Slashdot Mirror

• Marc Andreessen made 100s of millions of dollars shortly after graduating from UIUC. Today's graduates of the same university face moving back in with their parents. "Fuck that, I got mine!"
• Brian Behlendorf decided he'd rather go to India to recruit software engineers than help out the graduating classes of 2003 here in the US.
• Robert Malda stood idly by and said NOTHING while his company offshored its flagship product.

Has anyone else noticed this?

VA is pimping SourceForge as a tool that helps companies outsource jobs overseas. Don't believe me? Go see for yourself, man..

As much as I hate to say it, Bowie Poag may have been right all along..sad. If I had a project that needed hosting space I sure as hell would not go to SF with it now. Sure its free hosting space, but the demonstration could lose you your job.

Do you find VA software a strategic partner in your outsourcing ("offshoring") efforts? Did you know that they were a "relatively early adopter" of providing services to aid in this task?

Do you find it amusing that they try to stir up emotions by posting offshoring stories on slashdot to increase ad revenue from those hit hardest from outsourcing? Many readers voice their hatred of the act and are infact boosting the revenue of a company whose survival rests on the increased move of jobs to foriegn countries.

Do you consider VA Software to be a respectable organization?

VA Software Provides Better Governance For Offshore Outsourcing
VA Software Uses Own 'Offshoring' Experience to Tune Flagship Product for Hot Growth Market

Are you some sort of GAY HOMOSEXUAL FAGGOT? Do you spend your days dreaming of HOT, BEEFY COCKS being jammed down your throat? Would you like to see how many Oreos will fit up your ass?

If so, you may be interested in one of the many positions available at VA Software, America's leading employer of GAY HOMOSEXUAL FAGGOT programmers and administrators.

To apply, send penis measurements, approximate rectal volume, and a semen sample to:

ROB MALDA
2001 WOODLARK DR
HOLLAND, MI 49424-7643
USA

Are you some sort of GAY HOMOSEXUAL FAGGOT? Do you spend your days dreaming of HOT, BEEFY COCKS being jammed down your throat? Would you like to see how many Oreos will fit up your ass?

If so, you may be interested in one of the many positions available at VA Software, America's leading employer of GAY HOMOSEXUAL FAGGOT programmers and administrators.

To apply, send penis measurements, approximate rectal volume, and a semen sample to:

ROB MALDA
2001 WOODLARK DR
HOLLAND, MI 49424-7643
USA

Some idiot moderator is a little too Redundant happy.

Hi, asshole! This is redundant!

And now, a word from our sponsors.

Are you some sort of GAY HOMOSEXUAL FAGGOT? Do you spend your days dreaming of HOT, BEEFY COCKS being jammed down your throat? Would you like to see how many Oreos will fit up your ass?

If so, you may be interested in one of the many positions available at VA Software, America's leading employer of GAY HOMOSEXUAL FAGGOT programmers and administrators.

To apply, send penis measurements, approximate rectal volume, and a semen sample to:

ROB MALDA
2001 WOODLARK DR
HOLLAND, MI 49424-7643
USA

Some idiot moderator is a little too Redundant happy.

Hi, asshole! This is redundant!

And now, a word from our sponsors.

Are you some sort of GAY HOMOSEXUAL FAGGOT? Do you spend your days dreaming of HOT, BEEFY COCKS being jammed down your throat? Would you like to see how many Oreos will fit up your ass?

If so, you may be interested in one of the many positions available at VA Software, America's leading employer of GAY HOMOSEXUAL FAGGOT programmers and administrators.

To apply, send penis measurements, approximate rectal volume, and a semen sample to:

ROB MALDA
2001 WOODLARK DR
HOLLAND, MI 49424-7643
USA

How come it is never mentioned here that VA Software (the parent of Slashdot) is producing tools that encourage the tractive of "offshoring"? Just see their press release here. Why does VA Software continue to hurt us, the geek "community"?

As said above, OSDN *HAS* open sourced SourceForge. You can obtain it at the Alexandria Development Project on SourceForge. Please try to do some research prior to saying things like this. That said, it is true that like many open source projects, SourceForge can only be used for open source software development. For commercial, closed source development using the SourceForge system, try SourceForge Enterprise Edition from VA Software, the original developers of SourceForge.

As said above, OSDN *HAS* open sourced SourceForge. You can obtain it at the Alexandria Development Project on SourceForge. Please try to do some research prior to saying things like this. That said, it is true that like many open source projects, SourceForge can only be used for open source software development. For commercial, closed source development using the SourceForge system, try SourceForge Enterprise Edition from VA Software, the original developers of SourceForge.

So does this mean that any spam passing through any of VA's pipe or VA is liable to be punished

Surely you don't mean VA Software.

