Slashdot Mirror


More on Recent SCOings On

An anonymous reader writes "Blake Stowell, SCO's director of communications, acknowledged that the leaked memo is real." However, Stowell went on to say that the memo was misunderstood, and that Microsoft has not been funding SCO, as was previously alleged. In addition, Computer Associates is now vehemently denying they ever licensed Linux from SCO. AlabamaMike writes "Being employed by Computer Associates myself, I had to admit I was terribly dismayed by the news that the company I work for had licensed SCO's dubious Linux IP. I sent some mail around to those I thought would have some info about what was going on with this very odd move, and the response that came back truly should be posted for the /. community. Basically this is a very creative spin on a settlement CA did with Canopy Group regarding a breach of contract settlement totally unrelated to Linux. Associated with that settlement was a set of UnixWare licenses to which SCO has taken the liberty of attaching these 'Linux IP' licenses."

569 comments

  1. More interested in what MS has to say by nokilli · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It's hard to see how they can continue to maintain that they were just "licensing" IP from SCO. As the memo appears to be genuine, it seems to me that Redmond has a lot of explaining to do. Especially to the Justice Department; I mean, if this isn't predatory behavior then I don't know what is.

    1. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by MooCows · · Score: 5, Insightful

      As much as I hate to say this again, the justice system isn't going to do a thing against MS as long as they don't commit massive frauds or something similiar.

      To the government MS is simply a healthy company bringing in a boatload of cash, who cares if they don't play by the rules [of capitalism].

      --
      The path I walk alone is endlessly long.
      30 minutes by bike, 15 by bus.
    2. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by moberry · · Score: 3, Interesting
      "I mean, if this isn't predatory behavior then I don't know what is."

      It's pretty predatory to me. If there is no competition with different operating systems then microsoft can get away with releasing 3rd rate products. Unfortunately as unethical as this is. I do not think its illegal. But i'm pretty confident that SCO is digging themselves into a hole, and a judge is going to say "Get outa here, and write your own products instead of exploiting someone elses work."

    3. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by dillon_rinker · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The "government" is not a monolithic entity. To the court system, MS is a monopolist. To the executive branch, what's good for General Motors is good for America.

    4. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by indigeek · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Do not forget that on the other side we have IBM who has as much, or more, lobbying power than MS.
      We don't really have to have DOJ win a case against MS, dragging the case through the courts could cause the same damage to MS as SCO did to Linux.

    5. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by danamania · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I just had a little spinetingling experience, which was serendipitously timed.

      Watching an old "Computer Chronicles" video of Macworld 1989, a news short at the end of the main story states:

      "...Microsoft nudged closer to the UNIX world last week, buying a 20% interest in the Santa Cruz Operation, a major UNIX software house. A recent market research study predicts a 29% annual growth rate for UNIX systems compared to a 12% growth rate for all other systems"

      Likely completely irrelevant, but just one of those things that came up with lovely timing!

      --dana

    6. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by peragrin · · Score: 2, Insightful

      What really confuses me about MS licensing Unix from SCO is that they didn't need to. Windows for Unix systems, is at version 3.5. That means MS was illegally using Unix source for versions up to 3. Or they were using something that didn't need a License, and why didn't they continue to use that software, why buy a license for something when you don't need to, unless you are funneling money.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    7. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by 4of12 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I mean, if this isn't predatory behavior then I don't know what is.

      It might look that way to you, to me and to a lot of other folks.

      But a well-paid lawyer is able to say with a straight face that it doesn't make sense for Microsoft to be hauled into court simply for making a bad investment decision.

      "Bill Gates thought he'd give Warren Buffett's business model a crack after accumulating US$ 50 billion in cash, but due to his lack of experience he made an unwise investment in SCOX which has lost considerable value. It's a capital loss, your honor!"

      --
      "Provided by the management for your protection."
    8. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by bfree · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Never forget that Microsoft has been deemed by the US courts to have a monopoly and as such to be subject to anti-trust laws. Microsoft cannot simply act as any small business would and hence could be breaking the law by doing things perfectly legal for others to do!

      --

      Never underestimate the dark side of the Source

    9. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      is there a transcript for this? -thx.

    10. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by danamania · · Score: 1

      That's all that was said about MS and old SCO in the news report. However there was an address to get the transcript from the show, at the end of it.

      Unfortunately, being 1989, it's a snailmail one and cost $4 =)

      --dana

    11. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Perl-Pusher · · Score: 2, Funny

      Since when is suing car companies is good for america?

    12. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by jonathan_ingram · · Score: 3, Informative

      owns a significant chunk of TrollTech

      Employees 64.7%
      Borland 8.3%
      Trolltech Foundation 5.2%
      Orkla ASA 4.3%
      Northzone Ventures 4.3%
      Teknoinvest 4.3%
      Canopy Group 4.1%
      Previous employees 3.4%
      SCO Group 1.6%

    13. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by 13Echo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Perhaps... This is the evidence that shows that SCO is just Microsoft's "SCOpegoat" to aid them in their attempt to destroy something that they can't own. It must be frightening, actually, to be a company that's become so wealthy in a market in which you nearly have a monopoly, only to have someone's pet project turn in to a world-class operating system that gets better and better every day. What do you do when your traditional "embrace and extend" tactics don't work? It must be frightening to know that something is sneaking up on your market share, stealing a small bit of it every day... And you can't own it. Scare tactics are the only option. I know which companies and groups I would trust after all of this... And it certainly isn't Microsoft or SCO.

      Good job, guys. You've only made things worse for yourselves. I guess it doesn't really matter if the justice system does anything about these questionable transactions, because these companies are ruining their reputations and business relationships without any help.

    14. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by teromajusa · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It would be nice if that seperation were as clean as you suggest. Unfortunately, the exectutive branch appoints the guy who's in charge of deciding which cases to prosecute, as well as the judges who will preside over them. Congress can block the judicial appointments, but thats only of limited effectiveness.

    15. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Tough+Love · · Score: 4, Funny

      As much as I hate to say this again, the justice system isn't going to do a thing against MS as long as they don't commit massive frauds or something similiar.

      What is not massive about this fraud?

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    16. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Craig+Maloney · · Score: 1

      It means you can charge more for a product that is pretty much a customer service item. It's not a core business item, and people who need the product are willing to pay for the priviledge.

