“Mark Stone joined VA Linux Systems in December 1999 to head
VA’s Media Group. Prior to that he was the executive editor for
O’Reilly’s & Associates’ Open Source Group, where he developed
and contributed to Open Sources: Voices from the Open Source
Revolution. On February 3, VA Linux Systems announced it was
acquiring Andover.net — the owners of Slashdot, Freshmeat,
QuestionExchange, and other Websites — in a cash-and-stock deal
worth roughly $1.04 billion. I asked Mark how Andover’s sites might
affect the Web side of VA’s business and what the implications
might be for the open source community.”
“LinuxWorld: You bring some impressive
publishing credentials to VA Linux Systems. Were you hired in
anticipation of a major expansion of VA’s Website holdings?
Mark Stone: I don’t actually know the answer to
that. When I was brought onboard, the Websites we were most
concerned about in the discussions we had were Linux.com,
SourceForge.org, and Themes.org, and so far those continue to be
the ones that occupy my thoughts the most.”
“LinuxWorld: How involved will you be with the
newly acquired Andover.net sites?
Mark Stone: There’s a lot that hasn’t been decided
so far. We’re in this transition period, trying to plan out what
will actually happen after the deal closes, so very little is going
to be decided during that time. But I certainly hope to be very
much involved with whatever directions those Websites might
take.”