A Penguin in the Orchard

Mandrake Conundrum

Just reading an interesting piece here about Mandrake. It paints the recent financial woes of Mandrake as a function of relatively little exposure in the US. In fact, it cites SuSE as being the second most popular Linux distribution in the US. This appears to represent further slippage for Mandrake in the US market. Through most of 2001, Mandrake ran neck and neck with Red Hat for the top spot.

I think Mandrake’s problems are two-fold - maybe three. First, there’s no real distinguishing feature to this distribution. Yes, it’s got a very nice looking install routine. Yes, it’s pretty accurate in detecting and configuring hardware. But, so are SuSE and Red Hat. Even the Mandrake Pro 9.0 version is a bit of a yawn, offering liitle of importance that the other distros don’t.

I’ve heard from many, many readers, as well, that the paid customer support in Mandrake is all but non-existent. One buys rather than downloads a Linux disribution for many reasons. The primary reason, in my mind, is to access that knowledgeable support when necessary. If the service is as poor as I’ve been told, then Mandrake has no one to blame for their position in the US market but themselves.

I think there’s something to be said for keeping the financial woes a bit more quiet, as well. The impression Mandrake’s recent pleas for cash has left is that it’s sinking quickly. Of course, that’s not really the case, but the impression remains, nonetheless. Who in their right mind is going to make a purchase from a company that appears to be near going under? I wouldn’t. While the message Mandrake was trying to convey is important, the tone of desperation with which it was delivered is sure to continue to scare users toward Red Hat and SuSE.