    17. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

      Forget about the government, I think a host of other parties would be invovled here, namely Netscape, IBM, RedHat, Apple, Real. The MS oversight committe should be included if only for red tape reasons. Whether they will investigate or respond (I doubt they will do anything) then that's more ammo for MS competitors to bring to the DOJ that the committee needs to be replaced or spurned into action. Now I'm sure the DOJ under this administration won't do anything without pressure from Autozone, Daimer Chrysler, et al.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    18. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by spincycle1953 · · Score: 5, Funny

      And SCO being the stalking horse for M$, suing Daimler-Chrysler, is good for General Moteors. QED.

      --
      My other machine is a lever.
    19. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They *do* play by the rules of capitalism. What they don't do is play by the rules of slightly watered-down influenced by socialism capitalism. As far as true capitalism goes, Microsoft is a shining example of how far one can take it.

    20. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Forge · · Score: 1

      The numbers you give look very healthy.
      I.e. With 64.7% owned by the Employees, 3.4% Owned by Former Employees and 5.2% owned by the TrolTech Foundation

      Only 26.6% belongs to people I can't already vouch for. How shareholdings work is that Those minor stockholders are not generally able to overrule anything the major shareholders decide. In other words, Troll could sell another 5% to MS and still not change direction.

      PS: Remember SCO was Caldera. That's when the sale was made. Should Troll now buy back the shares and give them cash to persecute us with? Or should they reinvest everything (No dividends) so SCO must find it's war chest else ware?

      --
      --= Isn't it surprising how badly I spell ?
    21. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by malsdavis · · Score: 0, Troll
      "To the government MS is simply a healthy company bringing in a boatload of cash"

      Not to mention contributing a healthy boatload to George Bush's campaign funds.

      I've always thought it odd how Microsoft were on the verge of being broken up 4 years ago, then they gave money to the soon-to-be president's electoral campaign. He then won and soon after it was decided rather than be broken up Microsoft actually only needed a slap on the wrist.

    22. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by IPFreely · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Dispite the similarity in name, that was not the same SCO we are facing now.

      The old SCO sold their properties to Caldera and went bye-bye. Later, Caldera renamed themselves SCO and continued on with the old products. BTW, It was Caldera that licensed Unix from Novell, before the name change.

      The name change is confusing, but don't let it spoil the original SCO company or products. The old Caldera is the litigeous beast, not the old SCO.

      --
      There is nothing so silly as other peoples traditions, and nothing so sacred as our own.
    23. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by 3Suns · · Score: 4, Informative

      IANAL, but if you ask me, secretly funding another company to baselessly sue your competitors is pretty close to vexatious litigation and abuse of process. Paying another company to defame your competitors is pretty close to libel.

      --

      -3Suns

      ~~~~
      The Revolution will be Slashdotted
    24. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Knetzar · · Score: 2, Funny

      So basically your saying that the government and GM are in on this with SCO and MS? Talk about needing a tin-foil hat.

    25. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      First off, this is simple business. It goes on all the time. Companies routinely help the "enemy of my enemy". So no, I do not think that you will see DOJ going after MS.

      But even if Bill Gates or Daryl McBride was to murder somebody in plain view of a million camera's, I am certain that this admin would ignore it.

      Consider the fact that MS's case was basically dropped; Likewise, the case against Micron was just dropped, but the EU is now starting up collusion charges against them; More resources has been devoted to prosecuting Martha Stewart (but the actually charge has been dropped) than has been applied against Ken Lay (who has stolen literally BILLIONS) or Anshutz(also has stolen billions). With W's close relationship with Ray Noorda, I am sure that McBride would get off.

    26. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by rickmci · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Don't matter about what the justice department will or will not do. SCO is first to fall to Linux and Microsoft is on the short list of greedy monoplizing companies that will also fall to Linux. I am just glad the "Linux is unix" and "GPL" stuff will be settled in court soon. SCO will loose, IMB will have stomped them to dust. Then every vendor has the same starting point (GPL Linux). Let the compentition begin for the best support, add-ons and value added products. If that is not the best description of fair compention. I don't know what is.

      Then Microsoft will have very little to fight Linux with. They can join the linux world or die like the rest of the greedy software companies.

      We all know this is Microsoft game anyway. SCO is just the stoogies Microsoft has setup to take the fall. This is there only hope to stop Linux right now without the Justice department being all over them.

    27. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by harmless_mammal · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Yes, but I find this statement to be more interesting...
      • The will help us a lot and if we execute we could exit and Unix componients we have build potentially back to Microsoft or MCS.
      Doesn't this look like SCO would be interested in selling it's Unix properties to Microsoft if they're actually successful in solidifying their position?
    28. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by 16K+Ram+Pack · · Score: 3, Insightful
      I think Microsoft are fighting a losing battle over this one, myself.

      I think Businesses really want Linux to save money, and gain freedom in product selection. Many of the ears that hear SCO's FUD will be listening with dismay and may be delaying. The significant thing is that they want it to work, and IMO freedom has a way of happening. People try very hard to work around legal and national boundaries to get freedom or a better deal.

      I know one person who has believed SCOs FUD and been happy to hear it. A couple of people said about the case, and I pointed them at various sites and they were happy to see that it was just garbage.

      Even if SCO win their case, what's the absolute and total worst case for Linux? Some guys have to remove the code and rewrite it. Maybe some companies hold fire. Maybe even, some Linux using companies go bust because of it (I'm into the lunatic fringe worst case here). So what? Linux will just bounce back. A new generation of people will come along. The movement and the idea are there now, and it's unstoppable.

      The best Microsoft can hope for with these cases is a stay of execution.

    29. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by dinog · · Score: 2, Interesting
      As much as I hate to say this again, the justice system isn't going to do a thing against MS as long as they don't commit massive frauds or something similiar.

      Of course they won't. The government loves MS and hates Chrysler, IBM, Novell, AutoZone, Bank of America, and all those other small time looneys. Only MS matters to "the man".</sarcasm>

      If "the government" had any clue, and say this administration wanted a healthy economy so they could get re-elected, they would realize that causing chaos in the economy to benefit one major contributor is a bad policy. Redmond may generate a few votes, but IBM and Diamler-Chrysler could pull away far more votes than MS could generate.

      As for MS, now instead of just a few tech companies calling for their break up, it seems that even companies outside of the tech sector are going to take notice and start to put pressure on their boug^H^H^H^Helected officials to do something about MS.

      Dean G.

