Darkelve Posted January 22, 2004 Report Share Posted January 22, 2004 " During an inteview with NewsForge at LinuxWorld, MandrakeSoft CEO Francois Bancilhon said the company is releasing financial results today that show a profit. "Now, he said, "we can move to the next step, which is to grow it." He expects MandrakeSoft to emerge from the French equivalent of Chapter 11 as early as March, but notes that under French law, "this can take some time," so he cannot be certain of exactly when MandrakeSoft will have the cloud of bankruptcy lifted from its corporate head ..." http://www.newsforge.com/business/04/01/22...2&tid=82&tid=94 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest anon Posted January 22, 2004 Report Share Posted January 22, 2004 http://www.mandrakesoft.com/company/invest...letter/sn040123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyme Posted January 22, 2004 Report Share Posted January 22, 2004 Sweet Buttah! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramfree17 Posted January 22, 2004 Report Share Posted January 22, 2004 i hope that if they will grow then they get civileme and the rest of the laid-off crews back. ciao! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Counterspy Posted January 23, 2004 Report Share Posted January 23, 2004 (edited) And only the "Club" members get the new iso's for 9.2. Really smart to keep the 3-4 million others satisfied. I don't remember new iso's being needed for 9.1. Counterspy Edited January 23, 2004 by Counterspy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ac_dispatcher Posted January 23, 2004 Report Share Posted January 23, 2004 Did you catch the new "cycle" :deal: I always thought that they needed a longer cycle. Looks like I got my wish. Also looks like I may have to move away from kde... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero0w Posted January 23, 2004 Report Share Posted January 23, 2004 I think it's time to get Linux on Desktop, and MandrakeSoft should incorporate some of the features such as Robert Love's HAL and udev for desktop usability enhancement: See ArsTechnica's interview with Robert Love* : http://arstechnica.com/news/posts/1074752900.html * Robert Love is the author of the pre-emptive kernel patch, which is crucial to reducing latency - good for audio production and synchronization - among others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyme Posted January 23, 2004 Report Share Posted January 23, 2004 And only the "Club" members get the new iso's for 9.2. Really smart to keep the 3-4 million others satisfied. I don't remember new iso's being needed for 9.1. Counterspy For the love of...... Club members are given perks because THEY PAY, if you want the perks, THEN PAY. But please, STOP WHINING about the perks that are given to club members. I believe this is called a business model. Last time I checked Mandrake _WAS_ a for-profit company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ixthusdan Posted January 23, 2004 Report Share Posted January 23, 2004 Not that I am in favor of whining----- B) I think that Counterspy's point is not so much the business model, as it is that the original iso's released were a little "gamey" on this go round. So, while supporting a profitable model is a sound idea, releasing known flaws publically and then only releasing the "correct" iso's to payers is also a poor idea. It would have been better to either charge everyone and not make a public release, or if you do make a public release, then release the repaired iso to the public as well. If I make signs that are misspelled, but give them away for free, and then tell people who like their signs spelled correctly to "pay up" for the good stuff, I am going to lose customers, not gain customers. (I am also a bit of an arse for leading people on like that!) Once again, the profit business model is not the problem, but it is the utter lack of concern that Mandrake has for their customers and, in turn, their potential customers. They have survived on the generosity of the linux community, which speaks well of the linux community. Now, they need to make it on a good business plan, which includes customer service. I think they are trying. But are they listening? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyme Posted January 23, 2004 Report Share Posted January 23, 2004 it's my understanding that the ISO's are simply the original 9.2 with all current updates, which one can easily get from the update mirrors anyways. These aren't flaws that can't be fixed by other users simply by updating their 9.2 install. Customer Service is something given to paying customers, in a profitable business model. Whether or not Mandrake Club is a good customer service is not the current arguement, it's simply that the option is there and being irrate that you not paying to get that customer service disqaulifies you from it's perks is a bit...hm...well, just not right in my mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ixthusdan Posted January 23, 2004 Report Share Posted January 23, 2004 Customer Service is something given to paying customers, in a profitable business model. Whether or not Mandrake Club is a good customer service is not the current arguement, it's simply that the option is there and being irrate that you not paying to get that customer service disqaulifies you from it's perks is a bit...hm...well, just not right in my mind. Actually, good business starts with customer service, and customer service takes care of not only real customers (those that pay) but it also serves a role in marketing, in that it takes care of future customers. I certainly agree that what you are describing seems to be the Mandrake attitude toward the public. I am saying that that model is more akin to shoddy business practices rather than good business practices. It is a moot point because Mandrake will do whatever they want. I don't think their vision is based on a broad customer base so much as it is based on a "club" or "closed group" concept. I paid Mandrake a while back to get the distro. When I asked for the service that was promised in the literature in the box, I did not receive it. If my story were an exception, then I would be whining. ( Maybe I am anyway :P ) But I have heard too many other people from all over the world who have had similar experiences. The "club" will not solve this problem. We, here at this board, have done more to solve this than Mandrake. Mandrake needs to solve this, and they don't even think it is a problem, because they view the donations of a well-meaning user community as support for the absence of customer service! Now, there is no one that I know who is a club member who really thinks that, but Mandrake does! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyme Posted January 23, 2004 Report Share Posted January 23, 2004 IMHO, people who should receive customer service are: those in the mandrake club, those who have bought a boxed product, or those who downloaded the ISO's but are willing to pay some sort of fee for said customer service. IMHO, any who wants customer service for free should screw off ;) (or come here!) I'm not saying Mandrake does any of that, I'm just stating my stand point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ixthusdan Posted January 23, 2004 Report Share Posted January 23, 2004 IMHO, people who should receive customer service are: those in the mandrake club, those who have bought a boxed product, or those who downloaded the ISO's but are willing to pay some sort of fee for said customer service. I think we can agree on this point! B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sitor Posted January 23, 2004 Report Share Posted January 23, 2004 IMHO I think Mandrake does a great job creating the best distro for newbies (and I call tell, I'm one myself). I've been on the Club for half a year now, and I did not regret it. This board is much more fun then the Club and I find and get answer much more frequently here then at the Club, but the RPM downloads I can do there makes it worthwhile for me. Let them first make sure they survive, and then fix problems like better support. Better a good distro with lousy support then good support now, but no distro anymore in the future. At least that is how I feel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkelve Posted January 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2004 Let them first make sure they survive, and then fix problems like better support. Better a good distro with lousy support then good support now, but no distro anymore in the future. Ermm... good customer service is almost always essential for survival, especially in an Open Source environment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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