Corel Linux - Not Quite Dead Yet

zhensel writes "In Corel's latest Linux newsletter, they comment on the "spin-off" of their Linux distro reported here recently. In an apparent attempt to capitolize on the recent woes at Suse, however, they also confirm the release of the second edition of their operating systems targeted at european markets for the low, low, price of ?4.95 (or a few hundred megs of bandwidth). In addition, they promise increased development for their Linux productivity software. " I kinda think its just spin, the kinda stuff you say when you're going down like "Duck and Cover"

Comments

Now it makes sense.

[macsox]

1) Corel announces intent to work with Linux.
2) Microsoft invests in Corel.
3) Corel backs off on Linux.
4) Microsoft pulls support because of DOJ pressure.
5) Corel re-affirms Linux commitment.

I feel like a pattern is emerging.

Right.

[Bilestoad]

Q. How do you turn failure into a "spin-off"? A. Apply spin.

Is Corel really all that bad?

[levik]

Why does there seem to be such a negative attitude towards Corel and their products here on slashdot? Their Linux distro made pretty big strides toward bringing the OS to the desktop and boradening its market as far as novice users are concerned.

It seems to me that the distribution's further development should be considered a good thing.

Re:Is Corel really all that bad?

[Znork]

Corels primary mistake was getting the idea to make a distribution at all. By the time they had that idea it didnt really matter wether or not it was any good, because there were Too Many Distributions anyway, of which most already _are_ fairly easy to use. At best the only thing another distribution would do was join the other hordes of minor distributions. Theres no money in that market, unless you have a coherent strategy other than "repackage-and-sell" (which several of the largest distribution vendors have), so they basically set themselves up to waste resources and fail (and further they managed to annoy a lot of people with semi-open licenses during testing, etc).

If they instead concentrated on making their applications work perfectly on linux (complete with easy installer for the large dists), and spent the extra energy on helping along other ease of use efforts that would be a good thing. Look at Ximian for an example.

Yes they are being spun off

[Adversary]

I was recently talking with someone working in the linux group at Corel. They actually are spinning off, and are in the process of coming up with a name, and trying to find a location (good luck, not a lot of open office space in Ottawa).

Corel isn't exactly the most financially stable company, so they need to focus on what they are doing, and linux isn't the main focus of the company. So it gets spun off, in the same Corel Computer (remember the netwinder?) was.

In the end, it means the new company will succeed or fail on its own, which should clear up any conspiracy theories regarding microsoft and corel in the future.

I tried out Corel Linux 1.2

[albamuth]

And found out that it was just an extremely stable (libc5) version of debian with a pretty/friendly install program. It is extremely kiddy-fied.

Makes sense...

[MatriXOracle]

The apporach corel is taking makes sense to me. Give me an honest answer: when was the last time anybody here actually bought a linux distro? Most people who are in the know download it off the net.

People who aren't in the know might buy it, but those people want support. If you actually read the Derek Burney article and pay attention to what he is saying, corel can't become LinuxCare. They're not in the support business, they're in the application business.

So now what they're doing is spinning off the OS, maybe to someone like LinuxCare....and then they can concentrate on providing applications like WordPerfect and CorelDraw for Linux.

What's the problem with that??

Re:Makes sense...

[Our Man In Redmond]

Well, me for one.

I have bought boxed copies of distributions for two main reasons:

1. To get printed copies of the manuals.
2. Because I realize that these companies are providing a valuable service, and the service is more likely to continue if I throw a few bucks their way.

I've also bought the cheap-o versions from Linux Central for updates and for distros I want to try out but don't want to tie up the money in yet, and the like. Besides, if I'm buying versions to give away to friends it's easier for me to buy them as Linux Central CDs than it is to burn my own. And, finally, this throws a few bucks Linux Central's way in return for them providing a useful service.

(Other outfits like Cheapbytes and Linux Mall provide similar services, by the way. Linux Central just happens to be the one I use.)
--

Re:Makes sense...

[lemox]

Oh yeah, all the dialup users just love to dedicate a large portion of their week to download a linux distribution.

Re:Makes sense...

[MatriXOracle]

Sure corel could recommend that their users use Corel Linux, but how many actually would? It's not like corel can only support their own distro, or they'd be limiting their market too much. Therefore they had to support all distros (or at least several) anyway. Which brings me back to my original point: Corel is not LinuxCare.

BTW, there's a very big difference between the support people telling customers to go into their linux control panel and actually supporting the whole linux distro themselves.

The only linux I ever installed

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, I'll admit it. I'm a windoze user, and I don't really know that much about running linux. The only linux that I ever installed and ran on my machine was the Corel permutation of it. The point I'm trying to make is that if Corel can get a windows user like me who has a casual interest in linux to try it out because their version is easy to install, they Corel is an asset.

If they continue on the Linux front, then they will give a windows user here and there a chance to switch over with their easy install and learn the benefits of opensource/GPL. And this, of course, is a good thing. It helps people because they can put an OS on their machine without the Micros~1 tax and those people can help other people do the same. It helps people have more control in how they use their machines. It gives us just a bit more freedom.

Go Corel!

Re:The only linux I ever installed

[Glanz]

Agreed. Corel Linux is by far the easist to install and it has the advantage of being based on Debian/GNU. Libranet Linux is also easy to install and maintain. It too is Debian-based. With both you're just a few clicks away from complete updating via app get. Linux users who love to spend hours typing codes and revising paths/ports just to send a letter to Mama, and just love the recovery time between RedHat and Mandrake crashes won't like these distros. They work too well and never crash...., and they both are Canadian. I use Windows and Debian equally and I still find the Windows interface easier to use when you have to get some serious work out. Sometimes you just want to type a letter or a manuscript, without 200 pages of commands to tell the stupid Linux OS exactly what to do and how. It's like working on the same thing twice, once for the OS and once for one's self. If Hemingway had used a Linux OS and some of the OpenSource text formatters that come with it instead of a pen, we would have never heard of him. Then again, he might have written some pretty fancy code.

Why does everyone hate Corel ?

[Anonymous Coward]

An opening disclaimer... I'm kind of a Corel employee. (This also is why I"m posting this anonymously...)

I have a few points to make. First, Microsoft hasn't 'bailed out' of Corel. Their stock is just now registered as sellable by M$. Corel was planning on registering the stock as sellable ever since they got the $ from M$. M$ hasn't actually sold any of the stock yet. If they did, Corel's stock would no doubt tank. But then again, Corel's stock is low already, this really couldn't hurt that much. Corel will still have the $135 million (or whatever it was) in the bank. Oh, and the shares are still non-voting.

Second, Corel has been moving forward on spining off Linux for months. They haven't accelerated or anything; it was just anounced in this particular newsletter.

Third, IMHO spinning off Linux is good for the distribution. Corel's specialization is graphics products, maybe now office products too. To make a really good distribution (not that it's bad now...) they would have to give it more attention than they want to. And they prolly wouldn't do a good job of it even then.

A new Linux company could get veture capital. Corel doesn't quite qualify, at >10 years old. The company could make business deals with companies that wouldn't want to work with Corel, for whatever reason. And Corel could make business deals without hurting its Linux image.

And, not to mention, the new Linux company would prolly 'get' opensource. I hear the Linux developers talk about co-operation, I hear the management talk about competition. In a linux company, the open source thought mode would overpower the old closed-source thinking.

Yes, I know, as a Corel employee I'm fed from management... But I can think on my own.

(I'm pretty sure I'm not giving away any company secrets here... Oh, think of the karma I'm missing ;-) )