Interview with Gaël Duval

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LWN: You were the creator of the original Mandrake Linux distribution, and a co-founder of MandrakeSoft. What is your current role with the distribution and the company?

GD - I'm officially taking care of MandrakeSoft's communication, but I'm helping for other things and projects as well.

LWN: In an OSNews interview last March, you said "9.1 sales and club subscriptions are going to be key." How are sales and subscriptions going at this point? Are they at the level you need?

GD - The levels of Club subscriptions and 9.1 sales have been very good. That's one of the reasons why our future is becoming better every day. Mandrake 9.1 is an excellent product, that made it successful. On the other hand, the Mandrake Club and all its benefits, in particular the huge application repository that can be interfaced with the Mandrake application manager and dependency solver (URPMI/RPMDrake), has gained popularity among Mandrake users. As a result, the Club is turning into a real business model (in short: a free product plus value-added online services). As the whole Linux retail market has been dramatically and continuously decreasing during the past 3 years (mostly due to high-speed domestic Internet connections), this new business model for selling Free Software products really makes sense, and we certainly are one of the first Linux makers to enter this model.

LWN: The Mandrake Linux distribution has become difficult to find - at least, in U.S. stores. Do you plan to try to get back onto retail shelves (if so, how?), or are retail sales no longer a priority for MandrakeSoft?

GD - There is a simple reason for that: we broke our agreement with distributor Pearson recently. They are not interested in Linux as they have been in the past, and we weren't very happy with the sales. So we made the decision to take time to look for new distributors in the USA, and we encouraged users to come to MandrakeStore.com where our margins are really much more interesting than with traditional retail sales. Anyway Mandrake packs should be back in many US stores with the 9.2 version, with a new distributor. This is important at least for MandrakeSoft's brandname exposure and presence.

LWN: How is the reorganization process going in general? What changes is MandrakeSoft making, and how do you expect them to help the company's long-term survival?

GD - The reorganization is nearly completed. We had to review the company's priorities in term of technology and businesses. We had to scale the structure down to the point where we do not spend more money than we earn. We also had to convince everyone at MandrakeSoft that sales are now the big priority.

LWN: When does MandrakeSoft expect to emerge from the bankruptcy process?

GD - We plan to emerge somewhere by the end of the year. So far this has been a very positive action for us.

LWN: Mandrake Linux tends to be perceived as a desktop-oriented distribution. Is that how you see it internally? Where do you expect to see Mandrake deployed most in the future?

GD - The mission of MandrakeSoft is to simplify Linux and make it available to all. This means: providing full-featured Linux systems that are easy to install, easy to set up, easy to use. But this doesn't mean that we focus on the desktop, because we ship many server products, including very complex ones such as the Multi Network Firewall or MandrakeClustering... Additionally, simple command line tools such as our package management tool "URPMI", are often as important as graphical wizards or applications. The result is now a large range of MandrakeSoft products, from the "Standard 9.1" which is a desktop OS, to server and dedicated security products such as the Corporate Server 2.1 and the Multi Network Firewall. Such a large offering is perfect for answering companies' needs, and that's good for MandrakeSoft because this is currently a growing market.

LWN: Increasingly, other distributors are coming forward with versions of their products aimed at the desktop. The trickle of reports of companies and governments choosing Linux for desktop use is growing. Do you have a sense of when desktop Linux may take a serious part of the market? How does Mandrake plan to succeed in a larger but more competitive desktop market?

GD - This desktop thing has been the most recent Linux' hype. Currently it's clear that "joe user" is not ready yet to migrate his Windows desktop to a Linux desktop, for many reasons that are not only technical reasons. This doesn't mean that there is not a growing base of users who have definately made the switch to Linux on the desktop (this includes myself). But the point here is that the real market in the desktop field, which is not a big market yet, is inside corporations, and that is the market we are currently interested in.

LWN: You have mentioned that MandrakeSoft will be introducing a clustering product. Clustering seems like an increasingly crowded marketplace - though, perhaps, one in which a fair amount of money should be made. What has drawn Mandrake into this market at this time?

GD - There are two simple answers: 1) we had the chance to get funding for a research project in this area, and this has resulted into a great and powerful Clustering product. 2) We don't plan yet to sell this product everywhere in the world like we do with Mandrake Linux: there are very few actors in the field of Clustering solutions in France, so we are going to sell it in France and Europe first. Additionally, it's not only a product, it's a complete solution that doesn't make sense without the support and knowledge-transfer which are are provided with this solution.

LWN: What is MandrakeSoft's position on the SCO lawsuit? Are you taking any steps in response to SCO's allegations?

GD - Our position is very simple: so far there are mostly FUD and rumours. Let's wait for facts. Anyway, the whole story could possibly impact Linux' image negatively so we have to take care of that. But in the end my guess is that SCO is doing a huge error and is going to suffer much from the situation.

LWN: What enhancements can Mandrake Linux users look forward to in the next release?

GD - Wait and see :-)

LWN: Is there anything else you would like our readers to know?

GD - Producing and selling Free Software products makes sense. It only needs a good business model.