My Visit to SCO

Ian Lance Taylor writes "I signed the SCO NDA and visited them to discuss their claims against Linux. My essay about it is on the Linux Journal web site. The short version is that SCO's claims are unproven, as indeed I expected would be the case before I went. The amount of information they were willing to show me was extremely limited, and did not by itself prove that their claims were true, nor that their claims were false." Other SCO-bits: Sun is doing their usual foot-in-mouth routine, thinking that two FUDs makes a Solaris purchase, or something like that. IBM is now joining the contact the customers bandwagon. Eric Raymond has been keeping himself busy - here's a story about him. SCO hates BSD, too, but they're not taking it lying down. And of course Cringley has his two cents.

Comments

NDA

[sdo1]

You are aware that NDA stands for "Non-Disclosure Agreement", right?

It doesn't stand for "Now Divulge All".

-S

Can we please change the category for Caldera

[MoxCamel]

...to "It's funny,laugh"?

Re:Can we please change the category for Caldera

[pmz]

...to "It's funny,laugh"?

Or, "It's exciting in the way a soap opera is exciting, so laugh but not really mean it?"

Dude you're going to jail

[stanmann]

Wail, Interesting narrative, definitely appears to confirm the speculation we have read, now we just wait till SCO presses charges against you for violating the NDA, and we'll know its true SCO has no case...

Re:Comment Misspelled

[Anonymous Coward]

If true, then one could just strip the comments from the Linux source, and do a spell check in the appropriate language

this is an open source project you're talking about, so there are two possible scenarios:

Commercial grade spell checkers will end up as your top resource utilization process(es).

open source spell checkers will find "no misteaks" [sic].

In the news , tonight !!!

[da5idnetlimit.com]

"and say Solaris is free and clear"
(http://news.com.com/2100-1016_3-1018669.h tml)

Gosh !!!
*SUN GPLed SOLARIS*

lol 8p

The story travels east ...

[BillsPetMonkey]

OSI Position Paper on the SCO-vs.-IBM Complaint
Eric Raymond

Revision 1.16 2003-06-03 esr
Japanese translation available.

At first, residents of Oahu and Maui idly dismissed the SCO rumors as nonsense.

Re:I was worried.

[Angry White Guy]

It makes one think that SCO might not have a case.

As opposed to anything else mentioned here?

Sealab 2021?

[RyanFenton]

SCO is the current owner of Unix, which originally was developed by AT&T. SCO, which used to be named Caldera, purchased the rights to Unix from a different company named SCO, which has since changed its name to Tarantella. Along with Unix, SCO purchased a number of contractual agreements, including one with IBM. SCO is alleging that IBM has violated that contract.

So... This SCO, no - Caldera... it must be... A DOPPELGANGER! Listen not to it's LIES! It was PRETENDING to help people, oh yes, and it's PRETENDING to give away it's software, but all the while, it was really laughing - hahaha! - but I know where they really came from! ...DOPPEL-POLOLOUS! And what's all this about tarantulas?! That's it - Take 'em down Marco.

*The sealab suddenly explodes, when it's Unixware license unexpectedly expires*

Ryan Fenton

Linux, BSD. How about Minix?

[Jacco de Leeuw]

Will they be going after Professor Tanenbaum as well?

I asked the SCO director here in the Netherlands and although he said they had no plans to sue Tanenbaum, he didn't want to rule it out either...

How is SCO's Lawsuit affecting sales of Linux?

[Anonymous Coward]

If I were a CIO or CTO debating the TCO of *nix vs. Win2K3 to a CEO, would IBM vs. SCO be the TKO that stops the CEO from approving A/P to pay my PO for RH's LGX?

FWIW, even if OSS is FAIB, if the DOJ considers *nix IP with a TM, then it basically become's SCO's LIC, meaning our OSS becomes a CSS OS, which would RSTBO.

AIBO going w/ an ASP that manages our OS? BTA, we might end up w/ a BOFH giving us ZA, which WWAD PMS.

AFAIK, INMP if SCO wants to be ITM by enforcing its supposed IPR - *nix IP should be PD or GNU, like BSD just on GP, IYKWIM. I keep asking myself in this situation - WWLD?

Oh, BTW - IITYWIMWYBMAD?

this thing is so damn funny i had to post it here... kudos to the THe original post

Re:Bored

[eyegone]

You've obviously never worked for a giant multinational corporation.

If Conan O'Brien saw this coming...

[Agent Deepshit]

This bit was scrapped last minute...

Conan O'Brien, "In The Year 2000"

"In the year 2003, SCO will claim that Linux kernel developers have copied fragments of SCO's own IP into the Linux kernel. Amazon.com will follow suit by claiming that the Linux kernel also implements proprietary One-click shopping code derived from cookies found in a web client's Stored Cookie Folder. True story. Yeah. *nods big head*"

Re:Comment Misspelled

[red_dragon]

Hey! I found it!

/*
* Sun people can't spell worth damn. "compatability" indeed.
* At least we *know* we can't spell, and use a spell-checker.
*/

-- arch/sparc/kernel/head.S

There it is! The offending... uh... SPARC... uh... nevermind.

