Slashdot Mirror
GM Expressed Interest In Buying Lyft, But Lyft Declined (techcrunch.com)
An anonymous reader writes from a report via TechCrunch: The Information has reported that GM has expressed interest in purchasing the ride-sharing company Lyft. GM reportedly specified a price it would've paid for the company, but Lyft declined their offer and opted instead to raise new funding. TechCrunch reports: "The Information's info suggests that GM's interest in the car sharing market extends beyond simply partnering up with an external party (Warning: paywalled). In statements to The Information, both companies expressed continued excitement and enthusiasm about their ongoing partnership. Depending on the size of the offer on the table, this could prove a risky move by Lyft. It already faces steep competition from Uber, which has far more cash on hand thanks to a series of monster equity and debt raises. Meanwhile GM could decide it wants to own its own operation, and either look around for another acquisition target like Daimler, or build an in-house on-demand ride-service, which is what Ford appears to be doing with its Smart Mobility subsidiary."
Hello,
Consulting for several large companies, I'd always done my work on Windows. Recently however, a top online investment firm asked us to do some work using Linux. The concept of having access to source code was very appealing to us, as we'd be able to modify the kernel to meet our exacting standards which we're unable to do with Microsoft's products.
Although we met several technical challenges along the way (specifically, Linux's lack of support for some things and the fact that we were unable to defrag some stuff), all in all the process went smoothly. Everyone was very pleased with Linux, and we were considering using it for a great deal of future internal projects.
So you can imagine our suprise when we were informed by a lawyer that we would be required to publish our source code for others to use. It was brought to our attention that Linux is copyrighted under something called the GPL, or the Gnu Protective License. Part of this license states that any changes to the kernel are to be made freely available. Unfortunately for us, this meant that the great deal of time and money we spent "touching up" Linux to work for this investment firm would now be available at no cost to our competitors.
Furthermore, after reviewing this GPL our lawyers advised us that any products compiled with GPL'ed tools - such as gcc - would also have to its source code released. This was simply unacceptable.
Although we had planned for no one outside of this company to ever use, let alone see the source code, we were now put in a difficult position. We could either give away our hard work, or come up with another solution. Although it was tought to do, there really was no option: We had to rewrite the code, from scratch, for Windows 10.
I think the biggest thing keeping Linux from being truly competitive with Microsoft is this GPL. Its draconian requirements virtually guarentee that no business will ever be able to use it. After my experience with Linux, I won't be recommending it to any of my associates. I may reconsider if Linux switches its license to something a little more fair, then maybe. Until then its attempts to socialize the software market will insure it remains only a bit player.
Thank you for your time my friends.
GM reportedly specified a price it would've payed for the company
that wacked ass site theinformation.com
That sounds like a site name that was sat on when internet naming first began. This story is garbage. Who cares if GM is going to by Lyft?
Link to a paywalled site? OH OK FBI CUNTS.
GM was interested, but they declined. This reads like not only FBI but a stock pump and dump Jim Cramer scheme.
Cut out FBI, save taxes.
the bitch declined.
Say hello to Slashdot FBI news.
My butthole quivers at the though of riding with Lyft. Just once glance at the app on my phone is enough to send my anus into a 15 minute winking fest. And should I see that glorious pink carstache? Well... https://youtu.be/0cUS-wEU6FA
Before bankruptcy, bailout, and restructuring, something like half of GM's business was financial and not...you know...making cars. I suppose it's a bit of an improvement that the acquisition was for a company that has *something* to do with cars at least, but it sure does look the same old bean counters are back in charge. Shame too. I like my pre-bailout chevy and was thinking of getting a new one in a couple of years. If the same old story is getting a Hollywood reboot, I might just need to wait it out or get a Toyota.
GM is a terrible company. Bad management, bad engineering, bad everything. They staff their R&D department with lifers who spend more time complaining about not getting a clause in the collective bargaining deal about toilet paper quality or ratio of decaf pots in the cafeteria than they spend thinking about the future of transportation. And somehow being acquired by that gigantic cancer would have helped Lyft gain market share over Uber?
Only outcome would have been to force Lyft to use shitty GM cars.
lucm, indeed.
So an also ran company in a ride share dispatching "industry" thinks so highly of itself that it is literally throwing away money.
Remember when Microsoft offered to buy Yahoo!? Did you see how that turned out?
If I were a Lyft investor, I'd start my lawsuit now! Declining a GM buyout is gross mismanagement and epic fucking stupidity.
Years ago the Detroit car companies owned pieces of (or sometimes the entirety of) the major US rental car companies. Makes a nice place to dump unsold inventory - which they still do, despite having divested their ownership over time a long time ago.