The fall and rise of Mandriva Linux

Both of these decisions may be a reflection of Mandriva's long term failure to establish the kind of partnerships with consultants and suppliers that have been the lifeblood of Red Hat's success. Peugeot Citreon's decision to go with Linux on the desktop was likely influenced by IBM. IBM's partnership with Novell paid off for SUSE, and worked against Mandriva.

Until Mandriva's suitors are known, all Mandriva's futures are subject to speculation.

Technically, Mandriva has always been one of the most advanced and friendly of Linux distributions, ripe for growth and expansion. Its future may depend upon the ability of its suitors to finance, market and sell Mandriva into a willing market, and leave the ups and downs of the past behind.