Slashdot Mirror
Letter to the Community on Andover/VA Merger
The letter from Larry Augustin and Bruce Twickler:
The Internet is the original free software application. This has been repeated so often we can easily think of it as an empty truism. It's not. It's a rich, vital, and growing truth that still defines the way Linux companies do business today.
Linux flourished because it was born into the Internet world. This was a world of global, instantaneous communication, a world in which a developer community could explode from dozens to hundreds in a matter of weeks, and from hundreds to millions within a few years. That vibrant community made possible the incubator we know now as the open source development model.
But Linux also flourished because the Internet into which it was born was a small enough place for Linus' voice to be heard. The Internet of 1991 had fewer developers. Those developers had little difficulty finding each other.
Today's Internet is a vast place. Whether it will be a vast resource or a vast obstacle depends on our ability as developers to organize. We need a place to bring people together, to enable developers to find one another. But to call it a portal greatly understates the challenge. We're aiming for nothing less than the hub of services that accellerate and empower the next generation of open source development. We need a gathering place to:
- enable open source developers to reach one another
- create the forums where the open source model will evolve
- define and proclaim our values as a community
- drive open source to the cutting edge of future software develoment
Bringing together Andover.net with VA Linux's Open Source Infrastructure Business Unit gives us a great opportunity to empower open source's most important community sites. We are also bringing their story full circle. Themes, Freshmeat, and Slashdot each started as community sites run on an all volunteer basis. We're giving them an opportunity to work together once again. More than that, we're giving them the resources to play an enduring central role. By bring Andover together with VA, we're assuring the future of these important community sites.
This group is a separate business unit, because it will live independently from VA's core systems business. VA has proven this can be done in Linux.com and SourceForge today. Andover too: Slashdot never stopped running articles about SourceForge even while Andover was building Server 51. What matters to the community gets covered, regardless of where it comes from.
In this new structure, the VA sites will plug into the Andover management team, and the whole group will report to Larry Augustin directly.
We're here to serve the open source community. Period. If we ever fail or fall short in that mission, please don't hesitate to remind us. Thanks in advance.
Larry Augustin, CEO, VA Linux Systems (lma@valinux.com)
Bruce Twickler, CEO, Andover.net (bruce@andover.net)
Roblimo and Emmett were approved by Hemos and I. I think both do a good job.
You have no more of a guarantee that your interests will be served then you did during Andover's ownership. Or under my ownership. But you have no less of a guarantee either. I hope that makes you happy enough.
I think your idea of spinning us off is valid. I think that this is effectively what will happen: it won't be a seperate business, but it will be a business unit run independantly from the rest of VA.
Pants are still optional, but recommended for you.
Server performance is less than perfect, but we've also gone from 500,000 pages/day to over a million pages per day, released a new version of Slash, rewritten much of the code, and moved to a much faster bandwidth provider. Do remember how slow the servers were before the Andover acquisition? I do. It sucked ass. We're faster today then we were then... and serving twice the users.
Our editorial work is still done almost entirely independant of Andover, and this will continue with VA. We use the marketing & sales clout of Andover, as well as the tech staff, but the writing is handled by our own roster of albino elephants and turbo chickens.
Pants are still optional, but recommended for you.
IMHO ThinkGeek has better stuff (shotglasses, pilsners etc). Copyleft has cool stuff too (the new Beer that they are selling is quite tasty actually... I highly recommend it).
If CopyLeft wanted to buy banner ads, I promise you the sales staff would happily sell them to them... but these are free ads we're talking about here.
Pants are still optional, but recommended for you.
As long as you guys keep yakking, you keep us honest. We can't reject the ideas of the community because you have the freedom to say what you please right here in the comments. The fact that this debate is occuring out here in the public proves that that Slashdot can continue to be open and independant.
As long as people continue to post on Slashdot, that'll be true. It has very little to do with anything that I do.
Pants are still optional, but recommended for you.
That said, VA has about 3 people spending some amount of time on the case and we are trying to decide exactly how much we want to dedicate to the cause and such.
As far as a counter suit goes, that's more a question for the EEF in my mind, as they are the central organizing body in this case .