Because the owners of Slashdot have a vested interest in the well-being of Linux. So if Linux tends to get a little more press here than seems normal, the reason ought to be obvious to all.

here

This is why we must consider: who had something to gain from the disasterous crimes of September 11th? Obviously not Osama Bin Laden, who would net no financial windfall from the destruction of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Although he has loudly applauded the "terrorist" acts of September 11th and even tacitly taken credit for them, there is no reason to believe that he is anything more than a bandwagon jumper. Being blamed for the destruction of the World Trade Center has done more for his image than any amount of militant Islamic rhetoric.

But if not Bin Laden, then who?

It so happens that on December 11th, "coincidentally" 2 months after the tragedy, Credit Suisse First Boston quietly agreed to pay out US$100 million in order to settle an 18 month old investigation into its handling of certain high-profile technology IPOs (Initial Public Offerings). One of the most controversial amongst these being the IPO of VA Linux Systems, Inc. (LNUX) .

VA Linux Systems, Inc., now known as VA Software, is widely derided as a poster child of the dot-com bust, though inexplicably still in business. At the time of the IPO, VA Linux (Software) shares opened trading at nearly 10 times their $30 offer price, closing the first day of trading at $239.25. This meteoric rise made many early investors rich, strangely on account of a company which purports to sell a hobbyist operating system which can be obtained for free on the Internet. "The VA Linux initial public offering is a prime example of market manipulation in an IPO by investment banks, their customers and the issuing firm," said Steven Schulman, a partner in the law firm Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, which specializes in filing shareholder suits.

"Because certain favored customers of the investment banks agreed to buy shares in a new issue at inflated prices in the aftermarket (in return for getting an allocation of the shares at the initial offering price) the share prices to which the IPO eventually soared were actually driven by artificial market forces," continues Schulman.

But what does the VA Software (Linux) IPO have to do with the attacks on September 11th, and what has that to do with the Credit Suisse settlement? Well, considering that VA Linux (Software) got CSFB into trouble in the first place, it stands to reason that the VA Linux (Software) Board of Directors were complicit in the stock fraud from beginning to end. As the investigation progressed against CSFB, the unscrupulous VA Software/Linux executives, their pockets bulging with filthy lucre plundered from trusting, hard-working investors, must have realized that their days in the country club were numbered if the SEC discovered their wrongdoings.

The SEC, or Securities Exchange Commission, is a federal regulatory agency, and cannot be bribed. Therefore, with a possible stint in federal prison looming large, Larry Augustin and the rest of the crooks, including outspoken gun violence advocate Eric S. Raymond, decided to undertake more active means to halt the investigation.

The Plan

It so happened that all the evidence in the CSFB/VA Linux investigation was held at the SEC Northeast Regi

VA Software CEO/Founder Larry Augustin Dead at 39, Apparent Suicide

by ASSOCIATED PRESS

VA Software (LNUX) CEO, president and founder Larry Augustin was found dead in his home in Fremont, Calif. early this morning. The death was an apparent suicide, caused by a close-range shotgun blast to the face and head. He was 39 years old.

Police reports indicate that strewn about the room in which Augustin carried out his fate were empty cartons of ramen noodles and discount bulk oat bags. His house was bare of any furniture or furnishings of any worth, and his garage which once held several classic cars was emptied. An autopsy revealed several thousand VA Software stock certificates, neatly rolled and bundled, in Augustin's rectum. Police are investigating how the five-inch-wide bundle appeared in Augustin's lower intestine unlubricated without any sign of strain on his anal sphincter. Also discovered was an abnormally high concentration of dye in Augustin's bloodstream, which was determined to be the main component of "ledger red" ink.

VA Software, which at different times has been called VA Linux Systems, VA Linux and VA Systems, has seen financial difficulties of late. Most likely to be soon delisted from NASDAQ, the company shares a struggle for profitability with many other dot-bomb era corporations whose business plans include the line "???" directly before "PROFIT !!". VA Software child companies, such as geek weblog Slashdot.org and Star Wars fan site Sourceforge have felt the pinch of the economic downturn.

Augustin is survived by his domestic partner and two adopted children.

Mandrake, Corel, and VA Software are all losing money. It's particularly impressive just how proud VA is that they've only lost 3.7 million in the first quarter this year, as opposed to the 9.8 million they lost first quarter last year. And you can't exactly claim it's starting losses either, all 3 have been around for years.

Transgaming doesn't have financial information on their site, but they're a tiny (20 employees according to this June article) private Canadian company. While that's great for those 20 people, I don't think selling access to freely distributable software and asking people not to distribute it is really a scalable business model. Lindows is apparently another small (they claim 50 employees when trying to explain why they charge for click-n-run, who knows if it's accurate or not.) private company.

And Loki... You know.

SUSE may be the only other major profitable company there, I can't really tell since they also don't list financial information. (At least, not on their English site, and not that I could find on their German site with Babelfish.)

So, out of 8 Linux companies, one is (maybe 2 are, if SUSE is good.) large and profitable, 2 are small and private, 3 are large and losing money, and one already went bankrupt. Still not enough to really mean anything, but not quite as happy a picture as just considering Red Hat.

