7 ms·

Mark Shuttleworth Considering Canonical IPO

37 points by testrun 11y ago

hueving 11y ago
I wonder if this is the type of IPO where the employees get nothing since it was always pitched as a company with no 'exit plan'.
- JupiterMoon 11y ago
  Why would employees get anything? They should be getting their salaries both before and after.
  - NateDad 11y ago
    I've heard that Mark has money put away in the event of an IPO to reward employees for their loyalty (based on seniority), but I have no way of verifying that.
chimeracoder 11y ago
It's somewhat amusing to see this right underneath the Dell headline on the HN frontpage about running Linux on your Dell. Dell recently went private again in an LBO after being public for 25 years, and now they're easily the most Linux-friendly large manufacturer of computers in the US. IBM may have held that title for the Thinkpad at one point, but that's definitely becoming less and less true as Lenovo runs the Thinkpad line into the ground[0] [0] Source: Typing this from my Thinkpad running Debian.
- SamReidHughes 11y ago
  How has Lenovo made Thinkpads less Linux-friendly?
  - WizzleKake 11y ago
    You can brick certain ThinkPads with BIOS older than 2.08 by installing Linux on them. Not Linux-related, but the keyboard transition (happened between W520 and W530) was unfortunate and pissed a lot of people off. I'm sure the new keyboard design has its merits, but the fact that they changed it over the objection of their most loyal users speaks volumes about the direction Lenovo is taking the ThinkPad brand.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
  - robertfw 11y ago
    Purely anecdotal but the driver support for wifi on my T540p has given me no end of problems
    - SamReidHughes 11y ago
      Do you have one of the Intel wifi cards?
      - robertfw 11y ago
        no, it's a Realtek. When I got the laptop, it wasn't working due to a kernal bug. I was able to get Wifi going using an external dongle. Then a kernal update fixed the bug and the internal worked. Since then something has changed and now neither work. I'm using Arch Linux... I used to have time to spend keeping things running and I enjoyed the slimmed down nature.. but these days I don't and I'm considering going back to Ubuntu.
        SamReidHughes 11y ago
        That's pretty typical then. The advice for Thinkpads has long been to get an Intel wifi card, if you want to run Linux on it. In particular because it's the only name-brand known-quantity option you have at configuration.
- ChuckMcM 11y ago
  I observed that as a private company Dell was much more willing to embrace alternate architectures from AMD and Linux as an OS. Which really makes you wonder doesn't it? How does being publicly traded make you so coercible? I get the executive team has compensation tied to share price kind of arguments but Dell seems have done much better post LBO. What can they do now that they couldn't do then? And why? Looking forward to that HBR article if it ever gets written.
  - tdicola 11y ago
    Public companies have a fiduciary responsibility to show their shareholders growth every 4 months. Private companies can do absolutely anything as long as they're paying their bills and not breaking any laws.
    - syedkarim 11y ago
      Do you mean quarterly earnings, so every 3 months?
    - simonebrunozzi 11y ago
      I'm sure you meant "every quarter" or "every 3 months".
  - caminante 11y ago
