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SCO's Other Investor: Sun Microsystems
Vicegrip writes "Apparently Sun not only bought extra licenses from SCO, but also obtained the option to buy a nice stake in the company: 'The pact, signed earlier this year, expanded the rights Sun acquired in 1994 to use Unix in its Solaris operating system. But there's more to the relationship: SCO also granted Sun a warrant to buy as many as 210,000 shares of SCO stock at $1.83 per share as part of the licensing deal, according to a regulatory document filed Tuesday.'" A reader points out Ransom Love's 2000 Linuxworld keynote speech.
Although Sun has broader rights than do other Unix licensees such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard, it doesn't have the right to release Unix source code or Sun modifications to it as open-source software, SCO spokesman Blake Stowell said.
... so *you* did, and, apparently well, you *did*. Therefore, you should just shut up now. M'kay?
Yeah...but...*flashback to Linuxworld 2000*
But clearly we are going to add components back to the Linux kernel on both IA-32 and IA-64 platforms. We'll work with Linus and everyone in order to make that available.
Thank you.
My journal has hot
I had a letter from Sun the other day trying to convince us to drop AIX and buy Solaris, on the assumption that we're 'concerned', and are scared we'd 'lose' our license to AIX....
People keep saying the Microsoft is the devil.
But as we like to say it (in the Usual Suspect), "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was to convince the world he didn't exist."
And that apparently is SUN Microsystems.
Sun has been facing a dilemma for some time now. Originally a high-tier supplier, they're getting pushed down the chain. Once upon a time, they were an excellent choice for network infrastructure and servers. But now?
Even the largest companies who need big iron systems rarely go to Sun anymore. Google has shown that even using thousands of 'white boxes' works, and Apple, Microsoft, and even IBM have been muscling in on Sun's traditional market. The dot com days were great for Sun, but now they're left as a giant church without any congregation.
So Sun needs a way to exercise its muscle once again, and with its recent tie up with Oracle, it's starting to do this (albeit with help). If Sun can carve out a significant role in the SCO case, it could certainly cash in from the exposure, and any potential win for SCO.
Of course, I don't think SCO stands a chance, and that we're going to see traditional UNIX crash down around itself. Sun has always been a company that intrigues me in the amazing way it runs 'behind the scenes' (the 'Sun Library' is amazing! and their usability work is delightful).. but on the front end, they're sucking big time, IMHO, and I think they could be one of the next big technology fallers.
With this in mind, it would be wise to look on other Sun news with suspicion. For example, they are a safe harbor. Could Sun be playing Senator Palpatine to SCO's Darth Maul and Microsoft's Trading Federation?
Um...
SCO price as of this moment: $11.16.
Warrant price: $1.86.
Current profit: $9.3/share x 210,000 shares = $1,953,000.
Obviously it depends on the specific terms of the trade, such as when they are allowed to actually purchase the shares, any limitations on selling, etc. Still, a couple million in profit doesn't sound bad to me, and probably doesn't sound bad to Sun either.
If Sun was smart, they'd buy then sell as quickly as possible. Who knows how long SCO can keep the FUD train rolling?
The enemies of Democracy are
1. SCO could be picked up by Sun, since the latter has a better image in the market. That could give a boost to the battered image of SCO.
2. More and more, there seems to be some Coke-Pepsi posturing, with MS and Windows pitted against Sun& Unix. Linux is too well entrenched for such a thing to work.
3. All the firms who've picked up a stake so far in the Unix code patent have been American firms. This could be the beginning of some polarisation, where all important IP is within the US. This could have serious repercussions for firms like Fujitsu, Siemens etc. who aren't based in the US.
The saving grace: Any number of firms (SCO, Sun etc.) haven't managed to achieve a small fraction of the success which Linux has done - on the Intel platform. It appears too late now for anyone to rollback on the spectacular progress made by Linux.
If Sun does indeed pick up stakes in SCO, they'd be hated more than Microsoft - if ever that would be possible.
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
I don't know who said it, but there is aquate saying approximately that:
Yeah because that much money (210,000 shares * $2 share = $384,300) is really going to make or break Sun. Uh-huh.
... if SCO wins then their stock will go up though not near 1,000x what it is now ... and if they lose Sun doesn't have to buy the shares).
Look, even if shares of SCO went up by -one thousand times- their current value, Sun would only make $384,300,000. That is 2.3% of Sun's current market capitalization. As it is now, even if they buy and lose that money it is barely a dent in their quarterly operating budget.
Yes, I work for Sun. Yes, I think this stock deal is a tiny bit of a black mark in terms of supporting the Linux community (but not in a financial sense
But seriously, the math is simple and available to anyone looking at it. This should not be a big deal. If Sun has options to buy 12,900,000 more shares of SCOX (the total outstanding), -then- I would worry about Sun's intent here.