Let's just hope that VA Software doesn't try their own GINA implementation. I suspect that it would end up being susceptible to penetration by the Sobig virus.

When you have a crime to investigate, and you have no suspects, where do you start? Obviously you begin by looking at the person or persons who have the most to gain by perpetrating the crime.

This is why we must consider: who had something to gain from the disasterous crimes of September 11th? Obviously not Osama Bin Laden, who would net no financial windfall from the destruction of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Although he has loudly applauded the "terrorist" acts of September 11th and even tacitly taken credit for them, there is no reason to believe that he is anything more than a bandwagon jumper. Being blamed for the destruction of the World Trade Center has done more for his image than any amount of militant Islamic rhetoric.

But if not Bin Laden, then who?

It so happens that on December 11th, "coincidentally" 2 months after the tragedy, Credit Suisse First Boston quietly agreed to pay out US$100 million in order to settle an 18 month old investigation into its handling of certain high-profile technology IPOs (Initial Public Offerings). One of the most controversial amongst these being the IPO of VA Linux Systems, Inc. (LNUX) .

VA Linux Systems, Inc., now known as VA Software, is widely derided as a poster child of the dot-com bust, though inexplicably still in business. At the time of the IPO, VA Linux (Software) shares opened trading at nearly 10 times their $30 offer price, closing the first day of trading at $239.25. This meteoric rise made many early investors rich, strangely on account of a company which purports to sell a hobbyist operating system which can be obtained for free on the Internet. "The VA Linux initial public offering is a prime example of market manipulation in an IPO by investment banks, their customers and the issuing firm," said Steven Schulman, a partner in the law firm Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, which specializes in filing shareholder suits.

"Because certain favored customers of the investment banks agreed to buy shares in a new issue at inflated prices in the aftermarket (in return for getting an allocation of the shares at the initial offering price) the share prices to which the IPO eventually soared were actually driven by artificial market forces," continues Schulman.

But what does the VA Software (Linux) IPO have to do with the attacks on September 11th, and what has that to do with the Credit Suisse settlement? Well, considering that VA Linux (Software) got CSFB into trouble in the first place, it stands to reason that the VA Linux (Software) Board of Directors were complicit in the stock fraud from beginning to end. As the investigation progressed against CSFB, the unscrupulous VA Software/Linux executives, their pockets bulging with filthy lucre plundered from trusting, hard-working investors, must have realized that their days in the country club were numbered if the SEC discovered their wrongdoings.

The SEC, or Securities Exchange Commission, is a federal regulatory agency, and cannot be bribed. Therefore, with a possible stint in federal prison looming large, Larry Augustin and the rest of the crooks, including outspoken gun violence advocate Eric S. Raymond, decided to undertake more active means to halt the investigation.

The Plan

It so happened that all the evidence in the CSFB/

• Three of the eight directors [vasoftware.com] at VA Software also sit on the board of a privately-held company called Murberry-Slocomb, which as far as I can tell is some kind of stealth incubator/VC firm. Murberry Slocomb was founded in 1996 by none other than Paul Allen, and is a subsidiary of Allen's company Vulcan Ventures [paulallen.com].
• Most (>80%) of Murberry's funding, including compensation for its directors, comes directly from Microsoft Corporation.
• In 1998, VA Software (parent company of OSDN, which is the parent company of Slashdot) receieved an investement of $3.8M from Murberry-Slocomb.
• The 1998 annual report for VA Software actually mentions this, and goes on in detail about how this infusion of capital has helpled them maintain and operate OSDN.

At first I was more amused than shocked; I mean, the technology industry is notoriously incestuous and its leaders, even those who are in competition, often sit on the same boards and are members of the same organizations. So what if a few board members of Slashdot's parent company are also directors of a company funded by Microsoft? Well, it gets more interesting.

As it turns out, in May of 1999, VA Software submitted to the SEC Form 5506-D, Application for Direct Non-Ownership Subsidization. [sec.gov] This is the form that a corporation will submit to the SEC when it wants to directly fund a subsidiary from its own parent corporation. (It's basically a tax shelter for companies with a lot of subsidiaries) The application was approved in July 1999. The applicant name? OSDN. In other words, Form 5506-D basically eliminated the middleman between OSDN and Murberry-Slocomb. Following the money, I now saw that OSDN was being funded directly from an infusion of captal that Murberry-Slocomb has received from Microsoft!

Weird. I know. But what does this all mean? Honestly I have no idea. I'm not the custodian of any privileged information. A look at VA Software's web site and a Google search is all anyone needs to find the same information that I found. Are Slashdot's staff being paid through Microsoft? I sincerely hope not. But the facts are there and it sure looks like it. More importantly, what does this mean for the future of Slashdot? Can any grain of objectivity or journalistic ethics be preserved? What happens when the company you are bashing, nay, the very company that you preach the loudest against, Microsoft, i

VA Software CEO/Founder Larry Augustin Dead at 39, Apparent Suicide

by ASSOCIATED PRESS

VA Software (LNUX) CEO, president and founder Larry Augustin was found dead in his home in Fremont, Calif. early this morning. The death was an apparent suicide, caused by a close-range shotgun blast to the face and head. He was 39 years old.

