In-planning Penguin Shell Volunteer program

I’ve very excited about the in-planning Penguin Shell volunteer project.
Apparently, you are too. I’ve received more than 100 emails from readers Suggestion”>organizations that might be in need of such skills. And, I’ve
seen some very interesting suggestions for this article on The Register, Apple has tacked a $100 annual fee on its
previously free mac.com email service. It’s also set the price for an OS 10.2
upgrade at $129.

I won’t question Apple’s decision too much. Instead, it really proves how
difficult things have become in the tech world in the past few years. Revenues,
by and large, are still decreasing from the pie-in-the-sky late 90s and early
2000. That’s left companies to scramble for new sources of income, some of which

were previously free. Even we at Lockergnome have felt the pinch in the past few

years. Never fear, though. Chris has assured us that the newsletters will remain

free. We have, however, begun to explore alternative income sources.

On a brighter note, it looks like Mandrake has found a sweet spot. According to their most
recent shareholder’s report, the third quarter was the strongest in the
company’s
history, with 1.6 million Euro (1.61 million US) in revenue. That doesn’t put
them in the black, though. According to MandrakeSoft, the strong quarter will
only decrease operating losses. I have to wonder how much of this revenue was
the result of the Mandrake Linux User’s
Club.

The news also makes me want to pay a bit more attention to Mandrake’s newest
partnership venture, an agreement with Microtel to provide Mandrake-loaded computers for sale on WalMart.com.
I would never have guessed that WalMart would lead the consumer Linux machine
charge. They’ve had Mandrake boxes available for several months. Now, with the
addition of both Lindows
and Mandrake-equipped computers, they seem surprisingly ahead of the retail
computer pack. Let’s hope for the best for all involved.

Have a great Wednesday.

Tony
Steidler-Dennison