It is more productive to voice thoughtful opinions (reply) than to judge (moderate) others.
If Sun are as bad as Microsoft, both buying junk SCO licences to fund their "kill Linux" crusade. I might as well develop apps in C# now my belief that Sun actually want to help the open source community.
Fuck Sco, Fuck Microsoft, Fuck Sun, Fuck a goat.
There is no god
I'd really like to know how SCO continues to distribute the kernel source GPL and all, and claim that code isn't covered by the GPL.
They seem to think SCO has merit because they're reserving the stock at a price, assuming it's going to shoot up (which it will, should SCO win the case).
--
Now playing: Leper Messiah (Metallica/Master of Puppets)
Didn't Sun announce earlier this year that they were dropping their Linux program?
Coincidence?
"Lawyers are for sucks."
- Doug McKenzie
I don't think Sun's invovlment with SCO is particularly surprising - just as the MS marketing department are getting more fodder for thier battle against linux and the gpl, Sun's marketing department are getting fodder for thier battle with IBM/AIX.
As for the share options, that's like playing the lottery except that you only have buy your ticket if your numbers come up - it's highly unlikely that you're going win, but if you do you'll win big and it doesn't cost anything to play. This was probably just a little sweetener from SCO to get some extra cash in the war chest - enough to make Sun go from "That's a bit expensive for the marketing value" to "What the hell, have some cash"
Tk
At some point, somewhere, the entire internet will be found to be illegal.
Wow, I feel like any loyalty and good will I had toward Sun just went out the window!
I don't care if its for their shitty Intel version of Solaris, which just doesn't perform -- and doesn't have the widespread driver support -- the earlier post was correct : They could have obtained it from linux
After graduating I insisted on Sun hardware in the newco I started.
After this, I can assure you when our Enterprise Server dies, it will be replaced with an army of FreeBSD boxes (which we already run for other servers)
Good job sun -- you've soiled yourselves with the stink of the new pariah
The enemy of your enemy in this case was not your friend
I hope IBM buys your sorry assets out, because we're done with you
Old age and treachery almost always overcome youth and skill.
This is nothing new. It only boils down to: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Microsoft and Sun don't like each other, but they have a common enemy: Linux. Thus it makes sense for them both to provide funds to SCO and help contribute to all the anti-Linux FUD. Once Linux is sufficently taken care of, Microsoft and Sun can go back to hating each other, or that's their plan anyway.
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." - Oscar Wilde
You could exercise them and realize a taxable gain of $2million but still be under contract not to sell the stock for quite a while.
That would suck. If the contract does specify a lengthy delay (say, the amount of time SCO thinks they can continue to snow the market + 1 day) Sun would be smarter to just wait and see if this comes to anything. I wonder if Sun would have negotiated a shorter term realizing this possibility. I don't think SCO would mind, since they seem happy to deal with anyone who can lend them credibility, and their own over-inflated stock is the best thing to bribe people with right now.
+1, Informative.
The enemies of Democracy are
According to Sun, the revenue for the third quarter was 2.79 BILLION, and, as business have been tough lately, their net income was "only" 4 million. 2 million is a lot for you and me, but not for a company like Sun, as they would get in return the animosity of all open source developers. Remember: Sun was almost forced to become a partner of the Slashdot readers, and have adopted Gnome as their desktop enviroment.
Agreed. As a Java developer and Solaris admirer, this is terrible news. (I was another of the people who submitted this link as a story, by the way, so I've been feeling sick about this since early this morning.)
While Sun's SCO technology acquisitions, and even stock buying, I could excuse, the apparent letters to AIX customers that others here have mentioned is a disgusting attempt to prey on IT department uncertainty and management fears. Sure, that kind of tactic is par for the course in capitalism, but still, I remember the days when Sun could succeed on technical merits alone.
I'm sorry to realise that the days of Sun's excellence may be waning. I certainly will be discarding my proposal for buying Sun blade servers now and will probably go with Penguin instead.
You obviously don't use Sun products. We buy Sun hardware and support because their hardware is bulletproof and their support is unbelievable, you can get usually get somebody onsite in under an hour. We really could give less of a sh*t what software is on there so long as it's UNIX flavored. In fact, we've even put Linux on one of our older Sun boxes. If software was their main motivator, they'd be running on Intel procs with standard components. Believe me, they make their money because of the bad ass hardware they use and not because of Solaris.
Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws-Plato
*sigh*
... I know who's side Sun is on. Sun's side. Period.
First off, though I think it was clear from the original post, I'm speaking on my behalf and not Sun's.
Second
Beyond that, Sun has always been torn on Linux. Right down the middle.
If Sun was truly against Linux they would stop working day in and day out trying to get contracts to redistribute various Linux vendor's software. Remember when the community said "Sun Linux? Sun is trying to fork Linux into a proprietary system". Well, we listened and now the plan is to support major Linux distributions on our commodity x86 systems.
