Lindows Hopes to Capitalize on Linux Fervor, IPO Revival

The funds also will pay off a $10.4 million, 10% interest loan from CEO Michael Robertson, who is no stranger to shaking up big, established markets. He sold his last venture, MP3.com, to Vivendi(V) for $372 million in 2001 after being sued for copyright infringement by the recording industry. Robertson also is the founder and CEO of Internet telecom company SIPphone, which operates out of the same building as Lindows.

"Basically they're running out of cash," concluded Chowdhry, who also suggested the IPO may be an exit strategy for the company's owners and original investors.

Still, the timing may be right. Interest in Linux is high, but public Linux companies are still few and far between, and many investors have been turned off by Red Hat's sky-high valuation, which is 60 times fiscal 2005 earnings.

"The wind is definitely in the back of the IPO market," added IPO Weekly's Fitzgibbon, noting 50 deals have already priced this year, a number not reached until mid-November in 2003.

Perhaps more than Google's offering, Lindows's presumptive IPO will reveal whether investors have learned from the hype-filled days of yesteryear.

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