Mandriva team is at the moment in a very bad situation.
No real strategy and no decision for a while now, even if CEOs have changed several times these last months. Hervé Yahi, end of 2008 (now CS0), Stanislas Bois (was CFO before), then now Arnaud Laprévote.
Just want to recall that Mandriva is having financial problems for years. On January 13, 2003, the company management has declared a cessation of payments, which meant it was no longer able to meet its liabilities with available assets. After an observation period of several months a reorganization plan was decided by the Commercial Court and a court agent called « Commissioner for implementing the plan » has been nominated for ensuring that the time schedule of debts and improving the situation of the company is proceeding according to what had been arrested by the court. The plan is there to repay creditors and exit this situation. If the plan is executed smoothly, previous debts (the plan) will be completely cleared (and there are some deadlines to be set) and the company will leave definitely this process of insolvency. It will then continue its normal life. Management of Mandriva will have to find a way of managing more effectively than in the past to avoid repeating the problems. However, if the company fails to meet deadlines of the plan, the management of Mandriva will then re-declare the cessation of payments. The judge will then end the reorganization plan process and will open by the same one a bankrupt process, under Article L. 631-20-1 of the Commercial Code. This means stopping the activity of Mandriva, the immediate repayment of debt and termination of employees within 15 days for economic reasons … unless the continuation of the activity is decided to consider the sale of company to a third party, by adopting a transfer plan. In this case, the transfer of undertaking is not limited to any transfer of assets: it includes commitments to maintain employment (Article L. 642-1 para. 1 of the Commercial Code) and goes with the assignment of contracts needed to sustain the activity.
While he was mandated by the main shareholder Occam Capital (and its representative Marc Goldberg, President of the Board of Mandriva), Herve Yahi was looking for potential buyers, unsuccessfully it seems. However in November 2009, the iEurope company (idoo portal) proposed a plan but no action had been given by Mandriva.
A recent « leak » (although I don’tknow if it really was unintentional or not, because it can be a way to get interest of potential buyers) of a report of the Board of Mandriva has publicly revealed that discussions were underway between the direction of the company and two companies: Lightapp and Linagora.
I have had no information on the draft Lightapp by Arnaud Laprévote, so I can not comment this project. Regarding Linagora the interest shown by Alexander Zapolsky for Mandriva is not new, a first attempt failed in 2007.
These last days, the projects have emerged and tensions were very high among employees of Mandriva.
The ghost of a foundation is back on center stage with Wallix (with apparently participation of François Bancilhon and Stanislas Bois in a way that I do not know yet), but if this project was presented to Mandriva, nothing has been done towards the community and again, Arnaud Laprévote did not want to say anything. However, this project seemed very badly put together, including that little should be done regarding social part and business part does not show any modification. Employees reactions have been very mixed (it is a euphemism …).
IEurope also came back to the front of the stage, offering to surrender nearly one and half million euros, but before declaration of insolvency (thus cutting off the foot for a possible takeover) with support rather unexpected of Occam Capital! But again, my little finger told me that the employees were quite reluctant to accept this solution that does not seem to maintain at least the medium term interests of the group’s employees adequately, and the philosophy of Mandriva Linux.
Confidences I have had, these projects did not inspire much confidence.
Remaingin Linagora. I’ll talk to you today because Alexander Zapolsky was the only one to propose a conference of more than one hour of very interesting exchanges. This is a proof if it was needed that this completely artificial omerta maintained by Arnaud Laprévote on the situation allows him only to avoid answering questions that anger and that’s the impression we had Oliver and me as a result of interviews he has given us.
About the project Linagora, I said that the few lines I will outline are only wide guidelines and that the final project including the social and rehabilitation of the business have not been presented, for obvious confidentiality reasons and also to avoid a stupid escalation before the Commercial Court on the question of what the project would be the best economic and social plan.
