“The media was heavy on conflicting numbers but short on
analysis when VA Linux announced a deal to purchase
Andover.Net, operator of a suite of Web sites for the open
source community. VA Linux will now own the news site Slashdot and
the software site Freshmeat, as well as Andover.Net’s other
properties.”
“Whatever the exact price, few bothered with the deal’s
substance. … Perhaps concentrated media ownership has simply
become too common to remark upon, but Salon.com’s Andrew
Leonard and Wired News’ Joanna Glasner noted that Slashdot is now
owned by one of the companies it frequently covers. ‘[A]
linkup between a major systems distributor and a content hub looks
like a dangerous combination’ to some in the open source community,
wrote Glasner, although VA Linux said it wouldn’t try to control
content on Andover sites.”
Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.
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