn't true. Any ideas as to what started the rumour?
Even if it might make some sense, I tend to think this is probably just an unfounded rumour. Rather than causing the Corel stock price run-up, it might well be a based in people looking for a reason for the run-up, which is more likely that they got caught up in RHAT's slipstream!
Bloody 'ell. (Score:3)
Then those projects will fork from the last GPL version, likely with funding from SuSE/TurboLinux/VA Linux/other distros. This has already happened with SSH, and there's no reason it couldn't for other stuff too.
Redhat still has the best record of any non-Debian distro on open source. *Every* component of a Redhat distro that Redhat develops themselves is GPL. Not any funny weird licence, real live RMS-tested-mother-approved GPL. I'll take a record like that over "but they COULD become evil" nonsense any day.
"Why don't they just stick to providing services"
Because big companies (and I work at one so I know how they think) will feel better about paying Redhat for service contracts if they know RH is associated with at least some key developer(s) of those programs. Let's face it, if you experience a kernel problem and you have a service contract with Redhat, they can have top kernel gurus like Alan Cox and Ingo Molnar take a look at it for you. That's powerful.
Compare this with the Linux service contracts being offered by companies like SCO. Not only do they not have any Linux developers, their main business is a competing product! Given the choice between them and Redhat I know which company's service contract wouldn't make me fear losing my job.
Rumors...Rumors...Rumors... (Score:1)
I'll wait to see (Score:4)
Now I wonder, what if a large linux driven company could purchase/write a lot of code and GPL it. What would the computer industry look like/how would it work in an all/mostly GPL world. would there be more computer jobs available? less?
I have my ideas but I would like to know what the rest of
perhaps it would start another "red" scare in the traditional business world
-pos
The truth is more important than the facts.
Re:Redhat for adults (Score:1)
If Redhat buys Corel
and If Redhat releases a 18+ distribution
and If it is the first blue moon of February
which lands on a Tuesday (okay forget the
last if)
Then don't you agree that any Microsoft Windows product should be for ages infinity+. Since infinity is a theoretical mathematical statement and does not exist as a real number, we can infer that Windows is suited for no one. Quite right. Seriously, how frustrating is it to try and get work done when all you get is an invalid page fault here and a blue screen there? Hardly an environment for children, let alone anyone else in the free world.
Robert J. Casey Jr.
Come on Rob... (Score:1)
yeah, whatever (Score:2)
a) windows software
b) macintosh software
c) old support contracts
that said, there are some interesting aspects of a corel [corel.com] buy (namely the hardware connections, the expertise, and the two distribution questions). more important, though, is that corel [corel.com] doesn't even make as much sense as other companies for a possible office suite for linux. a company with more focus seems to be a much better option. what about abisource [abisource.com]? what about applix [applix.com]? seems that if red hat [redhat.com] bought applix, gpl'd it, gtk'd it, and gnome-ified it that would make much more sense.
as for red hat [redhat.com] buying everyone and everything rumors, red hat is starting to have enough money to screw up. it was fine when they could only afford blunders. it seems now, though, that they can afford disasters as well. tread lightly mr. young (and don't even think about cray)!
save the effort, don't do it. (Score:2)
Earlier today, this article on Slashdot [slashdot.org] talks about their financial involvment with Sendmail [sendmail.org] and the Mozilla Project [mozilla.org], and the previous rumors about the acquisition of Cygnus [slashdot.org] turned out to be true.
Red Hat should save themselves a little bit of cash and make an investment into TrollTech and/or KDE instead. If Qt were GPL'd, there would no longer be any justification for using the less sophisticated GNOME over KDE for "philosophical reasons". KOffice would reign, and the savings could be applied toward the bottom line. "Red Hat in the black" (like SuSE) is a headline that has great appeal to serious stockholders.