Linagora is a company known in the open source software world where profits are more important than Mandriva, althoug, I agree, main activity is not the same. For Alexander Zapolsky, Mandriva must go back as one of hte first Linux distribution and get back its image erased by years of poor management and competition filled the room left by Mandriva. His project follows two axes: Community and business.
Regarding the community, Alexander Zapolsky would like to go back to the fundamentals of the philosophy of free software and offer a « free free » in his words: open source software and free. The commercial products such as Flash or Powerpack are « supposed » to disappear because of too low profits and proprietary software packages asking for license fees (like DVD player) would be available on an online store. On this last point, Oliver and I are speaking with Alexander Zapolsky as we disagree. We believe that these products deserve to be kept with some important modifications, particularly to allow Mrs Michu to have a computer that works « out of the box » (PWP) or maintain a technological product that is sold little because few highlighted (Flash).
The aim of Alexander Zapolsky is for him to simplify the Mandriva offer (which is a good thing) and make more reliable products focusing even more on integration. The main lines of the distribution will still be proposed by the community and led by the company and because of that, he wants to give more importance to Cooker to promote development around the distribution.
In business part of his plan, Alexander Zapolsky wishes melt some of its products as those with OBM or LinID Mandriva (Pulse, etc..), as they are complementary and could therefore be renamed to reveal the fusion of the two entities. The advantage of having a distribution in its area of expertise can offer a complete offer to customers of « Mandragora » (this is not a final name but one to be used in discussion), all vertical from distribution to the application. Quality of products developped by Mandriva is seen as standards compliant and Alexander Zapolsky wanted to keep the Brazilian part of Mandriva, which is definitely a strong point of this project further.
In our case, Olivier and I have heard a lot about the proposed projects, disagreement and tension of employees and employees representatives of Mandriva are very strong. As it stands, Alexander Zapolsky proposed the best project on social aspects and development aspects of the company, which will have to be of course confirmed in final draft to be submitted at the commercial court if option of a business transfer is possible. The others just wanted to use clearly Mandriva as a springboard to promote something else (enter the free market in particular) and the social aspect was sometimes nonexistent according to our sources. Mandriva is today more than fifty employees, both in France and Brazil and their future is capital.
Future is far to be decided. Will the actual management team declare the termination payments? While this seemed acquired these days, it has clearly not been done. The future of the employees seems to play no part inside, and angry is growing internally. The community is, too, listening and solution that does not adequately preserve its commitment to the distribution could cause a visceral reaction and lead to a fork to empty the company of its substance and fork Mandriva Linux.
Thanks for sharing these insights with us. From the sound of it Linagora’s plan seems mostly reasonable so I hope things will work out with Linagora and the Mandriva employees keep their jobs.
As a long-time Mandriva user and Linux advocate I want Mandriva to survive as no other distro offers the same refinement combined with bleading-edge software packages.
Commentaire par tux — 14 juin 2010 @ 22 h 32 min
[...] Ce billet était mentionné sur Twitter par . a dit: [...]
Ping par Les tweets qui mentionnent http://olivier-mejean.fr/WordPress/?p=87utm_sourcepingback -- Topsy.com — 15 juin 2010 @ 9 h 39 min
……. Google is going to have a « Free » bleeding edge OS before the end of the summer, the metaphor of what an OS is has changed rapidly to mean that your apps and info are mostly in the cloud…..continuing on path of releasing a « Free » distor that is becoming irrelevant for me is not a strategy for success and certainly is not the great shift that is needed to change the path of Mandriva or open source….. Google is competing in the Open Source OS space and for Mandriva to be successful they will need to have a strategy that embraces they belief that they can compete with and win users and revenue from Google and the rest…..
Commentaire par bruce wayne — 15 juin 2010 @ 9 h 44 min
Thanks for the information.
Commentaire par drakedalfa — 15 juin 2010 @ 16 h 57 min
My biggest issue is the fact that Ubuntu have mainly expertise in Debian/Ubuntu based distribution. This means that during a certain period they will have to deal with 2 kinds of distributions.