    30. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by hesiod · · Score: 2, Insightful

      > So basically your saying that the government [is] in on this

      I don't think he's saying they are "in on it" as much as he is saying they are simply "looking the other way."

    31. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by MadBiologist · · Score: 1

      Who's IMB? The International Monitary Bank? The Institute of Molecular Bioltechnology? Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Insured Muni Bond Trust?

      --
      'Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?'
    32. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Linuxathome · · Score: 2, Insightful

      SCO is just Microsoft's "SCOpegoat"

      Let's assume that this is truly the case -- that SCO is just a pawn in Microsoft's chess game. If so, why would the likes of Darl McBride and his cronies commit, what I believe, career-suicide? Come on, let's be honest, once Darl loses, what company would even want to touch him with a ten-foot pole? He'll always be referred to as "that guy" who started a ridiculous claim that never came to fruition. The only thing that I can think of, to make it worthwhile for Darl to do such a thing is if Microsoft said to him "don't worry about your career, we'll take care of you" and paid him off big-time. The legalities of this payoff is questionable -- but then again, the legalities of what SCO is currently doing is highly questionable.

    33. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by hesiod · · Score: 2, Insightful

      > Then every vendor has the same starting point (GPL Linux)
      > If that is not the best description of fair [competition?]
      > They can join the linux world or die

      If you meant "compensation" when you said "compention," sorry, I misunderstood. I assumed "competition" was what you mistyped.

      So you are saying the best way to compete fairly is for everyone to use Linux? What you appear to be proposing is the exact OPPOSITE of competition. Locking them into another system, just one that isn't theirs?

      Fair competition does NOT mean that everyone has the same starting point. It just means they have the same field to play on. Sure, MS has broken rules of the game, but Linux has redefined the rules of the game. (not that this makes MS any better or Linux any worse, I'm just stating my view)

    34. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      IANAL, but understand enough about law to know when you have to qualify arguments with "pretty close," you would be better off not showing up in court to try and prove your point.

    35. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by jtosburn · · Score: 5, Funny

      Since Pintos started torching their occupants.

    36. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by bobtheheadless · · Score: 1

      What even says it was a 'bad investment decision'? Everybody knows MS hates Linux, and they're doing everything they can to fight against it.

      I figure there must be several people out there thinking "hm, good move by microsoft to protect their market share. As an investor, that makes me happy".

      --
      --- If I had a funny sig too, you might be laughing now.
    37. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by jdgeorge · · Score: 2, Informative

      IANAL, but understand enough about law to know when you have to qualify arguments with "pretty close," you would be better off not showing up in court to try and prove your point.

      Well, Blake (or is it Darl?), I think what this guy really means by "pretty close" is "spot on". Among the literate, this is known as litotes.

    38. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by dR.fuZZo · · Score: 2, Funny

      ...Redmond has a lot of explaining to do. Especially to the Justice Department...

      We're sorry, the Attorney General is having some gall bladder problems right now. Please try again when there's a Democrat in the White House.

      --
      -- dR.fuZZo
    39. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why would you doubt wheather or not he has several million in the bank? It seems pretty obvious. This is the guy that pulled a similar stunt on IKON, his former employer, and became wealthier by MILLIONS of dollars. Why wouldn't this be the case? This is the kind of THING THAT ASSHOLE DOES. Darl is a slimeball.

      Let's be honest. He already had enough money in the bank to retire comfortably to begin with. This is just this greedy bastard's way of manking another few quick millions.

    40. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by justanyone · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It would be nice if that seperation were as clean as you suggest. Unfortunately, the exectutive branch appoints the guy who's in charge of deciding which cases to prosecute...

      There's something called a 'writ of mandamus' (i am not a lawyer=IANAL).

      This writ is used to call upon a judge to compel a prosecutor (executive branch) to prosecute a case (or do several other things).

      This means any citizen can notice, "Hey, this guy's committing a crime and they're not prosecuting them!", file a writ of mandamus, and a court will tell the prosecutor, "You have to prosecute this guy." and they do under pain of contempt (I believe).

      -- Kevin J. Rice

    41. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by ces · · Score: 1

      Remember Microsoft is already under court supervision for the anti-trust case they lost (even if the punishment was weak).

      The judge can take things like Microsoft funding SCO's crusade against Linux as evidence that Microsoft isn't complying with the remedies ordered.

      Also if there is enough of a smoking gun with the memo IBM, RedHat, and Novell could potentially drag Microsoft into their lawsuits with SCO. As well as turn up enough evidence for later lawsuits against Microsoft including private anti-trust suits.

      --
      Happy Fun Ball is for external use only.
    42. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by sharkey · · Score: 2, Funny
      What is not massive about this fraud?

      They don't get oil wells if they smash it?

      --

      --
      "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
    43. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by pilgrim23 · · Score: 1

      The one hoped for result of the Microsoft suit was achieved so the feds will have little interest these days. The hoped for result? Opening the Redmond money belt for "contributions" to political funds of course!

      --
      - Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
    44. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Unloaded · · Score: 1

      Ever hear of a man named Ralph Nader, who started it all by going afer the Corvair?

    45. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're not funny.

    46. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by rixstep · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You've only made things worse for yourselves.

      I'd be happy if you were right, and up until yesterday I would have thought you were, but to underestimate Bill Gates is to lose, and the man is an incredible schemer. I do not put it past him to have sketched this scenario for the past five years, since before ESR ever got the Halloween Documents. Five years is a long time to let grass grow between your toes, and MS would not let that happen.

      They're playing poker. Something they've always been excellent at. They're not playing to win the hand by showing their cards; they're playing to out-bluff and intimidate all the other players until everyone folds.

      Anyone else in business, up against the open source threat, would have given up, would have assessed the situation as hopeless.

      But not our Bill.

    47. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To the executive branch, what's good for General Motors is good for America.

      Actually, your executive branch does not have any opinions today. However, people like Richard Pearle, Condi Rice, Don Rumsfeld, Karen Hughes, and Carl Rove do.

    48. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by ces · · Score: 4, Informative

      Not quite right the sequence of events is more like the following:

      UNIX developed at AT&T Bell Labs
      AT&T begins licensing UNIX commercially.
      AT&T sells all intrest in UNIX to Novell.
      Novell sells it's Unixware product and certain rights related to UNIX licensing to old-SCO. They also donate the UNIX trademark to The Open Group.
      Old-SCO sells the rights it bought from Novell, Unixware, OpenServer, its reseller network, rights to the SCO name, and its Unix consulting business to Caldera.
      Old-SCO changes its name to Tarantella.
      Caldera changes its name to The SCO Group.