Steam wears off quickly -- Netscape^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^HAOL is now taking handouts from Red Hat to keep Mozilla going, just a few short years after that promising IPO. WordPerfect (on its own) has already proven to be an unwise move, and their Windows and Mac software is just excess baggage. Those users won't switch to Linux, they'll switch to Macromedia/Adobe/Microsoft/et al. Novell sure couldn't leverage the WordPerfect name, I don't think the fedora is gonna sell many more copies...
Re:Red Hat becoming a nuisance... (Score:1)
This is just plain FUD. If the GPL were invalid, nobody but the original copyright holders of code released under the GPL would have the right to copy it. Most of GPL'd code in RedHat's distribution is (a) the Linux kernel, copyright by Linus and countless other individuals, and (b) the various GNU stuff, copyright by the FSF.
So...how would RedHat come out as the "owners of the buildings after the neutron bomb"? Buy the FSF? I think not.
People seem to associate RedHat and Microsoft because both have name recognition and money. However, they miss the crucial difference. RedHat owns well under 10% of the stuff in their distribution!
Why not ADA Core Technologies instead (Score:1)
In my opinion buying a GNAT company looks like the next logical step for RedHat. Together with Cygnus a Gnat company could develop and support ADA for the military and aviation business more efficiently.
This would make real money and also make Linux the platform for developing all kind of embedded systems from TV sets to FLIGHT CONTROL systems in commercial airliners.
In such a scenario RedHat would get virtually no competition at all. This niche are allready filled with Linux friendly techies that have zero buying resistance.
what next? (Score:2)
.... (Score:2)
Redhat for adults (Score:1)
Re:Redhat for adults (Score:1)
We can call the 18+ version "pornhat". Oh wait, that's what most redhat distributions are already..
I hope not (Score:1)
archetypal `buy up lots of small companies to boost the CEO's ego'.
I hope it isn't true. Any ideas as to what started the rumour?
Re:I hope not (Score:1)
Would you believe that microsoft didn't invent the concept? That companies do it all the time today, and it makes good business sense, and it's not monopolistic?
If redhat can buy other companies to help them boost revenue, then I say more power to 'em.
Re:Not Bloody Likely (Score:1)
Red Hat's business was in packaging, and support, of 3rd party software.
Most of Corel's business is in proprietary software sales.
However, given proper management, this kind of acquisition mania is good for the RHAT shareholders, as it protects them from a slowdown in any one field, because the other fields will help keep Red Hat in the black (or from further losses).
Whether this is good for consumers, or a good strategy given Red Hat's management, I personally can't say.
Re:Well there goes the neighborhood... (Score:2)
For the humor impaired, none of the above is true.
Re:Maybe not a bad thing. (Score:1)
its like watching Pac Man (Score:1)
maybe... (Score:2)
"The importance of using technology in the right way has never been more clear." [microsoft.com]
Maybe not a bad thing. (Score:5)
I have one question then. Which distribution do you keep or do you distribute both? Two distrubutions from one company sounds dumb to me.
Another good thing... RH and Corel and have been two of the biggest helps to get linux to the masses, putting there heads together couldn't be a bad thing.
-Al-
wordperfect (Score:1)
--
David
supreme commander of the anti-authority club
Re:Maybe not a bad thing. (Score:1)
* Paul Madley
Business & Development (Score:2)
Is there anything that individual developers could do 2 years ago with Linux that they can't do now?
Yes, money will flow, and suits will get what they want, but how does that change the fundamental development environment for Linux? I'd argue that it's a superset of what it once was. Everything that used to be there still is, and there's a bunch of extra business stuff getting tacked on - take it or leave it.
----
this was denied by rhat and corl (Score:1)
-taj-
SGI (Score:4)
--
Re:Unethical.. (Score:1)
-mike kania
Red Hat (Score:1)
Linux developemnt? And if the sales of Windows software will help fund development and/or make RH profitable, I think its a good move. And there are several Linux developed packages that will now run on Windows NT. No matter your views on NT, it is a virtually untapped market. RH would make a good single point of contact to represent this to the corporate world simply because they DO have their foot in the door as few others do at this time.