However it’s true that the Edget-IT part of Mandriva will find a good place with Linagora, and if Linagora is committed to the Mandriva distribution, this could be a good thing.
Another player that I would like to see is Bull. For me Bull could have been a good candidate to buy Mandriva.
Commentaire par FACORAT Fabrice — 15 juin 2010 @ 17 h 23 min
[...] [...]
Ping par Anonyme — 15 juin 2010 @ 18 h 04 min
Seriously, Mandragora ? Where do you come up with these names ? Either keep lingora, or at least use a dictionary word like say, « mango » ?
I have often commented in mandriva forums that they should focus on ONE desktop – preferably KDE. STOP supporting ALL desktops – you do not have resources. Let the other desktops be supported by the community as an add on.
Both fedora and ubuntu have always supported gnome ( and they have a lot of funding) and KDE is mostly a community project they include at the end. You cannot compete with ubuntu on gnome so make it a KDE distro.
Make the distro compact, solid and well integrated – reduce number of packages included. Offer updated packages of KDE as it is released – preferably, make the distribution a rolling release.
It is sad that mandriva cannot get customers even in france…
Commentaire par vasu muppalla — 15 juin 2010 @ 18 h 56 min
I have never understood Mandriva. It there a future? Frankly, none. Pardus is the best enduser KDE distro… But without software and a limited hardware support, Pardus serves approximately nothing. Just the counterpart of Mandriva. Ideally, Mandriva should stop develop his RPM – Gnome distro version, joins Pardus project (that brings an integrated KDE that Mandriva has never been able to supply) adding a commercial support and a large software library.
Commentaire par FabriceV — 15 juin 2010 @ 19 h 21 min
Bruce Wayne: you seem to be reasoning a long way in advance of reality, there. Sure, Chrome OS exists. Who runs it? No-one. How many real people today have all their apps and data ‘in the cloud’? Very few.
Commentaire par Adam Williamson — 15 juin 2010 @ 20 h 39 min
« The future of the employees seems to play no part inside, and angry is growing internally. »
Someone should hire the developers and fork the distribution !
Don’t talk to the CEO and make an offer to the developers on the cooker development mailing list ?
Commentaire par Someone Someone — 15 juin 2010 @ 22 h 13 min
vasu muppalla , Mandragora is a real plant http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandragora_officinarum
Commentaire par katnatek — 16 juin 2010 @ 0 h 33 min
No es nuevo los problemas económicos de Mandriva. Confío en una muy buena, excelente y conveniente solución, ya que se trata del futuro del software libre, el cual debe ser prioridad en la solución que se le dé a Mandriva. Por su puesto, por el bien de todos, que sea pronto. Que viva gnu/linux!!! Que viva Mandriva!!!
Commentaire par Mauricio — 16 juin 2010 @ 1 h 55 min
I don’t understand why, Mandriva Linux, a very accessible and friendly distribution, can be in this situation… I don’t really understand it.
Commentaire par Luis — 16 juin 2010 @ 3 h 22 min
Mandriva administration must acquire a new direction in the hands of an investor.
Linaroga is a good alternative and should respect the community of Mandriva.
We as a community we must lead the way and « Linaroga » manage the course.
Welcome to a new time, a new era and a new distribution of Linux but with the spirit of Mandriva and its community.
Commentaire par Ale. Q — 16 juin 2010 @ 3 h 45 min
[...] Cuif, que lleva años trabajando en el desarrollo de Mandriva, ha escrito un post en su blog personal titulado “Mandriva en la tormenta” en el que desvela algunos [...]
Ping par Mandriva en la tormenta: un futuro complejo para esta distro | MuyLinux — 16 juin 2010 @ 9 h 16 min
[...] sta facendo Mandriva? Se lo stanno chiedendo un po’ tutti, e da qualche giorno un post di Olivier Menjean in cui si parla del fantasma di una fondazione ha rianimato la [...]