Police reports indicate that strewn about the room in which Augustin carried out his fate were empty cartons of ramen noodles and discount bulk oat bags. His house was bare of any furniture or furnishings of any worth, and his garage which once held several classic cars was emptied. An autopsy revealed several thousand VA Software stock certificates, neatly rolled and bundled, in Augustin's rectum. Police are investigating how the five-inch-wide bundle appeared in Augustin's lower intestine unlubricated without any sign of strain on his anal sphincter. Also discovered was an abnormally high concentration of dye in Augustin's bloodstream, which was determined to be the main component of "ledger red" ink.

VA Software, which at different times has been called VA Linux Systems, VA Linux and VA Systems, has seen financial difficulties of late. Most likely to be soon delisted from NASDAQ, the company shares a struggle for profitability with many other dot-bomb era corporations whose business plans include the line "???" directly before "PROFIT !!". VA Software child companies, such as geek weblog Slashdot.org and Star Wars fan site Sourceforge have felt the pinch of the economic downturn.

Augustin is survived by his domestic partner and two adopted children.

SCO combining Linux and UNIX features?

SCO working on Linux SMP in 2000?

SCO contributing code to Linux in 2000?

SCO combining Linux and UNIX features?

SCO working on Linux SMP in 2000?

SCO contributing code to Linux in 2000?

SCO did seem to make some kind of effort to to merge Linux and SCO Unix

And they also contributed stuff to Linux (there was/is a list on their site, but in case that disappears): Link 1 Link 2

SCO did seem to make some kind of effort to to merge Linux and SCO Unix

And they also contributed stuff to Linux (there was/is a list on their site, but in case that disappears): Link 1 Link 2

No, SCO isn't showing anyone the code because there is no code.

OR

Maybe it was part of SCO's effort to merge Linux and Unix

OR

Maybe their programmers wrote it into Linux: Link 1 Link 2

No, SCO isn't showing anyone the code because there is no code.

OR

Maybe it was part of SCO's effort to merge Linux and Unix

OR

Maybe their programmers wrote it into Linux: Link 1 Link 2

I believe the next story would be about this mailing list entry.

That proves that SCO contributed nothing but bugs to linux kernel.

• Three of the eight directors at VA Software also sit on the board of a privately-held company called Murberry-Slocomb, which as far as I can tell is some kind of stealth incubator/VC firm. Murberry Slocomb was founded in 1996 by none other than Paul Allen, and is a subsidiary of Allen's company Vulcan Ventures.
  
• Most (>80%) of Murberry's funding, including compensation for its directors, comes directly from Microsoft Corporation.
  
• In 1998, VA Software (parent company of OSDN, which is the parent company of Slashdot) receieved an investement of $3.8M from Murberry-Slocomb.
  
• The 1998 annual report for VA Software actually mentions this, and goes on in detail about how this infusion of capital has helpled them maintain and operate OSDN.
  

• Three of the eight directors at VA Software also sit on the board of a privately-held company called Murberry-Slocomb, which as far as I can tell is some kind of stealth incubator/VC firm. Murberry Slocomb was founded in 1996 by none other than Paul Allen, and is a subsidiary of Allen's company Vulcan Ventures.
  
• Most (>80%) of Murberry's funding, including compensation for its directors, comes directly from Microsoft Corporation.
  
• In 1998, VA Software (parent company of OSDN, which is the parent company of Slashdot) receieved an investement of $3.8M from Murberry-Slocomb.
  
• The 1998 annual report for VA Software actually mentions this, and goes on in detail about how this infusion of capital has helpled them maintain and operate OSDN.
  

• Three of the eight directors at VA Software also sit on the board of a privately-held company called Murberry-Slocomb, which as far as I can tell is some kind of stealth incubator/VC firm. Murberry Slocomb was founded in 1996 by none other than Paul Allen, and is a subsidiary of Allen's company Vulcan Ventures.
  
• Most (>80%) of Murberry's funding, including compensation for its directors, comes directly from Microsoft Corporation.
  
• In 1998, VA Software (parent company of OSDN, which is the parent company of Slashdot) receieved an investement of $3.8M from Murberry-Slocomb.
  
• The 1998 annual report for VA Software actually mentions this, and goes on in detail about how this infusion of capital has helpled them maintain and operate OSDN.
  

• Three of the eight directors at VA Software also sit on the board of a privately-held company called Murberry-Slocomb, which as far as I can tell is some kind of stealth incubator/VC firm. Murberry Slocomb was founded in 1996 by none other than Paul Allen, and is a subsidiary of Allen's company Vulcan Ventures.
  