    According to Michael Dell's op-ed in the WSJ [1], two main benefits of going private are 1. longterm-planning => value + innovation and 2. activist shareholder avoidance. Michael Dell also has a track record for anti-competitive practices. Hell, the accountant and CFO from the days of their "cookie-jar accounting" schemes are still at Dell.[2] My understanding's that the anti-competitive measures weren't even illegal, it's just that Dell, as a public company, broke the law by failing to disclose the payments from Intel in Dell's financials. Going private removes this burden. [1] http://www.wsj.com/articles/michael-dell-going-private-is-paying-off-for-dell-1416872851 http://www.wsj.com/articles/michael-dell-going-private-is-pa... [2] https://www.sec.gov/news/press/2010/2010-131.htm https://www.sec.gov/news/press/2010/2010-131.htm
gbersac 11y ago
He expect Ubuntu phone to be profitable...I don't know how he expects it to have a place between android, Windows phone and iOs. Even blackberry, with far more experience in the field, is struggling.
- jkot 11y ago
  If phone can run full ubuntu stack, it will find couple of million users for sure.
  - objclxt 11y ago
    A couple of million users doesn't mean it's profitable by any means.
- tajen 11y ago
  Edit: I've removed my comment because I was criticizing Ubuntu. The truth is, Canonical has done an excellent job at packaging and popularizing Linux, and while that's their core business, it's not their main revenue (OpenStack is). So, overall, thank you Canonical!
- bad_user 11y ago
  You've placed Windows Phone in there in the middle, as if it matters, when Android + iOS have a disturbing 96% or more of the market, with the rest being divided between Windows Phone, Symbian, Blackberry and all the others. that third place is practically non-existent.
davidgerard 11y ago
If only XFCE wasn't so bloody ugly on Debian ...
- bittercynic 11y ago
  LXDE is very beautiful on Debian, though, and also reasonably fast and light.
  - davidgerard 11y ago
    YMMV. I tried LXDE on Debian a few years ago and found it was simplified just that bit too far. I did appreciate that when I tried to set the clock to show seconds, it (literally) told me to look up "man 3 strftime". It's sorta heartwarming to know that level of curmudgeonly user-hostility can still be found in the wild.
    - bittercynic 11y ago
      It is user friendly to users who like the desktop environment to stay out of the way, and to stay the same year after year so that we can just bring our ~/.config/lx* over to a new system and have things set up the way we're used to. LXDE may not be for everyone, but the desktop environments that try to appeal to the broadest audience can seem pretty user-hostile to me.
      - davidgerard 11y ago
        Can't wait till I have a phone that friendly. http://newstechnica.com/2008/09/22/free-software-foundation-announces-gnuphone/ http://newstechnica.com/2008/09/22/free-software-foundation-...
- pnt12 11y ago
  I wasn't too impressed with XFCE on fedora - it was light indeed, but it felt too boring for regular desktop use. Then I tried Manjaro Linux and I loved it - the xfce theme shipped by default looks and feels amazing. fedora: https://spins.fedoraproject.org/static/images/content/xfce-screenshot-01-lg.png https://spins.fedoraproject.org/static/images/content/xfce-s... manjaro: https://manjaro.github.io/images/manjaro-xfce-090-pre4.jpg https://manjaro.github.io/images/manjaro-xfce-090-pre4.jpg
cmsj 11y ago
This story is from last week and Mark subsequently clarified to say that he's not taking the company public.
- NateDad 11y ago
  Source?
  - cmsj 11y ago
    hmm, apparently I can't find the thing I thought I'd read about that, so I retract. I guess the IPO is on!

