What exactly is happening at Mandriva, the French company that markets a well-known GNU/Linux distribution but seems unable to communicate its position to its users and the public at large?

Given that it makes at least some of its money from selling software and support, the lack of clarity on its position - and subsequent dissemination of that information through the media - could very well affect what prospects it has.

The last official word from the company was on January 30 - a cryptic message that one of the minority shareholders had rejected a proposed financial bailout.

However, it continued,