Ping par Mandriva, che succede? | bruno trani dot info — 16 juin 2010 @ 9 h 21 min
[...] sta facendo Mandriva? Se lo stanno chiedendo un po’ tutti, e da qualche giorno un post di Olivier Menjean in cui si parla del fantasma di una fondazione ha rianimato la [...]
Ping par Mandriva, che succede? | Giovanni Raco — 16 juin 2010 @ 10 h 48 min
[...] sta facendo Mandriva? Se lo stanno chiedendo un po’ tutti, e da qualche giorno un post di Olivier Menjean in cui si parla del fantasma di una fondazione ha rianimato la [...]
Ping par » Mandriva, che succede? — 16 juin 2010 @ 11 h 01 min
Someone still use Mandriva yet ? lolz
Commentaire par Huoer — 16 juin 2010 @ 13 h 31 min
And how exactly Linagora (or others) plan to make money with the Mandriva distribution ?
I think this is the main point, if you do not make money with it the distribution (has a commercial
product) cannot exists ?
Of course, Linagora can have an answer to this question, is a relatively large company with
a solid business in France; i would be curious to know the answer …
Commentaire par Maurizio De Cecco — 16 juin 2010 @ 14 h 06 min
Well the ideas that linagora proposes are very nice and could certainly help Mandriva on the long term but changing AGAIN it’s name, and to MANDRAGORA ?? WTF is that ? I mean, there’s nothing wrong with that name per se, but it would be a very bad decision for Mandriva as a distro. Please remember the marketing fiasco it was when we changed from Mandrake to Mandriva, the distro lost a lot their reputation and it was almost as if it was a new distro starting from scratch. I still have to explain to people what is Mandriva, they’re all like « Mandriva linux? I have never heard of it » until I explain it was known before as Mandrake and they would say « ahh Mandrake, I know that one, it WAS a very good distro !! »
Please don’t make this mistake again, let the name of Mandriva continue to be known and don-t throw up the border all this years of making a reputation again.
Commentaire par juancho — 16 juin 2010 @ 18 h 14 min
Ok here you go, I am going to save you twenty year
Commentaire par helvetica font — 16 juin 2010 @ 19 h 31 min
[...] фрaнкoязычных пoльзoвaтeлeй Mandriva Фрeдeрик Кюиф ( Frédéric Cuif ) oпубликoвaл в cвoём блoгe зaмeтку c рaзбoрoм тeкущeй cитуaции и пeрcпeктив [...]
Ping par Состояние проекта Mandriva вызывает опасение у представителя сообщества | ManNix.ru — 17 juin 2010 @ 5 h 50 min
First, sorry for my English. And I’d like to add that I’ve not said that Linagora « will » resume the society. It’s just a possiblility, but there is other plans : Wallix with Jean-Noël De Galzin who is very quiet in those days, and Idoo portail (IEurope) with Occam Capital. What contain those plans for Mandriva ? Nobody knows, and that’s why I’m worried. But if the cessation of payments is not declared to the commercial court, it probably means that another solution have been chosen (Will Occam let down Mandriva so easily… mhh, I have a doubt) – see my french post for better understanding.
Commentaire par Frédéric Cuif — 17 juin 2010 @ 9 h 20 min
[...] Cuif, que lleva años trabajando en el desarrollo de Mandriva, ha escrito un post en su blog personal titulado “Mandriva en la tormenta” en el que desvela algunos detalles que [...]
Ping par Mandriva en la tormenta: un futuro complejo para esta distro « Red-Orbita — 17 juin 2010 @ 20 h 15 min
[...] | DrakeDalfa Sitio oficial | Oliver Mejean Enlace | Mandriva, Linagora, [...]
Ping par BlogMicael » La crítica situación económica de Mandriva puede llevarla a una venta — 18 juin 2010 @ 11 h 04 min
[...] | DrakeDalfa Sitio oficial | Oliver Mejean Enlace | Mandriva, Linagora, [...]
