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<title>Open Source Market Crisis Means Linux Sites Crash? An Interview with Former Linux Today French Version Editor Cédric Godart LG #67</title>
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<H4 ALIGN="center">
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"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<H1><font color="maroon">Open Source Market Crisis Means Linux Sites Crash?</FONT></H1>
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<H3>An Interview with Former Linux Today French Version Editor Cédric Godart</H3>
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<H4>By <a href="mailto:caruso@olinux.com.br">Paulo Henrique Caruso</a><BR>
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Originally published at <A HREF="http://www.olinux.com.br/Interviews">OLinux</A></H4>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<p>
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<b>OLinux: Could you tell us about your carreer,
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professional abilities, etc.?</b>
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</p>
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<p>
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<b>Cédric Godart</b>
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I've been a radio presenter and journalist for 3 years since
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I left the University (I graduated in translation). I'm 25
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years old and I live in Brussels, Capital of Europe. My
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computer skills wouldn't sound very exciting. I've actually
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been very interested in the Linux and Open Source movement
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for three years. Honestly I use two different OS on my home
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computer, ie Linux and MacOS X.</p>
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<p>
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<b>OLinux: What were the main reasons that brought about
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the extinction of Linux Today French Version?</b>
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</p>
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<p>
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<b>Cédric Godart:</b>
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Advertising revenues have been very low since the beginning
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of the year. Internet.com will now only focus on profitable
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sites. International editions of their Linux and Open Source
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sites are no longer profitable. The decision was expected but
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it came as a surprise since LinuxToday Fr was only 9 months
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old.</p>
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<p>
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<b>OLinux: How many people were involved on the website?
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How do they react to the extinction?</b>
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</p>
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<p>
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<b>Cédric Godart:</b>
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I was the only "journalist" to work on LinuxToday French. A
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daily press review and about 5 articles a week were my main
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"mission" on the site. A student helped me with the press
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review when I was on vacation. Technical issues were in the
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hands of Scott COURTNEY and Paul FERRIS (the "father" of
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LinuxToday), both working for the Linux & Open Source
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Channel of internet.com, in the USA.</p>
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<p>
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<b>OLinux: What were the most significant differences
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between the english version and the french version of 1
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today?</b>
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</p>
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<p>
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<b>Cédric Godart:</b>
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While the English edition only focused on a press review,
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adding features from time to time, the French edition offered
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a press review and daily articles. These articles were also
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posted on the popular France.Internet.Com, that supported us
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since Version 2, launched in January.</p>
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<p>
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<b>OLinux: Could you expect that French Linux Today wiould
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be successful so quickly?</b>
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</p>
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<p>
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<b>Cédric Godart:</b>
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I was actually very surprised to see how successful the site
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became in a couple of months only. Companies and Linux users
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soon became addicted. To me, the French audience was really
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in need of some kind of professional (-looking) news site
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about Linux and Open Source. The success of the English
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edition also helped us reach a wider audience : indeed, the
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"LinuxToday" brand is a reference. It may be the reason why
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the popular Linux Mandrake French site decided to display our
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news on their homepage.</p>
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<p>
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<b>OLinux: Did internet.com influence in your productivity
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and in your editorial board?</b>
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</p>
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<p>
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<b>Cédric Godart:</b>
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Never! Kevin REICHARD (Executive Editor, Internet Technology
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and Linux/Open Source Channels) trusted me.</p>
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<p>
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<b>OLinux: Despite you have received a bunch of e-mails
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concerning the disapperance of fr.linuxtoday.com, did you
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believe for a moment that internet.com could change their
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mind?</b>
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</p>
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<p>
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<b>Cédric Godart:</b>
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No, not really. I expected them to "transfer" Linux and Open
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Source properties to their official French site,
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france.internet.com. But times are bad for those
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international editions, as well. If Yahoo keeps telling that
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the advertising model will undoubtedly prove profitable in
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the future it's still not.</p>
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<p>
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<b>OLinux: Do you think that economic crisis which also
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involves open source enterprises will be reflected in Linux
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and open source news sites?</b>
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</p>
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<p>
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<b>Cédric Godart:</b>
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Of course. The Linux market is not mature yet. These are bad
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times for the whole IT economy. Only a limited number of
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companies focusing on Linux and Open Source solutions may
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claim to be profitable. Time will tell.</p>
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<p>
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<b>OLinux: How many page views LinuxToday french version
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have had per month? And how many stories did you publish
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every day?</b>
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</p>
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<p>
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<b>Cédric Godart:</b>
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Pageviews must remain confidential, I'm sorry... Every day, I
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could find about 15 articles for the press review and at
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least one real article. It took me a couple of months to find
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reliable sources to make a comprehensive press review.</p>
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<p>
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<b>OLinux: If internet.com choose for keeping the site's
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archives, and they invite you to continue working on it,
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would you accept or not? Why?</b>
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</p>
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<p>
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<b>Cédric Godart:</b>
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We can dream! I don't think they would ever do it.</p>
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<p>
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<b>OLinux: Taking into consideration the widespread
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adoption of Linux worldwide, do you think Linux is a
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adequate solution when we talk about economic advantages
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for governments and institutions?</b>
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</p>
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<p>
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<b>Cédric Godart:</b>
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I don't really agree with "widespread adoption" of Linux.
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Linux stands for 5 % of today's desktop market. Only a very
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limited number of people actually use it as their primary OS.
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The vast majority keep using Windows, because most people
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don't really care about rebooting their machine from time to
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time. Linux must remain a professional OS. Only MacOS X may
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claim to be a REALLY consumer-oriented Unix. Economical
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assets for governments and institutions, as well as the
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availability of source codes, are indeed a key factor for the
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adoption of Linux in the public sector. You've certainly
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heard that the French government recently announced their
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decision to support Open Source technologies.</p>
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<p>
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<b>OLinux: What does a Linux news site must have? Could you
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tell us some tips that you learn while french 1 today
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editor?</b>
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</p>
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<p>
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<b>Cédric Godart:</b>
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1/ Stay focused but keep on other OS (Windows / MacOS X and
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BeOS); 2/ Avoid grammar and syntax errors; 3/ Keep distant
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from stupid OS wars (Windows sucks), leave it only to fat old
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geeks or newbies using Outlook Express to post messages on
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Linux forums ; and 4/ Never show any preference for any
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company.</p>
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<p>
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<b>OLinux: Can you send a message to OLinux users?</b>
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</p>
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<p>
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<b>Cédric Godart:</b>
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Yes, of course. Sorry for not replying in Portuguese. I was
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actually very surprised when I received your request for an
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interview. I didn't know a French site, located in Europe,
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could ever interest people living thousands of miles away! My
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message : use Linux because you love it, not because it
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sounds fashionable and never use the word "WindBlows" if you
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send your messages using Outlook Express.</p>
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<!-- *** BEGIN bio *** -->
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<!-- *** BEGIN copyright *** -->
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<P> <hr> <!-- P -->
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<H5 ALIGN=center>
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Copyright © 2001, Paulo Henrique Caruso.<BR>
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Copying license <A HREF="../copying.html">http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html</A><BR>
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Published in Issue 67 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, June 2001</H5>
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