We have no problem with Mandrake running some ads in the install screens -- as Gael D. pointed out they've done before without complaint -- and sponsored default home pages, links, and icons have been common in all operating systems for many years (e.g. Earthlink as default ISP the last time I installed Mac 9.x).
You just saw a satire of Microsoft's increasing tendency to advertise "to the Linux community" wherever and whenever. Note the MS ads on many Linux-oriented Web sites, including this one (and note that editorial people have no say in advertising at most companies, just as ad people are supposed to have no say in editorial matters).
On the whole, NewsForge editors like Mandrake and Mandrakesoft a great deal. Now and then they do things we question, but their hearts are in the right place, and they were the first to make Linux truly easy for non-technical users to install and run.
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Re:Just name-calling . . .
Posted by: roblimo on September 14, 2003 09:22 PMYou just saw a satire of Microsoft's increasing tendency to advertise "to the Linux community" wherever and whenever. Note the MS ads on many Linux-oriented Web sites, including this one (and note that editorial people have no say in advertising at most companies, just as ad people are supposed to have no say in editorial matters).
On the whole, NewsForge editors like Mandrake and Mandrakesoft a great deal. Now and then they do things we question, but their hearts are in the right place, and they were the first to make Linux truly easy for non-technical users to install and run.
- R
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