37 points by testrun 11y ago

I wonder if this is the type of IPO where the employees get nothing since it was always pitched as a company with no 'exit plan'.

JupiterMoon 11y ago
Why would employees get anything? They should be getting their salaries both before and after.
- NateDad 11y ago
  I've heard that Mark has money put away in the event of an IPO to reward employees for their loyalty (based on seniority), but I have no way of verifying that.

chimeracoder 11y ago

It's somewhat amusing to see this right underneath the Dell headline on the HN frontpage about running Linux on your Dell. Dell recently went private again in an LBO after being public for 25 years, and now they're easily the most Linux-friendly large manufacturer of computers in the US. IBM may have held that title for the Thinkpad at one point, but that's definitely becoming less and less true as Lenovo runs the Thinkpad line into the ground[0] [0] Source: Typing this from my Thinkpad running Debian.

SamReidHughes 11y ago
How has Lenovo made Thinkpads less Linux-friendly?
- WizzleKake 11y ago
  You can brick certain ThinkPads with BIOS older than 2.08 by installing Linux on them. Not Linux-related, but the keyboard transition (happened between W520 and W530) was unfortunate and pissed a lot of people off. I'm sure the new keyboard design has its merits, but the fact that they changed it over the objection of their most loyal users speaks volumes about the direction Lenovo is taking the ThinkPad brand.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
- robertfw 11y ago
  Purely anecdotal but the driver support for wifi on my T540p has given me no end of problems
  - SamReidHughes 11y ago
    Do you have one of the Intel wifi cards?
    - robertfw 11y ago
      no, it's a Realtek. When I got the laptop, it wasn't working due to a kernal bug. I was able to get Wifi going using an external dongle. Then a kernal update fixed the bug and the internal worked. Since then something has changed and now neither work. I'm using Arch Linux... I used to have time to spend keeping things running and I enjoyed the slimmed down nature.. but these days I don't and I'm considering going back to Ubuntu.
      - SamReidHughes 11y ago
        That's pretty typical then. The advice for Thinkpads has long been to get an Intel wifi card, if you want to run Linux on it. In particular because it's the only name-brand known-quantity option you have at configuration.
ChuckMcM 11y ago
I observed that as a private company Dell was much more willing to embrace alternate architectures from AMD and Linux as an OS. Which really makes you wonder doesn't it? How does being publicly traded make you so coercible? I get the executive team has compensation tied to share price kind of arguments but Dell seems have done much better post LBO. What can they do now that they couldn't do then? And why? Looking forward to that HBR article if it ever gets written.
- tdicola 11y ago
  Public companies have a fiduciary responsibility to show their shareholders growth every 4 months. Private companies can do absolutely anything as long as they're paying their bills and not breaking any laws.
  - syedkarim 11y ago
    Do you mean quarterly earnings, so every 3 months?
  - simonebrunozzi 11y ago
    I'm sure you meant "every quarter" or "every 3 months".
- caminante 11y ago
  According to Michael Dell's op-ed in the WSJ [1], two main benefits of going private are 1. longterm-planning => value + innovation and 2. activist shareholder avoidance. Michael Dell also has a track record for anti-competitive practices. Hell, the accountant and CFO from the days of their "cookie-jar accounting" schemes are still at Dell.[2] My understanding's that the anti-competitive measures weren't even illegal, it's just that Dell, as a public company, broke the law by failing to disclose the payments from Intel in Dell's financials. Going private removes this burden. [1] http://www.wsj.com/articles/michael-dell-going-private-is-paying-off-for-dell-1416872851 http://www.wsj.com/articles/michael-dell-going-private-is-pa... [2] https://www.sec.gov/news/press/2010/2010-131.htm https://www.sec.gov/news/press/2010/2010-131.htm

gbersac 11y ago

He expect Ubuntu phone to be profitable...I don't know how he expects it to have a place between android, Windows phone and iOs. Even blackberry, with far more experience in the field, is struggling.

jkot 11y ago
If phone can run full ubuntu stack, it will find couple of million users for sure.
- objclxt 11y ago
  A couple of million users doesn't mean it's profitable by any means.
tajen 11y ago
Edit: I've removed my comment because I was criticizing Ubuntu. The truth is, Canonical has done an excellent job at packaging and popularizing Linux, and while that's their core business, it's not their main revenue (OpenStack is). So, overall, thank you Canonical!
bad_user 11y ago
You've placed Windows Phone in there in the middle, as if it matters, when Android + iOS have a disturbing 96% or more of the market, with the rest being divided between Windows Phone, Symbian, Blackberry and all the others. that third place is practically non-existent.

davidgerard 11y ago

If only XFCE wasn't so bloody ugly on Debian ...

bittercynic 11y ago
LXDE is very beautiful on Debian, though, and also reasonably fast and light.
- davidgerard 11y ago
  YMMV. I tried LXDE on Debian a few years ago and found it was simplified just that bit too far. I did appreciate that when I tried to set the clock to show seconds, it (literally) told me to look up "man 3 strftime". It's sorta heartwarming to know that level of curmudgeonly user-hostility can still be found in the wild.
  - bittercynic 11y ago
    It is user friendly to users who like the desktop environment to stay out of the way, and to stay the same year after year so that we can just bring our ~/.config/lx* over to a new system and have things set up the way we're used to. LXDE may not be for everyone, but the desktop environments that try to appeal to the broadest audience can seem pretty user-hostile to me.
    - davidgerard 11y ago
      Can't wait till I have a phone that friendly. http://newstechnica.com/2008/09/22/free-software-foundation-announces-gnuphone/ http://newstechnica.com/2008/09/22/free-software-foundation-...
pnt12 11y ago
I wasn't too impressed with XFCE on fedora - it was light indeed, but it felt too boring for regular desktop use. Then I tried Manjaro Linux and I loved it - the xfce theme shipped by default looks and feels amazing. fedora: https://spins.fedoraproject.org/static/images/content/xfce-screenshot-01-lg.png https://spins.fedoraproject.org/static/images/content/xfce-s... manjaro: https://manjaro.github.io/images/manjaro-xfce-090-pre4.jpg https://manjaro.github.io/images/manjaro-xfce-090-pre4.jpg

cmsj 11y ago

This story is from last week and Mark subsequently clarified to say that he's not taking the company public.

NateDad 11y ago
Source?
- cmsj 11y ago
  hmm, apparently I can't find the thing I thought I'd read about that, so I retract. I guess the IPO is on!