Why did Mandrakesoft buy Conectiva, anyway? Duval told LinuxPlanet that the biggest driver was a desire to extend the company’s user base into Latin America.
Behind the New Mandriva
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I though it said “Mandiva” not “Mandriva”.
I need some caffeine. Waiter, O’ waiter.
Since Connectiva was already there selling to the S.A. market, I don’t see how this gets them any NEW customers.
Kind of like the Molsons & Coors merger – derided by market analysts since it was not really going to increase the customer base of the combined companies, but it did shrink the total number of employees.
Maybe this was the real aim of the merger – but you can see how they would need to put a positive spin on it for their press releases.
Well, um, previously, MDK didn’t have any South American customers. Now it does. See how that works?
“A desire to extend the company’s user base?”
Yes , MandrakeSoft aquired Connectiva. They Get one of the best South American GNU/Linux provider. Some people like you think its a merger , and I must say that the lingo used by MandrakeSoft press group might make it look that way but its not the case.
MandrakeSoft the #1 GNU/Linux commercial provider of the universe , one of the few commercial entity to have made a real profit last year as Aquired the failing but still profitable Connectiva , before Connectiva whas worthless.
“Kind of like the Molsons & Coors merger”
Yes but not because of the way your explanation puts it , Molsons is a worldwide company wich as many brand name under its umbrella and just like Connectiva they where going true hard time. Its always best to acquire enemy when there down because , they may become tommorow worst nightmare.
“derided by market analysts since it was not really going to increase the customer base of the combined companies”
Taking out one of your best competitor is something real market analyst will see as the right thing to do … Please provide wich real market analyst you refer to ?
“but it did shrink the total number of employees. ”
Its the market sales that impact number of employees … not acquisitions.
“Maybe this was the real aim of the merger”
No merger , MandrakeSoft acquired tottaly Connectiva …
“but you can see how they would need to put a positive spin on it for their press releases.”
No , but I can see how anonymous put a fabricated spin on reality …
Connectiva never whas in the same league as MandrakeSoft. Lucky for there employee they got bought at the right time.
“MDK didn’t have any South American customers.”
Tech talking about market and sales , please ask those with the answers at Mandriva , before making bold statements. You might be really surprised with the answers.
The new name aside, I’m quite pleased with the merger. Mandriva will now have a South American market (a rapidly growing, MS hating, one at that) to sell to, plus the blend of technologies will occur. Adding Smart to urpmi will be great.
The new release schedule will be good, too. A lot of people, hint Ubuntu and Fedora users, are into multiple releases each year. That’s good for getting cutting edge stuff, but sometimes the latest stuff only represents small incremental changes. Plus, the more releases there are, the greater chance for bugs.
Thus, I suspect that Mandriva will become less buggy and more stable, and each release will be more meaningful and more worthwhile to upgrade to.
I think the whole idea of Mandrake and Conectiva merging is great. I’ve been using Mandrake since version 7, since version 8.1 I have always purchased the PowerPack. My only problem is the new name: ‘Mandriva’ sounds gay to me, they should have just kept the good ol’ Mandrake name that we are all used to. My only hope is that the product gets better and better.
I just purchased Mandrake 10.1 PowerPack for $89.00 now I’m gonna have to buy a new one when the offical “Mandriva” product comes out. :-p
All in all, I have been always happy with Mandraksoft, and their product.
/opinions & praise
Does *anyone* like this name? I haven’t talked to a single person who does. Honestly, I thought it was an April Fool’s joke when I first saw it.
Really great that Mandrake is turing out to be such a great product. It is my fond hope that all archetectures of their product will soon start to be developed equally, and a a near same pace (x86, PPC, x86-64).
–Hawke
I wish every success for this venture.
I was simplifying to get the point across, sorry.
“I was simplifying to get the point across, sorry.”