If RH doesn't move sharp, they'll fall on their face. They should use their market capitalization to full advantage while they can. Wall Street honeymoons are starting to sync on Internet time....
We must also consider the PR fallout that Linux and the Linux community would get if Red Hat does fail. It would not leave a good impression on Wall Street or on the Corporations that are considering Linux solutions.
If Linux is going to make a go of enticing the corporate world, someone has to think like the corporate world. Something I'm not sure the community is ready for, and something that will make or break Linux's success in the arena.
I think RH is doing the best they can in uncharted waters. We should give them the benefit of the doubt.
Re:SGI (Score:1)
I confess I use windows98 for most of my day to day operations. And ocasionaly log into my Linux box. (The poor Linux server doesn't even have a screen) For me to switch I think I would need the following:
1) Better (read: easier) printer support
2) An Office suit which read (at least to start) all my/everyone elses old
3) More programs! esp. Vidio Games (don't tell the profs)
4) Better Documentation. (HOWTO style) I didn't even know Un*x existed until I got to college so I still don't know the lingo very well. To get people who are used to Win98 to switch successfully may take some doing.
But this is just me. I would like to know what
I will be intersed to see the responce.
JFMiller (Member in good standing of The Unwashed Masses)
Re:Maybe not a bad thing. (Score:1)
This assumes MS Office is the premier office suite because of price pressure. Since it's the most expensive office suite, and still the best selling, I don't see why making WP free would help all that much (although assuredly it would help a little).
Keep your $0.02 for yourself (Score:1)
By spreading these lies and absurd paranoid ramblings, you're hurting the free software movement. Think about those people who came to slashdot to learn more about Linux and free software; they will read articles like yours and think:
--
STOP THE FUD (Score:1)
--
the Gunpowder effect (Score:2)
Castles used to be largely effective at keeping out barbarians. Let's call that the "castle effect". Then gunpowder was invented. Wow! Look at all that rubble! That's the "gunpowder effect"
My take on it is that, while Microsoft still has a mighty fine castle, we've got a lot more gunpowder - freeness, reliably, flexibility, constant improvements - and unlike Microsoft, our powder isn't wet.
As somebody else said, we have to play and win the game of file format tag. We also have to take the high ground: do all our own native formats in zipped XML. I think Abiword [abisource.com] already does this. Make sure it's good, intelligent XML, and Corel will adopt it too. Work towards the goal of complete file format interoperability across all "open" word processors. Pretty soon, Joe Average will be pressuring Microsoft to support our format. Then we've won, please pass the grog.
Re:Debian is not for sale. (Score:1)
Re:KDE sucks (not a flame). (Score:1)
Offtopic:Your .sig (was Business & Development) (Score:1)
Is this for real? If so where did you hear/read that?
Chris
What a troll! (Score:2)
Moderate this down!
Just buying Sendmail & Cygnus does not give Redhat the copyright to the work, becuase it has contributions from other (non-employee) people. If the don't own the work, they can't change the copyright.
It's as simple as that.
--Donate food by clicking: www.thehungersite.com [thehungersite.com]
last sunday's user friendly (Score:1)
last sunday's user friendly [userfriendly.org]
Re:Maybe not a bad thing. (Score:2)
I don't care if you're Office Suite is 5k, you pay each customer $1000 to load it on their machine, and it has a telepathic user interface. If it can't open and save in
I wish I had a nickel for every time someone said "Information wants to be free".
Today RedHat is worth ~$16,000,000,000. (Score:2)
Re:Corel Takeover - And Bob's Your Uncle! (Score:1)
I wish I had a nickel for every time someone said "Information wants to be free".
What happened to Corel's Linux hardware? (Score:2)
There was that ambitious hardware project of a Linux-only computer by Corel. I recall that it was later made an independent company from Corel.
Anyway, what happened to the device? Is it successful?
------------------
Re:Ain't it wieeerd... (Score:1)
Until then, all that is needed is for Red Hat to start acting remotely like Microsoft. As it is, they've been 100% positive to the open-source community (barring buggy software, but even that is subjective).