      --
      Happy Fun Ball is for external use only.
    49. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by rixstep · · Score: 1

      Doesn't this look like SCO would be interested in selling it's Unix properties to Microsoft if they're actually successful in solidifying their position?

      An interesting postulate. Perhaps that's the carrot MS are dangling before SCO. If SCO can get a sort of 'monopoly' on Unix, MS will buy them and put them all on easy street.

      There's been a lot of speculation that MS would go towards their own Linux distro, and that both Windows and Belgian Blue (Longhorn) are dead in the water. To enter a new market, Bill would want a monopoly.

      That's a given.

    50. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by DougJohnson · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Microsoft can't buy UNIX as it would be a breach of their anti-trust settlement and an obvious move into a MORE monopolistic position

    51. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by cayenne8 · · Score: 1
      "Especially to the Justice Department; I mean, if this isn't predatory behavior then I don't know what is."

      Well, I wonder...would the JD bother...since this behavior is directed at a 'free' os? It isn't 'owned' by any company...etc. Just wondering it if they'd pursue just the behavior itself....not just behavior directed at a company trying to make money...

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    52. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by rixstep · · Score: 1

      I am just glad the "Linux is unix" and "GPL" stuff will be settled in court soon.

      Soon? Says who?

      There comes a time when idealism means blindness.

    53. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by rixstep · · Score: 2, Informative

      It is interesting, and spine-tingling even, and definitely relevant, but you have to go farther back in history to see the relation.

      In the early 80's, Gates was still intent on getting out from under the skirts of IBM. He'd succeeded in getting the MS out of DOS to sell it himself. And in one fell swoop, he bought a source code license to Unix and the Lattice C compiler.

      The C compiler was not Unix compatible. That's what his own engineers changed for the first release.

      At the same time, he handed over the Unix source to SCO. Their contract was to produce XENIX for Bill. At that time, people were still entertaining getting Unix onto PCs of the day. AT&T even tried.

      In 1989, David Cutler had been under a Microsoft roof about one year. He had come cross town with his entire Prism team, including the hardware engineers he forced Bill to salary, even though they couldn't be used. And Microsoft were still 'helping' IBM write OS/2. And the only viable memory extension on the PC was the first LIM (Lotus Intel Microsoft) standard, which was not much to have.

      When LIM came out with their new improved standard, the waters broke through the dam and MS concentrated on Windows 3.0, released in 1990 - a year after their supposed investment in SCO, and a couple of years before Linus got his idea.

    54. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by rixstep · · Score: 2, Interesting

      don't let it spoil the original SCO company or products

      One of which was XENIX, which they did on contract for you-know-who.

      'Follow the money!'
      - Deep Throat

    55. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know, you really discredit everything you say by having no concept of how to use a semicolon or even pluralize a common noun. Go back to grade school.

    56. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by ciroknight · · Score: 1

      [grammer nazi] For the LAST time, Microsoft IS, sheesh..[/grammer nazi]

      --
      "Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." G.W.Bush
    57. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by OwnedByTwoCats · · Score: 1

      Look at the hay that was made over Clinton's poor investment in Whitewater.

      Gates is only in trouble if there is a conservative Billionare out there with a grudge.

    58. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by CodeBuster · · Score: 2, Informative

      Congress can also impeach judges after they have been appointed, but in 228 years of American history the number of times that power has been exercised can be counted on one hand.

    59. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by tiger99 · · Score: 1
      IIRC M$ developed Xenix in 1980 or thereabouts. It was a singularly useless Unix variant, with lots of bugs, deliberate incompatabilities (familiar story?) and fairly useless memory management and protection. It was extremely unpolular with people who had used real Unix due to its lack of stability. I think it was derived from a badly hacked version of AT&T code, around Version 7 vintage. Don't know why they bothered, as Bill was known, even then, to hate Unix.

      This 1989 deal was the M$ way of quietly getting rid of the embarassment.

      I remember that when Windoze was first announced, discussing it with my colleagues at the time, and wondering why they were so utterly stupid as to base it upon MessyDOS instead of Unix/Xenix. That was when I used real Unix every day but had yet to see Xenix, otherwise I might have known why.....

      If M$ were not so stupid and incompetent, we could have had a stable, secure OS many years ago, no doubt called Xenix, or maybe Windows for Xenix. But, as usual, they messed up every technical decision along the way. Yet the masses were, and mostly still are, deceived by the Convicted Monopolist.

    60. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Ever hear of a man named Ralph Nader, who started it all by going afer the Corvair?

      Yeah. What an arsehole. The Corvair didn't deserve that; the people driving them did.

      It it had a few more years, the aerodynamics would have been worked out.

    61. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Sj0 · · Score: 1

      To teh court system, MS is a great source of bribes.

      Gotta love capitalism. It works as well in theory as communism does in fact. Luckily, it works a lot better in fact that it does in theory, but it can still be awfully silly sometimes. :)

      --
      It's been a long time.
    62. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      No, writs of mandamus are only used for when the petitioner has a claim of a legal right to compel the action. However, prosecutorial authority is absolute, that is, prosecutors have complete discretion in deciding cases to pursue, by common law and written law in some jurisdictions. Therefore there cannot exist a legal right of anyone to compel action of a prosecutor.

    63. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by jkabbe · · Score: 1

      So basically your saying that the government and GM are in on this with SCO and MS? Talk about needing a tin-foil hat.

      I am sure the reverse-vampires, saucer people, and the RAND corporation figure into this - I just don't know how!!

    64. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by rixstep · · Score: 1

      file a writ of mandamus, and a court will tell the prosecutor

      Great idea! Now who tells the court they have to tell the prosecutor to file? What kind of writ is that?

    65. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by drooling-dog · · Score: 2, Insightful
      If so, why would the likes of Darl McBride and his cronies commit, what I believe, career-suicide?

      What wouldn't you do if you could be Microsoft's bitch? If the latest memo is correct, they've already gotten about $100 million from Redmond. What would SCO stock be worth now if not for that?

      Microsoft needs third parties to say and do the stuff that they can't say and do themselves for liability and antitrust reasons. They won't have any trouble recruiting them.

    66. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agree. But the big deal I think is this gives IBM, a direct competitor of MSFT which is the target of this broadside after all, the means to scream "foul" long, loud and with I should think foreceful legal action. And no, not just against SCO.

