Interview: MandrakeLinux and Ulteo founder Gael Duval, Sep 27, 2006

Gaël Duval, the founder of the popular MandrakeLinux (later MandrivaLinux) project, was fired from Mandriva last spring in an effort to cut costs. Almost immediately afterward, Duval began work on a new GNU/Linux distribution, Ulteo. As of this writing, Ulteo has not yet released its first beta edition, but it should be available soon. While we're all waiting, I figured I'd ask Mr. Duval some questions about Ulteo, Mandriva, and starting GNU/Linux projects in general.

When many of the top Linux developers announced their disapproval of the GPLv3 draft, there was one major name conspicuously missing: Linus Torvalds. On September 24th, Torvalds explained why he hadn't signed it, and why he thinks GPLv2 is the best possible open-source license.

Marking what could have been a summer-long hiatus in its "Get the Facts" campaign, Microsoft is re-igniting the flames on the argument over whether enterprises spend less to manage Windows systems than Linux systems.

The Free Software Foundation has moved to clarify what it says is inaccurate information being presented about the second discussion draft of the next version of the GNU General Public License.

Nina Reiser, the estranged wife of well-known open-source programmer Hans Reiser, is still missing and a $15,000 reward for information about her is now being offered by the Oakland, Calif. police department.

Software maker Red Hat Inc. Tuesday reported quarterly profit tumbled 34 percent from a year earlier on a sharp increase in operating expenses, sending its shares down 7 percent.

What we think is really important for everybody is the Free Software angle. The only place where we compromise that is on the hardware enablement front -- making available proprietary drivers in the distro where we have to. But we don't put any proprietary applications in. That's because we're really confident in the Free Software stack!

In a move that some may have sensed was coming, Eric S. Raymond—one of the co-founders of the open-source movement—will become the newest member of the Freespire Leadership Board on Sept. 27.

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