Dont simplify , please , or the press start shooting things like ” Mandrake is now targeting the OEM and just now entering the US “. When the box say 3.0 and Mandrake as been in the US since 1998-1999. Keep up your good work do ;-). Your word are representative of Mandriva , what you say as impact because people know you dont bulshit them. with great power comes great responsability 😉
I have never, ever, seen a post in OSN from “.cpe.net.cable.rogers.com” that is not a flame or some trolling.
I wish them luck.
… Please provide wich real market analyst you refer to ?
OK, how about these:
Molson Coors Brewing initiated with “underperform”
Thursday, February 10, 2005 1:08:28 PM ET
Bear Stearns
Molson Coors Brewing “underweight,” target price raised
Thursday, February 10, 2005 2:03:00 PM ET
Morgan Stanley
Molson Coors Brewing downgraded to “hold”
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 9:06:50 AM ET
Legg Mason
Molson Coors Brewing “hold,” target price reduced
Thursday, March 03, 2005 12:20:28 PM ET
Deutsche Securities
S&P downgrades corporate credit rating for newly-merged Molson Coors
Friday, March 25, 2005 5:16:08 PM ET
LexisNexis
“Taking out one of your best competitor is something real market analyst will see as the right thing to do”
Not the market analysts that downgraded their credit ratings.
You don’t understand at all. Molson’s and Coors were not competitors. They cross-licensed their products. Coors imported and distributed Molson’s in the US, while Molson’s brewed Coors in Canada. Americans were already drinking Molson’s, and Canadians were already biting the Silver Bullet. Thus, when they merged, no new markets were created.
Rather, they effectively downsized the companies. The old Memphis Coors brewery is being closed. 11 key executives have left the Golden, Colorado office of Coors since the merger.
The market analysts, in downgrading the stock, have already issued their opinion.
And in the Mandrake-Connectiva merger/acquisition (let’s not split hairs over terminology), I have not seen any reports of a single additional copy of Linux being sold as a result of the merger. The software has just been re-branded, that’s all!
Remember when Univac acquired Borroughs to become the world’s second-largest software company. How is Unisys doing now? Or HP acquiring Compaq, for that matter?
Sorry , I dont consider second hand stock market analyst to be real market analyst. Dont take any offense in it none are meant toward you.
Molson whas an extremely well off company until they started to expand , there debt made them and easy target for a merger.
Coors is also a well off company but I dont think they have yet fully shed there un-needed weight unlike Molson who just did finish getting rid of its un-profitable company.
Management leaving I see as good sign in a merger , this mean that there will be no dual position inside the merger , and this way some of the highest paid executives salary are not putting a burden on the profits anymore.
Employee fired is sadly something that happen everyday. Closing old plant is something good in my opinion. Even more if you can deserve the market and your getting rid of the highest paid employee with the most history within a company.
What you get is a company who is bigger , leaner , dont have to pay each other lawyer fee and know you whont have to watch them trying to get in some of your market even if you sign none terriotry invasion pact. probably saving 10 – 100 million in the process.
Why are the institution telling people to sale , its probably because they are the one who whant to buy and reap the profits …
Mandriva whas an acquisition :
http://www.mandriva.com/company/press/briefs?n=/mandrakesoft/financ…
I dont feel like discussing them once more in the open , give an email an I will tell you exactly what I think.
“Remember when Univac acquired Borroughs to become the world’s second-largest software company.”
no , whas too young to care at the time 😉
Seems to me they are way undervalued for what they do. 2.44B there priced in the same range as Red Hat …
“Or HP acquiring Compaq”
The Carly effect 😉 you can have the best company in the world like HP or MandrakeSoft and put a Bad Manager in charge ( Carly and Jacques Le Marois ) and you will have trouble , but luckily HP as got HURD now , Mandriva as Bancilhon and he is aquiring some stocks wich is always a good sign in a CEO. I would prefer someone else as CEO and him as COO do , I dont think he as enough vision and charism to take on Szulik , Shuttleworth , Messman , Robertson and the rest. Luckily Mandriva the Warrior killing Dragons will be able to survive and thrive. 😉
Gaël Duval paid the ultimate price for the mistake of trusting Le Marois … He should be worth millions and MandrakeSoft worth Billions.