Chris DiBona
--
Grant Chair, Linux Int.
Pres, SVLUG
Co-Editor, Open Sources
Open Source Program Manager, Google, Inc.
/. is not now what is was and it never will be again, just as Linux is not now what it was. The main thing here is that that doesnt matter. That that they have grown into is also interesting, although less so to me.
What's important is this:
If they grow in a positive way, we'll all stay here and hang out.
If they grow to suck, we'll bail. We'll make another one just like it.
A bad change in editorial policy would be seen as censorship, and as we all know, the Internet interprets censorship as damage and routes around it.
%phrase-e-overquota: system quota exceeded on use of OpenSource term.
Aha! A VMS geek! You poor fellow...do you realize the damage you are doing to your career? You have to escape from this baroque cul-de-sac of computing while there is still time. Before you are forced to cut down the tallest tree in the forest with...a herring!
Consciousness is not what it thinks it is
Thought exists only as an abstraction
So, VA just wants to do all this for the OSS community for free does it? How does it plan to make money doing this? I am sure that their investors will want to know.
As a hardware vendor it is clear how VA adds value to a free and open platform, Linux and its associated tools. Now they want to help out the developer community. It is nice that they want to help nature open source development, but something in the back of my mind just has to wonder, what's in it for them?
-josh
~> whois slashdot.com@whois.networksolutions.com
[whois.networksolutions.com]
The Data in Network Solutions' WHOIS database is provided by Network
Solutions for information purposes, and to assist persons in obtaining
information about or related to a domain name registration record.
Network Solutions does not guarantee its accuracy. By submitting a
WHOIS query, you agree that you will use this Data only for lawful
purposes and that, under no circumstances will you use this Data to:
(1) allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass
unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations via e-mail
(spam); or (2) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes
that apply to Network Solutions (or its systems). Network Solutions
reserves the right to modify these terms at any time. By submitting
this query, you agree to abide by this policy.
Registrant:
Chris Richardson (SLASHDOT-DOM)
345 S. Mathilda Ave.
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
US
Domain Name: SLASHDOT.COM
Administrative Contact, Billing Contact:
Chris Richardson (CR2220-ORG) crichardson@2WIRE.COM
408-205-8643
Fax- 895-1335
Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
hostmasterpacbellinternetservices (HO1937-ORG) hostmaster@HOSTING.PACBELL.NET
877-494-7261
Record last updated on 10-Jan-2000.
Record created on 17-Nov-1996.
Database last updated on 6-Feb-2000 16:13:57 EST.
Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.HOSTING.PACBELL.NET 216.100.98.11
NS2.HOSTING.PACBELL.NET 216.100.99.11
To those worrying and windging about VA's ownership of /. - settle down. We have the Slash code, don't we? If things go down hill too far, I'm sure someone will light up a new community with the same format, on a different server, under different editorial control. That's the best thing about open source - it keeps everyone honest. Those with a vested interest are going to be even more scrupulous, since it protects thier investments.
"Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." - Anonymous
In the many decades that I have been visiting /. ('bout a month after it changed from Chips n Dips, if memory serves correctly) I have *never* seen Rob respond to an article (that's not to say he never has, I just don't recall seeing it).
The one time I met Mr. Malda (summer 1998 Durham NC Linux Expo) he said, in response to a rabid fan/groupie as he autographed her backpack "All I do is post articles." Note that he never said he responds, just posts.
Flash forward to today. The High Commander has posted 5 (!) articles. Of course, they have all been moderated up. Which leads me to believe the following:
The VA Linux annexation of Andover was planned by an insider at Andover. Who, you ask? None other than Robert Q. Malda himself!
But what was his motive? I'll tell you. He needed an excuse to post a rely to an article. He knew this would get enough stirred up to justify his replying. So he coordinated with his secret operative at VA (I can't tell you his name, but I'll give you a hint: Geek with gun!) to leverage a synergistic buyout.
But the question remains--why would Malda even want to post a reply? High school, my dear Watson. If you've noticed, ALL of his posts have been moderated up (no doubt the work of that hemos person). I submit to you that CmdrTaco, aka Rob Malda, aka the Speaker of the Puruvian House of Commons, is a KARMA WHORE! Bwaa haa haa haaaaaa.