Without Red Hat, open-source software wouldn't have ever grown past the dippy hippy free sex and code image it has had in the past. Because of Red Hat (and others who make Linux viable for the average person), Linux can and will thrive.
If you have a problem with it, well, let us know what exactly Red Hat has done other than be successful.
- Jeff A. Campbell
- VelociNews (http://www.velocinews.com [velocinews.com])
Re:Redhat for adults (Score:1)
Don't Do it Red Hat! (Score:2)
I'd much rather see Corel and Red Hat competing against each other. This looks like a monopoly in the making.
Consciousness is not what it thinks it is
Thought exists only as an abstraction
Re:Maybe not a bad thing. (Score:1)
Dunno about Star but the only thing WP laks is a "track changes" feature a la ms word.
OTOH i think wp needs (for it to succeed in ms strongholds i.e. the windows platform) to be able to read/write ms word
Re:Grammar checking feature is lacking (Score:1)
Re:Maybe not a bad thing. (Score:1)
How about the Evil Empire? (Score:2)
A Good Thing! (Score:1)
Re:Redhat for adults (Score:1)
NetWinder (Score:2)
Re:Maybe not a bad thing. (Score:1)
But wouldn't it be poetic justice to use $$ from the sale of the Windows version to fund the opensource or atleast free, Linux version? What a way to drive people to Linux (from Windows) and to RH's support phone lines (instead of MS's).
Tower of cards? (Score:1)
You're forgetting something. If that did happen, Redhat (and Linux in general) would suddenly be playing squarely under Microsoft's rules. We all know what happens to companies that do that. It's not an exaggeration to say that RH's entire business plan depends on the legal viability of the GPL, and indeed their S-1 filing prior to their IPO says as much. I greatly doubt that typical investors, if cognizent of licensing issues at all, have any such thoughts.
Unlikely! (Score:1)
Why all the discussion about what you'd expect? (Score:3)
I can see why people might debate the pros and cons of this or that company as a prospective choice, but I don't see why the fact that Red Hat is looking at potential purchaces is such a hot discussion.
This is what companies do. They aim to make money, generally by providing quality products and services. One excellent way to do that is to buy companies which mesh well with your own. The resulting whole is often greater then the sum of its parts.
Red Hat is a company. Way back from the start, one of their slogans has been "Red Hat -- The Commercial Linux People". Since their IPO, they've had wads of cash, so now is the time to do it. It makes perfect sense.
I cannot see why this is so often debated. Cause for discussion would be if Red Hat just sat there pumping out CDs without doing anything new.
/SOAPBOX
Re:Maybe not a bad thing. (Score:3)
Re:Buyout Rumors (Score:2)
Linux for Windows (Score:1)
Revenge (Score:1)
RH, Corel, and markets (Score:1)
But this one has me concerned. Not because it's RH, but because Corel is doing a very good job with their product in reaching a market (newcomers and the mainstream desktop in general) that RH hasn't done as well with. If RH buys Corel I think a big part of the rationale would be elimination of competition, not expansion of RH's capabilities. And reducing competition is almost always a Bad Thing.
Re:Maybe not a bad thing. (Score:2)
That isn't what I was saying. What I should have said was that 95% of the people I know use less than 50% of the functionality of MS-Office, therefore it is overkill for most people.
At any rate, the important thing is that the developers of StarOffice and WordPerfect Suite could do a better job of improving their product if people like you would just tell them some specific functionality items you want rather than vague, unspecific gripes.
Do you guys consider yourselves part of that 90%, or are you the 10% that always wants more more more
I don't want gratuitous features (bloat), better functionality is more important than more functionality (and there is a difference -- something Microsoft doesn't seem to grasp). More stability is indeed good, but not something that seems to be a problem with the Linux kernel.
I personally don't have much of a need for Wine (because I don't have a commitment to legacy Windows API apps or developing for Windows), but I recognize its importance to other people. Corel, the makers of WordPerfect, not Microsoft have been the ones helping with Wine. If Microsoft wants to help with Wine, they are free to do so, but I will be shocked if that ever happens because protecting their monopoly seems to be more important to them than growing the acceptance of Win32.