About Damned Time

[theonetruekeebler]

It's been over 24 hours since the last SCO article. I was starting to freak.

Re:What does the NDA encompass?

[Gulik]

Perhaps you can give us some light as to what the NDA swore you to?

Most NDAs I've heard anything about were obviously written by people who saw ``Fight Club'':

``First rule of the NDA: you do not talk about the NDA.''

I know how to solve this.

[Nucleon500]

What we need is an Office of Common Sense. I propose that instead of us Slashdotters wasting our political might on many seperate issues, we concentrate on getting an ammendment to the Constitution giving Congress the power "To unleash a great big Can of Whoop-Ass upon any Company, Individual, Congressperson, or other Entity not acting in accordance with the Principles of Common Sense, as determined by a Slashdot poll;"

Then all the problems would be solved. RIAA getting you down? Whap! Don't like SCO? Splat! Microsoft is unfair? ...Bwannng! Think CowboyNeal should be president? Biff! (Yes, the OCS would always make a comical noise when it acts.)

Re:Does anyone else think this plausible?

[DogIsMyCoprocessor]

Sorry, but I'm a firm believer in the "Single Lawsuit Theory" and that Lee Harvey Scowald acted alone.

Lady Caldera

[cswiii]

I suppose I can post this here, even though the days are a bit wrong... It was written on 28-May, the day Novell first shot holes in SCO's argument. Still as true as ever.

Lady Caldera
(to the tune of the Beatles' "Lady Madonna")

Lady Caldera, stock price at your feet.
Wonder how you'll manage to make ends meet.
Who has the money? How you pay the rent?
Did you think that UNIX trademark was heaven sent?

Wednesday morning news just like a bombshell.
We all watch their stock drop like a rock.
Caldera has learned kiss its arsecheeks goodbye.
See how they run.

Lady Caldera, IP fakes confess!
Wonder how you'll manage to keep up this jest.

See how they run.
Lady Caldera, lying in the press,
Blackmailing the righteous ones, in your duress.

Wednesday afternoon is never ending.
Thursday morning news will be as bad.
Thursday night your stocks, they will need mending.
See how they run.

Lady Caldera, stock price at your feet.
Wonder how you'll manage to make ends meet.

Re:Does anyone else think this plausible?

[Anonymous Coward]

OK, here's what we've got: the Microsoft Corporation, in conjunction with the saucer people, under the supervision of the reverse vampires are forcing Darl McBride to sue IBM in a fiendish plot to eliminate Linux.

We're through the looking glass people.

Re:Bored (the settlement terms)

[gosand]

I think that is the worse thing IBM could possibly do. First, that is exactly what SCO wants (to be purchased to save the sinking ship). Second, that would (in some ways) admit guilt on IBM's part, making them look bad, and justifying further retarded lawsuits. Third, it's the principal of the matter. SCO *SHOULD* take this to court so they can loose, and IBM can counter sue for damages. Now that would be a win win.

As a finale, they settle out of court with SCO for the counter-damages. IBM gets SCO. Make Sontag and McBride sign 3 year employment agreements. Maybe they assign them as security guards to the building where all of the Linux work is done. So that every day, all of the Linux people can snicker at them as they come into the building. You know, take their hat and play keep-away, put kick me signs on their backs, etc. Or perhaps they make them walk around town in Penguin suits handing out IBM Linux promo material. Make them attend Open Source conventions in a dunk tank. The possibilities are endless!

So, what you're really saying....

[jabber01]

Without selling hardware, you'd have to give Unix away for FREE??? Damn! Microsoft better not hear about this.

Found the misspelling.

[Captain Tenille]

It's creat(). In fact, it's all over the place.

This sure doesn't look good.

Re:For crying out loud

[silkySlim]

NEWS FLASH! SCO has just announced the following function was maliciously ripped from their code....

int main(int argc, const char** argv);

"See! See! We used that same exact function in our code! We also use the int variable i in our for loops."

Please remove these offending snippets from Linux immediately or prepare to be buried by a littany of smarmy IP attorneys.

A Solution!

[Alan]

Why doesn't the Linux community simply offer SCO some *better* source code. I think there is a "linux" thingy out there that is better than the source code they have, and more mature. If we give them a copy of the kernel, with complete source code, will they shut up and go away?

Re:Comment Misspelled

[Pflipp]

It goes on by saying:

/* Uh, actually Linus it is I who cannot spell. Too much murky
* Sparc assembly will do this to ya.
*/
C_LABEL(cputypvar): .asciz "compatability" /* Tested on SS-5, SS-10. Probably someone at Sun applied a spell-checker. */ .align 4
C_LABEL(cputypvar_sun4m): .asciz "compatible"

So noooh, LINUS put it there, not SCO!

