Talk:Microport
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>"it assisted the movement towards what later became known as Open Source" >
Would I be a complete arse if I suggested changing this to "...became known as the Free Software and Open Source movements"? It's a tricky one - in some senses they are the same thing (or aspects of the same larger thing), in others they are separate entities. Microport probably helped both to some extent (and perhaps the greater whole, as well) but insofar as RMS was involved, I think 'Free Software' was the primary beneficiary. "Open Source" benefited enormously from the work of RMS and the FSF; to that extent, they also benefited from Microport.
I have no objections to the change. I would note that the concept of "Open Source" hadn't been invented yet; indeed, the term "Free Software" (as the FSF defines it) was still fairly new. So, technically speaking, the contribution was to the Free Software movement, and then to the Open Source movement (as use of gcc was adopted by the BSD folks). I.e. "Free Software" was known at the time, Open Source wasn't.
I agree that it's a tricky issue; and the difference in wording impresses me as a small issue. I too am unable to come up with a better way to phrase it
Reverted the "it was a period plagued by corporate politics instead of venture funding" back to "it was a period plagued by severe financial mismanagement" which ultimately sank the company.
It was the lack of control on the finances which was the underlying problem. Corporate politics wasn't the fundamental issue. Many companies have political games going on; but if they don't have control over their books, they are usually dead before they know it.
For example, after Hickey was booted out, no one could ever figure out where Televideos' investment money went. That's one million dollars down the drain, with no accounting for it. I could elucidate much further on this theme, going back to the earliest of the company history. But it just re-emphasizes the old adage that if you don't have the accounting books under control, you don't have a viable company.
Microport's accounting was typical for a start-up, no better or no worse. With Televideo's investment came their oversite. Televideo was provided with monthly financials detailing all expenditures and continued to increase its investment knowing full well that the company was in the red. Further the accounting staff was upgraded as well and Chavis had more than adequate credentials for the job. As to where the money went, full page ads in PC-Week, Byte, the back cover of Unix-Today! and others, not to mention trade-shows in NY, LA, SF, and Los Vegas, and a staff that peaked near fifty might be an explanation.
One can argue that the company should have been financially conservative during this period, but the result probably would have been the same as better financed rivals like SCO and Interactive Systems (who were also loosing money) would have squeezed Microport out of the market even sooner. Okay, sure, if Microport would have cut sooner, right after the 386 product was launched that might have helped, but to be a player would still mean raising capital. One can also have wished for a better CEO and the job was shopped, but the capital structure with Televideo, and the market structure with all the other players scared the good ones off.
Finally, statements that Hickey (I) was booted out are factually incorrect, nor was such a thing even possible. There was a brief time when I was quiet on the BOD, giving Chavis and Televideo a chance to work things out, but it came down to me again to save the company. Indeed the whole Chapter-11 reorg resulting in the resurrection of the company was the result of staying on as the sole remaining member of the board of directors through that process - without compensation I might ad.