Re: Bless the media's stupidity (Score:1)
"Its rumored that Red Hat may attempt a hostile take over of Corel. Corel made the first Linux operating system for laptop Computers"
Ignorance is funny some mornings
Fr05t
Re:Maybe not a bad thing. (Score:2)
You are correct, and I haven't and won't buy it.
Buy MS-Works which is a lot cheapier.
No thanks, even if it ran on Linux, StarOffice is still much cheaper than MS-Works.
Or simply use Wordpad.
Again, it doesn't run under Linux, and there are plenty of free alternatives with similar or better feature sets. Also Wordpad doesn't include a spreadsheet or the other tools in something like StarOffice.
Won't happen (Re:Redhat merges with Microsoft) (Score:1)
Many people at Red Hat (especially developers) hate Microsoft, and wouldn't work with them.
If Microsoft managed to buy all Red Hat stock (which is purely theoretical, since only a small part of Red Hat was IPO'd) and take control of Red Hat, we'd see a number of (all?) developers leaving and founding their own company, building a new distribution based on the latest Red Hat Linux.
If it happens, RH may NOT open the source (Score:2)
Thanksgiving dinner: Cousin Linda sits across the table from me. I tell her about Linux. She complains about Windows 98 crashing on her while trying to edit some graphics. I offer her a Free copy of Linux-Mandrake and assistance installing it. She gets excited and starts to beg for help - pulling out her business card faster than I can wipe the dressing off my lip. I mailed the disk yesterday with a note pointing to the web page and suggesting some books (McMillan et al). When she calls me I will help her get it installed and connected to the web. And she will be just as happy the rest of my New Linux Converts (NLCs) (tm).
Cheers to the new millenium and the new technology order!
Dan
RH on the move! (Score:1)
Re: don't forget about office developer (Score:1)
But Redhat is buying Mozilla (Score:1)
Come on Rob... (Score:1)
I started the romor. (Score:1)
I didn't mean to and as you can see from the way I state it I had no information at all.
Wordperfect = Hot Potato (Score:2)
I later upgraded to version 6.0, which had Novell written all over disks - Wordperfect Corp. had been bought out.
Later, when I upgraded to to Windows 95, I picked up Wordperfect 7, which had "Corel" printed all over the CD-ROM.
Next, I switched over to Linux and now have Wordperfect 8 installed on it.
And now maybe when I get Wordperfect 2000 (or whatever) it may be from RedHat's download site?
How times change...
--Cycon
"The Human Genome Project: Open Sourcing the Human Race since 1990" --Steve Castellotti
Re:Corel Takeover - And Bob's Your Uncle! (Score:1)
Re:Maybe not a bad thing. (Score:1)
Not necessarily, they could leverage the market for people who want RedHat/Gnome and/or Debian/KDE. No matter what kind of Linux distro you are looking for they make money off it. It would be a good insurance policy. If any one of those components becomes unpopular they could shift development to annother, already completed component.
Re:Maybe not a bad thing. (Score:2)
(Spo iler: Red Hat is apparently planning to invest in both the Mozilla project and Sendmail.)
Zontar The Mindless,
Re:Maybe not a bad thing. (Score:2)
Sadly, for the same reason WPOffice sales are a mere fraction of M$Office: the network effect. If you friends, neighbors, colleagues, clients, etc all have M$ OfficePark, then you will too if only for reasons of being able to easily exchange files. Sad, but true.
Re:Corel Takeover - And Bob's Your Uncle! (Score:3)
My broker calls this the old "Pump and dump." People start rumors to inflate the stock then unload after it peaks. The internet has been a great tool for that. Remember the big run on Iomega a few years ago. The whole motley fool crowd had fun with that and a bunch of people lost money; while a bunch of the early adopters made a ton. Be very very carefull when you hear rumors like this with no foudation.