    67. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey if I have to go back to school and learn a new trade midway through my life, why shouldnt Bill Gates?

    68. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Davorama · · Score: 2, Funny

      That would be the writ of godamus. It's filed by the pope.

      --

      Davo -- Free speech, free software, AND free beer.

    69. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by jazman_777 · · Score: 1
      Congress can also impeach judges after they have been appointed, but in 228 years of American history the number of times that power has been exercised can be counted on one hand.

      Optimist view: wow, that shows how great the system is, we have a uniformly high standard of judges, a society of saints!

      Pessimist view: The lawyers who make it into Congress obviously think all judges are very good, no matter how bad they are.

      --
      Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
    70. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by drooling-dog · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Then Microsoft will have very little to fight Linux with. They can join the linux world or die like the rest of the greedy software companies.

      This is just silly. There will continue to be a place for Windows, and it will continue to compete alongside Linux distributions that are no longer free themselves because of support and add-ons (and "greedy software companies"). Microsoft will have to make some concessions to hold on, though, and this process has already begun. They will simply do what they have to do, much of it even legal. Committed Windows-users can already thank Linux and the Open Source movement for making Microsoft a much easier beast to deal with than they otherwise would be.

    71. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by El · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What would you do if you had $500 million? Never work again? Why would you care whether or not you were committing "career suicide" if somebody gave you enough money that never finding another job wouldn't be a problem? Let's see now, I can continue working another 25 years, and earn maybe a total of $1 million over that time, and pay half that in taxes... or I can take $10 million right now and retire... which would you do?

      --

      "Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney

    72. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by spood · · Score: 1

      To the government MS is simply a healthy company bringing in a boatload of cash

      This may not be your intended meaning, but Microsoft doesn't bring in a boatload of cash for the government. Microsoft doesn't pay any tax at all.

      However, according to the (dubious) principle of supply-side economics, having a nice healthy company making all this money should theoretically benefit the rest of the economy.

      --
      ---- Just another spud server.
    73. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Z4rd0Z · · Score: 0, Troll
      There's been a lot of speculation that MS would go towards their own Linux distro, and that both Windows and Belgian Blue (Longhorn) are dead in the water. To enter a new market, Bill would want a monopoly.

      Speculation where? In your head? MS is not going to push Linux anytime soon. Your statement about Windows and Longhorn sounds a lot like what people said about XP four years ago. Besides, MS couldn't get away with buying out SCO.

      --
      You had me at "dicks fuck assholes".
    74. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by k_head · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yes. Criminal negligence if you will.

      --
      The best way to support the US war effort is to continue buying American products.
    75. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by k_head · · Score: 3, Insightful

      So what? It's not like the DOJ would punish them or anything. Legality only matters if the court system is willing to go after you when you break laws. The DOJ has shown no willingness to hold MS accountable.

      --
      The best way to support the US war effort is to continue buying American products.
    76. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by El · · Score: 2, Informative

      The old SCO sold their properties to Caldera and went bye-bye. Not quite correct. The old SCO realized pushing Unix was a doomed proposition, sold part of their properties to Caldera, and changed it's name to Tarantella (the dance, not the spider), which was the name of the old SCO's middleware product.

      --

      "Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney

    77. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by justanyone · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The court system in the United States is set up (I believe) as follows:

      The constitution provides that there shall be a judiciary consisting of a Supreme Court, and whatever other courts that the supreme court shall deem useful.

      The supremes long ago divided up the U.S. into a set of federal districts. In each of these districts, there are a set of judges and an appelate division (for appeals).

      I'm a little unclear about how the civil and criminal parts of this are set up...

      Regardless, each of these district courts have an organization which is paid for out of the federal budget. I believe this is a block grant granted by congress to the Supreme Court's organization. The money goes to this organization and they decide how to spend it, thus preventing congress from preventing allocation of funds to district X in retribution for their ruling on case Y.

      This subordinate organization, the 'clerk's office' of the court, accepts properly formatted (defined clearly in U.S. code) motions, etc. These official documents are processed by this judical branch office and funneled for review to a judge through the judge's office (set up I believe at their discretion).

      The post above was: "Now who tells the court they have to tell the prosecutor to file?" This is the writ of Mandamus that I was referring to. It means that you, a private citizen, can file a motion with the clerk of the federal district court in which you ask for a writ. A judge will act on this motion (is this enforced by a law itself, that some action must be taken in response to a properly filed motion????). That action will be to create a writ of mandamus (or not - you may not convince the Judge to act on your motion if you're asking the prosecutor to prosecute "Men From Mars"(tm). This writ is a legal order to the prosecutor's office to do something.

      If they don't do something, and probably they must do it to a judge's satisfaction, they will will be in contempt of a federal court order, in which case all sorts of bad things start happening from other divisions within the exective branch as well as the judicial branch, I think (someone, please correct me??)

      I should make a point here about Federal Judges. Don't mess with them. Don't think of messing with them. Don't even think about thinking about it. By 'mess with' I mean 'gain the attention of in an unfavorable manner'. Judges can cite ordinary people, organizations, etc. with contempt charges and functionally put them away for a long, long time. Of course, there's the appeals process to remediate this, but in contempt cases I believe this is given wide latitude. Can some lawyers comment on this?

      This should probably be in a Wikipedia article but I coudn't find one that explained the organization of the courts.

    78. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by hesiod · · Score: 1

      > Criminal negligence if you will

      Eh... okay, I'll buy that. I don't agree, but at least it makes sense.

    79. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by GreyPoopon · · Score: 1
      [grammer nazi] For the LAST time, Microsoft IS, sheesh..[/grammer nazi]

      You do know that in the UK, the names of companies are frequently paired with the plural form of verbs, right? It might sound funny to those of us in North America, but imagine how much funnier a couple sentences like this sound:

      Microsoft is spreading FUD again. And, they are ignoring the terms of the Antitrust settlement.
      To me, this "feels" perfectly normal, but it probably sounds to my friends in the UK like I can't make up my mind. Is Microsoft an "it" or a "they?"
      --

      GreyPoopon
      --
      Why is it I can write insightful comments but can't come up with a clever signature?

    80. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by SpaceLifeForm · · Score: 0, Troll

      Yep, heard of him. He's gonna get Bush re-elected. No need to fix the vote.

      --
      You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
    81. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by ReTay · · Score: 1

      "If so, why would the likes of Darl McBride and his cronies commit, what I believe, career-suicide? Come on, let's be honest, once Darl loses, what company would even want to touch him with a ten-foot pole?"