At the same time, the Solaris folks have a responsibility to customers and to shareholders to make the most out of Solaris' advantages over Linux and not being involved in the SCO mess is one heck of a benefit in todays market.
Further, the financial departments have a responsibility to make money and keep Sun involved in the various parts of the market that are significant to its business.
Remember that Sun has only done the following:
* Pointed out that Sun is not involved in the SCO matter because there was already a -well- paid for Unix license.
* Further strengthened that contract
* Retained the -option- to buy 210,000 shares of stock.
Note that:
1) Sun hasn't purchased those shares, so SCO has not benefitted except by people making a big deal of it and giving them further press *hint*
2) Even if Sun does purchase those shares, does ANYONE think that $384,000 is going to help SCO if they get into financial straights?
Do I think this was a bit of foot-in-mouth? Sure. But I'm not involved at the top and my allegiance to Linux as a movement biases me. If I were in charge of making this kind of decision (I'm nowhere close and don't want to be) I quite probably would have done this, too (though I would like to think I would be making equal gestures to Linux companies).
While x86 and Linux are a small part of Sun's lineup, there is still alot of focus being put on it. And I can virtually guarantee that McNealy is not in bed with MSFT. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" definitly does NOT apply in this business as there are more than just 2 sides in this mess of a market.
It is more productive to voice thoughtful opinions (reply) than to judge (moderate) others.
I used to work for Sun. Loved the company, loved what they stood for, felt like I should have been paying them for the privilege of coming to work every day. Truly my dream job. I'm a major Linux bigot, but that didn't stop me from loving Solaris and loving Sun.
5 years later, the bloom pretty much faded from the rose. Sun made a lot of stupid decisions and strictly in my *opinion* started behaving unethically. They began to reap what they sowed, and the current sad state of affairs at SUNW is a reflection of their abandonment of core Sun ideals. I don't think it's wrong to use ethics as a measuring stick for your business decisions, but I seemed to be in the minority.
I think this SCO deal is a reflection of the 'new Sun' and an example of everything that is wrong with the company currently. I mourn the loss of the old Sun, and I mourn the impending death of a giant, for I truly believe that Sun is destined for failure if they continue along the current path.
I used to respect and admire Scott McNealy for his willingness to take a stand and fight for what he thought was right, but somehow along the way Sun leadership no longer does this... they instead hedge their bets, play both sides of the fence, and refuse to stick to their guns on anything when push comes to shove.
I was one of the many thousands of engineers who got laid off from Sun in the last few years. I did well while I was there, did everything that I thought was humanly possible to ensure Sun's success despite the odds, and I'm sorry to see them fall. I still truly believe that Sun has the potential to regain their dominance in both the market and mindshare, but unfortunately they got rid of all the people who had the intestinal fortitude to make a stand for what they believe in instead of what was politically expedient.
Sun hardware kicks ass, plain and simple. Solaris is a damned good OS, but no longer the far and away market leader that it used to be. Can it be again? Who knows... I believe that it could given the right attitude and resources but again, that's just a personal opinion. I think Sun could do extremely well partnered with the Linux community (like IBM is doing) instead of being an adversary to it.
Am I bitter? I'm not bitter about losing my job to economic forces, and I'm not angry towards Sun, nor do I wish them failure. I truly enjoyed working there and would work there again if I felt that they were willing to commit to what it takes to succeed. I'd work until my fingernails bled to help them achieve that, but I don't see them even acknowledging the issues and problems they face, let alone actively striving to correct them. I don't think that makes me bitter, only honest.
I only hope that Sun some day wakes up, yanks back on the control yoke and comes out of their tailspin before it's too late. Things like this SCO business aren't helping them at all and they are too shortsighted and stubborn to admit it.
-- Gary F. (who refuses to post as an AC)
What kind of competition does Sun have? Consider IBM's p690 and HP's Superdome. Both are in a neck-to-neck race to be #1 on the internationally recognized TPC-C benchmark by the Transaction Processing Council. Both of their scores is about 750,000. Please read "IBM touts own chips over Itanium". By contrast, Sun's best score is about 250,000 (from the TPC website).
As for SPEC performance, the p690 and the Superdome again crush Sun's best machine.
The only thing left for Sun is to create fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD). Sun is hinting that it will soon slit IBM's jugular vein by hinting that Sun may purchase SCO. After all, SCO claims control over IBM's UNIX patents. Sun is trying to create the fear that future IBM customers may be in expensive legal trouble if they run AIX or Linux because Sun-controlled SCO has terminated its UNIX licensing agreement with IBM.
Do you hear "it"? The bell is tolling. It tolls ominously for Sun.
somebody give me GOD status please http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=67707&cid=6204 785