Re:what is this open source obcession? (Score:2)
main()
{
if can_read_source()
printf("I can!!\n");
}
I can!!
Re:what next? (Score:2)
Sears, Roebuck and Co.
McDonalds
Pfizer
General Electric
General Motors
Commonwealth Edison
National Semiconductor
Well, you asked for it...
Not Bloody Likely (Score:2)
Unethical.. (Score:2)
It looks to me that Rob is using Slashdot raise his stock's value. Corel has been stuck with such rumors since the day Microsoft has monopolised the Office software space. It used to be rumors about Adobe buying Corel and now Red Hat. I personnaly think it would be foolish for Corel to sell out to Red Hat. They own a LOT of the kind of applications that Linux users (especially the new generation) have been drooling over.
Without music, life would be an error.
Re:Unethical.. (Score:2)
These rumours are being bandied about on various USENET groups and other forums read by people who trade this and other stocks in lots of tens of thousands. Rob's reporting it on slashdot, in comparison, will have virtually no appreciable effect on the value of the stock (how many day traders and brokers do you think read this forum?), and it does qualify as "news for nerds" more than several stories posted here in the last few days, as CORL is not only a venerable software company, but one with an aggressive Linux strategy as well.
The price climbed, fell, will climb again, will fall again, ad nauseum. The short term, intraday price is driven much more by day traders trying to make a quick buck than by technically savvy folks reading rumours on slashdot and running out to buy the stock at $27.00. In fact, those of us savvy enough to see the direction of the technology tide (toward open source OSes) got in on this early enough to not care what the day traders do to the intra-day stock price.
Those wise enough to hang onto [insert favorite Linux stock here] over the long haul will make a killing. Yes, probably even those unfortunate enough to now own $27 shares of CORL. Of course, they are the most likely ones to panic and sell at $17, locking in a $10 loss, but then they have only themselves to blame. Trying to be Mr/Ms Day Trader Extrodinair is foolish even for the professionals -- the rest of us should stick with what we know, invest in companies we feel are viable for whatever underlying reasons we understand, and not gawk at the stock price every two minutes trying to outguess the professionals on when to buy and when to sell. Leave that to the professional traders -- at least they have a 50% chance of coming out winners, whcih is alot better than the rest of us do when we start trying to go up against them day trading.
They'll buy someone (Score:2)
As for buying out Troll Tech and QT, Red Hat had better want to maintain QT under its current liscense or under a more open liscense, because of that certain clause [troll.no] that allows the KDE Free QT Foundation to release QT under a BSD liscense given the correct conditions.
Just doesn't add up (Score:2)
And those who mentioned that RHAT may want Corel's install wizard... I have confidence that the boys down at Red Hat could conjure up something similar themselves, without shelling out millions to buy it.
One final thought... buying out competitors sure doesn't leave much room for "Freedom to Innovate," pardon the phrase. If Red Hat buys Corel, I'm running Slackware.
Socra.Meth.
WordPerfect staying closed-source of Red Hat buys (Score:2)
I LOVE WP's file format. I was able to write stuff in Smalltalk/V (deceased now...) to parse WP files to extract information a long time ago, as opposed to the mess from Redmond which isn't compatible with itself. I'd love to write stuff like that again.
-Charles-A.
Re:Red Hat becoming a nuisance... (Score:2)
Not possible, unless RedHat somehow becomes the sole copyright holder of those programs. Which isn't bloody likely.
Do you have any actual behaviour on the part of redhat to back up these suppositions, or is it just 'I don't like RH because they *could* do this if they wanted to'?.
It's kind of scary... why don't they just stick to providing services, instead of buying out open source companies?
A single linux distribtution does not an open source company make. Corel provides things like WP and CorelDraw for Windows, which is hardly an open source line of buisness.
Re:Maybe not a bad thing. (Score:2)
You've got a right to your opinion, but I will stick to mine.
You can't do the automation and development and integration of MSOffice, with SO or WP-Suite. Really.
