Another Major Victim of Microsoft's Linux Deals? Linspire's CEO Abandons the Ship.
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2007-08-06 09:29:48 UTC
- Modified: 2007-08-06 10:00:38 UTC
After
selling us some of Microsoft's anti-Linux FUD and
getting totally betrayed by Microsoft, Kevin Caromy, CEO of Linspire,
decided to leave the company. Is Eric Raymond next?
Carmony also said his resignation, contrary to some rumors, had nothing to do with any disagreement with Linspire's primary owner Michael Robertson, or with fallout from either of Linspire's recent deals with Microsoft, which covered technology licensing and patent indemnification.
This sounds unlikely, but let us give him the benefit of the doubt.
Is it bad news for Linux as a whole?
Au contraire, one mighty argue. To repeat what
Groklaw stated about a month ago:
Mr. Carmony [of Linspire] asked a question, will Linux split in two factions? The answer is no. Some Linux distros will limp along a while and then die off, because they misunderstood what folks want when they choose GNU/Linux and FOSS. You can see that already. Red Hat, which refused to sign any such deal, is flourishing, for example. It’s not about code that “just works”. Apple offers that already. It’s the freedom. And we’ve proven willing to put up with some temporary frustration in order to get it. In time, FOSS will win, and all those proprietary codecs and everything else will be made available on pleasanter terms, because market share does that.
We feel sorry for Linux talent that grew inside Linspire and will probably face unpleasant consequences for months (maybe even years) to come. On several occasions
we tried to warn Kevin, but he
went for the money anyway.
When Linspire initially announced its deal with Microsoft, Christian Einfeldt, founder of Digital Tipping Point, let everyone know that Michael Robertson, founder of Linspire, probably would not have endorsed the deal. Christian once interviewed this man, whom I personally respect. Regardless of the direction Robertson and Linspire take, the distribution is stuck
because of licensing issues.
Let this show the world why deals with Microsoft are always a bad idea.
No. More. Deals.
Please.
Comments
GNU/Linux
2007-08-06 10:10:26
anonymous
2007-08-06 15:57:12
http://www.defectivebydesign.org/iPlayerProtest
Roy Schestowitz
2007-08-06 20:22:40
MattD
2007-08-07 20:37:34
This guy just finished wrapping up another money-making project for himself - which his personal history indicates as his only motive.
He did well for himself (again) and made it clear that users interested in freedom should stay clear of Linspire. It makes choosing a long-term dsitribution alot easier.
Felipe Alvarez
2007-08-09 06:30:24