The bottom line about the stupid name change is not what any one person thinks but how the market will accept it. Unfortunately, IMO, the market will take one look at that name and run screaming to red hat or Suse. They need to get a fucking clue and come up with a name that will ATTRACT new customers not repel them.
Who comes up with some of these names? Mepis? Generally I tend to avoid products that have a “piss” sound in the name. Ubuntu? I don’t give a damn what it means. If you want to reach a wider market give your product a name people can pronounce.
Yeah, ‘Red Hat’ and ‘SUSE’, there’s two absolute winners of names. How exactly are they any better than Mandriva? I can play the ‘stupid joke’ game with those names, too – OH LOOK! SUSE sounds just like…ooze! har, har, har.
How exactly are they any better than Mandriva?
The name becomes something more meaningfull with the quallity of future reases and innovations..At least to those who need it,can handle it,and/or are willing to pay for substantianl extras,improvements.Linux comes in an area were saying:”More secure,stable,better,les bug prone” isn’t enough.You have to deliver.Till then let’s wait and see what’s going to be delivered 🙂
“Third, for power users, we will certainly perhaps release snapshots of Cooker through Community releases, more than once a year,”
Is it certainly or perhaps as I cant see how it can be both?
Am I the only one that thinks the name “Mandriva” sounds a litte… odd?
Frist off, SUSE (Soo – Suh) doesn’t sound at all like “Ooze” – In fact most people I hear mispronounce it say either Sooce (like Dr. Seuss), or Soo-Zee, like the shortened name for Susan. Maybe not the best name for a distro, but it isn’t english in any event.
Now, why the hell would a company muddy a well recognized name like Mandrake with this other go awful monstrosity? To create a “new” buzz? To appeal to people who a name like Mandrake was blasphemous because they are extreme right-wing christians (same thing happened to Mepis when he jokingly made reference to Memphis and Toth) *? I dunno, but I do not think the name has any zing, or is particularly marketable. And yes, marketability is of major importance if you have a for-pay product. Either way, I think they made a mistake.
*Mandrake
n 1: the root of the mandrake plant; used medicinally or as a narcotic [syn: mandrake root] 2: a plant of southern Europe and North Africa having purple flowers, yellow fruits and a forked root formerly thought to have magical powers [syn: devil’s apples, Mandragora officinarum]
Keep up people…
http://www.osnews.com/comment.php?news_id=6088
As a brazilian, i think many people are missing the main question here.
Conectiva was one of the biggest suppliers of software for the federal government. And now, Lula is trying to substitute all proprietary software in our government with open software.
So, the accquisition of Conectiva by Mandrake is a estrategic movement toward a very profitable market.
PS.: Sorry for my poor english
Sad to see more people judge an OS on the name than actually how good a tool it is or can be.
man-DREE-vah doesn’t sound like DRI-vul either, but I don’t see that putting people off making the ‘joke’. As for the answer to your question, see the post below yours.
Frist off, SUSE is DEAD as been bankrupt since 2000
MandrakeSoft whas the most responsible to drive them there , they where owned and on life support by IBM who dont whant a Microsoft repeat of history. They got Sold to Novell in 2004 with IBM keeping a 10% interest.
SUSE whas English , S.u.S.E whas German the latter whas change to the former because it made for a better marketable name. Remember , I said suse is dead … Names are meaningless , people buy the best product and offer at the cheapest price.
For those who think I havent seen the Novell product called suse , and whant to show it to me, think again , Its not the same as the SUSE distribution from the SUSE company. Its the SUSE company who is dead , and its a tragedy.
