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"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
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<H1><font color="maroon">Interview with Mike Cowpland, Corel Corporation</font></H1>
<H4>By <a href="mailto:prakash@freeos.com">Prakash Advani</a></H4>
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<BLOCKQUOTE> <EM>
[Originally published on the FreeOS site as
<A HREF="http://www.freeos.com/linux/interviews/mikecowpland.ephtml">
http://www.freeos.com/linux/interviews/mikecowpland.ephtml</A>. Reprinted here
at the author's request. -Ed.]
</EM> </BLOCKQUOTE>
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<p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Dr. Michael Cowpland,
president and CEO of <a href="http://www.corel.com">Corel</a> Corporation,
hardly needs an introduction. An engineer by qualification, Dr Cowpland
began his career at Bell Northern Research in 1964. In 1985, he founded
Corel one of the largest software companies in the world.
The company is now helping develop the fast growing Linux platform;
in fact, Corel plans to port a majority of its applications to Linux.
Mike Cowpland talks of his plans for Corel and his views on Linux to <a href="http://www.freeos.com">FreeOS.com</a>.
</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>What is Corel doing with
Linux?<br>
</b></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Corel is
basically offering really comprehensive solutions to Linux. We are doing more
than any other company and are also providing complete connectivity to the Windows
world. We have recently launched Corel Linux for the desktop. This is currently
available in North America and can be downloaded from our Web site. We have
made an extremely easy to use distribution that can be installed even quicker
than Windows. The user can also connect seamlessly to the all the Windows files
on the network including Microsoft public files. With the announcement that
we made a few weeks ago, he can also connect to Windows applications to run
those. If someone has the legacy applications that they want to connect and
still enjoy the benefits of Linux, they can do that by having a single application
server serving up the group. So you can have a cluster of Linux desktops and
one Windows NT server and they can all load up their Windows applications from
there and while using their own native Linux applications on the desktop. So
that provides a complete solution where we provide the basic software, which
is the browser, the office suite and the graphic suite. Then they may have their
human resource or accounting software that they still have on Windows. They
can run on their server without having to run them on the desktop.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>Will Corel become a Linux
company in the near future?<br>
</b>Well, we are already very heavily a Linux company. That is supported by
the fact that we are we are the most popular download on the Web. If you look
at CNET the number one download site, we have been the number one Linux download
consistently so effectively we are already a Linux company. We are introducing
our Linux suite very shortly and that would give us more exposure and capability
in Linux. </font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>Where do you see Linux
5 years from now?<br>
</b>In 5 years, Linux will become the more dominant operating system in terms
of Unix. Windows will be more involved with back-end applications like it is
today.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>Why did Corel decide
to develop its own distribution rather than adopting or embracing an existing
one?<br>
</b>We did look at several distributions but found them very limited. They were
difficult to install and use and required an expert, which we did not find acceptable.
In Linux, when something is not happening, the best thing is to do it yourself
and that is exactly what we did. As compared to any other distribution, we received
the highest rating of 9 from CNET in addition to being CNET's Editor's Choice,
whereas Red Hat has received a rating of 8.</font></p>
<p><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Corel is primarily known
as a company developing Graphic suites and Office suites. Does this give a feeling
that Corel is losing its focus of developing applications?</font></b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Not really, a tremendous
amount of User Interface has been worked at with programs such as CorelDraw.
In Linux, it is a world team effort with each organization doing what its best
at. The kernel is still being developed by the kernel people and we simply use
it. We don't have to reduplicate that work. We are best at the user interface
and we are doing that. With our 50 million Windows users worldwide we have very
rich experience with that. We have made the user interface really easy to use
and the fact that our distribution has been well received proves it.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>Corel has been a Windows
developers and is now a Linux developer. Does it affect your relationship with
Microsoft?<br>
</b>We have always had a good relationship with Microsoft and continue to do
so. We use Visual Basic and they use our components. We can focus in certain
other areas, which I think in some ways it is going to be good for Microsoft.
