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OpenIPO and Lindows
An anonymous reader writes "Lindows is using bankers WRHambrecht and their OpenIPO process when they go public. The lower end of the pricing range will net them more than 50MM. But OpenIPO is designed to let ANYONE bid on IPO shares. If Linux can keep investor's attention and Google announces their own IPO, they could raise much more which could have impact on desktop Linux. Same CEO had near perfect timing raising 300MM with MP3.com IPO." OpenIPO is the same route Andover.net took back in the day.
Ahh, so the real reason they want to avoid a drawn-out battle with MS is revealed.
I was taking one day at a time, but then several days got together and ambushed me. (from a Rhymes with Orange comic)
And we all know how well that worked out.
sulli
RTFJ.
they should set the name to Tofkal (The OS Formally Known As Lindows)
It worked out for me. I bought and sold and exited with a tidy sum.
Yes, plus the URL is missing the ".com". OpenIPO
The link to OpenIPO is broken. It should be:
http://www.openipo.com/
No, its MegaMillions. You know, the multi-state lotto?
My guess is they're going to go IPO and dump all the money into MegaMillions in order to thwart off SCO's attack.
Religion is for people afraid of going to hell.
Mod me down if you must, but I hope that a majority of the IPO dollars are spent refining the GUI AND THE FUNCTIONALITY to be more similar to Windows.
The fact of the matter is that it will have to more closely mirror M$'s interface than you think to be accepted, perceived improvements included.
If Longhorn came out with an OSX-like GUI, it would work, but any other OS has to ingratiate itself slowly.
Not that 2008 for Longhorn isn't slow, but you get the point.
I have a plan. Using mainly spoons, we'll tunnel our way out of the city...
MM is a standard postfix for "Million" of a relevant currency in financial circles.
RST
Sales of disco records increased 700% through 1978! If this trend continues...AAAAAYYYYYY!
(No, I'm not sufficiently motivated to go to SNPP and get the quote right.)
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
Short it! I mean, c'mon, this company is run by some juvenile jackass who thought that "Lindows" would be a great name, and actually started to try to defend it. That's the kind of stunt that some college kid could pull, not a CEO of a publicly traded company. I know that I'm waiting for it to peak (day 1), then I'm shorting the hell out of this. Lindows will be long gone within a year or two.
I suspect a big reason people use the current IPO process is not because they feel it's the best process for raising the maximum revenue, but because it raises acceptable amounts of revenue while letting people connected to the IPO profit by purchasing underpriced shares at launch. For this reason IPO shares are usually handed out as perks to people connected with either the company itself or their financial firm.
I submitted a story when Lindows announced their IPO a week ago. Rejected.
Anyway, Lindows (not linspire) is going IPO. They've said that they are going to keep using the Lindows name for their company, and the Linspire name only as a name for their software products in some countries.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
But OpenIPO is designed to let ANYONE bid on IPO shares.
Sounds to me like legal way to scam/cash in on hype and an overenthusiastic general public.
Benjamin Graham (Warren Buffets "idol") used to say that IPO stands for "It's Probably Overpriced".
Factor that in with an irrational and overenthusiastic general public lacking investment skills thinking all IPO:s are winners (they usually forget the last bubble in good times) and you have a table set for even more inflated IPO:s and ludicrous business models going public.
He had one of his infamous Micheals Minutes a while bakc that discused the ipo porcess he went threw with mp3.com. He was disgusted int he way that the shares were sold to cronies and friends of the finatial institutions that conducted the IPO. It reduced the amount of money the company raised, while make millions for others who did absolutely nothing. So, I'm not suprised he wen OpenIPO on this one. Still, I wouldn't be suprised if this was the begining of the end for Lindows. If you read the public disclosure that accompanied tha annoucement, they mention that they are essentially out of cash, and losing it hand over fist.
Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
"Same CEO had near perfect timing raising 300MM with MP3.com"
hmmm, what's the current value of MP3.com stock?
