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Notes From The SCO Roadshow's First Stop
compactable writes "Just got back from the first half of the SCO roadshow's first stop in Toronto. No unfurling of IP, no NDA, however an interesting view of what's running this litigious blip of a corporation. Full details at my weenie write-up (feel free to mirror the contents so that my ISP doesn't kill me)."
Damn. I was interested in seeing the /. in real time... that's why I put a counter there ...
Also of note was the volume of OpenSource software in the box - OpenSSL/SSH, Apache, Samba, CUPS, Gimp-print, bash
Isn't most or all of that released as GPL? The "invalid" license? Does SCO intend to claim that the GPL's alleged invalidity means the software is "license-free" and therefore they can do whatever they want with it? Perhaps they assume that nobody associated with free software can afford to sue them for copyright infringement...
Hacker Public Radio is our Friend
"Also of note was the volume of OpenSource software in the box - OpenSSL/SSH, Apache, Samba, CUPS, Gimp-print, bash..."
If SCO is this dependent on OSS software, they are more vulnerable than I gave them credit for. A cohesive effort to remove support for Unixware might do them in. Sure...they have the source code and could re-add support, but it would be expensive for them, and they aren't going to be able to maintain that kind of payroll. So how about it - how hard would it be to break support for SCO platforms? I mean, sure, I feel bad for existing Unixware users, but it would almost be doing them a favor to force them onto a modern OS
I know this is going to sound like flamebait, and if you feel it is then be my guest in using the moderation system to let me, and everyone else, know.
Where SCO press is concerned, Do Not Feed The Troll. SCO are undoubtedly revelling in the fact that every time their marketing droids put pen to paper, their output is mirrored on /., newsforge, linux.com and any number of similar sites. I expect they use this coverage to show their investors how seriously the community takes SCO's business, and how the Linux-using and Open Source Software communities are incredibly worried about the fact that 'they stole SCO IP and used it in their anti-competitive software'. In short, SCO profit from the coverage, and Darl McBride's worth increases with every SCO post on /..
We as a community should not be furthering this action. SCO proved long ago that their statements do very little to reflect reality, and that they are not averse to publishing absurd comments in order to try and gain a few share points. Indeed, at the time IBM showed us what a large organisation of UNIX-types should do in such a situation; they ignored SCO. SGI have since taken a similar approach. However, regular statements by ESR and others, alongside frequent coverage on sites such as this or Newsforge, have shown that the Open Source community cannot help but to rise to a troll's bait.
This may be because of the lack of centralisation of the community, i.e. there is no single mouthpiece from which views are aired. Whereas IBM or the like can carefully control the statements issued by its press department, should someone like ESR decide to express their opinion on a subject, it is erroneously considered to represent the wishes and views of the community as a whole. Now while I'm not advocating restrictions to free speech, I do think that such publications or announcements should be self-vetted to consider whether or not they are helping the very people who wish to harm our winderfully open community.
In summary, as I said at the top, SCO are trolls. Please do not feed them in the future.
Maybe they were going to publish it themselves.
"According to four of SCO's board members, Mcbride is a top five influential executive."
They would be right. Influential meaning having or exercising influence. It does not have to be a "good" influence to be influential. Drugs use in public schools is influential, a neighborhood bully is influential and I fully agree, recently McBride has been very influential and acting like he is under the influence.
Bad boys rape our young girls but Violet gives willingly.
Follow the link to SCO Source, www.caldera.com/scosource/quotes_from_complaint.ht ml
to the last quote: www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/28183.html
That article is a followup to:
MS exec rattles sabre, suggests Linux could infringe patents
www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/28155.html
And you find an article about Microsoft doing a test run of "indemnification"-FUD against linux and IBM in a smal market (Israel) Could someone who speaks hebrew follow the link and post a translation, please?
Now notice, IBM and Microsoft exchanged patents etc. at the time they co-developed OS/2, so Microsoft can't sue IBM (would be unwise anyway). So they need a little proxy-warrior to do the dirty work. Along comes SCO-Source demanding money for their "IP"....
I am still wondering why we are not boycoting SCO's Unix customers like McDonalds and Poppa John's Pizza? If they started loosing their big customers perhaps Wall street would wake up and notice this scam.
As you can see I don't care about my karma.
In their defence, they did in fact have a decent sized list of cutomers, just no list of decent customers (where bleeding edge IT is concerned). I went into this with little SCO background, and was expecting something ... bigger. Their size really hit home at this thing. How they can call an OS that's run on some of the world's fastest boxes immature is now reely reely reely beyond me (where it was before only reely beyond me)...
Avaya does indeed use SCO OpenServer...specifically on nasty things like the Audix voicemail system (think baby Octel). However, as of the last time my salesmonkey tried to get me to Buy Cool Stuff, all of the Definity/MultiVantage/Communication Manager/Whatever it's called this week uses Linux of some form. And since these are the products that actually get hard use...probably a good hint there.
If you attend some of the future SCO roadshow maybe ask a few of the ones that they have come up with
Second: If you have any questions that you think needs to be included post it over at Groklaw.
Help fight continental drift.
"And heavy mention of HP's support. Reference was made to their web site removing their logo, however they emphatically associate SCOs current operations and HP's approval."
If SCO representatives are claiming that HP supports their actions, and HP does not, this could bring on bigger fireworks than the IBM lawsuit ever would.
If Linux goes away, they suddenly have a market again.
The funny thing is, not even that is the case. If Linux goes away people will switch to BSD. I talked to people who've administrated SCO UNIX before this whole lawsuit mess started. As far as messy, user-unfriendly, behind-the-times propeitary unices go, it is the worst.
If every free OS in the world were somehow sued out of existence, people would flock to Solaris/x86 en masse before they'd even consider SCO UNIX.
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
I work in a retail chain (not naming 'em, and posting AC for that reason) which runs a POS package called MicroBiz. It runs in DOS - with a DOS TSR version of ICVerify! - on a 386, and is copyrighted 1989.
The software works flawlessly. It manages our inventory as well as tracking sales, credit (accounts receivable), discounts, tax-exempt customers, etc. I've been at the store for 6 years, and have never witnessed a problem. No lockups, no reconciliation discrepancies, nothing. It Just Runs(TM).
I'm more surprised that the hardware is still running.
SCO purchases a Canopy company with newly created shares at a nominal value (yes they have provision for a massive share expansion). The Canopy shareholders - ie Noorda and Yarro then sell the SCO stock at its market price and make a killing.
Exactly what I was thinking yesterday when I was looking at SCO's stock value.
I thought "Hey, it looks like the shit is working to inflate the price, maybe I should buy a few and have some easy money."
But then the little deamon on my shoulder told me "Stupid, you know this story will end by everybody at SCO selling their stock and fleeing the ship as it sinks. You have to know a lot of things you don't, to play that game."
echo '[q]sa[ln0=aln80~Psnlbx]16isb572CCB9AE9DB03273snlbxq' |dc