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"LinuxOne" files for an IPO
ColPanek writes "Surprise: The newest planned Linux-related IPO is not VA Linux Systems or LinuxCare, but a company called LinuxOne, which apparently has been shipping its own distro since way back in September 1999 ... This summary of their preliminary prospectus says LinuxOne didn't disclose any underwriters for the proposed offering."
3) The webserver they are running isn't Apache, at least, according to Netcraft, which says it's running "inetd in realloc(): warning, junk pointer too low to make sense"
Netcraft is probably broken. Both www.redhat.com, slashdot.org, linux.lanshark.com, and a number of other apache sites bring back the same response.
Let's try not to let fact interfere with our speculation here, OK?
...a company called LinuxOne, which apparently has been shipping its own distro since way back in September 1999...
Whoa, that long? Um... it's still September 1999.
I'm immediately suspicious of any web-site, hocking linux that has nothing but images for links in the first two sections of their forms. Even these WinLinux 2000 jokers had a reasonably readable web-page from lynx.
-Joe
An awful expensive troll - they've filed their S1 with the SEC
This is more sad than funny.
****
"I'd never want to join a club that would have me as a member" - G. Marx
Umm.. www.transmeta.com makes this site look like a Picasso. If you have to bag on the guy, do it for form. Not content.
I think there is a world market for maybe five personal web logs.
I am considering starting a company.
I'm not sure who I'm going to hire yet or who I need because I'm not sure what I'm going to sell yet.
My biggest problem is to figure out whether this company should be valued at 90 million, or a more reasonable jack squat.
Hotnutz.com
I dunno why, but when someone can't write a webpage without the assistance of a GUI I somehow feel their programming and general computer skills are somewhat below what is necessary to create a Linux distribution.
"If you don't use windows then what do you use?"
"FreeBSD."
Maybe the LinuxOne that a few other people
:)
have mentioned as having a deal with
Mandrake is actually the guys
at http://www.linuxone.com ---
Interesting site design yes?
Gentleman start your conspiracy theories....
According to lynx, they're running Apache 1.36 under Red Hat..(surprise, surprise) I'm not sure if I should have looked at the comments here before reading the site, but I agree with most folks on this topic; these guys aren't up to any good..I'm not sure if I saw any mention of the GPL there whatsoever and all this talk about "carefully selected software modules" and "Sophisticated *proprietary* device drivers" sends off alarm bells in my head..as does the information gathering they're doing just for a "beta test"..does anyone who's gotten that know if there's any restrictions on the source, btw? Is it all GPL'ed or are they pulling a Corel?
Somehow though, I doubt these fellows are interested in giving anything back to the Linux community..but if that's the case, they'll soon see it's a two-way street when,on a matter of principle, if needed, most of the Linux community refuses to support or even acknowledge the existence of "LinuxOpen"..guess there had to be a "rogue" bandwagon hopping company sooner or later as the money involved in Linux started getting bigger and bigger..
Peace,
"Fundamentalist forces are undermining the integrity of liberal and democratic political structures."
I was talking to SGI about Linux the other day (now _there's_ a sign of the times!) and the guy used the annoying-yet-correct leenoocks pronounciation. I use lihnucks, and it's really hard to have a conversation where you each pronounce the thing you're talking about in completely different ways.
But FWIW, lienucks (long i) was the normal UK pronounciation for years and years, and is still pretty common. Maybe that is the most common Chinese/taiwanese pronounciation too?
-----
If LinuxOne is hoping to make so much money from an IPO, I sure hope that some of those funds is spent on a site redesign. I may be wrong, but if my company was trying to propel its image (especially for an IPO), and the company link to the public is its website, I'd spend a lot of time and money to revamp the site to project an aura of professionalism first.
linux one's website looks like a my first html experiment. i wouldn't even bbuy a distro from the these jokers let alone invest in their 'failure waiting to happen' future. I wonder if their mother's know they are having an IPO. dont you need to be like 17 or something.
Is it just me, or are these guys coming completely out of left field? They just started the company in March, they just shipped the first version of their distro this month, and now they're filing for IPO?
Anyone have any info on the execs for this company? Or the distro itself for that matter?