• Most (>80%) of Murberry's funding, including compensation for its directors, comes directly from Microsoft Corporation.
  
• In 1998, VA Software (parent company of OSDN, which is the parent company of Slashdot) receieved an investement of $3.8M from Murberry-Slocomb.
  
• The 1998 annual report for VA Software actually mentions this, and goes on in detail about how this infusion of capital has helpled them maintain and operate OSDN.
  

• Three of the eight directors at VA Software also sit on the board of a privately-held company called Murberry-Slocomb, which as far as I can tell is some kind of stealth incubator/VC firm. Murberry Slocomb was founded in 1996 by none other than Paul Allen, and is a subsidiary of Allen's company Vulcan Ventures.
  
• Most (>80%) of Murberry's funding, including compensation for its directors, comes directly from Microsoft Corporation.
  
• In 1998, VA Software (parent company of OSDN, which is the parent company of Slashdot) receieved an investement of $3.8M from Murberry-Slocomb.
  
• The 1998 annual report for VA Software actually mentions this, and goes on in detail about how this infusion of capital has helpled them maintain and operate OSDN.
  

• Three of the eight directors at VA Software also sit on the board of a privately-held company called Murberry-Slocomb, which as far as I can tell is some kind of stealth incubator/VC firm. Murberry Slocomb was founded in 1996 by none other than Paul Allen, and is a subsidiary of Allen's company Vulcan Ventures.
  
• Most (>80%) of Murberry's funding, including compensation for its directors, comes directly from Microsoft Corporation.
  
• In 1998, VA Software (parent company of OSDN, which is the parent company of Slashdot) receieved an investement of $3.8M from Murberry-Slocomb.
  
• The 1998 annual report for VA Software actually mentions this, and goes on in detail about how this infusion of capital has helpled them maintain and operate OSDN.
  

• Three of the eight directors at VA Software also sit on the board of a privately-held company called Murberry-Slocomb, which as far as I can tell is some kind of stealth incubator/VC firm. Murberry Slocomb was founded in 1996 by none other than Paul Allen, and is a subsidiary of Allen's company Vulcan Ventures.
  
• Most (>80%) of Murberry's funding, including compensation for its directors, comes directly from Microsoft Corporation.
  
• In 1998, VA Software (parent company of OSDN, which is the parent company of Slashdot) receieved an investement of $3.8M from Murberry-Slocomb.
  
• The 1998 annual report for VA Software actually mentions this, and goes on in detail about how this infusion of capital has helpled them maintain and operate OSDN.
  

This story about conglomeration brought to you by Slashdot.org, sibling to the Open Source Developers Network. Proud members of the VA Software family of companies.

When you have a crime to investigate, and you have no suspects, where do you start? Obviously you begin by looking at the person or persons who have the most to gain by perpetrating the crime.

This is why we must consider: who had something to gain from the disasterous crimes of September 11th? Obviously not Osama Bin Laden, who would net no financial windfall from the destruction of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Although he has loudly applauded the "terrorist" acts of September 11th and even tacitly taken credit for them, there is no reason to believe that he is anything more than a bandwagon jumper. Being blamed for the destruction of the World Trade Center has done more for his image than any amount of militant Islamic rhetoric.

But if not Bin Laden, then who?

It so happens that on December 11th, "coincidentally" 2 months after the tragedy, Credit Suisse First Boston quietly agreed to pay out US$100 million in order to settle an 18 month old investigation into its handling of certain high-profile technology IPOs (Initial Public Offerings). One of the most controversial amongst these being the IPO of VA Linux Systems, Inc. (LNUX) .

VA Linux Systems, Inc., now known as VA Software, is widely derided as a poster child of the dot-com bust, though inexplicably still in business. At the time of the IPO, VA Linux (Software) shares opened trading at nearly 10 times their $30 offer price, closing the first day of trading at $239.25. This meteoric rise made many early investors rich, strangely on account of a company which purports to sell a hobbyist operating system which can be obtained for free on the Internet. "The VA Linux initial public offering is a prime example of market manipulation in an IPO by investment banks, their customers and the issuing firm," said Steven Schulman, a partner in the law firm Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, which specializes in filing shareholder suits.

"Because certain favored customers of the investment banks agreed to buy shares in a new issue at inflated prices in the aftermarket (in return for getting an allocation of the shares at the initial offering price) the share prices to which the IPO eventually soared were actually driven by artificial market forces," continues Schulman.

But what does the VA Software (Linux) IPO have to do with the attacks on September 11th, and what has that to do with the Credit Suisse settlement? Well, considering that VA Linux (Software) got CSFB into trouble in the first place, it stands to reason that the VA Linux (Software) Board of Directors were complicit in the stock fraud from beginning to end. As the investigation progressed against CSFB, the unscrupulous VA Software/Linux executives, their pockets bulging with filthy lucre plundered from trusting, hard-working investors, must have realized that their days in the country club were numbered if the SEC discovered their wrongdoings.

