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SCO Taking Linux Discussion To Japan

Posted by simoniker on from the son-of-godzilla dept.

levin writes "EETimes is carrying a new story about our good friend Darl McBride, CEO of SCO. His latest escapades include a trip to Japan in response to the CE Linux Forum initiative undertaken by several big-name Japanese tech firms such as Sony and Toshiba. He's putting his famous tainted code dog-and-pony show on parade, trying to influence some of the major CELF founders."

23 of 463 comments (clear)

  1. What is a "Central Module"? by Dr.+Smeegee · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "I saw what appeared to be a word-for-word copy of about every third line of code in the central module of the Linux kernel," said Enderle of Giga Information Group, who viewed the alleged code violations two weeks ago. "The lines of code contained typos, misspellings and even copyright disclaimers. It appeared to constitute a violation of the license."

    Where can I get me one of these central modules?
    1. Re:What is a "Central Module"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Every third line of code?

      Every third line of code???

      So, we're to believe that a lazy programmer, rather than go to the trouble of writing the whole thing himself, designed and wrote 2/3ds of it and went to the trouble of inserting stolen code in the gaps? With enough precision to get a working kernel?

      Wait... is every third line a }?

    2. Re:What is a "Central Module"? by Fly · · Score: 5, Funny

      I think he meant "typos" like src, dest, byte, sprinf, and char. I mean, some of those aren't even words, dude.

      --
      end of line
  2. More icing on the Cake... by jdh-22 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why do we keep posting articles that we know are only to impose FUD on the Linux/Open source community?

    --
    Every Super Villan uses Linux.
    1. Re:More icing on the Cake... by missing000 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Why do we keep posting articles that we know are only to impose FUD on the Linux/Open source community?

      Because it is very useful to have an informed community for the media to talk to.

      You have to remember that the SCO fight is not only in court, but also largly in the court of public opinion.

      If a user is contacted by the press, it is incredibly advantageous for them to be well informed of the allegations as well as the actions of the parties making them.

      Even if we win in court, which I for one assume we will, the damage to linux adoption could be enormous if we come off as unknowledgeable and ill-prepared.

      If, on the other hand, linux users are seen as well prepared and educated, we could even stand to make gains in the business community.

      This SCO stuff is anything but trivial.

  3. Re:Does anyone out there still use SCO Unix? by carpe_noctem · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah, I use SCO as my server platform, and WinXP for my desktop. I'm a /. rebel, baby!

    --
    "Quoting famous computer scientists out of context is the root of all evil (or at least most of it) in programming." - K
  4. We are done with SCO. by bazik · · Score: 5, Funny

    We had two Compaq Proliant servers at work, running SCO Unix. We reinstalled them with Linux three weeks ago and sent back all SCO CD's, handbooks etc. to SCO with a little note that we dont want to use Software from a Company which can't write good code and sues those who can.

    Curious why we didn't receive a response yet ;)

    --


    --
    One by one the penguins steal my sanity...
  5. This leaves one big question... by Krapangor · · Score: 5, Insightful
    ...why does nobody stop these ridiculus claims of SCO ?
    It can be done as it has been already proven in Germany.
    Nobody can make false accusations without giving proof. Any Linux distributer or the EFF or other interest groups can sue them. And if one does this SCO would to have to show the code or STFU.
    It also raises the question why IBM doesn't do this.

    The only sensible explanation for this strange behavior seems to me that SCO has some (perhaps weak) point and such a countersuit would fail. It seems to me that some of the players in this game have much more knowledge then they admit openly.

    --
    Owner of a Mensa membership card.
    1. Re:This leaves one big question... by Zathrus · · Score: 5, Informative

      Because you'd be a damn fool to do so.

      As it stands, SCO will have to prove that IBM broke its trade secret agreement, which is going to be a damned difficult thing for SCO to do. They're alleging copyright infringement as well but, and this is important, have yet to file a claim in court about any infringement whatsoever. Until they do so what exactly are you going to sue them for? Libel? Good bloody luck. You'd then be on the wrong side of the table -- you'd have to prove that their claims are false without ever seeing any of their documentation. Enjoy! You'll lose that case in a millionth of the amount of time the SCO/IBM case will take. If you even make it to day 2 in court I'll be amazed.

