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Interview with Mandrake's Head Honchos

Posted by Hemos on from the talking-with-the-men dept.

Shipud writes "Newsforge has an interview with MandrakeSoft CEO François Bancilhon, and Mandrakelinux co-founders Jacques Le Marois and Gaël Duval. Among the issues discussed are a the business model for a GPL-based public company, Mandrakesoft's shares, the role of user subscription in funding, the bankruptcy, Xfree 4.4's new non-GPL license, and more."

27 of 130 comments (clear)

  1. courtesy of LinuxWorld... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    ...you can hear Francois too if you like :)

    It's a good interview

    1. Re:courtesy of LinuxWorld... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      wasn't there also a /. thread about good tech interview available as sound files?

  2. Old interview. by tkittel · · Score: 2, Informative

    It is an interesting interview, but it was published more than a month ago on may 12th.

    (and I think it was also covered on /. back then).

    1. Re:Old interview. by matthewn · · Score: 2, Informative

      Yeah -- this interview is already out of date in at least two respects. For one, cooker now includes the x.org server. For another, their distribution deal with O'Reilly is now a matter of public record.

  3. sc0wned! by astrokid · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I thought it was funny:

    A GPL-based business isn't the easiest model to be successful at; what makes it successful?

    FB: A GPL-based business has lots of advantages, such as benefiting from a huge contributor team who help develop and improve our products, and also communicate.

    JLM: If you look to the history of Linux distributions, you will see that the fastest growing are the ones which follow the Open Source rules. Most of the proprietary ones have completely failed. Caldera/SCO is a good example.

    --

    Chewie does not get a medal. Come on, George. Can a Wookie get a medal?
    1. Re:sc0wned! by TWX · · Score: 3, Insightful

      OpenLinux being an example of a badly assembled distribution had nothing to do with it...

      At least Slackware, even with its problems has a long history and has an avid base of followers. Debian has ease post-install administration and maintains a good place with their different versions. Gentoo has a lot of fans of the "bleeding edge". RedHat and SuSE both have good corporate and community support for those who want something pretty right out of the box.

      I didn't see Caldera OpenLinux having any of these, and there were forces resistant to fully accept the GPL as well. The only surprise is that they lasted long enough to turn into SCOX.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  4. Pitfall of VC by wombatmobile · · Score: 4, Interesting

    GD: Besides not having cut costs enough and early enough, I think that the core of the problem was certainly to consider venture cash as revenues, and thus growing the MandrakeSoft structure artificially.

    Yes. Worth remembering, that one.

  5. MandrakeSoft by xenostar · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It seems that an OSS-based company has to struggle for survival at all times. They are doing a great job, though, and eventhough I personally don't use Mandrake, I respect all the work they've done with it. Hope they come up with a solid business model and start making real money.

    1. Re:MandrakeSoft by vsprintf · · Score: 2, Informative

      Hope they come up with a solid business model and start making real money.

      I'm going to have to make a copy of this comment so I don't have to write it yet again the next time this comes up. Mandrake's Linux business has always done well, although I don't know what you mean by "real money". They got into trouble during the dotbomb era when they were saddled with a "world class management" who did what CxOs are supposed to do and looted the company while plunging it into debt. To Mandrake's credit, they've returned to their core Linux business and worked their way back to solvency after tossing the overpaid management overboard. There are a lot of American companies that need to do exactly the same thing.

  6. They're french? by Irvu · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well, you know what that means, that means we can't allow this so called "Mandrake" software to be used in the U.S. Nor any other Linux distro that might have "Parisian leanings". We should follow the lead of the Congressional Lunchroom and ban the use of all francophile software in the U.S. of A.

    From now on all linux users will be forced to switch to Microsoft's FreedomOS! which does most, ok some of the things that other stuff does but without all the pacifism.

    Microsoft's FreedomOS, yours for on $799 and up.
    Because the best way to guarantee freedom is to take away your choices.

    1. Re:They're french? by Tarantolato · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Perhaps someone can explain to me the slight or not-so-slight bias against the French in the US I keep hearing about

      1. Your language is different[1].
      2. Your popular press is as prejudiced against us as ours is against you[2].
      3. French foreign policy has a long history of getting in the way of American - I don't just mean the recent stuff either; it goes back at least as far as de Gaulle refusing to endorse the Normandy invasion.
      4. American tourists who come back feeling that the French have been rude to them[3].
      5. Slightly different economic models, and the feeling on each side that the other's is insane.
      6. Historical attraction of American women to foreign men.
      7. Blue-assed baboon syndrome: it's easy to hate the losing side in any important struggle.
      8. Inheritance from British anti-Americanism.
      9. Instinctive dislike of anything that reeks of "high culture".

