Tuesday June 01 2004:

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Thursday May 27 2004:

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Tuesday May 25 2004:

ISO images of Mandrakelinux 10.0 Official are now publicly available on a number of FTP mirrors!
http://www.mandrivalinux.com/en/ftp.php3

Discover all new features and the full new range of Mandrakelinux 10.0 Official at:
https://mandriva.com/products/10

Mandrakeclub Silver Members (and above) are granted access to PowerPack ISOs of Mandrakelinux 10.0 Official which provides many supplementary add-ons such as NVIDIA drivers, Acrobat Reader, Real Player and others, as well as extra applications CDs.

Corporate Club Members are granted access to a downloadable DVD ISO of Mandrakelinux 10.0 Official which includes supplementary add-ons such as NVIDIA drivers, Acrobat Reader, Real Player and others.

Wednesday May 19 2004:

The new Mandrakelinux 10.0 Official range of packs is now available! Mandrakelinux 10.0 Official offers you all the greatest Mandrakelinux features in a professional package which includes documentation and support, as well as valuable commercial add-ons.

Purchase your Mandrakelinux 10.0 Official Pack by ordering today at http://www.Mandrakestore.com

Select from the new Mandrakelinux 10.0 Official range of products:

- Discovery 10.0: The ideal entry point to a first Linux desktop. Ideal for beginners and users migrating from Windows

- PowerPack 10.0: The ultimate Linux desktop. Perfect for those who need the full power of Office, Multimedia and Internet plus development tools on their Linux desktop

- PowerPack+ 10.0 (formerly ProSuite): An affordable Linux solution for desktops and servers, which includes Kolab as a complete integrated groupware solution!

The full new range of Mandrakelinux 10.0 packs is described at: https://mandriva.com/products/10

Tuesday May 18 2004:

This new release has been thoroughly updated and expanded to cover the recently released Mandrakelinux 10.0.

"The Definitive Guide to Using Mandrakelinux" contains everything needed to install, understand, and use the popular Mandrakelinux distribution.

Perfect for computer users who are new to Linux, as well as for experts who need quality reference documentation, this new edition of "The Definitive Guide to Using Mandrake Linux" is available now for pre-order at MandrakeStore.com.

Covered topics include:

• Installing Mandrakelinux 10.0

• Migrating to Linux from Windows/Mac

• Discovering the environement

• Using the Internet

• Using Linux Office

• Using Multimedia

• Advanced configuration and administration

• Package management

• Troubleshooting

• Discovering Linux in-depth

• Configuring and installing a new Linux kernel

• And much more!

The complete table of contents for this 550-page guide is available online at:
http://images.mandriva.com/mdksoft/products/definitiveguide/DG-10.0-TOC-EN.pdf (110K)

"The Definitive guide to Using Mandrakelinux" for 10.0 is available exclusively from MandrakeStore for only $44.9 USD / 39.90 EUR. Pre-order now:
http://www.mandrivastore.com/?fnl20041705

Written by the folks from the Mandrakesoft documentation team, the "Definitive Guide to Using Mandrakelinux" is sure to become an essential resource for every Linux user!

MandrakeClub members receive an immediate 20% discount (25% for Silver Members and above!) off the current list price of the manual!

Not yet a Mandrakeclub Member? Subscribe now:
http://www.mandrivalinux.com/en/club/

Monday May 17 2004:

As a follow-up to Mandrakesoft's latest flash regarding the upcoming decision of the European Council to legalize software patentability in Europe, here are some fresh news and information on what everyone can do to help.

If nothing changes, tomorrow, Tuesday May 18, the European Council, that is, the European body which represents all the governments of the European Union, will vote in favor of a directive that will legalize software patents in Europe. Last September, faced with a similar choice, the European Parliament voted major amendments to the directive text drafted by the European Commission, actually rejecting software patentability. However, the Council, ignoring all of these amendments, is going to vote in favor of a text that is even worse than the initial version of the Commission.

Why can the Council take a decision which will be so harmful to the European software industry? Unlike the Parliament, which is a place open to the public, where Members of the European Parliament have had time to study the proposal and hear many positions on the issue in order to take a well-thought decision, the Council is a closed body where, due to the alledged complexity of the subject, representatives of the governments have handed out the file to committees of experts.