The SEC, or Securities Exchange Commission, is a federal regulatory agency, and cannot be bribed. Therefore, with a possible stint in federal prison looming large, Larry Augustin and the rest of the crooks, including outspoken gun violence advocate Eric S. Raymond, decided to undertake more active means to halt the investigation.

The Plan

It so happened that all the evidence in the CSFB/VA Linux investigation was held at the SEC Northeast Regional Office in Manhattan. More specifically, 7 World Trade Center, Suite 1300. The board decided that a simple burglary or arson attempt would not be satisfactory to destroy the evidence; anything so simple had a significant chance of being botched, and regardless of success would leave too many witnesses or living accomplices.

It was then that Eric S. Raymond suggested something he had read in a book by Tom Clancy. Crashing two planes into the World Trade Center Plaza would guarantee the destruction of the SEC offices, killing the operatives and possibly a number of SEC investigators at the same time. The plan seemed flawless, and would cost little more than the price of a few plane tickets. In a secret session, the board voted unanimously in favour of Eric's suggestion, and began to put it into action.

VA Software/Linux, at the time of planning the attacks, had no shortage of H1-B visa workers, who they employed for the purpose of writing and improving hacking, encryption, and other terrorist tools for the Linux operating system. It had been decided that a hand-picked few of these foreign H1-B workers would be used as the "patsies" in the operation. A contest was held, and the most zealotous Linux advocates were chosen for this secret assignment, direct from the board of directors. They accepted their mission after being told that, if successful, it would guarantee the adoption of Linux in the desktop market.

Alan Cox was brought into the fold to provide some planning and logistics for the mission. It was he who determined that since there was no adequate flight simulator software for Linux, the patsies would need to train at a flight school in order to pull off the plan successfully. It was also his idea to hijack a third and fourth plane for the purpose of crashing them into Washington D.C., to express his extreme rage over the DMCA, or Digital Millenium Copyright Act. The board of directors agreed with this addition to the plan in the hopes that it would help divert attention from the purpose of the WTC attack.

The H1-B workers were given false identities by using Linux hacking tools. Once they had attended the necessary flight training, they stayed at the Massachusetts home of Richard M. Stallman for a brief "faith building" retreat. During this time spent at the house of Stallman, between the nauseating stench of patchouli, Stallman's incessant, pitiful recorder playing, and Stallman's droning seminars on the grammatical and syntactical accuracy of various statements by Microsoft representatives, the H1-B workers were effectively hypnotized to the point that they were ready to lay down their lives for Free Software. It was then that they departed for Boston's Logan International Airport to board the planes.

(The preceding inside information has been obtained from a credible source close to the VA Linux/Software Board of Directors. He/she is in hiding for obvious reasons in light of this damning evidence, but has presented hard, physical evidence of VA Software/Linux's complicity in the events of 9/11 to federal investigators.)

Troll 68 of 208 from the annals of the Troll Library .

• Sourceforge
• Bugzilla
• about redhat - it was in some mail-lists

What chapter does VA Software appear in?

I recently went to the main VA Software Web site (http://www.vasoftware.com). As most of us know, VAS owns SourceForge, a site for collaborative, Internet-based development of projects.

However, many folks don't quite understand that SourceForge-like software such as GForge, which this article features, can be used to develop products that commercial businesses may sell. SourceForge-like software development works out really great for developers, managers, and in turn for customers who end up with highly-polished, top-notch software programs.

I tried out a cost calculator at the collaborative software development site and entered in some typical business figures (10 developers total, each making about $50,000 per year). It returned the following:

Your Results

Your organization is experiencing excessive productivity loss due to inadequate Development Intelligence, which means that you are at the higher end of the loss scale. Companies with similar characteristics suffer productivity losses between 10-15%. Based on your development costs, this means a loss between $55,000 and $82,500 per year.

Contact a SourceForge representative to learn how to evaluate your organization and how SourceForge can help you increase productivity by making development more intelligent.

The above is a SourceForge-specific example, but it of course can be applied to GForge and other groupware/collaborative products.

The bottom line is that many companies, in hard economic times such as these, could use software like this to really improve their bottom line. Sure, it could be developed in-house, but why not use a great product like GForge and start seeing the cash roll-in today?

(Congrats to Tim Perdue for the information about GForge, a true up-and-coming OSS product of great value.)

FAQ ASAP

Press Release

Andre M. Boisvert to Join VA Software's Board of Directors

FREMONT, Calif. -- March 20, 2002 -- VA Software Corporation (Nasdaq:LNUX), provider of the Source Forge(TM) collaborative software development platform, today announced that Andre M. Boisvert, former President of SAS Institute Inc. and software industry veteran, has joined the VA Software Board of Directors. [after being fired from everywhere else]

But it sounded like a bad idea from the start.

Now, it's been what, a month and a half or so since it went public?

Nobody took it seriously then, and being as 2 out of the 3 companies involved in it are royally fucked, I don't know why this is such a surprise.