J.L. (feeling the energy from the 10 Penguin mints he downed courtesy of the fine folks at ThinkGeek)
Letter to the Community on Andover/VA Merger /. belives their own press. I'm saddened to even think they could assume so much power over the rest of the world.
For CHRISTS SAKES!! AGAIN I remind you big-headed average Joes that it was NOT a merger but a freaking buy out.
This is pretty sad when
This is rather sad...
If you lika me like I lika you...
Anybody else notice that the comment by the VA Linux guy above is scored to 4 without an "sum of moderation" remarks attached to the post?
Is it possible that "Kit Cosper", a VA employee, has the ability to score himself up to 4 without moderation?
Or, is my browser somehow dropping the information?
-konstant
Yes! We are all individuals! I'm not!
-konstant
Yes! We are all individuals! I'm not!
Subject pretty much asks it all... I understand that the contract keeps slashdot separate for now, but does it expire ever? What happens in VA wants to take control?
i just want to know, what EXACTLY does Andover.net do, besides buying up linux-related web sites? Are they simply buying them up to give them more sites to sell their advertising to? what gives? a co-worker of mine has suggested they change their name to HandOver.net, much more applicable to their business practices.
ERiAN
-
-
This Post has been brought to you by the letter "E".
I think the key element to remember here, is that Slashdot is not being made by VA Linux, Hemos or CmdrTaco. Yes they facilitate the discussion, but Slashdot is only what it is because of the community around it. Microsoft could buy Slashdot, Hemos and CmdrTaco could leave, but the very moment the essence of Slashdot "News for Nerds. Stuff that matters" changes, the nerds will vote with their feet/mouse and leave. Then this community would die and the value of it would turn to nothing. Jeff and Rob will get a couple of warnings from us and if they don't comply, we would leave... We would take the source code and start over somewhere else. This has been shown in the 5 years that I am on the Internet now. There is no one that can pressure us to come here and as soon as the essence of Slashdot changes no one will. Therefore if VA knows anything about shareholder value they won't change a thing.
Why did they buy Slashdot then, you ask? VA thrives on the efforts in the community. The only reason they can exist, is when the community keeps getting cooler stuff out. This is the only way to play catch up with Microsoft. Slashdot and all the other sites are a great way to organize the community and to make sure it has places to go to and discuss and focus its energy. You can see it in the letter..
Use Adsense for Charity
Five years later, both the WELL and the River continue to operate. The WELL is larger than the River, but the River keeps the WELL honest; if the WELL's management gets out of hand, its members can move to the River, which, by design, offers very similar services.
This strategy could work on Slashdot and Sourceforge. In fact, since the software behind both is open-source, cloning them would be easy. (The WELL ran a proprietary conferencing system, which made starting the River much tougher.) And the hardware is cheaper today.
So I suggest that someone who's into running servers look into bringing up the Slashdot and Sourceforge software, as an alternative to this new media conglomerate. A modest-size but stable operation would be enough to keep this new open-source media conglomerate honest. Take a look at the River and the Well, and see they did it.
Good questions - I can answer them: /always/ accept ads for competitor's to VA. Slashdot and the rest of the web sites are going to be in their business unit, and we're going to operate in much the same way. Frankly, the way the web advertising operates we want to get everyone we can, because we have all sorts of ad space to sell.
We will
Yeah, I'm that guy.
If VA only wants to help /. and make contributions to the OSS community, why doesn't it just cut Slashdot loose and support them via donations?
Think about it: If VA's being honest about their intentions, this would be a great move on their part. They'd regain the trust of the more paranoid /. community (like myself), they'd get a hell of a tax write-off and Slashdot could stop hearing about how it should be a .com and not a .org.
Why don't they do this? You tell me.
----
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
I was debating on posting this, but reading some of the posts below, I have to post this..
Guys, stop being so *DARNED* paranoid. VA is *NOT* buying Andover.net to control the media, in any sence of the word.
