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SCO's Real Motive... A Buyout?
psykocrime writes "Acccording to this article in ComputerWorld, CEO Darl McBride of SCO has finally discussed the possibility of a buyout by IBM in public. Among other things, McBride says:
"I'm not trying to screw up the Linux business," he said. "I'm trying to take care of the shareholders, employees and people who have been having their rights trampled on." and
"If there's a way of resolving this that is positive, then we can get back out to business and everybody is good to go, then I'm fine with that," McBride said today in an interview with Computerworld. "If that's one of the outcomes of this, then so be it."
Also, yet another computerworld article indicates that most of the press and analysts who have been invited to take part in SCO's "public review of the infringing code" have declined... apparently due primarily to concerns over the terms of the non-disclosure agreement SCO is asking them to agree to. Linus in particular has said "no way" to signing their NDA to look at the code."
Haha, wait. Linus has to sign a non-disclosure agreement to look at the code for the operating system he created? You are richer than rich, SCO.
In the future don't forget to send money to SCO lest they yank your license to run linux.
Screwed Corporation's plan to get Out rich.
Of course they want a buyout. IBM is one of the biggest companies in the world. The execs line their pockets with money, and everone else gets laid offor quits. And if they take down linux, more money flows from the backdoor that, if you folow it, leads to Microsoft.
But maybee Novell could sue SCO for not acting sooner - therefore defrauding them of their royalty payments. :)
I think they dropped a word out of the middle of the Linus quote.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
A positive outcome of this would be the complete and utter bankrupt of SCO. It would be shame if that kind of shitty behavior is rewarded.
If I belived in hell I would wish them there... On the other hand, they would probably be thrown a "welcome back" party.
Without publicity, they'll wither and die more quickly, so why don't we choke off their oxygen feed by ignoring them?
You are forgetting that this mess is being driven by lawyers. Since lawyers are a form of anaerobic bacteria, cutting off their oxygen won't help...
IBM could come out of this smelling like a rose. If they either stomp sco like a roach in court or buy the assholes off, then put the whole damn sco ip package under the GPL, hackers will love them forever.
If they make this gift to the community, then be careful in the future to not piss us off, IBM could make billions more than they already make.
"IBM, Savior of Linux", wow. That may be enough to get RMS to take a bath.
because of it [the legal system], things are no fun anymore. you can't call anyone's bluff anymore, you can't just pull out a six-shooter after you walk out of a saloon and settle everything like men, and you can't ride away into the sunset on your horse to another town and forget about it. nowadays, everyone is afraid of being sued, so no-one is truly willing to step up and call SCO's bluff. there really should be a way to prevent such a blatent buyout from ocurring.
BSD is for people who love UNIX. Linux is for those who hate Microsoft.
"But Giga Information Group Inc. analyst Stacey Quandt said she has discussed SCO's offer with her legal counsel, and if she signs an NDA, it may hinder her ability to write about it. She could get subpoenaed as well. Quandt called the offer a PR stunt."
"I could tell you, but then I would have to kill you!" -Colonel Flagg from "Mash"
On behalf of anaerobic bacteria everywhere, I must ask you to stop your libelous assertion that lawyers are a form a anaerobic bacteria.
They would threaten to sue, but that would be too low for them.
www.eFax.com are spammers
If there's no-one's code in the kernel where the heck does it come from?
I agree. Time to eliminate taxes.
You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
> Best strategy is for IBM to make a public offer of $10M...
That's a good idea. Hey, while we're on the topic, I was looking through the Linux source code last week and found some stuff that was *exactly* like code I'd posted to Usenet back in the late 80's. I can't say what it was cuz it's my intellectual property, but I'm getting ready to sue anyone I can find who's invested in Linux. If anyone from IBM is reading this, I can be bought out for $10 million dollars.
PS. My brother-in-law Bob says he has some IP in the kernal too. $10 million for him too.
Thnx!
Get a team together of Linux kernel hackers and ask Novell for a small team to healp search the linux source for plagarism. I'm pretty sure there are some decent plagerism detection apps floating around
"God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
I like the concept, but where in this plan does Darl McBride, Sontag, and Boies get the appropriate ass-ramming sans lubrication they so richly deserve?