These experts, who re-drafted the text and wrote position papers on why to vote it, are in fact mostly representatives from the national patent offices, backed by the heads of the legal departments of some big industrial companies, all of whom have a common interest: more patents mean more power for them, irrespective of the harm that will be done to the economy at large, and even to their own companies. In the name of "the Industry" and of "innovation", they manipulated the political decision-makers to make them believe that the new text did not allow to patent pure software, that it was a good compromise between the Commission and Parliament texts, and that not all of the parliamentary amendments could be kept because some of them were illegal with respect to international treaties such as TRIPS. All of this is plain lie.

In fact, if voted, the text of the Council would lead to a situation where big companies with large patent portfolios use these to lock their respective markets and prevent competition from innovative SMEs, and where "intellectual property" companies that do not create any software use their own patent portfolios to collect license fee rents from everybody. This is the situation which is happening in the US, putting at risk its successful software industry. This is what may just happen in Europe in a few months.

However, it is not too late. Because of growing pressure from computer professionals and from the public, and because they get more and more feed-back from the media, political decision-makers begin to get aware of the issues, and to have doubts about the sincerity of the patent lobby. In some countries, they have taken the file back from the patent offices

http://lwn.net/Articles/85379/
http://kwiki.ffii.org/?SwpatcninoEn

and some countries of the Council have just decided to switch from a voting procedure without debate to a voting procedure with debate, as the text gets less and less consensus among the members of the European Union.

More of theme can be convinced even more of them to reject software patentability.

In order to do that, please take some time to read about the issues at stake, and spread the information across your friends and business contacts, the press, your members of the parliament and your government.

It is essential that elected policy makers get back into command of the situation and do not leave the patent offices decide alone.

Here are some texts which can help you to present the issues to the media and to convince policy-makers of all countries of the European Union.

A very readable analysis by François Pellegrini explaining the legal and economic issues of software patentability:
http://www.abul.org/article191.html

A thorough analysis by Jonas Maebe of the difference between the three versions of the directive, and why software patents are indeed illegal with respect to TRIPS:
http://www.elis.ugent.be/~jmaebe/swpat/councilanalysis/paper-en.pdf

Positions of the member countries of the European Union:
http://swpat.ffii.org/akteure/ (add "pt", "ie", "fr", "de", "be", "gr", etc to have the positions of the member countries)

The page of the FFII giving some directions for actions:
http://kwiki.ffii.org/?LtrSmePolit0405En

A recent paper published in the Washington Post describing the current situation in the United States:

"Patenting Air or Protecting Property? Information Age Invents a New Problem"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A54548-2003Dec10?language=printer

31 companies sued for using the JPEG image format (the plaintiff filed for a patent while recommending the adoption in international bodies of a standard including its patented technology):
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,63200,00.html%3Ftw%3Dwn_bizhead_1

A US company sues companies of on-line content distribution:
http://www.e-data.com/
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5205529.html
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5144097.html

A well-documented file on the reference site Law.com:
http://www.law.com/jsp/statearchive.jsp?type=Article&oldid=ZZZV4RVSSPC

Thank you very much for your help.

About Mandrakesoft

Mandrakesoft is the publisher of the popular Mandrakelinux operating system, one of the most full-featured and easy to use Linux systems available. The company offers its enterprise, government and educational customers a complete range of GNU/Linux and Open Source software and related services. Mandrakesoft products are available in more than 120 countries through dedicated channels and also from Mandrakestore.com, the company's online store. Number 1 in several countries, Mandrakesoft has won many awards for quality and technical innovation. "Born on the Internet" in late 1998, Mandrakesoft has offices in the United States and France. Mandrakesoft is traded on Paris Euronext Marché Libre (ISIN Code: FR0004159382/MLMAN; Reuters code: MAKE.PA) and the US OTC market (stock symbol MDKFF).

https://mandriva.com

Saturday May 15 2004:

Updated May, 17th Some of our customers who paid by credit card during the month of May have recently encountered problems. We realized the problem before the week end and have done our best to fix it. We identified that the problem was not with our system but with our payment platform provider, Natexis.

This morning, Monday May 17, Natexis informed us that they had identified the problem. A software bug on their side caused the amount to be debited to be multiplied by 100 (by interpreting cents as dollars). Over the month of May, 261 Mandrakesoft customers were affected. Natexis confirms that the problem has been fixed and that the platform is now functioning correctly, so we have reopened our standard payment platform.

Natexis is notifying the banks today. So, if you were affected by this problem, your bank will be informed today of the problem and it will be fixed.

