LinuxCare Gets $32M In Funding 65
TheFitz writes "CBS is running a story about LinuxCare receiving some heavy backing. Also mentioned in the story is the potential for LinuxCare to go public with an IPO. " Several comments from Sifry and a few other tidbits about the company. Worth a gander if you're curious about Linuxcare.
Everything in place now (Score:4)
The business world has not only noticed Linux now (that happened last year), they're firmly behind it. Gone are the days when we have to argue that Linux is just as good as a commercial system--now we can just point to a few billion dollars of investments and say "Obviously they believe it." That's a dumb argument, but it's one that carries weight with non-technical people who don't understand the actual merits of one OS over another.
Finally, all this money pouring into Linux is obviously going to translate into a lot of paid development hours and new applications. That should fill in whatever gaps there are missing in the Linux platform.
From now on, the missing functionality is no longer a liability... it's an OPPORTUNITY.
Better way to phrase it? (Score:1)
Nitpicky? Yes.
It seems to me that saying "go public with an Initial Public Offering" is a bit redundant, or at least awkward syntax. With all the IPOs these days, should we find a more elegant way of phrasing this?
Excellent service! (Score:3)
Open Source (Score:1)
--If you have nothing to say, say nothing...
...I'll shut upnow... before I start talking about a first post...--
IPO!!! okay you got my attention!! (Score:1)
Some interesting comments. (Score:2)
I found it humorous the way that employees of Linuxcare were listed as "contributors to Linux". With the exception of Samba, nothing seemed to be said about what they contributed. Is there any serious Linux company that doesn't employ at least a couple of people who have contributed to Linux and other GPL'd software?
I don't know too much about Linuxcare, but it might bear watching in the future. The industry is currently watching to see which Linux distributor "wins" the market...
B. Elgin
Great - Linux Support gets what it deserves (Score:1)
Linux Professional Institute (Score:1)
It's a GOOD Thing (Score:3)
Anyway, I think this has the ability to become a very good thing. While we have seen over the past year or so that businesses have started to turn an eye toward linux and then become major invetors, one of the key obstacles to any type of major OS or software is support. Where do the big guys go when they don't have the knowledge or resources available to figure something out? Once an infrastructure like that is in place it filters down to lower and lower levels, IE: smaller corporations and eventually small businesses. I don't thing that it will be long till me get some certification levels and alphabet soup tied to our knowledge. I know a lot of people here are not exactly friendly toward tech. certifications, but like it or not, a lot of not technical managers look to them to gauge a persons worth. Even if we know the certification doesnt mean crap,
Anyway, our time has come. Make your opportunities!
Re:Better way to phrase it? (Score:1)
Re:Everything in place now (Score:2)
Re:Some interesting comments. (Score:4)
Linuxcare Gurus who's who [linuxcare.com]
Include Tridgell, Paul Mackerras(Linux on PPC), Paul Russell(ipchains), the excellent group of people at Prosa [prosa.it], and more on their way!
Mistake in article (Score:3)
Andrew Tridgell, [is] a Linuxcare researcher who authored Samba, a piece of programming that makes a Linux server work much like a Microsoft (MSFT: news, msgs) Windows NT server.
like ...what a funny way to spell better!!!
Eric
PS This is humor. Turn off the flame-throwers.
Re:IPO!!! okay you got my attention!! (Score:2)
Re:Open Source (Score:3)
Simple. The corporations get to sell services. Selling a service is usually much more lucrative than selling software. If you have a person charging $100 an hour to troubleshoot other people's problems with setting up Linux, or maintaining Linux, you make a pretty good chunk of change. People who really understand a given piece of software are more rare than many /.ers tend to remember. The Total Cost of Ownership is what we are talking about here, not the cost of initially buying into the software.
When IBM has Linuxcare answer someone's questions, that someone pays IBM $X, and IBM gives Linuxcare ($X - $Y).
B. Elgin
Another IPO? (Score:1)
Hmm, what could *I* fix...
Low-Graphics Printer-Friendly Link (Score:3)
Re:ah yeah (Score:1)
Re:Better way to phrase it? (Score:1)
(score: 0, dumb)
i dont display scores, and my threshhold is -1. post accordingly.
Re:Their own icon?!? (Score:1)
I've been wondering what's up with that. It wasn't always like that, was it? I thought the first icon on the left used to represent the top story on the page...
Effective way to "pay" for free software: Invest. (Score:2)
Then you get better software for keeps, companies get investment to make(and support) more free software, and hey you also may get a finacial return on your investment. Cool.