      Well let me turn that one around for you.
      Most people are quite sure that this is a pump and dump. How much convinceing would it take for them if, a company that is owned by a company that is owned by a company that is owned by a company were to buy a toothpick from them for $20 million or so? On top of the gains they have made from selling their stock?

    82. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by morleron · · Score: 1

      No, no. This isn't predatory behaviour. This is just "reaching out to our Unix brethren." Yeah, that's it. That's our story and we're sticking to it.

      Just my $.02,
      Ron

      --
      Impeach Barack Obama for violating the Constitutional requirement to be a "natural born" citizen to hold the office of P
    83. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by SpaceLifeForm · · Score: 1

      It's not near as massive a fraud as the DOJ has already committed with regard to MS.

      --
      You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
    84. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Remember Microsoft is already under court supervision for the anti-trust case they lost (even if the punishment was weak).

      What, do all employees have to wear a location monitoring anklet, and check in with a parole officer every month? Or are they put in chain gangs along the highways in Redmond with the bad neegroids and brown men?

    85. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by krlynch · · Score: 3, Informative

      and whatever other courts that the supreme court shall deem useful.

      It's whatever other courts that the CONGRESS shall deem useful:

      Article III, Section 1: The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behaviour, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.

    86. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Doyle · · Score: 1

      [spelling nazi]It's spelled grammar[/spelling nazi] etc, etc...

    87. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bill Gates wakes up every morning in a cold sweat fearing that his company will not exist the next day. Seriously. He has done that for years, long before Linux came around. (I'm not kidding, really.)

      When you know this, you can apply it to every situation that Microsoft comes across and their reaction will make sense. They will pursue their adversaries with all the grit and drive of a 3-person startup trying to land their first client.

    88. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by greenrd · · Score: 1
      Thus once again illustrating greenrd's law: Every post criticising spelling or grammar must inveitably contain a spelling or grammatical mistake. ;)

      More to the point, you're wrong.

    89. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Weaselmancer · · Score: 1

      A brilliant, and unfortunately completely true assessment of the situation.

      Hell, they're not even really playing poker. It's more like chess. The more moves ahead you can plan for, the better you play. Bill makes Machiavelli look like a complete amateur.

      I mean, look at what the guy has done. It's a cliche, but he really could sell ice to eskimos.

      He sells more copies of Office than there are installs of the completely free and just as functional OpenOffice. He sells IIS server software, even though Apache pretty much smokes it. He sells server software with limited licensing schemes, even though Linux is 100% open and free. And set up an entire industry of training MS qualified techs, to run MS servers...which are needed in bulk because the software isn't reliable.

      Anyone who can manage this level of voodoo shouldn't be underestimated under any circumstances. He may have been planning this since Linux 1.0. With billions of dollars and teams of people working on keeping MS a monopoly, it wouldn't surprise me.

      Weaselmancer

      --
      Weaselmancer
      rediculous.
    90. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      nope.. he won't run this time around. the democrates asked him not ot and they offered him a high paying salary at the head of a special intrest group. thbey are also prommissing him special lobying access.

    91. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      I'm sure thats not counting the nuber of judges that quit or retired before the impeachment was of official record. Contrary to popular belief Nixon wasn't actually impeached because he steped down before it actually happened. He gets credited as being impeached because it was so close at the time. Clinton on the other hand, didn't step down and was impeached but they voted the offense wasn't important enough to remove him from office.

    92. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's time Microsoft learned what happens when you try to kill the penguin...

      Buy Linux.

      Fear the penguin!

    93. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by 24-bit+Voxel · · Score: 1

      You know what I've noticed? It's the wild west all over again anymore...

    94. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by sageres · · Score: 1

      Dammit, just think of it! Caldera used to be a very prominent Linux distributer! They have done some awsome stuff for Linux under Ransome Love and others. I recall in particular their NetWare IPX/SPX support, NCP support and other drivers they contributed. And who can forget the first graphical Linux installation? With Tetris? Although they were never my favorite Linux distribution (I love Slack), they were one of the originals. Back in the day, I never thought that this company can turn around 180 degrees and backstab Linux community. At this point of time -- lets all agree -- this is not the Caldera we knew. This is not the SCO we knew. This is a litigation monstrocity that was created by business, Canopy and McBride.

    95. Re:More interested in what MS has to say by Shanep · · Score: 1

      And who can forget the first graphical Linux installation? With Tetris?

      I certainly won't forget it.

      Watching the % complete field incrementing it's way towards 100%........ and then to 101%.... and beyond.... ; ) was not exactly inspiring my trust in their product.

      I pressed reset when it got to around 700%, from memory.

      I eventually got it installed. Didn't think much of it and moved back to Red Hat. Really, the graphical installer was the selling point for me to show off to my friends the advances Linux was making. But how often do you install anyway?

      The irony is, that to this day, I prefer OpenBSD's installer, all text, done literally in under 5 minutes and never fails me.

      --
      War crimes, torture, lies, illegal spying... Would someone give Bush a blowjob, already, so he can be impeached?
  2. "a few years"? by grub · · Score: 5, Insightful


    not only are SCO's IP ambitions doomed, but its Unix interests are a "trailing negative" on the road to dropping from 10% of the market to 3%-5% in a few years and then "SCO will be irrelevant," he said.

    Assuming this court case is settled in Linux' favour, SCO will be irrelevant the next day. No company will want to deal with a firm that sues its own customers.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
    1. Re:"a few years"? by samcentral2000 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Then why is RIAA/MPAA still making money?

    2. Re:"a few years"? by torpor · · Score: 4, Insightful

      because its customers are too stupid to understand the issues, or even care about it.

      remember, the pop industry is all about stripping consumable income from the teen market, which is by definition naive, immature, and not generally capable of independent thought/analysis.

      teenagers are the most important resource in all propaganda campaigns, and the RIAA (and its family of organizations) sure knows how to pitch to them like no other ... and still sell crap.

      until schools start teaching "Propaganda 101" as a basic curriculum requirement, Western States are going to continue to be little more than Sheep Factories.

      --
      ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
    3. Re:"a few years"? by indigeek · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I'm just waiting for the markets to open.
      Yesterday the shares had begun to fall after ESR leaked the mail, before all the news sites started up with headlines saying SCO licenses have been bought.
      Today is perfect, markets have not opened, CA has not bought a license and it is clear that SCO is a front for M$ from which no profits for shareholders are to be had. Moreover, there is the muzzle on SCO by the court.
      I hope thatwe don't get an unnatural price rise due to this being a friday and everyone trying to cover their short positions before the week ends !!