> My theory is that these people just want to get the LINX ticker symbol
Maybe the SEC will make them change it to WANX.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
They don't even have a product... You can sign up for their *BETA*, and if you're not one of the first 100 people to sign up they'll charge you 10 bucks for the cd.
Can I IPO? What are the logistics involved here. I can have a linux distribution.
Joseph Elwell.
... Company has existed since March, 1999.
... Their web site is a total joke.
... Their web server is a stock Red Hat Linux box. They don't even serve their pages off their own alleged Linux distribution.
... Despite their claim of being a US company, linuxone.com is registered to some outfit in Austria.
... Despite their so-called "free download", they will ask people for $9.95.
... Their order page is a ... BWAAAAAAHAHAHAHA ... a formmail CGI script. I'll bet a lot of people are perfectly comfortable sending their credit card number over the Internet in clear text.
If this isn't a big joke, I don't know what is.
--
"To support market development, LinuxOne will place carefully selected software modules in the public domain."
They're going to remove all patents and copyrights from their code? Not likely. Perhaps they need to run their literature past a good lawyer...
* And remember, it's spelled N-e-t-s-c-a-p-e, but it's pronounced "Mozilla."
Freedom's just another word for nothing left Zulus
They don't even have a product... You can sign up for their *BETA*, and if you're not one of the first 100 people to sign up they'll charge you 10 bucks for the cd.
Can I IPO? What are the logistics involved here. I can have a linux distribution.
Joseph Elwell.
that was the name of his company, but he called himself the 'internet king'
one of the funniest scenes in that show was when the 'comic book guy' was trying to download pictures of Captn Janway. The connection was to slow, and he said "perhaps this 'internet king' can help me get faster porn' or somthing like that
"Subtle mind control? Why do all these HTML buttons say 'Submit' ?"
ReadThe ReflectionEngine, a cyberpunk style n
transmeta is not filing for a $28,000,000 IPO, ether..
"Subtle mind control? Why do all these HTML buttons say 'Submit' ?"
ReadThe ReflectionEngine, a cyberpunk style n
1. Buy lots of redhat cds from cheapbytes at $1.50 each.
2. Put up a website advertising the first 100 free, the rest at $9.95 a pop.
3. Make some outrageous claims to drum up publicity.
4. Wait for the money to roll in.
A couple of people have been saying netcraft reports some weird stuff for this site (linuxone.net)... netcraft appears to be a bit broken right now as it is reporting the same wrong information about my site and every other web site I enter into it. Just thought I'd let everyone know. In any case if you nslookup their ip address you will notice it is running on an ADSL line (as somebody already pointed out). Hehe... this is a real professional job. Seriously though, it is bad for the Free Software community for somebody to even joke about making parts of the linux kernel proprietary (they claim they will add proprietary "features" to the kernel) and to claim that you have to pay to see their Beta CD. And people were bitching about Corel... heh. These kiddies are just ridiculous.
I would guess that Netcraft is hosed today, since any address you give it reports that same error message.
I quite enjoyed the way this guy referred to his "product" as a "commercial, proprietary Linux." Hmmm... Ok.
Why didn't he just link his download page to Mandrake's. It seems like that's the distro he's "selling" as his own.
I don't feel I can trust any entity that wasn't quick enough to grab the .com domain before other people (COUGH freshmeat!!!).
:) j/k
Seriously though, $29.99 for a BETA distro? Who are they trying to be, Microsoft????
Jeez. Keep me away from these guys.
I was looking at their "Open Positions". Mostly sales and marketing. Perhaps they should add one for "Web Designer" My little brother has done better.
ayottesoftware.com
Yeah but it makes the legitamate linux companies look bad.
And who is employed by TransMeta? You guessed it, Linus Torvalds.
So with all of this eerie silence, NDAs and closed doors of TransMeta, we now know their true plot....
To create a "Me-Too, Red Hat" Linux corporation and become billionares.
"If you don't use windows then what do you use?"
"FreeBSD."
Look their Logo is the Anarchy symbol rotated 160 or so degrees.
So nobody except the founder -- not even the CFO -- is giving up his day job for this ...
And as I noted earlier, the CFO is a Sunnyvale City Councilman... very strange indeed...
