Mandriva's CEO got interviewed for the Mandriva club. "Right now, the new 'in thing' is Ubuntu. Of course, the situation is a bit different in this case: one person, with a quasi infinite check book is behind the operation. So they can give the system away and spend whatever is needed. Is this the right way for the open source eco-system? I find it hard to believe. One possible worse case scenario is that Ubuntu's plan is to use money to put all other community-based distros out of business and then start monetizing the installed base. If this were the case, they are doing the easy part: increasing their market share by giving away the product. We have found that the second part is a tad more difficult."
To view parent comment, click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:2005-12-09
After reading the article, I don't see what the fuss is about. He was asked a question about Ubuntu and he said what he thought. He did not slag off Mark Shuttleworth, but simply aired out his views about the distro and its funding. Whilst some what he said merely speculation (or reflection), he is right that not many distros can afford to simply give away their distro, i.e. ship the discs for absolutely zilt or have endless deep pockets to get resources to improve their distro.
I guess sometimes peole get sensitive when their distro of choice gets criticised in some way, as shown by the posts on this site by some Ubuntu fans and the amount of votes they have,
Member since:2005-08-22
>After reading the article, I don't see what the fuss is about.
After reading the article again, I do see what the fuss is all about. I can think of a dozen of way he could have fairly discussed the Ubuntu issue, but instead, he chose to play the money card. i.e. they have money, but we have strong work and determination. Maybe Ubuntu has that too, but he doesn't acknowledge it.
>I guess sometimes peole get sensitive when their distro of choice gets criticised in some way
He didn't criticise the distro. Please reread it. If he did, that would be acceptable. Instead, he criticised the money behind it as if that's an unforgivable sin. That's what I am calling a dumb move.
Member since:2006-02-11
That's a tad bit cruel ... but it's a fair opinion all the same. I recently upgraded my server machine from Mandrake 9.0 to Ubuntu. That was a about a month ago. I've had Mandrake 9.0 running as a server for the last 3 years without need of upgrade. (i was quite impressed by that ).
I think Francois misses what makes Ubuntu different as opposed to just being new. And that's Ubuntu ( in it's own mysterious way ) seems to fill that hard to define need in a user computer experience that seems to be lacking in the other major desktop orientated distros.
I am not saying that Ubuntu is the best distro, or that it has solved all Linux's problems. I am saying though that the need it is fufilling is fuelling it's adoption rapidly.
Users from other distributions try it and then almost irrationally they change. That's how strong their first impressions are of the distro. I have been using Linux since 1996 and I changed to Ubuntu from Mandrake 9.0 last year this time and it was just like that I installed it and kept it without thought. There was no 3 week trial period that comes with trying a new distro. It stayed and I have to say that I am happy with it as a "DESKTOP" distro.
As a workstation distro ,i tend to be distro agnostic... that being said though, I strangley prefer Mandrake 9.0 :-)
Member since:2006-02-13
Please!
I have been using Linux since 1996 and I changed to Ubuntu from Mandrake 9.0 last year this time and it was just like that I installed it and kept it without thought.
That alone says it all.
You were using un 2005 a Mandrake version from 2002.
What were you thinking?
You shuld be using MDK 101 or MDV 2005 instead.
I's like saying "I used to drive my Ford T, but I switched to a Chevy Impala'06 and I don't even considere going back to Ford".
Peace.
Member since:
2005-08-22
That's a reasonable opinion. I think Ubuntu is far superior to Mandriva, but that's just my opinion.
Francois just lost a lot of credibility by bashing Ubuntu's founder. It looks like he's trying to make it a world vs rich man scenario, and since he's poor and hardworking, he should get our sympathies. Dumb approach .
Edited 2006-02-10 23:59