They are, as you know, getting hammered for being a monopoly. Microsoft will
do better when they have competition OS around.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>What do you think is
better. Being a Linux Developer or being a Windows developer?<br>
</b></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">We
actually like being a multi-platform developer. Otherwise one company has too
much control over computer manufacturers - they can dictate terms. They can
insist that you bundle certain things or put logos in certain places, which
Microsoft has been known to do. I don't think that's good for anybody. Being
in the multi-platform world is healthier while maintaining connectivity, because
you don't want to have different islands which cannot talk to each other. We
consider connectivity as the biggest thing that Corel is doing for Linux. We
have our Windows experience and while we don't expect Windows to go away, we
do expect Linux to be just as important as Windows. Much of the work that we
will be doing on applications will be shared between the platforms.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>How is Corel helping
the Linux community?</b><br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">We have been doing
work with Corel Linux in the GPL or Mozilla open source licenses. The Wine work
that we are doing is been put back into the community. The Corel File Manager,
all of which we wrote ourselves, has been put back into the community. We are
actually very supportive of the open source concept. On the applications side
we don't see those as being open source because there are dozens and dozens
of third party utilities that we select, tune-up and include. That's what makes
a very rich applications because the core software is only part of the source.
It is the other utilities that make them useful. As we have to pay royalties
for many of these, its impossible to give them free.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>Which are the big vendors
who have agreed to pre-install Corel Linux on their systems?</b><br>
PC Chips, that makes more motherboards than anybody else is installing Corel
Linux as we speak. We are working with other big vendors too which we will make
announcements over the next 6 months. I think a lot of end-user computer manufacturers
are waiting for applications such as Corel's office applications and graphic
applications to be available before they can really offer a consumer product.
We will have those available soon and we expect them to make announcements then.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>There are some installation-related
issues regarding Corel Linux 1.0. What is Corel doing about those?<br>
</b>There are some issues regarding legacy hardware such as ISA, which has not
been as automated as the latest Bus. The fact is that developers are now focusing
on the high volume situation first. It will take a lot before it can cover every
legacy hardware and this is typical of any Linux distribution.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>Corel had the Netwinder
Project, which for some reason did not take-off and Corel decided to spin it
off. What was the reason behind that?<br>
</b>The project has divested to rebel.com, and we are an active partner there.
They are doing very well and just went through a private round of financing.
They have a product similar to Cobalt, which has a market capitalization of 3-4
billion US$. We are very happy with our 25% ownership of rebel that we got in
the Netwinder project. We just felt it was better off as a separate company
because hardware does require a separate focus.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>Will Corel do something
similar with Corel Linux?<br>
</b></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">No,
because we are enabling 90% of the work between Windows applications
and Linux applications and to some extent Macintosh applications. That is more
proficient than other companies doing both Linux applications and Windows applications.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>Are all Corel applications
going to be available for Linux? <br>
</b>Yes, absolutely. We are also considering acquisition of other applications of
Windows to port over to Linux, to make our portfolio even more complete. We
are also looking at companies who have a dual platform strategy. It is easier
to buy technologies than to buy the whole company in a non-exclusive way.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><i>(Mike Cowpland refused
to give any further details about the companies that they plan to or are considering
to acquire. Said it was too pre-mature to discuss this now.)</i></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>Corel Office for Linux
was expected by the year-end of 1999? Apart from Word Perfect none of the other
applications are ported to Linux yet. What is the progress on that?</b><br>
It should be available in beta form in a week's time and that's very close to
year-end.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>What about the competition
to your office suite from Star Office?<br>
</b>The downloads of their office suite are running at 10% of our volumes which
is not very competitive. If you look at Sun's history of software it has been
dismal. Even now people complain that they are not even freeing up Java. IBM
is very upset that they are charging 3% license fees for anybody using Java
program. Sun's history on software has been the pits.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>What would happen if
Microsoft office were available for Linux?<br>
</b>That would be good for the industry. More the applications on Linux, the
better. In fact we are working on that. With our GraphOn Bridges you will be
able to run Microsoft applications on Corel Linux without Microsoft having to
do any work. You still have to pay Microsoft's license but it will enable people
to rely on Linux without giving up on their favorite Windows applications.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>Both Microsoft and Sun
are offering their office suites over the servers with the concept of application
service providers. What are Corel's plans?<br>
</b>We are doing that too. We have an offering for ASP's as that provides very
low cost of ownership.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>Does Corel plan to sell
computers with Linux and Corel apps preinstalled?<br>
</b>No we would rather work with partners to do that.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>There have been some
controversies about the Corel Linux licensing which wasn't 100% GPL?<br>
</b>Even Richard Stallman has been happy with our license. Being a big commercial
company, we have to be more careful of copyright than other smaller companies.
