Xandros bandied my name around as their "consultant" while setting up this deal. Please be advised, I have nothing to do with them. Although I verbaly agreed to advise them more than a year ago, nothing exists on paper and their behavior since then does not merit my continued involvement. Linux Global Partners, their parent, reneged on signed term sheets with a number of Linux companies in March. Just before announcing the Xandros deal, LGP was in talks with Progeny, got a very good look at Progeny's business plan, and then said "no thanks". In retrospect, it's clear that they simply wanted a look at the business plan.
I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them.
Nice try, but it's the real Bruce, note the low ID number. E-mail me if you want to verify.
Bruce, I'm sure it's you, but I am not sure that the level of venom in your original post is seemly for a person in your position. You could have just presented what you perceive as the facts and let people draw their own conclusions.
Although I verbaly agreed to advise them more than a year ago, nothing exists on paper...
A verbal agreement is no less an agreement than a paper agreement. Paper and signatures are simply evidence of an agreement, not the agreement itself. That was one of the points you made, another had to do with term sheets. Are you sure that the term sheets had no provision for adverse market conditions? It is typical that they do.
Finally, you suggested that Xandro's investor, LGP, entered into negotiations with Genome simply to discover their business plan. I find that something of a stretch, really I do.
I am completely impartial in this, though I admit I want to believe in Xandros. My impression of their intent is that they want to put out a "Corel but done right" distribution, correcting Corel's mistake where some parts of the distribution were closed source.
Personally , I believe there is room for a Debian-based KDE-oriented commercially supported distribution and I am relieved to see someone stepping in to fill the market position so recently vacated by Storm Linux. I do not believe that Xandros simply imitating of Genome.
Well, think of the last time I showed this much venom: LinuxOne. This is not so much of a fly-by-night as LinuxOne was, but I am sensing a lack of integrity. That tends to raise my hackles, especially when I am (albeit peripheraly) involved.
I last spoke with LGP in March, when Linas Vespas and the GNOMoney folks, Heimdall Linux, and a few other companies were all talking about bringing suit against LGP. I told LGP that they were blowing their reputation. That was our last communication. It's clear that they just abandoned their other companies (except for Ximian) in order to pursue the Corel opportunity. I don't have any of their secrets, and would not be revealing them if I had any, but I am under no other obligation to them now.
My primary goal here is that folks in the community don't get hurt in dealing with them.
I can understand not wanting your name on something. After all it is the much impostered "Bruce Perens_" name. But...
My primary goal here is that folks in the community don't get hurt in dealing with them.
...is something that is unwarranted by the evidence thus far presented, and shows a lack of faith in the GPL they are putting their code under (IMHO). So their VC's didn't support some company after reviewing the buisness plan? Having worked with many startups I'm sure that is not uncommon.
I have this book on computer security, I forget the title, that says that verifying identity requires a trusted third party. I suppose/. counts, except that it's not the most secure site in the world. Even if that were not true, all you've established is that you asserted you were Bruce Perens a long time ago. What evidence do we have that the assertion was validated then? It certainly hasn't been validated since.
Need I go into the difficulty of validating your identity via email?
Schoolman Thrumbart
Coordinator-in-Exile
People's Republic of Sealand
> verifying identity requires a trusted third party. I suppose/. counts, except that it's not the most secure site in the world. Even if that were not true, all you've established is that you asserted you were Bruce Perens a long time ago.
He's also established a posting history, which you can see is consistent with the views attributed to Bruce Perens in other media, including other people's reports of talking to him.
Possibilities include:
i) He's the real Bruce Perens.
ii) He's not the real Bruce Perens, but the real Bruce is either unaware someone else is using his name or doesn't mind, and the imposter is convincing enough that no-one who knows the real Bruce has ever realized and posted a comment about it.
iii) There is no real Bruce Perens, he's an android controlled by RMS, and the whole Open Source movement is just a cunning plot by the FSF to get free software accepted by more people, which will be discarded once they take over the world.
Occam's Razor suggests he's the real Bruce Perens.
IMHO (based on news, webclippings, etc), Xandros and Progeny have nothing in common.
Xandros is a desktop focused Linux distribution.