Mandrakesoft deeply apologizes to its customers for this problem.

We will contact all the affected customers individually.

François Bancilhon

CEO, Mandrakesoft

Thursday May 13 2004:

Mandrakesoft would like to alert all users and the software community at large about a recent clandestine attack by proprietary interest through covert adoption of EU Software Patent Legislation.

In direct contravention of the recent vote by the European Parliament to curtail Software Patents, the Irish Presidency of the European Union has surreptitiously reinstated unlimited software patent language into the text of a statement to be adopted by the European Council of Ministers on Monday May, 17th, without further debate!

The new text, if adopted, will extend Software Patents to every piece of software, including computer programs, data structures, and process descriptions. This will directly harm most software firms and all Open Source projects unable to pay patent licensing tribute, and amounts to an appropriation of the public domain by proprietary interests. A direct beneficiary will be a new class of pure patent companies without any real business or contribution to employment, which will use the threat of litigation to extort payments. Of note is that a sponsor of the Irish Presidency is Microsoft, currently building a large patent portfolio. If the Software Patent text is adopted, Microsoft may use this patent portfolio against Linux and other Open Source projects.

Mandrakesoft would like to forewarn and mobilize its users and the software community about the very real threat of such a law. Please contact the media, your political representatives, and your government, and urge them to vote against unlimited Software Patents and to revert to the previous European Parliament position.

For further information please see the following links:
http://swpat.ffii.org/journal/04/cons0507/index.en.html
http://kwiki.ffii.org/SwpatcninoEn

About Mandrakesoft

Mandrakesoft is the publisher of the popular Mandrakelinux operating system, one of the most full-featured and easy to use Linux systems available. The company offers its enterprise, government and educational customers a complete range of GNU/Linux and Open Source software and related services. Mandrakesoft products are available in more than 120 countries through dedicated channels and also from Mandrakestore.com, the company's online store. Number 1 in several countries, Mandrakesoft has won many awards for quality and technical innovation. "Born on the Internet" in late 1998, Mandrakesoft has offices in the United States and France. Mandrakesoft is traded on Paris Euronext Marché Libre (ISIN Code: FR0004159382/MLMAN; Reuters code: MAKE.PA) and the US OTC market (stock symbol MDKFF).

https://mandriva.com

Thursday May 13 2004:

May, 12th 2004; Altadena, CA; Paris, France - Mandrakesoft has created a new program for Small and Medium Businesses, Academic Institutions, Value Added Resellers, Non-Profit Organizations, Resellers, Gov't Agencies and Partners. The program is designed to provide One-Stop complete Open Source solutions (Products/Support/Updates/Services) to customers.

The "Personalized Solutions and Maintenance Program" (PSMP) is an easy-to-use, cost effective program designed to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes. PSMP allows you to purchase Mandrakesoft solutions at volume prices. It reduces the costs associated with evaluating, acquiring, implementing, and maintaining eBusiness software, and provides streamlined purchasing and centralized solution management through an Internet based graphical interface.

PSMP is a highly personalized and customized program designed to provide timely solutions that will help distinguish your business from your competitors.

Maximum savings, minimum hassle, with no minimum purchase requirement -- it's easy to get started. The user friendly web architecture of PSMP allows you to purchase your desired solution for provisioning, managing, migrating and updating your systems, giving you complete flexibility while minimizing costs. It can help you get the most value from up-to-date technology with benefits that can save time and money. PSMP pricing greatly lowers software procurement costs when compared to traditional retail purchasing options.

More information is available at: https://mandriva.com/partners/psmp

Contact : partner at mandrakesoft dot com

About Mandrakesoft

Mandrakesoft is the publisher of the popular Mandrakelinux operating system, one of the most full-featured and easy to use Linux systems available. The company offers its enterprise, government and educational customers a complete range of GNU/Linux and Open Source software and related services. Mandrakesoft products are available in more than 120 countries through dedicated channels and also from Mandrakestore.com, the company's online store. Number 1 in several countries, Mandrakesoft has won many awards for quality and technical innovation. "Born on the Internet" in late 1998, Mandrakesoft has offices in the United States and France. Mandrakesoft is traded on Paris Euronext Marché Libre (ISIN Code: FR0004159382/MLMAN; Reuters code: MAKE.PA) and the US OTC market (stock symbol MDKFF).

https://mandriva.com

Wednesday May 12 2004:

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