SCO>Caldera>SCO is fucked, turbolinux is *REALLY* fucked, and conectiva (which makes a great distribution, but I don't know anyone who actually uses it) is insignificant.

Unitedlinux was just a ploy to get stock prices driven back up. Obviously it didn't work. The market's smarter than that nowadays, after the "let's give 9 million dollars of VC money to shitonastick.com" tech bubble of the late 90's/very early 00's.

There's a pool going between my group of friends about when VA Ice Cream and Adult Novelties is going to be delisted. I call it VA Ice cream and Adult novelties because they've changed their business plan about 5 times in the last 4 years. Even their CEO bailed out (smart move there, larry. Hope you like that zaurus you put on your corporate american express platinum credit card at linuxworld nyc 2002. I was right behind you in line, and saw it, don't deny it. I'm glad you're still making 200+ grand a year, while most of the developers you brought on who worked for you are now either unemployed, or working at mcdonald's).

I guess I'm just trolling, but whatever. I'm just tired of people thinking that spin-doctoring bad ideas, throwing up lots of press releases, and *STILL* working off of bad business models will make everything okay.

here's a hint for those who think that spin-doctoring a bad business model will make everything okay: IT DOESN'T FUCKING WORK, THE MARKET IS SMARTER THAN THAT!!!

Anyhow, enough trolling from me. Later.

The advertising model COULD have been made to work. Perhaps it would never work quite as well as some had hoped for, but I do believe it can work better than some are now claiming.

One of the ways it failed is due to an expectation that wasn't realistic. Unlike other forms of advertising, such as radio spots, TV commercials, and blocks or pages in a newspaper or magazine, the web/internet came with technology that could gauge a response when people clicked on the ads. The reason this fails is because too many people just don't click on the ads. Now I have clicked on a few, even here on Slashdot, but that was only when it was a combination of something I was really intersted in, and I happened to be bored at the time. When I'm not bored, I have goals, such as reading the interesting article. I still see the ads, but I move on.

The brightest green laser pointer around is now at ThinkGeek.

The correct way to do advertising on the web, and the way it will work, is to expect them to work the same way they work in other media ... make impressions. Banner ads, and even the hated big box ads can have that effect. And small text ads can have that effect, too. But what the ads writers/creators have to do is make the ads impressionable. The ones that say "Click here for the best home mortgages" don't do any good to create a brand impression. Instead it should give the mortgage company name along with words that say what is being offered, e.g. lower rates, loans to those with poor credit, no down payment loans, or whatever. Don't depend on people to click through today, but make sure they know your name so they will seek you out when they are in the need for your product or service.

integrate. collaborate. accelerate. SourceForge 3.1, from VA Software.

Because advertising and marketing executives were so interested in this new technology to allow them to track click throughs, they forgot about what makes advertising work in the first place, which is a combination of simple information and brand recognition. Making them obtrusive may have some negative impact, but when advertising is done on the old tradition impression basis (which is still going to work because the audience is still the same species that it has worked on before), even small text blocks used to separate sections or stories can have as good an impression as that big annoying box, and work out as a better compromise between an advertiser seeking more returns for a smaller investment, and a publisher seeking larger revenues while retaining and growing an audience to deliver to that advertiser.

Smart mass putty. Bounce, stretch, contort, relieve stress. At ThinkGeek.

The advertising model COULD have been made to work. Perhaps it would never work quite as well as some had hoped for, but I do believe it can work better than some are now claiming.

One of the ways it failed is due to an expectation that wasn't realistic. Unlike other forms of advertising, such as radio spots, TV commercials, and blocks or pages in a newspaper or magazine, the web/internet came with technology that could gauge a response when people clicked on the ads. The reason this fails is because too many people just don't click on the ads. Now I have clicked on a few, even here on Slashdot, but that was only when it was a combination of something I was really intersted in, and I happened to be bored at the time. When I'm not bored, I have goals, such as reading the interesting article. I still see the ads, but I move on.

The brightest green laser pointer around is now at ThinkGeek.

The correct way to do advertising on the web, and the way it will work, is to expect them to work the same way they work in other media ... make impressions. Banner ads, and even the hated big box ads can have that effect. And small text ads can have that effect, too. But what the ads writers/creators have to do is make the ads impressionable. The ones that say "Click here for the best home mortgages" don't do any good to create a brand impression. Instead it should give the mortgage company name along with words that say what is being offered, e.g. lower rates, loans to those with poor credit, no down payment loans, or whatever. Don't depend on people to click through today, but make sure they know your name so they will seek you out when they are in the need for your product or service.

integrate. collaborate. accelerate. SourceForge 3.1, from VA Software.

