Space Menu Home Downloads Kiosk Newbie Area Documentation Knowledge Base E-Training Forum Blogs Chat RPM Farm Linux Events
HistoryHistory |


Rpmdrake and Mdkonline update

After our domain name migration in June, some Mandriva Linux systems need to have this package installed to get future updates. Details


Simple

Published by warly on Wednesday, March 22 2006 @ 07:27:04 CET

Before (before emacs), life was simple, businessmen didn't care about software, and we could peacefully hack, without bothering about complicated things. Then, after MS-DOS, everything was complex, nobody understood anything anymore, creating a piece of software was just the devil of a job, there were licenses, protections, business plans, schedules, really horrible things. Then, thanks to GNU and Linux, things got a little simpler again, and then it was just a question of coding and publishing everything on the Internet. But some companies decided to distribute free software, to build a business upon that, and that was the beginning of a big mess.

When I arrived at Mandriva, nealy 7 years ago, I thought that everything would be simple, that we'd just to create the distribution, put it on the Internet, people would give us money for that, and we would live forever in a world of harmony and peace.

But if the world was so simple, there would be no need for businessmen and consultants. We'd have to find something else for them to do.

In reality things are complicated even when you're distributing free software. There are schedules, production costs, deadlines, boxes to produce, markets, shares, partners, resellers, contracts, and product cannibalization (surely one of the most complicated things), and, above all, the feedback of our users, often including demands all of which we can't possibly meet at the same time.

And as I am not very interested by margins, revenues, turnover, return on investments, direct and indirect costs (if only the world didn't have so many calculators, we would not have to invent all those complicated things to give them something to do), I prefer listening to people who complain. When there are a lot of them, I say to myself that I must have done something bad, and when they are not so many, I tell myself maybe they didn't try the latest X.org version yet.

I am the 'release manager' for the Consumer product line at Mandriva since Mandrakelinux 7.0, a total of 13 distributions up to 2006. Currently, I am quite embarrassed because I feel a lot of criticism, but I do not really get why. Mandriva One is not so bad, the Mandriva Kiosk was created to satisfy users' requests, 2006 had some bugs, true, but I still think that it is a very good product. We are still working on the Free version and for the 2006 we even released a complete x86_64 Free version (for previous releases there was no Free x86-64 edition, or only a cut-down one disc version), and likely for the 2007 we will also release a Mandriva Free version based on Mandriva One. The Club December edition was quite good, and it seems you liked it, because you are more than 4000 users to have downloaded it, and we even released a DVD version at your request.

I do not participate a lot on the Club, that's true, but Adam is working really well, and he asked me my opinion quite often, and also report me everything that are bothering you, which is really a good thing. Now we are working on the 2007, and soon you will be able to test the first betas, and I will come to discuss with you about what you like and what you do not.

Nothing changes, everything is still simple, I still work for you, with all my team, this is our job, and we still defend the free software spirit, for a better world, and Mandriva will still be a distribution done for you and thanks to you.

 
Comments: 42 comments ...
 
 

RSS
Simple (en)
Creator: warly  Date: 2006/03/22 19:27
Last Author: Titpom  Date: 2006/10/16 03:41