“Mandrake Linux has always been looked at as a desktop Linux. While Red Hat may be the star of the corporate server world, Mandrake’s star rests firmly with the legion of Linux users who have abandoned the Windows world for their desktop needs. For Mandrake users, there hasn’t been any question of whether Linux is ready for the desktop Mandrake is, has been, and continues to be. The loyalty and enthusiasm of the Mandrake community speaks volumes. It is with this knowledge that I embark on my review of Mandrake 9.0.” Read the review at UnixReview. In the meantime, MandrakeSoft explains some non-free software they are favoring currently.
Review of Mandrake Linux at UnixReview
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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You wrote: “In the meantime, MandrakeSoft explains some non-free software they are favoring currently.”
Without context, it’s a very surprising approach/statement because 1) it’s about a dual licensing scheme that they used in a particular product called Multi Network Firewall which gives choice to use either the GPL, or a commercial license. It’s just like Qt dual license which has been totally approved by RMS. 2) “favoring” seems really exagerated and doesn’t apply to a “non-free software license” as you wrote. It applies to the dual licensing offer, and I don’t see how it could be “favored” as users have choice of license.
Regarding the MNF licensing scheme, it’s really “amusing” to see all this press (ZDNet…) which is ignorant about Free Software and put sensational headlines such as “MandrakeSoft steps back from open source” which is really lies. At the same time, all comments from the community in Newsforge and Linux Today show it’s been well understood in this community.
Amusing situation actually.
When I read that headline, I was suprised. I’ve been following Mandrake for a few years now. Mandrake has always been good about giving back to the community. Maybe even a little too good (releasing the ISO downloads a month before the boxed sets are even available). But that headline is completely misleading. It’s just a way of offering corporate customers additional services. Good for them I say. Relying on community handouts a la MandrakeClub (which isn’t a half bad service as it’s matured) as a principal revenue source is bad. It’s good to see them exploring new business models. And hey, the exposure in the corporate world might help land 9.0 on a few workstations.
not the headline…the non-free subject part..oh whatever, i goofed. i stand by my post/point though.