Linux seller trims IPO price--again

Linux seller Lindows has trimmed its planned stock price for the second time in two weeks, meaning that the company's market debut could generate less than half the payout originally anticipated.

In an amended registration statement filed Thursday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Lindows--which will soon change its name to Linspire as a result of a legal settlement with Microsoft--said it expects shares to sell for $5 to $7 each.

The company originally set a range of $9 to $11 a share for 4.4 million shares, when it filed to go public four months ago, meaning that it could have raised up to $57.5 million. The target range was reduced to $9 to $7 a share last week and cut again Thursday. The company could now see a payout as low as $22 million.

MP3.com founder Michael Robertson launched Lindows three years ago to sell a version of the open-source Linux operating system with a look and feel similar to Microsoft's Windows.

Microsoft promptly sued the company, alleging that the name infringed on the software giant's Windows trademark. The ever-expanding dispute was finally settled last month, when Microsoft agreed to pay Lindows $20 million, and Robertson agreed to change the company's name to Linspire, a product name the company had already begun using in some overseas markets. The name change will become final by the Sept. 14 deadline set in the agreement.

While Lindows has generated significant publicity and legal attention, the company has a shakier record as a business. The initial registration statement charts a history of escalating losses and includes a statement from an independent auditor that "our historical losses and negative cash flows from operations raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern."

Lindows has not yet set a date for the offering, which will have the company trading on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol "LINE."

[David Arbogast]

HAHAHAHAHA!!

Well can I get a big "DUH!"
We resell a product that people can get for free and runs on commodotized hardware! Invest in us!

Hello? Is anybody going to buy stock in this company? Maybe all the unemployed opensource programmers can scrape together some coins from beneath their seat cushions to buy Linspire stock when it is finally offered at $0.02 per share... of course, then they'll complain about what a disaster the US economy is and how the stock market is a scam when they lose their huge investment.

Before you invest, READ:
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The initial registration statement charts a history of escalating losses and includes a statement from an independent auditor that "our historical losses and negative cash flows from operations raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern."
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LINspire has INspired me to take my money elsewhere... Microsoft would be a better investment.

[murraymr]

Unfounded claim

The claim that Linspire is something free is incorrect. The claim that it is purely opensource is incorrect. Granted, you can install opensource programs on it. The desktop OS and interface core is built from opensource programs, but it is nothing like its roots. It is a seperate product licensed by Lindows and it is packaged with commercial applications, similar to MS Windows.

[HitchHiker]

David needs to do his homework.

As mentioned above David needs to do a little homework before he opens his mouth. LinSpire doesn't run on "commodotized hardware!", he is thinking of Apple.

Please David before you start typing your FUD, know what you are talking about.