Because advertising and marketing executives were so interested in this new technology to allow them to track click throughs, they forgot about what makes advertising work in the first place, which is a combination of simple information and brand recognition. Making them obtrusive may have some negative impact, but when advertising is done on the old tradition impression basis (which is still going to work because the audience is still the same species that it has worked on before), even small text blocks used to separate sections or stories can have as good an impression as that big annoying box, and work out as a better compromise between an advertiser seeking more returns for a smaller investment, and a publisher seeking larger revenues while retaining and growing an audience to deliver to that advertiser.

Smart mass putty. Bounce, stretch, contort, relieve stress. At ThinkGeek.

Yeah, an AC got this one first... SourceForge. OSDN's advertising it all the time at the top of /. at least. Check out the Portal Edition; it looks like it may be what you're looking for.

Had you bothered to look at VA's site, you would have noted that SourceForge Enterprise Edition integrates with Rational and Perforce products (ClearCase being a Rational product).

I only mention this because we just got SFEE here at work and man, it rocks!

We would have used the crippleware^w free release available, but we couldn't even make it render the front page of our demo site.

I wonder who is next ?

I really have no idea.

VA Software CEO/Founder Larry Augustin Dead at 39, Apparent Suicide

by ASSOCIATED PRESS

VA Software (LNUX) CEO, president and founder Larry Augustin was found dead in his home in Fremont, Calif. early this morning. The death was an apparent suicide, caused by a close-range shotgun blast to the face and head. He was 39 years old.

Police reports indicate that strewn about the room in which Augustin carried out his fate were empty cartons of ramen noodles and discount bulk oat bags. His house was bare of any furniture or furnishings of any worth, and his garage which once held several classic cars was emptied.

An autopsy revealed several thousand VA Software stock certificates, neatly rolled and bundled, in Augustin's rectum. Police are investigating how the five-inch-wide bundle appeared in Augustin's lower intestine unlubricated without any sign of strain on his anal sphincter. Also discovered was an abnormally high concentration of dye in Augustin's bloodstream, which was determined to be the main component of "ledger red" ink.

VA Software, which at different times has been called VA Linux Systems, VA Linux and VA Systems, has seen financial difficulties of late. Most likely to be soon delisted from NASDAQ, the company shares a struggle for profitability with many other dot-bomb era corporations whose business plans include the line "???" directly before "PROFIT !!". VA Software child companies, such as geek weblog Slashdot.org and Star Wars fan site Sourceforge have felt the pinch of the economic downturn.

Augustin is survived by his domestic partner and two adopted children.

by ASSOCIATED PRESS

VA Software (LNUX) CEO, president and founder Larry Augustin was found dead in his home in Fremont, Calif. early this morning. The death was an apparent suicide, caused by a close-range shotgun blast to the face and head. He was 39 years old.

Police reports indicate that strewn about the room in which Augustin carried out his fate were empty cartons of ramen noodles and discount bulk oat bags. His house was bare of any furniture or furnishings of any worth, and his garage which once held several classic cars was emptied.

An autopsy revealed several thousand VA Software stock certificates, neatly rolled and bundled, in Augustin's rectum. Police are investigating how the five-inch-wide bundle appeared in Augustin's lower intestine unlubricated without any sign of strain on his anal sphincter. Also discovered was an abnormally high concentration of dye in Augustin's bloodstream, which was determined to be the main component of "ledger red" ink.

VA Software, which at different times has been called VA Linux Systems, VA Linux and VA Systems, has seen financial difficulties of late. Most likely to be soon delisted from NASDAQ, the company shares a struggle for profitability with many other dot-bomb era corporations whose business plans include the line "???" directly before "PROFIT !!". VA Software child companies, such as geek weblog Slashdot.org and Star Wars fan site Sourceforge have felt the pinch of the economic downturn.

Augustin is survived by his domestic partner and two adopted children.

by ASSOCIATED PRESS

VA Software (LNUX) CEO, president and founder Larry Augustin was found dead in his home in Fremont, Calif. early this morning. The death was an apparent suicide, caused by a close-range shotgun blast to the face and head. He was 39 years old.

Police reports indicate that strewn about the room in which Augustin carried out his fate were empty cartons of ramen noodles and discount bulk oat bags. His house was bare of any furniture or furnishings of any worth, and his garage which once held several classic cars was emptied.

An autopsy revealed several thousand VA Software stock certificates, neatly rolled and bundled, in Augustin's rectum. Police are investigating how the five-inch-wide bundle appeared in Augustin's lower intestine unlubricated without any sign of strain on his anal sphincter. Also discovered was an abnormally high concentration of dye in Augustin's bloodstream, which was determined to be the main component of "ledger red" ink.

VA Software, which at different times has been called VA Linux Systems, VA Linux and VA Systems, has seen financial difficulties of late. Most likely to be soon delisted from NASDAQ, the company shares a struggle for profitability with many other dot-bomb era corporations whose business plans include the line "???" directly before "PROFIT !!". VA Software child companies, such as geek weblog Slashdot.org and Star Wars fan site Sourceforge have felt the pinch of the economic downturn.

Augustin is survived by his domestic partner and two adopted children.