This is a big hole in your plan!
HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
Hey,
what will stop the next company from doing the same thing
Normally I would agree with you, but in the insanity of the US court system and its lottery mentality, you almost have to deal with them.
I have an idea... why not have the entire of the SCO management killed?
No-one has to go to court, and no-one tries the same thing again. There's no risk* - Everybody** wins!
Just my $0.02,
Michael
*assuming hired killers escape capture
**except SCO
"Goodness me, how unlike the FBI to abuse the trust of the American public." -- The Onion
I can be bought out for $10 million dollars.
I'm in a similar situation, except I can be bought for a McDonald's Happy Meal, and gas money to get there.
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
I can just see the closed-doors conference now.
IBM Guy: Well, Mr. McBride. You claimed that you had an offer to make, of a way to settle this amicably.
Darl McBride: That's true, and that's what I've wanted from the beginning. I've always hoped that we could find a way to resolve this peacefully and positively.
IBM Guy: Which is why your first attempt to 'resolve' this matter was to make loud, splashy public allegations.
Darl: What? Oh. Well, yeah, I suppose that maybe this meeting might have gone smoother if I hadn't done that. I'm sorry, it was a heat-of-the-moment sort of thing --
IBM: And why you further upped the ante by mailing those same allegations to our corporate customers, telling them that they could be sued if they continued to use a product which, at that time, you were still selling yourself.
Darl: Um... Well, yes. ... the heat of several moments? No. Ah, well, you see, it was just that I was mad that no one was taking me seriously, after all the time and care I put into manufact-- er, documenting the grievous wrongs done to my company.
IBM: Which company? The one that sold goods and services or the one that exists to extort money through allegations that your 'intellectual property' has been violated?
Darl: Ah... that would be the latter.
IBM: Yes. I've read your "documented" complaints. Very intriguing, I must say.
Darl: Why, thank you, I --
IBM: I especially like the part where you lied.
Darl: Excuse me?
IBM: Where you claimed that Linux could only have gotten so good if IBM took secrets that we learned from you and illegally shared them with the Linux developers. For instance, the secret of making the operating system run on 32 processors at a time.
Darl: Oh, well. That.
IBM: When in fact Linux was doing that back before you were working with us on Project Monterey, and before we began supporting Linux.
Darl: Um. Well, yes, but that's not exactly a lie, you see. Cause, um... well, our low opinion of the ability of anyone who isn't employed by SCO is just positive proof that anything good must have been ripped off from us!
IBM: Like 32-way scaling?
Darl: Yes! Like that!
IBM: Even though your own products don't have that?
Darl: ... Um.
IBM: But nevertheless, you're pressing ahead with the court case.
Darl: Well, not unless we have to; you know we've always wanted to settle this amicably --
IBM: Insults on the competence of Linux developers and the ethics of IBM?
Darl: Well, not "amicably", maybe, more like "peacefully" --
IBM: Not to mention that it's also an insult to IBM's practicality. We are still one of the biggest and oldest computer companies in the world. We have a huge intellectual property portfolio ourselves, and millions in yearly revenue. We can afford to hire the best people to create whatever intellectual property we need to stay competitive, but you instead claim we lowered ourselves -- and endangered ourselves -- by stealing from you. It's like accusing a millionaire of stealing a wooden nickel from a beggar.
Darl: Hey! Are you comparing SCO's intellectual property to a wooden nickel?
IBM: Yes.
Darl: Oh. ... well, that's not very nice.
IBM: Is it inaccurate?
Darl: Well, making it a wooden nickel implies ... I dunno, some sort of doubt that our claims are genuine.
IBM: Which is why you refused to clarify them, claiming that if you identified which code it was that was stolen from you, the Linux community could "launder" away the evidence?
Darl: Well, they could!
IBM: The evidence is available to anyone with an Internet connection from a few hundred different commercial vendors and academic institutions and non-profit foundations. Th
If people are to respect the law, perhaps the law should begin by respecting the people.