Re:Another IPO? (Score:4)
The answer to his question, of course, is to join the Free Software Developers' Network. The FSDN offers freshmeat access, and a whole bunch of other valuable services, for a mere $19.95 per year. If you're interested in joining the FSDN, just email me your credit-card number and expiration date, and I'll pass along your application.
\end{joke}
--
"But, Mulder, the new millennium doesn't begin until January 2001."
Re:ah yeah (Score:1)
I know who you are! You must be ESR!
Har har.
Cool... (Score:1)
Yet another IPO (Score:1)
I guess its time for everyone to cash in now...
I hope all this hype won't bite back when stockmarket types suddenly realize they have millions invested in companies that aren't making money....
Then again, if *I* was a member of the VA board, I expect my perspective would be altogether different... *smile*
--
"Just another programmer who hasn't scored his millions yet"
Related Article (Score:3)
http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/991214/c.html
Re:IPO!!! okay you got my attention!! (Score:2)
/boot/vmlinux
/usr/src/linux/arch/1386/boot/vm
or
c:\lilo\vmlinu z?
Nobody keeps it in / anymore! What are you, a 1.2.xx junkie?
Good indeed, but remember the roots (Score:3)
However, we need to remember that we don't need to justify ourselves. Each of us use linux for whatever reason we want to. I personally don't care if linux takes down windows. It would make me happy as I have a personal vendetta with MS, but as far as the development of linux, it's unimportant.
As linux grows into the masses it is becoming simpler and easier to use. This is a good thing. When people have trouble, they look for support from a trusted name. LinuxCare is looking to be that name.
All of this is well and good, as long as linux stays in touch with it's roots.
It is important to remember what free software is really about. Freedom. Not price.
Don't use VA's IPO, RedHat's IPO, or LinuxCare 32m to justify your use. There is plenty of justification already in place.
Sadly, I'm not surprised (Score:1)
I was musing that this sort of thing may actually start to happen a lot while I was reading over the vast threads of posts regarding the VA IPO frenzy. Specifically people were discussing motivation (Well, that was covered more in the ESR article comments), and how some people may begin to try contributing to attention-getting projects in the hopes of getting onto a contributor list. Now I'm curious to see if it really does happen. However, I do hope it takes more than a half-assed program on Freshmeat to get corporate attention.
Thank you linux... (Score:1)
Re:Everything in place now (Score:3)
Besides, who ever said that Linux must dominate all markets? Anyone who strives to make linux a dominant operating system is missing the point. The effort needs to be put into making it a better OS, and the domination will follow. Linux has never been about the big advertising and commercialism, it's been about doing thing well, and letting the product speak for itself.
The goal should not be to have Linux penetrate into markets such as grandma's house, it should be to make the best OS possible and to let things fall into place. If grandma doesn't use linux, who cares? She might prefer the candy colored macs to match her stained glass windows for all i care.
Microsoft is/was trying to make themselves the answer to every question. I think that is what will make them fail. Linux doesn't have to be the answer to every question, just the answer to some of them.
-Dan
The bandwagon already left (Score:1)
First we had the "we don't have to be profitable, we're an Internet company". That was a marginal idea, although OK if revenue is large and increasing. Now we have "we don't have to have revenue, we're a Linux company". That is not going to fly for long.
Re:Another IPO? (Score:1)
Re:IPO!!! okay you got my attention!! (Score:3)
I am also a smartass, but that is beside the point.
I don't think this is flamebait! (Score:1)
I think it is very true and when the time comes for a shakeout and the mass financial wipeouts (of people running unprofitable businesses whose stock is now worth $xxx per share) begin, there will be financial tidal waves all over the western world akin to a quarter mile wide comet landing in the Atlantic.
It's gonna happen. This overvaluation has to deflate sometime.
If you don't believe me check up on the 1920's.
BTW: Someone please moderate that man up. He deserves it.
Can I get that in writing (Score:2)
Besides, OS/2 was pretty much just another NT (in more ways than one) w/o the benefit of an installed base of DOS and Win31 to leverage, capitalize on, exploit and ensure they migrate to yet another Mickysoft product from.
Win2k will meets the needs of a lot of people, it will succeed - just some of us will demand software we can work with and control, not luserware that want's to control us w/ 'proactive help/marketing'. And I'm certainly not going to make the mistake of supporting M$ products on someone else's dime again (they're still getting a lot of 'free' support from their suckers) - if someone pays for a Win2k license (and esp if they pirate it) and has a problem and swivels around to look at me, I'm just going to read them the EULA, laugh and say "sorry I don't support it - call MSFT, it's their property".