Jason
I looked at the jobs page for LinuxOpen, and it appears that they have copied the exact text for several positions from the jobs page at Red Hat. Obviously, they have no clue what they are doing, since they don't even know who to hire - they only know that "the other" Linux company wants this type of people, so they must want them too.
No, IPO's like this make the entire stock market look bad. There isn't a doubt in my mind that this thing will never get off the ground. They obviously don't have anyone on their team who is even remotely equipped to professionally deal with an actual IPO. They're just scammers who're trying to make a quick buck off of a technological fad. No serious investor would ever take them seriously, and anyone who would isn't of any use to the Linux market anyway.
Really .... It is too bad we can't buy short on IPO's like this. I have a feeling betting AGAINST this company is the only way you can make money off of it.
Anyone know how long an Public Offering has to be out before you can short it?? And do you even think this company will be around that long????
-Pika
"LinuxOne, WOW, I've never heard of them!," said I
This is such a scam, first of all, They have 10 employees, second, the website is run off of some script kiddies ADSL line, and It looks like it was designed in Microsoft Word 2000.
Opinionated Law Student Strikes Again!
So the site is obviously done by an editor... code like this:
www.
LinuxOne.net
Give me a break!
The company is located 3 miles from my house... I'll swing by tonight and see if it's a Mailboxes, etc. address. I can tell you that it's right on the rail road tracks... prime real estate!
IIRC when networksolutions.com was rs.internic.net didn't *.org sites mean the site was a non-profit enterprise?
With Andover.net's IPO should slashdot.org become slashdot.com? Not to reign in on Taco's parade, but he sells stuff on this site (i.e., slow banner ads). There's nothing *.org about this site anymore.
Just an observation.
looks like dsl...
Name: adsl-216-101-248-91.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net
Address: 216.101.248.91
is the web server
Mike
Intel transfer the difficult from Hadware to software, for get more power, programmer need more technology. -- chinaitn
That's the theory, but no one really follows it anymore.
Sometimes, using netcraft is overkill...
> telnet www.linuxone.net
Trying 216.101.248.91...
Connected to www.linuxone.net.
Escape character is '^]'.
Welcome to LinuxOne! This is rinoa.
Red Hat Linux release 6.0 (Hedwig)
Kernel 2.2.5-15 on an i686
login:
telnet> quit
Nice machinenames, though. I suspect he's spending more time playing FFVIII than coding, though.
As an added bonus, offer a "Proprietary, Secret Linux Distribution bundled with Viagra and a Database listing 100s of Hot Babes who think Linux is SEXY!!!!"
File for an IPO.
Say... is this more ethical than "get rich in realestate" kits sold on TV?
This is probably the funniest thing I've seen for a while. Best part is that they're running this site off of their home DSL from PBI, they've only got 3 machines on the network there, two PII-333's (Linux) and a P166 (Windows). Best part is that they probably only have 128K upstream Bandwidth...
Its also nice to know they don't know how to edit inetd.conf...
While this will certainly not win the good graces of RMS, last I knew it was Linus's interpretation that linking a binary-only driver with the Linux kernel did not constitute a "derived work" per the GPL. Given that much of the kernel is © Linux Torvalds, I'd say that his interpretation goes.
Of course, this is a colossally stupid thing to do. But it's not actually illegal.
Go click on the About LinuxOne on the cheesy website.
Now go visit the Sunnyvale City Council webpage and a certain one Mr. Stan Kawczynski's bio
Curious that an elected government official would be engaging in this kind of activity. True, there's nothing illegal here. But it sure smells funny...
For those of you who don't know, Sunnyvale is the "heart of Silicon Valley"[tm] (their words, not mine)
Jason "former Sunnyvale resident" UntulisHaving only limited contact with either ADSL or cable "modems", I'm going to go out on a limb here...
The technology that'll require sophisticated proprietary device drivers? NICs. Ethernet. Plugged into the device in question. Man - that was tough.
OK... maybe there's embeded products coming down the line that'll require something more... complicated. But why?
Looks to me like several suits got together at lunch one day and decided to get in on this "linux thing".
It's not like they need any technical know-how. Can you think of any other software companies who started out with nothing to sell, bought and re-sold other people's work, and now own a good deal of the desktops out there?
Don't throw your computer out the window, throw the Windows out of your computer!
Actually, you would have to find a font/image with a reversed R.