      [1] Easier to dislike people you don't understand.
      [2] e.g. frequent use of "cowboy" as an insult. or adulation of Michael Moore coupled with the lack of similarly hyper-harsh criticism of Chirac.
      [3] Usually they only go to Paris. Which is a bit like going to New York and then forming judgements about Iowa, New Hampshire and Mississippi based on that.

      --
      Google confirms: Ruby is the world's most beloved programm
    2. Re:They're french? by yamla · · Score: 5, Funny
      France was opposed to the US invasion of Iraq, and since then, they have been declared "unamerican".


      Strangely enough, the only people in the world who think this is an insult are Americans.
      --

      Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.
    3. Re:They're french? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      France was opposed to the US invasion of Iraq, and since then, they have been declared "unamerican".

      Which is okay, because, as far as I know, they're not American anway

      Yes, but that comes as a huge shock to some Americans.

      I'm joking, of course, but only in part. Americans are particularly good at assuming that people in other countries think just like they do. This probably has something to do with the relative lack of other countries nearby compared to much of the world. In the U.S. one can live hundreds of miles (600? 800?) from the nearest foreign nation. Very little of their media gets into the U.S. either (the BBC and Telemundo are about it). And of course, foreign language (and thus foreign cultural) education are not emphasized in schools here in the U.S. In other words, there's a lack of experience with that sort of thing.

  7. I ordred the box set.... by gfxguy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Over two weeks ago and still haven't received it. So ask me to support them, but now two weekends (the time I have to play with linux) are gone for good while I could have ordred cheapbytes CDs and had them last week.

    --
    Stupid sexy Flanders.
    1. Re:I ordred the box set.... by grqb · · Score: 2, Informative

      I ordered the powerpack cds and it took about 2.5 weeks to deliver to Canada. I'm not sure why it takes so long to hand over a small box of 6 cds to UPS. It only took UPS 3 days to deliver.

      Maybe this is a sign that Linux really is on the rise? Orders that are overloading Mandrake? ...I doubt it...It also takes forever for Mandrake to reply to emails too.

    2. Re:I ordred the box set.... by clontzman · · Score: 2, Interesting

      What about this?

      [A]cting pursuant to the Constitution and [the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002] is consistent with the United States and other countries continuing to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.

      --President Bush, in a letter to Congress outlining the legal justification for commencing war against Iraq, March 18, 2003

  8. Bigger than that by wombatmobile · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think the value of the tale goes significantly beyond Linux. It's a business story with some template lessons for how to manage venture funding (and how not to).

    Easy lessons. Hard to learn.

  9. Success may be coming for them by tarp · · Score: 2, Informative

    Kudos to Mandrakesoft for getting out of their bankruptcy situation. They certainly have the possibility of becoming a leader in Linux distributions, since Red Hat has dropped the ball to focus on enterprise linux. Does anyone remember the days when Mandrake was little more than a relabelled RedHat with some slight modifications? I would never have guessed they'd still be around.

  10. Ya listening, Apple? by stratjakt · · Score: 2, Interesting

    GD: Adopt a business model that is in harmony with Open Source Software; do not try to do proprietary with Open Source Software. And if you don't believe in OSS, don't do OSS!

    There, you've been told by a frenchman!

    I thought the principle of Open Source was anyone can use it however the hell they please.

    --
    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  11. I can't help but wonder by bool+morpheus() · · Score: 2, Interesting

    With as much success as a company like Mandrake is having, can't companies like Microsoft see that the days of charging $400 for you OS are gone?

    --

    ----
    Ground Control to Major Tom...
    1. Re:I can't help but wonder by bool+morpheus() · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I'd say that for the amount of financial trouble they were in, the "whine and beg" was kept pretty quiet. It wasn't like something came up every 30 minutes saying, "Give us money!".

      --

      ----
      Ground Control to Major Tom...
    2. Re:I can't help but wonder by calethix · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Normally I find the majority of your posts to be pretty entertaining but I don't think I would put Mandrake in the 'begging' category.
      So they have a bunch of stuff on the download page asking you to donate, big deal. It's not like every so often, you run a program and it reminds you to donate in the same fashion as some shareware.