Boojum
Re:Did anybody here get in on the VALS IPO? (Score:1)
I was watching my DLJ Direct account *very* closely in the minutes leading up to the opening of LNUX, and the very first price I saw for it was $248.
Needless to say, I didn't buy, and the limit order of $31 that I had put in earlier in the day didn't go through either
Alot of people *must* have gotten screwed, because AFAIK anyone who put in a market order on it before it opened got it at $250+, and it has pretty much dropped like a rock since then.
This is the way that Internet stocks are though. They are a way for a few lucky people to cash in without producing anything of value for the economy, while lots of other people who try to jump on the get-rich-quick bandwagon lose their shirts.
These types of stocks are basically swindles, as the only people who really make money are the VC firms who put out the inital outlay of cash and take the company public. They end up selling their share at a *highly* inflated value to a bunch of people who, due to greed or stupidity, or both, think that by giving VCs lots of money they themselves might make some too.
A company which can actually make money (Score:1)
This makes the engineer in me feel satisfied; even if the stock is a bust, Linuxcare has a bright future.
Just my opinion,
Rusty.
Re: linux critical mass (Score:3)
It sounds silly, but if you're in a big company, and you're pushing a solution or a product that isn't favored by Gartner research, Senior management's going to ask you to re-evaluate and see why $GARTNER_TOP_PICK wouldn't work for the company.
Nowadays, the senior execs have suddenly "DISCOVERED" linux, and now they're looking to form "Strategic Alliances" and establish "linux partnerships" (but the senior execs are still using Windows
anyway, on a related note, I head 3 non-technical women in the movie theater yesterday talking about investment (and the LNUX IPO) and one was trying to explain to the others what linux was. She said "now everybody is trying to learn linux - it's like windows NT but people say it's better and it's free." To me, overhearing that discussion meant more than placement on the gartner quadrant!
Have you noticed that nowadays hardly anyone mispronounces linux?
Re:Thank you linux... (Score:1)
Let me explain why I think Linuxcare will succeed:
1. They have a real managment team. They just didn't take people who had done cool things on Linux and throw them into managment. The team over their is full of Fortune 500 executives.
http://www.linuxcare.com/company/bios/index.epl
2. Fernand Serrat is their CEO and a bottom line guy. He spent 20+ years at IBM. He is a very fair, but bottom line kind of guy. He knows what it takes.
3. These guys all have a technology background, they know what the big boys want. They know how to give it them.
4. They are one of the few companies that I have seen that has found the balance between geekdom, and the suits. They know the importance of the geeks, and the open source community. And can bridge that with the needs of the business community. People like Art Tyde and Dave Sifry are great bridges.
5. Red Hat just got lucky, right place right time. These guys actually have the stuff to back it up.
Cheers,
WFE
===========
Re: FP == FinkPloyd == Not Intelligent (Score:1)
true enough (Score:1)
-lx
the 1920s (Score:1)
-lx
Re: linux critical mass (Score:1)
Actually, they almost all still do - though in a better way than before. In Finnish, the "i" in Linu[xs] is a long one. So "Leenux", not "Linn-ux", would be the correct phonetic spelling in English.
Whahey! (Score:1)
We need to shove Microsoft off the map! I'm glad that Sun [sun.com] is up there heading the list of primary investors... Though Sun is starting to get Monolithic... Finding anything on their website is almost as hard as finding anything on microsoft.com [microsoft.com]...No, I'm lying... finding anything on microsoft.com is impossible!!!
I thought the article was good in mentioning that Dell and Plattner are investing personally in Linuxcare... If Linuxcare is publicly traded they will probably make a lot of money (understatement...)
Two things I found really interesting from the article...: (i) I didn't know Tridgell worked for Linuxcare; and (ii) what Sarrat says at the end: "... look at IBM. They didn't get good at services until they split them out as a separate comapany"
Re:Some interesting comments. (Score:1)
- Is there any serious Linux company that doesn't employ at least a couple of people who have contributed to Linux and other GPL'd software?
Open-source paradigm is based on the trust of the community.Hiring free sw developers (to develop free sw) will increase the company's karma.
Once Linux-companies will start competing between them, you'll see advertisements based on how much they have contributed to the community.
This can be called a virtuous circle.
Re:Good indeed, but remember the roots (Score:1)