Ping par La crítica situación económica de Mandriva puede llevarla a una venta | Ultimos Avances — 18 juin 2010 @ 11 h 23 min
[...] | DrakeDalfa Sitio oficial | Oliver Mejean Enlace | Mandriva, Linagora, [...]
Ping par La crítica situación económica de Mandriva puede llevarla a una venta — 18 juin 2010 @ 11 h 32 min
[...] Nad budoucností společnosti Mandriva i systému Mandriva Linux visí již více než měsíc mračno otazníků. Probíhají jednání o spojení s firmou Linagora (spekuluje se o novém názvu Mandragora), [...]
Ping par | MandrivaLinux.cz — 18 juin 2010 @ 13 h 15 min
[...] | DrakeDalfa Sitio oficial | Oliver Mejean Enlace | Mandriva, Linagora, [...]
Ping par Surunga » La crítica situación económica de Mandriva puede llevarla a una venta — 18 juin 2010 @ 14 h 14 min
[...] | DrakeDalfa Sitio oficial | Oliver Mejean Enlace | Mandriva, Linagora, [...]
Ping par La crítica situación económica de Mandriva puede llevarla a una venta | La guarida del friki — 18 juin 2010 @ 20 h 00 min
[...] | DrakeDalfa Sitio oficial | Oliver Mejean Enlace | Mandriva, Linagora, [...]
Ping par La crítica situación económica de Mandriva puede llevarla a una venta | Mi porno geek blog — 18 juin 2010 @ 22 h 00 min
[...] DrakeDalfa Sitio oficial: Oliver Mejean Enlace: Mandriva, Linagora, [...]
Ping par Mandriva sufre crítica situación económica | Maya Digital — 18 juin 2010 @ 22 h 45 min
[...] he podido leer en varias noticias, pero más directamente en este enlace (en inglés), a Mandriva le quedan dos telediarios (uno de ellos va por los deportes) para [...]
Ping par ¿Mandriva al guano? | Shadow Security — 19 juin 2010 @ 12 h 39 min
[...] | DrakeDalfa Sitio oficial | Oliver Mejean Enlace | Mandriva, Linagora, Lightapp Ver perfil de Josue Fuentes'sSuscribete via RSSTagsLa [...]
Ping par La crítica situación económica de Mandriva puede llevarla a una venta | Somos data para TI!... — 20 juin 2010 @ 0 h 08 min
[...] (ex)empleado de Mandriva comenta en su blog en un inglés muy rebuscado (afortundamante NoticiasDrake tiene una muy buena traducción a nuestro [...]
Ping par ¿Linagora salvara a Mandriva? - C-1/3/4/8/4/ — 21 juin 2010 @ 0 h 46 min
Incredible story
Commentaire par weihnachtsmann mieten — 21 juin 2010 @ 4 h 02 min
Suggestion: Novell acquired the company Mandriva.
http://forums.opensuse.org/get-help-here/looking-something-other-than-support/440771-suggestion-novell-acquired-company-mandriva.html
Commentaire par Genix Info — 22 juin 2010 @ 5 h 01 min
[...] [...]
Ping par Mandriva Linux en la tormenta - Foros de CHW — 22 juin 2010 @ 14 h 57 min
[...] | DrakeDalfa Sitio oficial | Oliver Mejean Enlace | Mandriva, Linagora, [...]
Ping par La crítica situación económica de Mandriva puede llevarla a una venta | TengoTecno.com — 25 juin 2010 @ 3 h 08 min
[...] Tormenta en Mandriva… ¿salvada por inversionistas? [...]
Ping par danitxu.com » Techfreedom Berriak 20100614+14 — 27 juin 2010 @ 23 h 21 min
[...] my article of june 14, 2010 entitled Mandriva in the Storm, I mentioned the failure of successive directions of Mandriva to face the challenges of the future [...]
Ping par Divorce is consummated « Un avis sur tout ! — 6 septembre 2010 @ 12 h 18 min