-- Keith Moore
This sig is the express property of someone.
From their press release:
"It can take up to 36 hours to download free from the Internet..."
Or up to 100 hours if you are trying to serve 500+ MB files from an ADSL connection.
I am copying a comment from the talkback section on LinuxToday. This gentleman is really pissed..
Read this:
"I really get sick of all the "SMUG KNOW-IT-ALL" attitude comming from some of the members of the LINUX Community! If you'd do a little research before confirming the opinion of some the folks watching the Linux Commununity (bunch of pimply faced teenagers), you'd know that LINUXONE is doing a Chinese translation of LINUX MANDRAKE Distro for the main-land Chinese market. A huge and very worth-while and possibly very lucritave endeavor. Before you run your mouth, ENGAGE YOUR BRAIN!
Keep in mind: YOU ALWAYS FIND THE MOST STICKS AND STONES UNDER THE TREE WITH BEST APPLES ON IT!
Regards,
George"
Looks like they have managed to find some hardcore fans on the first day..this is even more ridiculous...
Zigbee Central: A Zigbee weblog
Then I decided to have information look up LinuxOne, Inc.'s phone number... no luck, again.
A quick trip to mapsonus.com gave me the location of LinuxOne based on the domain's street address. Seeing as how my office is at the intersection of Villa Dr. and N. Shorline Blvd, I have decided to visit the LinuxOne "office" after work today.
Yes, I am insane... and I'll tell you where that insanity leads me in an hour or so...
The worst part is: /home/guest/LinuxOne WebPage/images nav_order_dn.gif
4:41 B C:\LinuxOne\New Version\images\nav_order_dn.gif --> 140.174.127.97
Yep, this is the New Version. I would really like to see the old version, if this one is supposed to be an improvement.
Also owns this company. One of their 'services' is webdesign... $65 for one page! Hope they weren't the same guys that did Linuxone's page...blech!
It seems that he has issued stock before worth over 500 000 dollars.
--Wes
http://www.scs.ryerson.ca/wmoxam
The webserver they are running isn't Apache, atleast, according to Netcraft, which says it's running "inetd in realloc(): warning, junk pointer too low to make sense"
It seems that Netcraft is broken. Here is what E-Soft's Server Probe answers:
Site being probed: http://www.linuxone.net
Web Server: Apache/1.3.6 (Unix) (Red Hat/Linux)
Operating System:
nmap's best guess: Linux 2.1.122 - 2.1.132; 2.2.0-pre1 - 2.2.2
Queso's best guess: Linux 2.1.xx
--
Midgard Project - Open Source CMS
That episode had the greatest simpsons quote of all time. "They have the internet on computers now!"
If it was this easy then everyone would be doing it. To quote CNET:
"LinuxOne had no revenue and a net loss of about $17,000 from its inception through July 31, the filing said. With almost 9.2 million shares to be outstanding after a planned IPO, the company would sell about a 33 percent stake and have a market value of $73.3 million if shares sell for $8 each."
$73 million for what? To continue the quote:
"LinuxOne said it operates a Web site with information and news about open source software and offers technical support, training, custom development, and consulting. The company makes its version of Linux, known as LinuxOne Operating System, available free via download from the Web site or for a price on CD-ROM."
Wow.. a web site with information and news about open source software... Now that is original.. And I found NO free download. I can't believe the press is falling for this. I think I'll file my SEC papers tommorrow for Zoid.com. There isn't anything there but apparently there doesn't have to be. What a scam.
Have you checked out Zoid.com yet? Zoid.com
[goes off to look at NetUSA site] Hmm. Apparently this is now the parent company for PacificMicro, who make Mac-In-DOS (now for Win98! What's wrong with this description? :) Whether this is anything legit or not, I don't know.
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
Those graphics are straight outta Microsoft Word.
mostly.
http://www.icalledit.com - Predicting the future, one post at a time
Can I IPO? What are the logistics involved here. I can have a linux distribution.
Hmm... perhaps incorporating oneself would be a good idea. and then gee, you're set!
Though I find this strange because we've "never" heard of them, think about it this way.. now we have. and now that they've been Slashdotted, they've got lots of coverage, and they have more of a chance at IPO success (even though I realize that it seems a lot of thoughts will be along the lines of "Who the heck are these people?!?")