      Here's the deal though -- since SCO is bringing the case against IBM they will have to disclose ALL relevant information on the case to IBM. And presumably to the public, unless they somehow get the record sealed (and SCO does not have the political might that AT&T had in the AT&T/Berkeley case). The claimant is not allowed to spring surprises on the defendant in the US court system -- the defendant, being presumed innocent, is privy to all the claims being brought against them as well as all evidence to support those claims. The same is not true in reverse -- IBM can bring out evidence to counter SCO without SCO's lawyers having ever seen it before (this, however, is generally considered bad form and frowned upon not only by the other lawyer, but also the judge -- judges don't like having their time wasted and any such evidence should be shared with the claimant in order to avoid having the case go to trial in the first place).

      IBM may bring a countersuit against SCO, but in order to do so they'd have to show some substantive damages to their business model... not a very easy thing to do, particularly when you're the size that IBM is. It also complicates matters, and if IBM thinks they have a solid case they may not feel the need to bring a countersuit... easier just to shut them down quickly rather than turn an already long and complicated case into an even longer and more complicated case. Countersuits seem to be used most often when neither side has a particularly strong case.

      It seems to me that some of the players in this game have much more knowledge then they admit openly.

      Welcome to reality.

  6. In a related story by AtariAmarok · · Score: 5, Funny

    (AP) In a related story, SCO took its fight against Linux to Antarctica. Little is known of the results, except that there are rumors of significant reductions in the penguin population."

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  7. Evidence of someone else's common code? by Fly · · Score: 5, Interesting
    "I saw what appeared to be a word-for-word copy of about every third line of code in the central module of the Linux kernel," said Enderle of Giga Information Group, who viewed the alleged code violations two weeks ago. "The lines of code contained typos, misspellings and even copyright disclaimers. It appeared to constitute a violation of the license."
    Whose copyright?!? Surely, if is a GNU copyright notice, then SCO shouldn't be claiming the code. If it is a SCO copyright notice, then GNU/Linux should have noticed it already. If it is another BSD or other copyright, then what the heck is SCO trying to pull?
    --
    end of line
  8. Re:Does anyone out there still use SCO Unix? by Jeremy+Erwin · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just finished converting my home's systems from Debian to OpenServer. Cost me a bundle, but I figure it's important to support organizations that defend IP rights.

  9. Re:Too Bad... by Trigun · · Score: 5, Informative

    It probably was popularized by Clint Eastwood in 'The Outlaw Josey Wales' when he said, "I'll kick you so hard, you'll be wearing your ass for a hat".

    Although, UrbanDictionary.com says:

    5 definitions found.

    asshat

    One who has their head up their ass. Thus wearing their ass as a hat. Asshat

    asshat

    One who enters into a new environment without taking the time to learn any of the social rules of the place. Then they promptly make pretty much every social gaff you can imagine this side of shitting on the dinner table.

    You know, a moron.

    Scrappy Doo is one of the few existing examples of an animated asshat.

    asshat

    a person who has no common sense or just plain stupid.

    Some of the people on notPopular.com are asshats.

    asshat

    exclamation said when being woken up for the third time by your drunken roomates

    i hope this asshat likes the taste of concrete

    asshat

    1. A hat worn by a drunken fool, or ass.

    2. A foolish person, as one who would wear an asshat.

    1. At the party, Jon made a fool of himself when he donned his asshat, the lampshade.

    2. By bothering everyone at work, that asshat has made a real fool of himself.

    Hope this helps...

  10. Just more evidence. by cornice · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is just more evidence that SCO has no intent other than to harm Linux. There seems to be nothing to gain, for SCO anyway, from this escapade in Japan.

    If this were an attempted murder, the victim would be Linux. The weapon would be SCO and the detective would now be visiting everyone with a motive. Hmmm who could that be?

  11. Darl must be suicidal by Andy+Dodd · · Score: 5, Funny

    Isn't it enough to piss off one 800 pound gorilla?

    Now he goes poking another eight of them with a stick.

    --
    retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
  12. UNIX Patents by Bigby · · Score: 5, Informative

    "In the past three months, SCO Group, a small software company that owns Unix patents, claimed it had found chunks of its Unix code in Linux."

    I thought it was already concluded that SCO doesn't even claim to own UNIX patents. They just claim that they own the copyrights. The Novell escapade brought all of that out. EE Times needs to get their story right.

  13. They Own C++ Too!!! by jobsagoodun · · Score: 5, Interesting

    In this zdnet article (who else!) from 2002, Darly Baby says:
    "And C++ programming languages, we own those, have licensed them out multiple times, obviously"
    Watch yer arse Stroustrup! Darls coming to get you!