Progeny is network solution focused Linux company.
Xandros's customers are end users.
Progeny's customers are back offices and IT departments.
It seems like Xandros and Progeny make better partners than competitors and it seems clear that neither one's business plan would offer strategic advantages to the other. IMHO.
Watch out for these folks (Score:5, Interesting)
I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them.
Bruce
Re:Watch out for these folks (Score:2)
Re:Watch out for these folks (Score:2)
Bruce
Too much venom (Score:2)
Bruce, I'm sure it's you, but I am not sure that the level of venom in your original post is seemly for a person in your position. You could have just presented what you perceive as the facts and let people draw their own conclusions.
Although I verbaly agreed to advise them more than a year ago, nothing exists on paper...
A verbal agreement is no less an agreement than a paper agreement. Paper and signatures are simply evidence of an agreement, not the agreement itself. That was one of the points you made, another had to do with term sheets. Are you sure that the term sheets had no provision for adverse market conditions? It is typical that they do. Finally, you suggested that Xandro's investor, LGP, entered into negotiations with Genome simply to discover their business plan. I find that something of a stretch, really I do.
I am completely impartial in this, though I admit I want to believe in Xandros. My impression of their intent is that they want to put out a "Corel but done right" distribution, correcting Corel's mistake where some parts of the distribution were closed source. Personally , I believe there is room for a Debian-based KDE-oriented commercially supported distribution and I am relieved to see someone stepping in to fill the market position so recently vacated by Storm Linux. I do not believe that Xandros simply imitating of Genome.
Re:Too much venom (Score:2)
I last spoke with LGP in March, when Linas Vespas and the GNOMoney folks, Heimdall Linux, and a few other companies were all talking about bringing suit against LGP. I told LGP that they were blowing their reputation. That was our last communication. It's clear that they just abandoned their other companies (except for Ximian) in order to pursue the Corel opportunity. I don't have any of their secrets, and would not be revealing them if I had any, but I am under no other obligation to them now.
My primary goal here is that folks in the community don't get hurt in dealing with them.
Thanks
Bruce
Re:Too much venom (Score:2)
I can understand not wanting your name on something. After all it is the much impostered "Bruce Perens_" name. But...
My primary goal here is that folks in the community don't get hurt in dealing with them.
...is something that is unwarranted by the evidence thus far presented, and shows a lack of faith in the GPL they are putting their code under (IMHO). So their VC's didn't support some company after reviewing the buisness plan? Having worked with many startups I'm sure that is not uncommon.
IS LGP THE SAME AS XANDROS (Score:1)
Do you also have a problem with Linas and the Gnu-Cash project.
Should I throw away Gnome because they took LGP Money?
Or Linux for that matter?
Money is green.
Verifying Bruce (Score:2)
Need I go into the difficulty of validating your identity via email?
Schoolman Thrumbart
Coordinator-in-Exile
People's Republic of Sealand
Re:Verifying Bruce (Score:1)
He's also established a posting history, which you can see is consistent with the views attributed to Bruce Perens in other media, including other people's reports of talking to him.
Possibilities include:
i) He's the real Bruce Perens.
ii) He's not the real Bruce Perens, but the real Bruce is either unaware someone else is using his name or doesn't mind, and the imposter is convincing enough that no-one who knows the real Bruce has ever realized and posted a comment about it.
iii) There is no real Bruce Perens, he's an android controlled by RMS, and the whole Open Source movement is just a cunning plot by the FSF to get free software accepted by more people, which will be discarded once they take over the world.
Occam's Razor suggests he's the real Bruce Perens.
Re:Watch out for these folks (Score:1)
Re:Watch out for these folks (Score:1)
Re:Watch out for these folks (Score:1)
I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them.
Well with your bad knee Bruce, you shouldn't throw anybody.
Re:Watch out for these folks (Score:1)
Re:Watch out for these folks (Score:1)
Xandros is a desktop focused Linux distribution.
Progeny is network solution focused Linux company.
Xandros's customers are end users.
Progeny's customers are back offices and IT departments.
It seems like Xandros and Progeny make better partners than competitors and it seems clear that neither one's business plan would offer strategic advantages to the other. IMHO.