July 2nd, 2008
Linspire sinks under Xandros waves
Still trying to make a whole bigger than the sum of its open source parts, Xandros scooped up Linspire today.
One outlet described the deal as Linspire founder Michael Robertson deserting a sinking ship, but others will claim that it was sunk last June when it agreed to join Microsoft’s “IP Protection Racket.”
Linspire was best known for its products’ first name — Lindows — and its vaunted ambitions to take over the desktop market. Xandros is also a signatory to the Microsoft pact, but it does a better job of keeping its head down.
This has its benefits. One of Xandros’ big jobs right now is shipping a version of Linux for Asus’ Eee machines.
In a Q&A with Xandros CEO Andreas Typaldos sent late yesterday, he said talks began late last year, with engineering, support, and key sales staff to be retained, and redundant administrative staff to be shown the door.
But there is also some evidence that growth is starting to go to Mr. Typaldos’ head, as in this quote:
We believe that at this point Xandros is already the third largest Linux Company in the world, and that we may already be the largest private Linux Company in the world.
Not bad for an outfit which, as Paula noted long ago, started life as a Corel spin-off. This does, of course, explain why they insisted on an embargo until today on the announcement.
Yesterday was Canada Day.
Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for 30 years, a tech freelancer since 1983. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