No, I'm sorry to tell you, there is no secret consiracy to control your minds, no smoke and mirrors, no implants in your brain to allow VA to control what you read on slashdot.
Why is it that at least half of the posts regarding any sort of corperation being involved in *ANY* sort of OSS boils down to "What's in it for them".
The major complaint that many OSS proponents have is that the 'suits' just don't get it, and their way of thinking is dated, and should be changed. It seems to me, that people asking the 'What's in it for them' question are using the same thought process that they claim to dread.
Did you ever maybee think that 'What's in it for us' is a sidebar?
OSS and it's surrounding community *CAN WORK HAND IN HAND*. That's right. The goals are not different. As a matter of fact, they overlap a whole lot. Companies want to get paid. If they can get paid for providing services someone else provides, and use those funds to enhance the comminity, so they can make more money, LIFE is GOOD for EVERYONE..
No, Mulder, that's not a little green man.. It's a little kid in a Halloween costume. Put DOWN the GUN..
-- I'm the root of all that's evil, but you can call me cookie..
I think the motives are are much more subtle than that. The most likely short term reason why VA wants to own these sites is that it brings them positive PR. Being associated with them, particularly if they can allow the creative freedom to continue, is a big win in terms of credibility with the developers.
The big problem I see is that inevitable merger actions will likely happen over the long term. Linux.com is a competitor to /. and Sourceforge is a (IMHO superior) competitor to Freshmeat. Others will argue that there are differences between each pair but they both target similar markets. Money is insidious and as those that have profited lately from being aquired move on, I see linux.com and sourceforge becoming the more important.
While Hemos and Taco are quite vehement about keeping things the same, its important to note that thats people in mergers always say. These guys are young and they've now got lots of money. Over the long run, they'll start to have problems with their mgmt, probably small at first, but they'll build over time. Some day, it will just get to be too much and they'll strike out on their own again.
/. is not now what is was and it never will be again, just as Linux is not now what it was. The main thing here is that that doesnt matter. That that they have grown into is also interesting, although less so to me.
Frank W. Miller
Everyone keeps wondering... "How will slashdot cover VA fairly, now that VA will own slashdot?"
It seems to me that slashdot has a very large contingent of vocal readers, who seem to either 1) not understand US law or 2) refuse to accept US law.
How can things be made any more clear? Slashdot would never have been sold, except that Andover signed over all editorial control. And, now that VA is buying Andover, VA inherits Andover's assets, liabilities, and contractual obligations. VA can do no more under the law than Andover could.
If VA weren't obligated to abide by the terms of Andover's contract... then neither would Malda and Bates be obligated to give them their site. Don't you think that if corporate law allowed for one-sided nullification of contracts in a merger, someone would have noticed before now?
Example: See those slashboxes on the right side of the screen? Don't you think that, if Andover had true editorial control, that slashboxes for all Andover sites would be turned on by default?
In summary, don't be silly. It's unreasonable to think that anything will change editorially, because of this merger. If you don't trust that the contract selling slashdot to Andover is sound, then I don't really see why you sould trust anything at this site to begin with. Either you take Malda and Bates at their word, that their lawyers won an iron-clad contract, or you don't.
I know a bunch of you are worried about what will happen, and whether this is going to change things.
It will.
We're getting new servers. Seriously, things are going to stay the same - the backend will get some more power, but I'm still going to post Athlon stories, Red Hat stories and whatever else strikes my fancy. You know how to get in contact with us if soemthing seems out of place to you - and I trust that you will do so.
Yeah, I'm that guy.
For the most part, the Slashdot community is very bright. If they sense that something's up with the stories getting posted here, you can bet they'll either A) criticize the hell out of them, or B) go elsewhere.
I can't help but think that Rob was dragged kicking and screaming into this one, having rejected an earlier takeover offer by VA.
The thing that turns most people off is probably the money. In our unique community, there's more grassroots and community support/acceptance for a site run by a struggling college student and his friends than there is for a site run by a for-profit corporation. People like to side with the little-guy.
Like Rob said, VA is smart. I like to think that the community is smarter. If VA screws this one up, the Natalie Portman, grits, and Don Knotts guys will be the only people left posting here. I just hope VA is smart enough to realize that.