Insert mind here.
LinuxOne's or Andover.net's? ;-)
Hey, at least LinuxOne is at least using Linux, so I gotta give 'em props for that. Andover.net, on the other hand, despite labeling themselves as the "leading Linux/Open Source destination on the Internet," is for some reason using Solaris for their web server. What, there isn't an Open Source alternative? What kind of example and advocacy is that?
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
P.S. I just find the above odd, I'm not trying to put any damper on Rob's potential earnings from his Andover.net shares -- I hope he rides it for all it's worth. It's The American Dream, baby!
Any company can file an IPO, so long as the proper steps are followed. NO rule says you have to be doing something cool.
Now think, as an investor.. is this company worth anything? RedHat is different.. and they made LOTS of noise. how much noise is this company going to make? What are they going to do in order to drive their stock prices up? You can IPO all you want.. who's gonna buy it?
Why the hell would they need $20,000,000 in order to build a linux distro? I can do it in my bedroom.
Well of course, the site is already slashdotted.
Way to go guys, you'll probably make it to the NASDAQ 500.
This is pretty funny.
--
How in the world is their Pacbell DSL line handling the Slashdot Effect!
Also, Note to Linuxone Sys Admin -
Read up on the latest security holes and lock down some of these ports:
www.linuxone.net ftp 21/tcp File Transfer [Control] [96,JBP]
www.linuxone.net telnet 23/tcp Telnet [112,JBP]
www.linuxone.net smtp 25/tcp Simple Mail Transfer [102,JBP]
www.linuxone.net finger 79/tcp Finger [52,KLH]
www.linuxone.net tacnews 98/tcp TAC News [ANM2]
www.linuxone.net sunrpc 111/tcp rpcbind SUN Remote Procedure Call
www.linuxone.net auth 113/tcp Authentication Service [130,MCSJ]
www.linuxone.net domain 53/tcp Domain Name Server [81,95,PM1]
www.linuxone.net http 80/tcp www www-http World Wide Web HTTP
#www.linuxone.net www 80/tcp World Wide Web HTTP [TXL]
www.linuxone.net pop3 110/tcp Post Office Protocol - Version 3 [122,MTR]
www.linuxone.net login 513/tcp remote login a la telnet;
www.linuxone.net cmd 514/tcp shell like exec, but automatic
#www.linuxone.net shell 514/tcp rlogin style exec (rshd)
www.linuxone.net unknown 1120/tcp unassigned
www.linuxone.net xterm 6000/tcp X-windows server
-Praxxis
The story here:
:)
No stetch of the imagination to imagine some people getting a little confused, after all, isn't this the same model as RedHat, which the news.com story points out:
"saw its shares trade for as much as 135 earlier this month, after an August IPO at 14 per share."
Thankfully they go on to point out that the company has had a loss of $17,000 with no revenue.
Yow
I think they left out a risk from the S1...
"A FURTHER POTENTIAL RISK FACTOR THAT MAY IMPAIR THE PROGRESS OF THE COMPANY IS ITS DEPENDENCE ON THE LINUX COMMUNITY TO WRITE THE CODE THAT WE WILL SHIP. WHILE THE LINUX COMMUNITY HAS AN UNPARALLELED TRACK RECORD IN DEVELOPING HIGH QUALITY CODE, THEIR SMUG KNOW-IT-ALL ATTITUDE MAY DETRACT FROM THEIR SUPPORT OF THE COMPANY'S GOALS. IN ADDITION, THE FACT THAT THEY ARE A BUNCH OF PIMPLY FACED TEENAGERS MAY POSE A FURTHER RISK TO THE COMPANY."
Hopefully, it's not too late to amend the filing.
LILO boot: linux init=/usr/bin/emacs
I just called this place, and I got an answer. They answered the phone "Hello, LinuxOne..." Pronouncing Linux with a long I. Apparently they never listened to Linus' .au file. Maybe they couldn't find a .au player for windows. I almost feel sorry for these guys. How can anyone be so clueless? forgot my password at work.. my nick is: Paul_Taylor
http://www.freeedgar.com/Search/ FilingsResults.asp?SourcePage=CompanyList&CIK=1095 398&UseFrame=1&FormType=&DateFiled=&Comp anyName=LINUXONE+INC
This company is a joke! They are incorporated in some lawyer's office in Nevada. They have $0 in total revenue from inception to 31 July 1999. Check out this bald-faced description of their web site:
Linuxone.net offers users access to broad and authoritative content on open source software including news, employment and links to other Linux-related sites. We also offer extensive features for the open source community, software updates and downloads and a shopping center for our shrink-wrapped products and support offerings.