      Personally, I would much sooner make a donation to Mandrake based on how they treat their customers than buy Microsoft software. I'm lucky enough to get the professional versions of Windows and Office through my school if I wish. On the rare ocassion that I was working on a relative's PC with the home edition of something, I found product activation to be quite annoying.

      Besides, getting out of bankruptcty wasn't just about getting more donations. They had to take a look at their business and cut out what was wasteful to survive. That by itself should be a lesson to other companies which think the only way out of a problem is to gouge their customers a little more instead of looking for internal problems.

  12. more than just opposed by asv108 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    The main French government action that caused the Bush administration and others on the far right to promote anti-french behavior was the French government's opposition to a second UN resolution, authorizing the use of force in Iraq. There were plenty of other countries that were against the resolution, but France was the only member of the UN security counsel that said it would veto any attempt at a second resolution outright.

    Personally, I think what France did was a brave a noble act that should be applauded.

  13. Club membership... by linuxlover · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I have been a Mandrake Club member for last 2 years. My membership expires in a few days and I am re-thinking my committment.

    One thing I was dissappointed was the 'rpm voting of members'. When KDE 3.2 was released, there were no MDK packages any where in MDK website (or I couldn't find with thier search). Not even in club area. In the voting area, there were numerous requests for KDe3.2-mdk.rpms for MDK 9.2. But weeks went by without no response from MDK team. Finally I was so sick of waiting and installed through 'konstruct' (what a nice piece of software!).

    So now that MDK is making some money and they are not as 'needy' as they were couple of years back, I'll probably skip renewing my membership.

    Are there any other 'tangible' benefits for club members that I am not aware of?

    1. Re:Club membership... by Stevyn · · Score: 2, Informative

      Fair question. Before I used it I got annoyed by gentoo zealots puffing it like it was the next savior.

      So I'll make it easy and explain it. Typing "emerge " downloads the (usually) most current version, all of it's dependencies, and installs it. I've gone crazy playing cat and mouse with compiling packages from scratch to satisfy the dependencies.

      I use mandrake and their packages become out of date quickly and it's gets aggrivating. True, gentoo by default compiles everything. You can get binary packages for the big ones so you won't be compiling kde for a few days. The smaller packages don't take that long so it's not a big deal. As for the speed increase, I don't know if it's noticable.

      I hope that explains it clearly. I don't like gentoo just because a bunch of nerds on slashdot worship it. I've used it and many other distros and I've come to that conclusion on my own.

  14. Tone of interview by Laxitive · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This interview was actually very refreshing, a large part due to the way in which the questions were answered:

    The bankruptcy issue loomed over MandrakeSoft for a long time. What led to the bankruptcy filing?
    FB: At the time, we had to seek protection for a simple reason: There was no more cash in bank, and our revenues were still lower than our expenses. It was a matter of a few months, but it was needed.

    Short answer: "we were broke". No doubletalk, no spin.

    MandrakeSoft made posting asking the community to help them with their financial woes. Some have said that MandrakeSoft essentially begged for money. Any truth to that?
    FB: Yes, the community of Mandrakelinux users helped us, but they get something in return: We're still here, we improved much, and we keep on providing products that fit their needs.

    Translation: yeah, we begged, but we had to, and it paid off in the end. Now we're stronger for it.

    What about the problems with NTFS in the Community Edition?
    FB: This was something that never should have made it into the CE. This should have been caught in our developmental process. We have some definite improving to do.

    I'm not pulling these quotes out to make fun of Mandrake or anything. The thing is, it's easy for companies and representatives to talk straight when they're speaking about their successes. What's hard is to acknowledge failures, and acknowledge them directly. The fact that the responders didn't try to beat around the bush, and actually answered the questions posed is extremely promising. I'm not a Mandrake user, but the fact that these guys seem to talk straight makes me trust them quite a bit more than other companies.

    If I ever have to choose a distribution to recommend to someone who is not too familiar with Linux, I think I have a pretty good idea of who I'll go with now.

    -Laxitive

  15. Re:They're French?! by vsprintf · · Score: 2, Informative

    Does that mean we need to rename Mandrake to "Freedom Linux"?

    Sounds like a good name to me, especially since they lost the court fight to use the name "Mandrake". Seriously. Apparently the syndicate that has the rights to "Mandrake the Magician" took exception, and the French courts agreed. And yes, I use Mandrake . . . or whatever it's going to be called.