We had certain terms, which had to be introduced to ensure that everything was
legal.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>Will Corel support other
free operating systems in the future?<br>
</b>No. We think it is important to focus on Linux, as it is clearly the one.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>There were some talks
about Red Hat taking over Corel, is that going to happen?<br>
</b>No, I don't think they would do that, because Red Hat is a much smaller
company than Corel. They have only 40-50 developers where as we have got 800
developers. We understand the Windows market, Red Hat does not.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>What if it happens?<br>
</b></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">It
is not going to happen (laughs).</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>If you had a choice to
be taken over by a company, which company would you prefer?<br>
</b>None (laughs).</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>How does Corel plan to
make money out of the open source model?<br>
</b>Corel has always been known to offer enormous value for money and thereby
the paradigm suits us very well. If you put a software in a box along with a
manual, it typically costs between 50 and 100 US$ and that's what an upgrade
sells for. It is really no different to our Windows model. The only difference
is that you get a good CD in the market with free downloads and that's why we
have had 2 million Word Perfect downloads, the number one rate of free download
of Corel Linux.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">In my point of view, it
is very similar to the Windows model. It goes even faster and you still make
money on the boxes because some people don't want to wait for the downloads.
They want the CD and the manuals or they want the extra bells and whistles such
as the high level of support or may be some more bells and whistles such as
content. For example, on our Web site we have 50,000 images but if you want
to access 2 million then you have to join up and pay 30 US$ a year as
subscription. So it fits into a subscription model. We are looking at the Web
site as a revenue generator and are keen to develop a lot more traffic to our
portal <a href="http://www.corelcity.com">Corelcity.com</a>.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>Is Corel's Web site powered
by Corel Linux?<br>
</b>Some part of it is on Solaris and Window NT, but the trend would be towards
moving to Corel Linux.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>What are Corel's plans
for India?<br>
</b>We are optimistic about the potential of the Indian market and are very
very keen on it. It is a huge market and English is commonly used. We also think
India is natural for Linux because it needs computers at the lowest possible
cost. Why would they want to pay the high price of Windows when they don't have
to? At the same time it is full of computer scientist who can improve Linux
because they have access to the source code. So India can become a major contributor
to Linux since they can all see the source code, use the source code and be
a part of the improvement. So it's much more exciting for India than simply
being a part of Microsoft's monopoly.</font></p>
<EM>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Do you have any interesting
questions to Mike Cowpland which haven't been answered in this interview? Send
an email to <a href="mailto:prakash@freeos.com">Prakash Advani</a> and the top
5 questions will be forwarded to Mike Cowpland.</font></p>
<P> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">
<A HREF="http://Freeos.com">Freeos.com</A> islooking for people who can
provide news, articles and updates to our the Web site. If you are interested
in contributing in any way please e-mail <A
HREF="mailto:prakash@freeos.com">prakash@freeos.com</A>.
</EM>
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Copyright © 2000, Prakash Advani<BR>
Published in Issue 50 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, February 2000</H5>
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