I also note that none of their executive officers except the founder have any equity in the company. That shows how little the CFO, the VP of Marketing, and the Corporate Secretary are involved: not at all. They are window dressing.
LinuxOne.com also plagiarized the Red Hat S-1 filing. For example, compare their "Apache, Perl, Sendmail" text to Red Hat's. For another example, compare their "Strategy" list of goals to Red Hat's "Our Strategy".
LinuxOne.com intends to distribute the stock by offering it for sale directly:
PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION: The shares will be offered for sale by our management for a period of 180 days, unless extended in the discretion of our Board of Directors for an additional 90 days. No commissions will be paid to our management for any sales they make. This is a "self-underwritten" offering.
And then this:
LinuxOne has reserved up to 300,000 shares of common stock for sale at the initial public offering price through a directed share program, to directors, officers and employees of LinuxOne and to open source software developers and other persons that LinuxOne believes have contributed to the success of the open source software community and the development of LinuxOne.
Under the guise of an affinity program, they are going to spam and scam us to buy shares in their worthless company!
I really care less if the idiot files for IPO, I find it quite amusing, and will find the morons who actually purchase this stock even more amusing. My only concern is, if (more like when) this stock crashes hard core, what will the media and big wall street traders think of the upcoming legit linux IPO's, such as VA?? In my mind I see right through what is happenning here. Some fool downloaded RH, maybe modified 24 lines of code, got an 8x burner; and has no choice now but to go public!!! Woohoo!! But will the public see through this scam?? Or will it leave a bad taste in their mouths? I can only imagine that it has to have some effect, hopefully very minor. Society is *extremely* skeptical about open source and the companies that live by it. After all, it is very new to the market. Ask someone 10 years ago about building a product, and letting everyone have it for free!! They would have laughed their asses off at you! Slashdotters know differently, and know the benefits of open source .. but does the public? specifically the $$ public ??? My point is that both people and the market are very skeptical of this new idea (open source) becuase they don't understand it .. They dont understand giving away a product instead of selling it. When the linux community is unknowingly and unwillingly represented by idiots like Dr. XXX, our whole reputation is tarnished, like it or not. I hope legit Linux IPO's are not hurt by this brainless tard. -Pika
I've actually worked for him before. I don't think any of his stuff ever got big but he holds his own overseas. His web pages have always been crappy though. Their best stuff has been http://www.netusa.com but even that wasn't great.
Having said that, I think that the SEC should stop this from happening, just because these people clearly aren't serious, or capable of putting out any quality product/service. It would be a waste of a symbol to add them to any stock exchange.
The sad opening to the LinuxOne page (once you can finally connect) was written by Dr. Wun C. Chiou, the founder. He also founded a company now known as NetUSA, whose stock is currently hovering around zero.
This sounds like a baaaaaad investment to me...
--
Wage Slave Journal
Here's a press release from Linux Mandrake about an agreement with LinuxOne, along with several other companies, to enter the Chinese market.
The release is from September 3. Interestingly, there's a little blurb describing LinuxOne (it seems to embellish the company), but there's no link to a LinuxOne web page. My guess is that these guys didn't even have a web site three weeks ago (the other companies mentioned all got links to their sites). It certainly looks like a site that could have gone up during someone's lunch hour.
They have an agreement with Mandrake to develop a chinese distribution in Beijing. Or so they say here.
From their web site:
A key feature of LinuxOpen is its ability to run on the most advanced PC workstations with devices that increase communication bandwidth, such as ADSL and cable modem. LinuxOne will support these new technologies with its sophisticated proprietary device drivers (software that provides an interface between an operating environment and its associated hardware).
Proprietary?! On a Linux distro? Hmmmm....