    4. Re:"a few years"? by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 1
      until schools start teaching "Propaganda 101" as a basic curriculum requirement, Western States are going to continue to be little more than Sheep Factories.
      Are you implying that Rhode Island schools are not brainwashing kids????
    5. Re:"a few years"? by torpor · · Score: 2, Interesting

      They teach "Propaganda 101" in 'Rhode Island Schools'?

      The only truly effective propaganda curriculum I've seen (and yes, I've looked for such things) has been available through private institutions, only. I don't think thats going to solve anything ...

      The ability to spot and recognize propagandist activities designed to foment social change, sway the 'group mentality', is something that has to be learned at a very young age. If you have to go to college to learn about how propaganda and mass campaigning work on humanity, its too late.

      --
      ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
    6. Re:"a few years"? by WCMI92 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Assuming SCO wins they are STILL irrelevant the next day...

      Linux will be rewritten, and there are the BSD's. No one will do serious business with someone who sues their customers NO MATTER HOW GOOD their product is, if there is an alternative.

      Even Microsoft is a better alternative than SCO, at least they don't sue customers over what they do. They just use the BSA to do it...

      --
      Corporatism != Free Market
    7. Re:"a few years"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Something like this could actually help SCO. After all what better backing then M$.

      The real question is what will happen to M$'s stock.

    8. Re:"a few years"? by akiaki007 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I hope thatwe don't get an unnatural price rise due to this being a friday and everyone trying to cover their short positions before the week ends !!

      You won't. Because you can't short SCO. I order to short a stock there has to be stock out there to short. And companies with few shares out there aren't "shortable," therefore, if the price goes up, it's got nothing to do with people trying to cover their short positions or creating short positions. If you could short, I would've at 17$, or at least told the traders to do so.

      --
      "Time is long and life is short, so begin to live while you still can." -EV
    9. Re:"a few years"? by WCMI92 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      If you follow the Yahoo SCOX forum (there is a lot of noise, but some people there who are REALLY well informed as well), you will note that it's pretty obvious that on low volume days "painting the tape" is going in.

      Little blocks of 100 shares keep changing hands at prices above what the last sell off was...

      It's an illegal, but hard to prove practice.

      But SCOX seems to consistently get "painted" upward daily after a big sell.

      --
      Corporatism != Free Market
    10. Re:"a few years"? by M.+Silver · · Score: 1

      They teach "Propaganda 101" in 'Rhode Island Schools'?

      They did in at least one Indiana school when I was growing up. Part of Social Studies, I think, though it might have been part of the Reading curriculum (it's been a lot of years, okay?)

      --

      Slashdot's token middle-aged housewife
    11. Re:"a few years"? by hackstraw · · Score: 1

      The RIAA and MPAA don't sue _all_ of their customers. They have a product that more than the 10 or 50, or whatever the last count of SCO's customers are, are willing to pay for without being sued.

    12. Re:"a few years"? by VargrX · · Score: 1
      until schools start teaching "Propaganda 101" as a basic curriculum requirement, Western States are going to continue to be little more than Sheep Factories.

      rephrase that to read:

      until schools start teaching "Propaganda 101" as a basic curriculum requirement,most Western Countriesare going to continue to be little more than Sheep Factories.

      and I believe that you'd be closer to the real truth of things....

      disclaimer: yes, I'm american, yes, I'm appaled with what my country has become, yes, I'm disgusted that now, by association, I'm hated world-wide, and my sig just doesn't cut it anymore....
      --
      Sometimes people just have to learn and adapt to change, it is one of the requirements of being a living thing.
    13. Re:"a few years"? by GTRacer · · Score: 1
      Even Microsoft is a better alternative than SCO, at least they don't sue customers over what they do. They just use the BSA to do it...

      Can you cite any instances where MS unleashed the BSA hellhounds on someone for anything OTHER than unlicensed software use?

      Which, despite all the hippy free-software advocacy around here, is their right under their EULA. It's not a nice EULA, and their SW mostly sucks, but that still doesn't justify illegal use.

      GTRacer
      - Spending too long at the Kap...

      --
      Defending IP by destroying access to it? That makes sense, RIAA/MPAA. Go to the corner until you can play nice!
    14. Re:"a few years"? by WCMI92 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Can you cite any instances where MS unleashed the BSA hellhounds on someone for anything OTHER than unlicensed software use?

      Which, despite all the hippy free-software advocacy around here, is their right under their EULA. It's not a nice EULA, and their SW mostly sucks, but that still doesn't justify illegal use."

      They unleash the BSA to blackmail companies/schools, etc to UPGRADE when they don't want to. And their EULA makes it impossible for any organization with over 20 PC's to keep up with EVERYTHING without a full time MS compliance person.

      In MS's EULA world, they can send in the BSA, you can have EVERY copy of EVERY piece of software, box, license, everything, and STILL be guilty of using "pirated software" if you don't have the receipts for every box!

      Posession alone isn't proof! Of course, I'd like to see someone take MS to court on that... But MS is smart, they always make it so that upgrading is cheaper and less painful than fighting them in court, even when you know you can win.

      --
      Corporatism != Free Market
    15. Re:"a few years"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the term 'state' is used to describe a country, at least in most of the civilized world. 'province' is usually the term used to divide 'states' up.

      'state' == 'nation' == 'country'

      except that 'nation' is also often used to describe a race of people.

      'nation' == 'people'

      'state' == 'province'

      fuck, the english language just plain sucks. these all parse legally. that is all.

    16. Re:"a few years"? by Zeinfeld · · Score: 4, Interesting
      You won't. Because you can't short SCO. I order to short a stock there has to be stock out there to short. And companies with few shares out there aren't "shortable," therefore, if the price goes up, it's got nothing to do with people trying to cover their short positions or creating short positions.

      You can borrow stock in pretty much any company out there. The reason you should not borrow SCO stock is that all the borowable stock has been shorted longsince.

      This creates a situation called a short interest trap. If the stock kicks up for any reason, or the amount of stock available to borrow suddenly decreases the shorts are forced to buy the stock back at market. This can lead to a stock bubble that is entirely due to the shorts being squeezed.