Besides that, I have no IDEA what the code is talking about :-)

(Although I must say it only gets better later on:

t_bad3d:BAD_TRAP(0x3d) BAD_TRAP(0x3e) BAD_TRAP(0x3f) BAD_TRAP(0x40) BAD_TRAP(0x41)
t_bad42:BAD_TRAP(0x42) BAD_TRAP(0x43) BAD_TRAP(0x44) BAD_TRAP(0x45) BAD_TRAP(0x46)
t_bad47:BAD_TRAP(0x47) BAD_TRAP(0x48) BAD_TRAP(0x49) BAD_TRAP(0x4a) BAD_TRAP(0x4b)
t_bad4c:BAD_TRAP(0x4c) BAD_TRAP(0x4d) BAD_TRAP(0x4e) BAD_TRAP(0x4f) BAD_TRAP(0x50)
t_bad51:BAD_TRAP(0x51) BAD_TRAP(0x52) BAD_TRAP(0x53) BAD_TRAP(0x54) BAD_TRAP(0x55)

...and yes, this is kernel "code" :-)

looking for "substantially identical" code

[sacrilicious]

From the BSD/byte article:

SCO's lawyers have been poring over the Linux code for much of the past year, looking for fragments and routines which are substantially identical to code from the various releases of UNIX

Would that be like "substantially pregnant", or "substantially dead"? For me this calls to mind a similar abuse of the word "identical", as found in Futurama:

Fry: Four identical castles!

Bender: Each more identical than the last!!

-

Re:For crying out loud

[echucker]

"We could tell you, but then we'd have to sue you."

-Your pals at SCO

My favorite quote:

[vsprintf]

SCO's "experts" have also found sections of code which SCO believes have been obfuscatedâ"where the order of code execution has been rearranged in a direct attempt to hide its SCO pedigree.

SCO has a pedigree? SCO is like one of those mule clones. Whichever way you look at it, it's an abomination.

Conversation heard between SCO and IBM

[Bruj0]

Topic in #os: hey guyz, stop pickin on irix.
<SCO> w00t! i bought unix! im gonna b so rich!
<novell> /msg atnt haha. idiot.
<novell> whoops. was that out loud?
<atnt> rotfl
<ibm> lol
<SCO> why r u laffin at me?
<novell> dude, unix is so 10 years ago. linux is in now.
<SCO> wtf?
<SCO> hey guyz, i bought caldera, I have linux now.
<red_hat> haha, your linux sucks.
<novell> lol
<atnt> lol
<ibm> lol
<SCO> no wayz, i will sell more linux than u!
<ibm> your linux sucks, you should look at SuSE
<SuSE> Ja. Wir bilden gutes Linux für IBM.
<SCO> can we do linux with you?
<SuSE> Ich bin nicht sicher...
<ibm> *cough*
<SuSE> Gut lassen Sie uns vereinigen.
* SuSE is now SuSE[UL]
* SCO is now caldera[UL]
<turbolinux> can we play?
<conectiva> we're bored... we'll go too.
<ibm> sure!
* turbolinux is now turbolinux[UL]
* conectiva is now conectiva[UL]
<ibm> redhat: you should join!
<SuSE[UL]> Ja! Wir sind vereinigtes Linux. Widerstand ist vergeblich.
<red_hat> haha. no.
<red_hat> lamers.
<ibm> what about you debian?
<debian> we'll discuss it and let you know in 5 years.
<caldera[UL]> no one wants my linux!
<turbolinux[UL]> i got owned.
<caldera[UL]> u all tricked me. linux is lame.
* caldera[UL] is now known as SCO
<SCO> i'm going back to unix.
<SGI> yeah! want to do unix with me?
<SCO> haha. no. lamer.
<novell> lol
<ibm> snap!
<SGI> :~(
<SCO> hey, u shut up. im gonna sue u ibm.
<ibm> wtf?
<SCO> yea, you stole all the good stuff from unix.
<red_hat> lol
<SuSE[UL]> heraus laut lachen
<ibm> lol
<SCO> shutup. i'm gonna email all your friends and tell them you suck.
<ibm> go ahead. baby.
<SCO> andandand... i revoke your unix! how do you like that?
<ibm> oh no, you didn't. AIX is forever.
<novell> actually, we still own unix, you can't do that.
<SCO> wtf? we bought it from u.
<novell> whoops. our bad.
<SCO> i own u. haha
<SCO> ibm: give me all your AIX now!
<ibm> whatever. lamer.
* ibm sets mode +b SCO!*@*
* SCO has been kicked from #os (own this.)

Ripped from This Journal

Re:I say buyout...

[Thing 1]

I say the FSF should team up with Redhat and SUSE, and make a hostile buyout of the company, then sue the CEOs.

Nah, Bill gates should buy them out, boys.

Homer: I reluctantly accept your proposal!
Bill Gates: Well everyone always does. Buy 'em out, boys!
[Gates' lackeys trash the room.]
Homer: Hey, what the hell's going on!
Bill Gates: Oh, I didn't get rich by writing a lot of checks!
[insane laughter]
-- Bill Gates buys Homer's Internet company ("Compuglobalhypermeganet"), "Das Bus"

Re:Why I'm Not Really Worried...

[RevMike]

You've never worked with IBM apparently. They aren't immune to screw-ups.

I still say the PC-Junior was ahead of its time!