Name: rinoa.LinuxOne.NET Address: 216.101.248.91 Aliases: www.linuxone.net nslookup 216.101.248.91 Name: adsl-216-101-248-91.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net Address: 216.101.248.91
2) The page was written in Frontpage, or atleast some of the subtle hints, for instance, in the source there is a charset/content type tag, any webmeister who knew these tags existed yet still made such a crappy page could only be doing it in FP, which inserts such tags into any page by default.
3) The webserver they are running isn't Apache, atleast, according to Netcraft, which says it's running "inetd in realloc(): warning, junk pointer too low to make sense"
4) According to the InterNIC whois database, the man who registered Linuxone.net has an address at Netusa.com, a man who can't set up sendmail is going to build a Linux distro worth 28,000,000? Hmmm...
"If you don't use windows then what do you use?"
"FreeBSD."
Comment removed based on user account deletion
This enterprise sounds very much like an attempt to cash in on the RHAT excitement; if RHAT turned some "wunderkids" into paper billionaires, then surely LinuxOne can do the same, right?
The thing is, nobody had ever heard of LinuxOne before, and unlike RHAT, the company lacks:
It wouldn't be a bad thing if they succeeded at selling a few shares to the abjectly clueless; the resultant publicity would have the effect of injecting a degree of sanity hopefully without injuring any of the more credible enterprises out there.
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
Not only that but they haven't a clue about how to use frames. Check out the "skillful" use of targets when you keep selecting the 'Contacts' page and the company URL that is located/linked on it without navigating your "back" button.
It seems to me that large sections (actually, almost all) of Linuxone's S1 are virtually identical to Redhat's. I'd hardly be surprised if the author did a cut-and-paste into Micoosoft Word, replced Redhat with linuxone, and changed a few key paragraphs.
I'd be interested to know exactly which "developments on and improvements to the Linux kernel and other open source products" they've "shared with the Linux community". They also say that their product is freely available for download on their website (which it isn't, at least when I checked), and that they've issued free CD-ROMs through direct mailing. Oops. (All of this is on page 30 of the Edgar filing.)
One of the few original paragraphs I saw concerned "Linuxone Games" :
We are presently compiling games and other graphic applications for operation on our Linux software. We intend to build a web site with the operating software available for $19.95. With each copy, the purchaser may elect to join and become a member of a game club for $9.95, which provides an online library of available games that will grow monthly. Parents can request a PIN to ontrol access to violent or sex-content games. Once the fee has been paid, members will have perpetual access. Games will be rated, and all will be certified for operation on the Linux software. The "Games" phase is intended to provide us with early market recognition, build interest and set the stage for follow-up products and services.
I don't have time to run diff on the two S-1's (or, better yet, feed 'em through CompareRite), but I wouldn't be surprised if large portions of the documents are identical.
What might be funny to see is a copyright lawsuit brought by RedHat (or Redhat's lawyers) for plagiarism of the languaged used in the SEC filing. Probably not the best use of legal resources, but I think they'd have a case. They might have a hard time collecting damages, though -- Linuxone doesn't seem to be a deep pocket, at least pre-IPO!
This should speak for itself! ;)
:)
from http://www.linuxone.net/press1.html
"LinuxOne expects to become the highest rated supplier of Linux solutions based on packaging, support, and capability
worldwide."
Go for the gold!
Seriously can't we do something so that morons like these can not give Linux a bad name? Can we get www.notreallylinux.com and expose this crap to the world?
Gotta love greed!
Background of Officers and Directors
Dr. Wun C. Chiou, Sr. has been the President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of our Company since inception. He has been active in the computer industry for more than 15 years. He holds a B.S. Degree from National Taiwan University in General Science and Psychology; a Masters Degree from Bowling Green State University in Physics and Mathematics; and a Ph.D. from Ohio State University in Biophysics. Dr. Chiou has also completed post-doctoral work at Ohio State University on image modeling. Dr. Chiou has held a variety of positions including Research Physicist for the U.S. Army, Areomed (1974-1979); Senior Staff Engineer for Hughes Aircraft Co. (1979-1981); Research Scientist for Teledyne Systems, Co., Northridge (1981-1982); Senior Technologist for the California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (1982-1984); Chief of Artificial Intelligent Branch of NASA Ames Research Center (1984-85); Consultant for Peterson & Co., Northridge; Senior Scientist for Lockheed, Palo Alto Research Center where he organized Lockheed's Artificial Intelligence Center (1985-1987); Founder, President and Director of Pacific Microelectronics, Inc. (1987-1996), which became NetUSA, Inc., a public corporation (1996-1999). Dr. Chiou resigned from NetUSA, Inc. and formed the Company in March 1999. Dr. Chiou has also taught at Cal State, Northridge and U.C. Berkeley Extension. He possesses knowledge and research experience regarding expert systems, artificial intelligence, image modeling, optical information processing, and system integration, among others. Prior to founding the Company, he was the Branch Chief of Artificial Intelligence software at NASA, at Ames Research Center in Mountain View. He has published many scientific articles in a variety of periodicals. Dr. Chiou is a member of the Optical Society of America, Society of Photo-Instrumentation Engineers, and the National Association for Artificial Intelligence. He will devote full time to the business of our Company.