  14. Strange trip to Japan by walterbyrd · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I got this post from the yahoo message boards, the guy has a good point:
    -----
    by: martin_lvnv (41/M/Las Vegas) 07/07/03 04:44 pm
    Msg: 18108 of 18112

    Has anyone considered how strange it is that Darl is going to Japan to talk to the CE Linux Forum? CE stands for consumer electronics: i.e. very small embedded systems running out of ROM most of the time without a hard drive on a small cheap processor.

    SCOs published claims both from press releases, news reports and their own complaint are about IBM putting "enterprise" technology into Linux: NUMA, JFS, RCU, SMP etc. None of these things apply in the least to embedded systems running out of ROM on a consumer electronic device. Whats up with that?

    My only guess is that SCOs arrogance knows no bounds and they think anything using a computer chip, even a toaster, has to infringe on SCOs IP.

    http://www.celinuxforum.org/PressRelease/pr02.ht m

  15. Japan Impression by Shadow+Wrought · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I somehow doubt that McBrides Dog and Pony show is going to have much of an impact on the CERF companies. These folks didn't just draw Linux out of a hat, they have been studying it for months now. Not only that but their lawyers have already looked at all sorts of fine print about this and concluded that the companies are OK.

    I worked on an IP case as a paralegal once that involved the Japenese Patent and Copyright office. It is an amazingly complex system over there and I doubt that SCO would be able to do anything to them even it wanted to. Even if they tried to get a UTC injunction against the importation of the Linux embedded goods, they would still be limited to getting the infringing pieces removed. While I am not a developer, it certainly seems from what I have read that replacing the offending code would not be terribly onerous.

    In the end, however, I can see potentially large blows coming to either the Linux community or SCO depending on how the companies respond to the presentation.

    --
    If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
  16. Re:You are doomed now .. they know who you are ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "The 1,500 companies who received letters from SCO [about potential infringements] should be worried, big time," said Rob Enderle, a research fellow for the Giga Information Group (Santa Clara, Calif.). Based on what he saw, Enderle said, "The evidence appears to be very compelling."

    Ohh.. Rob Enderle a previous IBM employee whose research and client list includes "Anticipating changes in Microsoft products and organizational direction" and "Microsoft". Sound like someone I'd trust to comment on SCO vs IBM? Yeah...

  17. Re:Too Bad... by gcalvin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The EETimes article makes several mentions of SCO's "Unix patents", as if patent infringement were at the core of this controversy. I was under the impression from the other articles I've read that the issues were 1) breach of contract (with respect to IBM) and 2) copyright infringement (with respect to everyone else, including the 1500 recipients of letters from SCO). This is the first mention I've heard of patents. Is it really about patents, or is Charles J. Murray (the article's author) deserving of an AssHat Award too?

  18. Re:Does anyone out there still use SCO Unix? by packethead · · Score: 5, Informative

    Apprently some still do. A lot of bricks and mortar type companies run their manufacturing systems on Openserver. They are generally low-tech firms to begin with and have no plans to budget for any upgrades, nor should they - for what they do.

    Now. Any company that requires, HA/failover/performance, etc. Needs to *not* be running OpenServer. Netconfig requires a re-link and reboot anytime you breathe on it. THe package manager is this thing called 'custom', which is anything but customizable. SMP? Gigabit Ethernet? Journalized filesystem? I think not! Maybe the Military can use it, considering that Colonel Panic and Major Re-install are part of the core functionality.

    UnixWare is better, but it ain't Solaris.

    --
    .sig
  19. Every third line of code... by PickaBooga · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I am getting sick of reading this inane and insane quote:
    "I saw what appeared to be a word-for-word copy of about every third line of code in the central module of the Linux kernel," said Enderle of Giga Information Group
    How the hell do you copy every third line, without copying the other two? It would be like making a knock-off of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix where I copied every third line, and I got the other two lines from the public domain Moby Dick.

    Don't even get me started on the meaningless phrase "central module of the Linux kernel".

    It would be much more believable if he just said the whole damn thing was copied. I guess he thinks it sounds more "technical" than saying 33% was copied, because he can show off that he knows "code" is made up of "lines".

    Why doesn't he just say every third byte was copied from the Evil Master Control Program, and then scoot off on his little Tron light-cycle?

    I am getting sick of hearing that quote from that jackhole of the universe.