Kevin Carmony Questions and Answers

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Prior to this video segment, I did another with Kevin, discussing what has has been going on recently at Linspire. After that, we opened things up to my chat room, and allowed them to ask Kevin some questions. I will put the questions into bold tags, and Kevin’s answers will be italicized.

Is it pronounced “Yoo-buntoo” or “Ooo-buntoo”? I don’t know for sure. I have always pronounced it “Yoo-buntoo”.

Is it true that Linspire began discussions of a sale with Xandros more than a year ago? Absolutely not. It’s been said that talks started over two years ago. Interesting, since I only resigned as CEO ten months ago. Michael claims that he’s gotten to know Andy from Xandros, and so on. However, Michael has always had nothing good to say about Xandros, and their management. It’s interesting that he now is touting their management as rock stars. It just doesn’t make sense.

Is Xandros going to honor the “Lifetime Insiders”? You’ll have to ask them that. They should, but I cannot say.

Would you work for Ubuntu, or stick with the Linux community and bring some of your ideas to fruition? I will definitely stay within the community. I don’t think I would actually go to work for Ubuntu. I am a big Mac user, as well as a Linux user. I am quite busy with my new venture, Dating DNA.

Does your former CEO position leave you at a liability? I think they’re asking if I can be held liable for speaking out now. The answer is no. I didn’t take any severance pay when I left Linspire. I didn’t sign any kind of waiver. I am a shareholder of the company, which gives me every right to complain. Most everything I am talking about has happened since I left the company.

Would you buy Linux stocks? I had RedHat stock for a long time, actually. I currently have Apple stock. My favorite Linux Distro is Ubuntu, which of course is privately held.

Would you support an OEM that uses Ubuntu as their operating system? Absolutely! Big time! I’d love to see more of that.

Why does Michael feel he still has control of the company two years after he left? He still owned the majority of the stock. Even though he had no operational role, he still was the controlling shareholder. That’s why he assumed he could do as he pleases. He would try to mix his companies together. I continually reminded him that Linspire had 100 stockholders, and had to be treated as a separate business.

Do you think the buyout will make the product better or worse? I think Linspire’s final chapter was just written. Xandros grabbed the product and the users for a song. I think it is simply a press release for Xandros.

Do you think Ubuntu will blow up in a big way like Mac OS X has? As soon as I left Linspire, I ran out and bought a Mac, and I also started using Ubuntu. I’d love to see the fit, finish and polish on Ubuntu that the Mac operating system has. There’s no reason that Ubuntu shouldn’t have that polish one day.

One ‘question’ I’ll answer that hasn’t been asked yet, but I’m sure will be later: Does the Microsoft deal awhile back have anything to do with me leaving or what happened with Xandros? No, absolutely it didn’t. That was all about the OEMs. It only affected Linspire as far as OEM deals. It doesn’t have anything to do with anything that has happened in recent months at Linspire.

I really appreciate Kevin taking the time to talk with us. There are a lot of rumors flying around, and Kevin certainly laid some of those to rest.

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