How much do you actually know about PerfectOffice? WordPerfect had automation features way back in the MS-DOS days. StarOffice includes something called StarBasic. I think that the integration, development and automation features of the other products are not only not as bad as you might think, they are probably good enough for most people, especially since I think you overestimate the number of people who actually use them.
The (abused) Macro / VB implementation was a god-send.
Uh, whatever. Macro viruses are enough of a scourge that it almost outweighs any usefulness a macro facility might have. As for VB, all I can say is yuck.
That "95%" don't do anything other than type a letter is just your opinion.
True enough, there is really no way to get an exact figure. However, I personally think that I am being generous with the 95% figure given what I see in the typical office environment. I see lots of people using MS-Word who don't even use the paragraph styles, bulleting, etc. features correctly (I see lots of documents where people have inserted bullets manually or even use 'o' for bullets and fill them in with a marker.
Even my mother managed to set up Word so that it took some figures from an XL spread sheet once per week, and put them into a Word report.
Just because your mother is one of the 5%, doesn't mean that the number of people at that level is as big as you might suggest.
Sure, MS products are bloated, becuase of the way the programming is done at MS, and sure, they are massively over priced. But many (more than that "5%") do need some, or many, of the features...
You still aren't really giving me any real examples of features that are missing
You got a "3" score because you were anti-MS,
Perhaps. Or maybe because the moderator thought I did a better job of presenting my argument.
I stayed firmly at "1" because I dared to say that something (while not good) wasn't bad.
Or maybe because you really didn't add anything constructive to the discussion, like some solid examples.
Sometimes, Slashdot really sucks.
If you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem. You can help make Slashdot better. Being bitter because you didn't get moderated the way you would like isn't going to do any good. Slashdot is really what the users make it.
P.S. I'm running WM inside eXceed from Win98 - becuase it's the best soloution for me, not becuase I need to grow up and stop hating MS.
I don't really hate MS. I hate some of the things that they do. If they would grow up and learn to play nicely with others, then I wouldn't feel a need to criticize them.
I'm having a bad day already
That is too bad, but you don't have to take it out on the rest of us.
Re:National Semiconductor (Score:2)
National Semiconductor (Score:3)
Did you know that Red Hat's market capitalization [yahoo.com] is twice that of National Semiconductor? [yahoo.com]
Corel Takeover - And Bob's Your Uncle! (Score:5)
Corel Takeover rumours are a dime a dozen.
I've owned Corel stock from time to time, and if I've learned one thing, it is that Corel has a talent for using rumours, false promises, shady accounting, and insider trading to manipulate the value of their stock.
But it is hard to cover up what Corel really is. -Namely, a lackluster under-performing Software Development Company who is trying to go head to head with Microsoft, and is both financially and technologically on the ropes.
If it isn't rumours that Novell, IBM, or Sun is going to buy Corel, then it is vaporware promises of WordPerfect Office for Java. Bottom line: Read the financial statements, not the press releases.
Linux is good for Corel, but is Corel good for Linux?
Selling WordPerfect and Office Suites for Linux is a good market direction for Corel to be going. It'll make them some good money. -Especially since their products aren't doing to well in the WinTel market, better to reposition for a less competive one (Linux). But how long will it last?
Why a Corel Linux Distribution?
Does Corel really have what it takes to become a major player in Linux Distributions? Is it technically superior? Maybe on a couple points. Is it more user-friendly? Maybe, maybe not. Is it likely to stay ahead of the curve for long? No. Linux distributions require staying power. The ability to consistently deliver a more value-added distribution than the competitors.
We all benefit for Corel's effort to improve Linux... I hope that they do become a major player, but I just don't think they've got it in them. I hope I get to eat my words.
What value would Corel add to RedHat?
Little to none. Unless Redhat is looking to put the rather expensive WordPerfect(TM) feather in their hat, they little to gain from an aquisition of Corel. Gnome and KDE are already churning out Office Suites of their own. And I'll bet given a year or two, those Office Suites will be technically superior and more user friendly than anything Corel will have to offer.