Re: GNU licenses

[Alexander Terekhov]

David Kastrup wrote:
[...]
> And another irrelevant link, congratulations.  What the concrete
> Google financials have to do with what to expect in the wake of an IPO
> will probably remain your secret.

Google also had an IPO, stupid.

> 
> If it has not escaped you, 

http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/4950

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If you have the stomach for reading financial reports, Red Hat's IPO 
prospectus (or S-1 filing) is a page-turning descent into the code-
eat-code world of operating systems and computing competition. Because 
there can be no secrets in SEC filings--at least no secrets disgruntled 
investors could later point to as examples of fraud or deceit--
companies are often brutally honest when appraising their own 
prospects. For example, under the heading "Risks Related to the Open 
Source Business Model," the Red Hat S-1 announces in full caps: "OUR 
SOFTWARE CONSISTS LARGELY OF CODE DEVELOPED BY INDEPENDENT THIRD 
PARTIES WHICH MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO ASSEMBLE AND TEST," and "WE EXPECT 
TO INCUR SUBSTANTIAL LOSSES IN THE FUTURE," and my particular favorite, 
"OUR ABILITY TO GENERATE REVENUE FROM SALES MAY BE ADVERSELY AFFECTED 
IF USERS CAN QUICKLY DOWNLOAD RED HAT LINUX FROM THE INTERNET."
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Actually, according to S-1, they originally planned to make living by 
transforming to major Linux Web Portal hoping to attract lots of 
advertising and site sponsors.

Like Google. :-)

http://news.com.com/2100-1001-251961.html

Now,

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Good riddance to the portal play

But there have been some changes since the go-go technology days of 
1999, when Red Hat went public. The company's IPO prospectus spoke 
extensively of Red Hat's Web traffic, advertising revenue, and 
plans to be a major Linux Web destination.

Now most of that has passed by the wayside. Good riddance, Young 
said.

"Page views...was a metric that the investors were watching very 
closely. It wasn't a metric we cared about," he said. "We were 
under constant pressure to invest in things that have a lot of 
page views. But management couldn't figure out where the money was."

Financial analysts pushed the Web site plans, and Red Hat 
accordingly adjusted its S-1--the document filed to describe the 
company's plans before the IPO. "If your S-1 is designed to sell 
your stock to Janus and Fidelity, you give Janus and Fidelity what 
they want to know," he said. 
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regards,
alexander.