Here's what I do: Bitty Browser & Andromeda
IANAE, but I believe MM is European for a Million... technically, MM is " a thousand thousand"
It is interesting that this company's management was apparently involved in previous dud tech floats. This is the latest in a long series of floatations by companies that have not gone from the stage of having a good idea to the stage of making money from it. There is an unfortunate precedent for this company: just as users of mp3 sites wanted (at that stage) something for nothing, so linux users are generally still looking at the system as a cheaper, or free, alternative to those on the market. For Lindows to make a decent profit, it will either have to change the culture of its user base, or make serious inroads into the entrenched Windows market. Either will be a formidable task.
The name won't catch on unless it includes at least one recursive letter ;-).
But can someone explain what the huge appeal with Lindows still is? All of the hype building up to the release had to do with it's ability to run Windows apps.
This functionality was never above or beyond any other Linux distribution... so it's just another distro now... right or wrong? What else does it offer besides the click and play?
They have the Internet on computers now?
Ok. So you think the Lindows IPO is news. It may well be for some people.
But, when you report about IPOs it is usually a good idea to offer a bit more information about the company and its impending IPO. The link to the SEC document doesn't offer any of this information.
How about a bit of information about the company and its present financials? When is the IPO scheduled to occur? I hope for their sake it is nothing like Andover.
If Linux can keep investor's attention and Google announces their own IPO, they could raise much more which could have impact on desktop Linux.
Its kind of sad how every linux story is always "this will probably maybe most definately finally be the tipping point for desktop linux." Lindows, or whatever their name of the week is, having an IPO for a product that will probably crap out in the near future, certainly won't help linux on the desktop as it will make investors more leary of linux.
slashdot, news for crazed liberal socialist zealots
LinuXP. Just to screw with that other company.
You'd also sell an extra 2 copies to all the LISP programmers out there who would think it's the "true Linux".
t
Tonkat (The OS Now Known As Tonkat) actually sounds much better than Linspire. Though the Tomcat people may disagree.
I'm sick of following my dreams - I'm just going to ask them where they're going and hook up with them later.
50 millimeters of what?!!?
Why can't the editors be a little sympathetic to lamers like me in expanding acronyms!?!
They are keeping the corporate name Lindows Inc. but the branding of the software changed to Linspire. The name Lindows is legal in the states so no problem with that - they just needed a new brand for Europe.
Lindows - Lindows Is Not Deemed Of Windows' Standards.
Karma: Bad (mostly due to all those "In Soviet Russia" jokes)
I just spoke with a guy in my office who is from Ghana. He explained the plurality rule, as well as the fact that there is no "billion," but rather "a thousand million." I thought that was interesting as well.
Neat, in any case.. me being an American living under the worst unit system on the planet hehe.. I'm surprised we don't use a monetary system that has currency denominations that are neither divisible by each other nor another common divisor.
Oddly enough, Alabama is one of the few states that puts KM markers on the highways... yes... Alabama... scary isn't it?
Damn I have got to stop procrastinating...
Linux fanatics? Lindows? You don't pay much attention to the group you like tweaking, do you?
You're allowed to short the stock, but the initial purchaser might not be allowed to lend the stock out . So you might have to wait a while (those shares need to trade hands at least once) before shares become available for shorting.
What you seem to be missing is that it's not at all like controlling 90% of some natural resource. There's plenty of great non-RIAA music, go listen to that instead.
Here's what I do: Bitty Browser & Andromeda
I read that and thought you said Feature Manure. That would have been entirely appropriate.
The OS defaults to running as root, and you CANNOT run CNR without being root. Not to mention it's set up with insecure Windows Networking compatibility to start with. Really! The preconfigured networking is set with a lot of insecure ports open.
This IPO needs to fail and fail quickly. No one read the article apparently. Spending $6.7 million to get $63,000 in sales is um - BAD BUSINESS.
Lindows Steals Copyrighted Art and Promotes Porn
Actually the name hasn't been declared legal yet. The fight's not finished. I'm sick of people who who say Lindows has a right to trade off the Windows name. The geek goes and kicks the bully, and when the bully beats the living crap out of him, he complains. I say let the bully beat him up - they deserve it.
Maybe if they released quality software instead of getting publicity over lawsuits then they might be an asset to Linux. Until then - they are a bunch of charlatans and thieves.
Lindows Steals Copyrighted Art and Promotes Porn