IT Professionals

Enterprise Users Will Likely Drive Vista Growth While Mandriva Throws A Fit

Posted by on Nov 1, 2007 | 4 Comments

I still am not a Vista man myself, but I will admit that learning of Vista’s spike in adoption is not a real shock, either. Most of the enterprise world is running in a Microsoft shop. And Microsoft is deadly serious about making sure that adoption goes as smoothly as possible I am sure.

Then we have a Microsoft move on another front. So did Microsoft offer a last minute deal that perhaps offered a pot sweetened by other offerings as well? Considering the fact that MS has had inner-workings in Nigeria for sometime now, it would not be all that shocking. Yes, I think that it stinks that Mandriva did not get the contract. And yes, it was pretty suspicious how MS managed to get this switched out of nowhere. Then to add insult to injury, Mandriva gets paid regardless – how is that for showing off? But what really turned me off is the whining by their CEO. I mean wow, give me a break! I felt for the guy until I read his rant and now I think that Mandriva has bigger issues outside of just getting duped out of major business deals.

Again, I will give it up to Microsoft for being able to ‘sleeze the deal’ at the last minute, but I also would have liked to have seen the CEO of Mandriva put on his ‘big boy pants’ and take the situation like an adult. Good thing I am not a Mandriva user I guess. If I was looking to do a major deal with a Linux vendor, it would certainly not be with the company led by someone who whines to the public when another competing company out maneuvers them, regardless of how suspicious the timing may have been.

[tags]whining, growing up, shady business deals[/tags]

  • Caraibes

    I don’t agree. I think it was a good thing Mandriva’s CEO went public with the matter. I might not be a big fan of his choice of words, but overall, I believe he did the right thing.
    It is just another image of cynicism… Too bad for the people of Nigeria.

  • Coopster

    Wow, I’d hate to go so far as to call someone a Microsoft fanboy, but… Come on, let me throw you a quote from _your_ incessant whining: “Yes, I think that it stinks that Mandriva did not get the contract. And yes, it was pretty suspicious how MS managed to get this switched out of nowhere. Then to add insult to injury, Mandriva gets paid regardless – how is that for showing off?”

    Do you even pay the slightest bit of attention to the events that you rant and rave about? Considering 2/3 of what you wrote was about this event, I would have hoped so, but you’ve proved otherwise… I’ll agree, had Microsoft under-bid Mandriva at the last moment, it would be possibly sleazy, but Mandriva should have seen it coming.

    However, since you can’t be bothered to do something as horrible as ‘carefully read the letter that is the focus of the article’, let me explain what happened. Microsoft _did_ try to under-bid Mandriva at the last moment. Mandriva hints at some dirty tricks even at this stage, but I don’t know the specifics and I prefer not to invent fact when I’m uncertain of the details…. Anyhow, Nigeria did not like the offer that Microsoft put on the table. They _turned Microsoft down and went with the Mandriva bid_. The ‘whining’ from the Mandriva CEO is about how, seemingly out of nowhere, the Nigerian government decides to take the hardware they bought from Mandriva and retrofit each and every one of the machines with Windows.

    That’s the kicker: Mandriva didn’t get paid as an insult from Microsoft; Mandriva won the bid, closed the deal, shipped the machines, and _then_ the government that previously had decided that Mandriva was better suited for them does a 180 and decides to put Windows on the machines they bought from Mandriva even though it requires substantially more time and effort than going with Microsoft in the first place (not to mention how much more work it is than using the machines they bought and the software that was custom tailored to them.)

    Nigeria decides to not buy contract A because they think contract B is better for their people. They buy contract B. THEN, without any public deliberation or apparent motive, they _also_ buy contract A, and spend even more money making contract B’s hardware work with contract A’s software (on the order of 17,000 re-installations)… If that doesn’t scream “someone in Nigeria’s government got a hefty bribe,” then I don’t know what does.

    I fully expect you’ll delete this comment, typically folks like you don’t appreciate well thought out counter-arguments that point out flaws in your logic, and just remove the offending post. However, you and I both know it was said, so I encourage you to attempt to justify your mis-representation of the issues. We’ll see…

  • http://www.matthartley.com Matt Hartley

    Coopster:

    Mandriva ought to have taken it like adults, kept this to themselves and pursued legal remedies. Instead, they take the woeful approach and try to appeal to the public ear – now there’s the kind of professionals I’d love to deal with!

    You are welcome to even more wasted energy expressing your thoughts on this matter, that is entirely up to you. In the end, our positions will remain intact, so I see little point in it.

    Remember, reading up on the topic in question and agreeing with your position, are two completely different things.

    As for whining, might want to re-read your emotional plea above. I nearly shed a tear from the cheap jabs at me ‘not reading the original letter’. Give me a break…lol

  • Coopster

    Meh, it was something I was able to write in 5 mintues, I can assure you I haven’t wasted thought on it. My comments about not reading the letter stand on their own merit, anyone who understands the issue can see that you do not. As to having this be a productive conversation that changes someone’s opinion, I really could give a rats ass….

    Anyhow, hope you enjoyed how the Nigerian government nixed the deal as a matter of discouraging corruption. Really lends credit to your insight as a journ… heh, couldn’t even finish.