For instance: What about the advertising? Will Slashdot and Freshmeat still accept (under reasonable terms) advertising from VA's competitors?
Look, I know a lot of you think that this is a non-issue -- you either use ad-blocking software or ignore them or whatever. The reality is that advertising is still a powerful influence in the buying habits of a vast majority of the population -- again, why are Coke and Pepsi so big when Jolly-Good is less expensive? Ads can be effective, and your business cannot grow well without them.
I bring it up because it's a subtle way that VA could shift things in their favor. Frankly, I'm not worried that VA will start submitting their own articles or influencing the editors -- that would be way too obvious, and we'd see through that in a second. If they are going to influence what we see and hear in any way, it'll have to be something subtle like this.
Ideally, I would like to hear that a non-vested party (who owns no VA stock and who is not directly controlled by anyone save Cmdr. Taco) was put in charge of ad sales. Again, let me say that I'm not accusing VA (or any of the /. of Freshmeat crew) of having this planned, it's just something I could see happening. Ask yourself this, though: If you were VA, why would you want to own Slashdot and Freshmeat so badly?
----
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
In short, the reason Slashdot has "changed" is because the authors interests are changing. The world is changing. Times are changing. Holland Michigan was aqcuired by Microsoft/AOL/TimeWarner/VAndover/Viacom... whatever you want to believe.
Is Slashdot slower? Yes. No. Maybe. I don't know. We're always working on that. We're Slashdot junkies like you and we are just as many hops away from our servers as you and we are just as unhappy when Slashdot does not load fast so we're always working on making it faster. Maybe if some bozos would stop running bots to post psychotic fantasies about a certain actress the site would perform even better, but we strive to work around that.
In short if you don't trust that Rob and his gang really are controlling this site then you haven't been paying attention. I case you haven't noticed there have many things posted here that upper mamagement would rather see posted but what can they do about it? Not much. If the Slashdot authors think it is newsworthy and/or just plain amusing, then it gets posted despite managments uneasiness about it.
I'm sorry to rant but I can't help but let people know that the mothership here is not determining what gets put on Slashdot other which ads to run. Most of our VPs don't even read Slashdot. I realize most of you out there understand this already but for the few who don't I post my little rant.
I'll start with a few examples - the best is by the CEO of F-Secure (that produces F-Secure SSH, for example), Risto Siilasmaa. At a recent presentation, he talked about how they talk about their vision to their employees (even temporarily hired folks like telephone operators) . If the vision is believable, the people will buy it, and spread it forward (!) and even defend the company. Thus, it spreads like a virus. Is this a bad thing ? Not necessarily.
I, too, realized, that a certain vision has been sold to me. I used to work at Nokia - where the mantra "Nokia values" is highly valued. While I no longer work there, those "values" are the one thing I remember best. Have I been brainwashed ? No. It is simply that when you see these values applied to your workplace, you can see that they work. Regardless of whether those values are true or not, I nowadays speak positively of my former employer, and I am definitely biased.
Another example is, of course, our favorite software company - you know it - Microsoft. I might not like their vision - but they do have one. And you might have noticed that there are Microsoft employees that fiercly defend their employer.
So, we enter Andover.net and VA Linux. The latter is certainly doing brilliant stuff (well, the former doesn't really exist anymore) and certainly has a bright future ahead. I like that, and I am sure Rob, Hemos and folks like it too. But, taken into account what I said above, they already see things the VA Linux way. Knowing what is happening inside the company, some of the criticism that flows around seems very invalid. And they defend VA Linux. A little switch has been flipped in their brains, and it cannot be flipped back.
I do not think Slashdot will become a VA Linux marketing bulletin, but Slashdot is not, and will never be, independent.
%phrase-e-overquota: system quota exceeded on use of OpenSource term.
so as penance, you'll have to instead use the phrase:
ecky ecky ecky ecky pitang, zuboing!
instead of OpenSource.
I'm sorry, but it had to be done this way. we'll check back in a month to see if your problem is cured; and if so, your system quota will be restored to its previous value.
--
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"It is now safe to switch off your computer."