If its not Marketable how come its being discussed all over the web in more then 200 language … Some people have the ridiculous illusion that you can tell a company what to do when your alone and after a change as been done.
Mandriva is the warrior killing dragons !
A new Warrior enter the scene ….
Son of two Glorious hero of GNU/Linux …
He as the heritage and speak the same language …
Everyone on the scene already fear its name !!!
Like the phoenix , it cannot die , and raises from is ashes …
true champion like MUHAMMAD ALI it too is going to be The Greatest after everyone get is new name …
This warrior as a good heart , you can share it with everyone close to your heart.
This warrior is a hard worker , he can do way more then just the desktop.
This new warrior will protect your right and liberty as did is ancestry.
there is something GNU about this new warrior …
this warrior include tools to develop it and work on it …
this warrior is Cheaper , better , faster , better looking , secure.
He as killed ans defeated Dragons before and will kill them again.
He is the greatest GNU/linux warrior the world as ever seen!
Mandriva ! Mandriva ! Mandriva ! Mandriva ! Mandriva !
is Name is Mandriva !
because Linspire whas taken 😉
Mandriva : Can you smell , what the warrior is cooking and smell so good on the Cooker !!!
Mandriva is a warrior name , because it annoy the hell out of the competition when they ear it !!!
Mandriva : The man who is driving the L Crazy !!!
Mandriva : The man who is in the driver seat and Leading the L around.
Mandriva is the warrior killing dragons !
Dude – whatever you’re sniffing, keep it the hell away from me.
That Mandrake the magician thing is just plain stupid. More stupid that the Apple Computers vs. Apple Records thing.
Is that the message you have for potential customers?
“Is that the message you have for potential customers?”
No , just one of the potential answer to the mandrivel I have seen a lot this days 😉
Has Mandrakesoft said anything about the public’s disapproval of the new name? It seems like 9 out of 10 comments about the new name are something along the lines of “What the hell are they thinking?!”
They have to have noticed general displeasure with the new name…
Okay, I missed that line in the article.
So we aren’t “used to it” yet… Somehow, I don’t think anyone’s going to be too proud to say that they choose to use something called “Mandriva”. I know I’m sure as heck not going to publically advertise that I use something so fruitily named.
I still think the marketing team that came up with it should at least issue a public apology for their temporary loss of sanity.
http://www.happyassassin.net/extras/mandriva.mp3
For anyone wondering about pronounciation.
BTW, someone on the Club forum claims to have asked 200 people what they thought of the new name and got a 75% positive response. (Not an MDV employee). Which goes against most of the stuff in forums, but it’s an interesting result.
the name has started to grow on me since I initially read it during the phase mandrake and connectiva were running a competition
see, the club memebers for mandrake were asked to come up with the name, and mandriva was chosen as the best
and after a few weeks you get used to it.
Good luck in the future Mandriva, keep up the excellent work
nope, there was no public vote…some people think there should have been, but that’s a different debate
. there was an _internal_ vote, ‘mandriva’ won that. there were some unofficial polls on the Club and other forums when news about the name change came out, and ‘mandriva’ didn’t do too well in those, but then no obvious alternative really emerged either (the one with most support seems to be mantiva, but that just sounds the same to me).
ermmm, there was indeed a competition between mandrake club members to see who could come up with the best name.
anyway, yous have all had all day to get used to mandriva name, how does it now sound ?
“anyway, yous have all had all day to get used to mandriva name, how does it now sound ?”
Like mangina.
no. no. there really wasn’t. I *work* for Mandriva. If there had been a competition I would’ve had to proofread it before it got published. There wasn’t an official one. The decision to change the name was made internally and then announced with this PR; it was never discussed externally in any way before the announcement was made. Some Club members guessed the name change was coming (due to domain registrations) and discussed it in advance; MDV made no official response to this and the discussion had no bearing at all on the name change. Really, trust me on this one. The fact that there wasn’t a vote was actually complained about a lot by Club members.