Stan Kawczynski has been the Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer, and a Director of our Company since April, 1999. Since 1995, he has also been Vice President of Investments, specializing in estate and retirement planning, for Birchtree Financial Services, Inc., a member NASD/SIPC wholly-owned subsidiary of Block Financial Corporation, with offices in Sunnyvale and San Rafael, California and Kansas City, Missouri. From 1993 to 1995, he was Vice President of Government Affairs, as well as the Director and Chairman of the Board of Trilogy Systems, Inc., a new business opportunities incubator company. Throughout his 19-year investment career, Mr. Kawczynski has held positions of Account Executive with Dean Witter Reynolds, Senior Account Executive with PaineWebber and Vice President of Investments with First California Capital Markets Group. He is an active member of many civic organizations, including Council Member, former Mayor of the City of Sunnyvale, California, candidate for the California State Assembly, Chair of the Advisory Counsel for the Digital Clubhouse Network, member of the Steering Committee on Information Technology and Communication for the National League of Cities, past Chair, Policy Committee on Transportation, Communication and Public Works for the League of California Cities, past Zone Chairman, President and Secretary of the Sunnyvale Host Lions Club, and many others. Mr. Kawczynski will devote his time as required to the business of our Company.
Robert Philips has been Vice President of Marketing for our Company since April, 1999. Since 1996, he has also been a Communications Engineer for NEC Electronics, Inc. From 1995 to 1996, he was Vice President of Engineering and Marketing for GIK Technology and from 1991 to 1995, he was Vice President of Marketing for Mobile Link Solutions, Inc. He has been a founding executive for numerous Silicon Valley start up firms with responsibilities varying from development of business plans, proposals, collateral materials, advertising and public relations. Mr. Philips has a technical background in hardware, software, and network technology that provides insight to high-technology products. He holds a B.S. Degree in Physics, a B.S. Degree in Philosophy, an MBA Degree in Marketing and an MBA Degree-Extended Edition in High Technology Management. Mr. Philips will devote his time as required to the business of our Company.
Paul Kraus has been a Director and Secretary of our Company since April, 1999. He is a licensed California architect and founder of the Design Partnership in San Francisco, California. He was also founder and principal of Investpac Inc., a company which developed real estate during the 1980's. From 1992 to the present, he has been the President/CEO of Goodco Press Inc., a lithographic company located in Silicon Valley. Mr. Kraus will devote his time as required to the business of our Company.
Does this remind anyone else of Homer Simpson starting the ISP because "Everyone is making money off the internet except me"?
On a semi-serious note: two things could happen if the SEC actually lets these guys offer stock.
1) Nobody buys it, the IPO tanks, and Wall Street has a slightly lower opinion of upcoming IPOs like VA and LinuxCare.
2) Morons (see: mutual fund managers) buy a ton of LinuxOne stock, remembering the word "Linux" from a Red Hat press release and noticing the three digit share price next to RHAT. In three months when the earnings report is released with the entries "Income: Allowance $20 / Expenses: Kegger $4,329", the stock plummets. At that point, the Wall Street hive mind concludes "Huh, that Linux fad sure ended quickly". After that, VA or LinuxCare might not be able to get together ANY sort of IPO.
Open question to anyone with a background in finance: Are there any rules about what companies can and can't be publicly traded? Is it one of those capitalist "let the market decide" kind of deals?
Will LinuxOne be sending out "The Letter II"?
-Barry