(July 2, 2003) - Three quick questions. Which Linux distro is regarded as the most international of Linux distros due to its installation being supported in more than 40 languages? Which Linux distro dates back to November 1998, when three French-speaking Linux enthusiasts met on the Internet? Which Linux distro was named Product of the Year and Best Linux Distribution/Server at the 1999 LinuxWorld Expo?

If you answered "Mandrake Linux" to all of the questions above, award yourself three points.

Now headquartered in Altadena, CA, as well as in Montreal and Paris, and with technologists in over 20 countries, the company behind the distribution, MandrakeSoft, has in just 5 years progressed from those early days to its most current - and, some would say, breakthrough - release: Mandrake Linux 9.1.

"We are now busy working on Mandrake Linux 9.2," says MandrakeSoft CEO Fran?ois Bancilhon, "which will be delivered on schedule in the fall of 2003."

According to Bancilhon, "Mandrake Linux is much more than just an operating system, it is a complete information system solution." His belief is that the potential of free software and the Linux community are so powerful that what he calls "a radical, visible movement within the computing industry" is now certain.

MandrakeSoft hopes to wrest itself free of its current financial status (while presently cash-positive, the company applied for Chapter 11 status in January and is unlikely to emerge from that till Q1 of 2004 at the earliest).

The Linux world will hear more about this upcoming release shortly, Bancilhon adds.