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Mandrakesoft Acquires Conectiva

Posted by Zonk on from the one-plus-one-equals-linux dept.

rednaxel writes "This morning, both companies issued press releases about the merge. French Mandrakesoft is acquiring all shares of brazilian Conectiva for a total amount of 1.79 million EUR (2.3 million USD) in stock." CNet has coverage of the merger as well. From the article: "This won't elevate us to the status of Red Hat or Novell/SuSE yet, of course, but this is a significant growth for us..."

2 of 229 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Yet? by lukewarmfusion · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Don't be so drawn in by the knee-jerk reactions to think that "acquisitions and mergers" are always a bad thing. You buy other companies to gain market share, brands, add to your own line of products and services, etc.

    Such a move is often good for consumers, too. Imagine what would happen if all of the cell phone companies were small, local businesses. Not only would your service be crappy, but support and prices would probably suck too. By combining into a few major players, you get national service, a sturdy support system, and longevity - they're less likely to fold and leave you hanging.

    You don't get to be the richest man in the world by letting your competition win.

  2. Re:What does MandrakeSoft gain? by Simon · · Score: 4, Insightful
    What does the Mandrake distribution gain with this merger?

    As far as I am concerned what Mandrake could gain from Connectiva is a move to apt-rpm and Synaptic.

    huh? Mandrake can move to apt-rpm and Synaptic any time they want. They don't have to merge with Conectiva to do that! It's Free Software after all.

    The merger has got little to do with software and technical features, and everything to do with getting entry to South American markets.

    Besides, both are heading towards the SMART package manager.

    --
    Simon