      SCO does have one remaining asset of value, the rights to UNIX. Quite what those rights is will likely be significantly reduced as a result of the case, but the value will not reach zero. Of course in the meantime lawyers fees will probably outweigh the remaining assets.

      --
      Looking for an Information Security student project suggestion?
      Try http://dotcrimeManifesto.com/
    17. Re:"a few years"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shares seem to be changing hands at far above the asked price every 5 minutes.

    18. Re:"a few years"? by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      I don't think you have to wait until the court's decision. It appears that SCO's customers are already bailing. See previous /. stories, as well as your favorite news source. (no links provided, sorry)

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    19. Re:"a few years"? by Photon+Ghoul · · Score: 1

      Not to nitpick, but when the previous post used the term "Western States" he was using this definition of "state":

      5 a : a politically organized body of people usually occupying a definite territory; especially : one that is sovereign b : the political organization of such a body of people

      (Courtesy Merriam-Webster Online)

    20. Re:"a few years"? by LordKaT · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Let's be totally honest here: it's not just "western" states that have this problem. It's every person that is naive and incapable of independant thought. While it's true that teens are brainwashed by the MPAA/RIAA/Other capitalist industries - it's just as bad in other "non-western" countries where the same age group is brainwashed by government/non-capitalistic propaganda.

      Hell, it's true in every country on the planet earth: in order to stay in power you need to keep the masses aligned with your point of view. How do you do that? Make sure they grow up hearing your rehtoric. "Capitalism, good - communisim bad" vs. "Allah good, western world bad!"

      Sorry, I just get a little peeved when somone implies that it's only western countries that are "brainwashing" people.

      --LordKaT

    21. Re:"a few years"? by DrugCheese · · Score: 1

      Even Microsoft is a better alternative than SCO, at least they don't sue customers over what they do.

      No but they back entire educational disctricts into a corner and say 'Audit, pay a large fee, or go to court'

      --
      *DrugCheese rants*
    22. Re:"a few years"? by torpor · · Score: 1

      Sorry, I just get a little peeved when somone implies that it's only western countries that are "brainwashing" people.

      Since Western States are the only ones with which I'm truly familiar, in terms of propagandist policies and practices, its the only one I feel comfortable making such an assessment of.

      Had I lived in the Ukraine, or Iraq, or North Korea, I would be more comfortable saying "all States". Even though its easy to imply that they are just as bad as any other, I haven't had the direct experience with it that I have in the West.

      That's the only reason I used that term. To me, States are irrelevant anyway ...

      --
      ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
    23. Re:"a few years"? by mandolin · · Score: 1
      the pop industry is all about stripping consumable income from the teen market, which is by definition naive, immature, and not generally capable of independent thought/analysis.

      True, but you can easily apply those terms to most adults as well. Seems hardly fair to age-discriminate when it's not warranted.

    24. Re:"a few years"? by surprise_audit · · Score: 3, Funny
      can lead to a stock bubble that is entirely due to the shorts being squeezed.

      And if anybody deserves to have their shorts squeezed, it's SCO...

    25. Re:"a few years"? by torpor · · Score: 1

      "Age discrimination"?

      The point is, teenagers are gullible, because they're still developing into human adults, still recovering from the effects of having been children unable to feed and care for themselves.

      Human adults, presumably, should have had the experience required to turn them into rational human beings. Teenagers can get away with irrationality, adults can't.

      Its even written in lawbooks... 'fair' it isn't. The assumption is that once you're on your own, and you don't have a parent taking care of you, you're responsible for your own ignorance ...

      --
      ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
    26. Re:"a few years"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      AFAIK, this kind of thing is in the UK National Curriculum as part of the first 3 years of the secondary education (ages 12-14) English course. There's more like it in a number of GCSE subjects - for example, Media (Communications) and English Language GCSE's (15-16 yrs).

      I know I was certainly taught about marketing and advertiser's methods of manipulation -- catchphrases, imagery, preying to weaknesses/pandering to desires. If I did, then everyone did. If you're in a state school, you follow the same course.

      Perhaps British people tend to be slightly more cynical than others for a good reason ;)

    27. Re:"a few years"? by meadowsp · · Score: 1

      "It's every person that is naive and incapable of independant thought. "

      Including you?

    28. Re:"a few years"? by CyberKnet · · Score: 1

      What is so hard about keeping boxes and receipts?

      Companies keep tax records for decades even though they only have to keep them for three years. Individuals keep their bank statements and purchase receipts for tax purposes. Why should you treat your software purchases any different if you know there is the possibility of an audit when you buy the software?

      Saying that this is an impossible practice is like saying that surviving an IRS audit is not possible. If you are well prepared, were honest in the first place and have kept all your documents in order then you have nothing to fear.

      On the other hand, if you skip a beat on any of those three things...

      --
      Video meliora proboque deteriora sequor - Ovidius
    29. Re:"a few years"? by Psychic+Burrito · · Score: 1

      Well if somebody is publicly buying at too high prices, just sell them your stock at that price and make a nice profit.

      Artificially inflating a stock does only work until you run out of money. A stock market might not calculate the number of shares sold into the market value, but then it's just a bad stock market and you might consider trading at a different place.

    30. Re:"a few years"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      3%-5% in a few years and then SCO will be irrelevant

      If that makes SCO irrelevant, what's to be said of Apple?

    31. Re:"a few years"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's every person that is naive and incapable of independant thought.
      Make sure they grow up hearing your rehtoric.


      If thye cna nuderstend it teh wya yuo tpye.

    32. Re:"a few years"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's 3-5% of the *nix market not the entire computer market. Apple has a vastly larger chunk of the market than SCO.

    33. Re:"a few years"? by sflory · · Score: 1

      I think me meant Western States as in US, Europe, and so on.

      --
      IANALBIPOOGL (I am not a Lawyer, but I play one on GrokLaw.)
    34. Re:"a few years"? by PitaBred · · Score: 1

      But only in the "western" world are we able to say these things without fear of quick and violent reprisal. FYI, I count western europe as part of the western world.

    35. Re:"a few years"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If I remember correctly, if you fight the BSA in court, you have to pay their court costs.... so settling ie upgrading just has to be easier.

    36. Re:"a few years"? by GTRacer · · Score: 1
      They unleash the BSA to blackmail companies/schools, etc to UPGRADE when they don't want to.

      How? Short of withdrawing support for older OSes, how can MS compel someone to upgrade as long as the prior version in use is properly licensed?

      Posession alone isn't proof!

      I agree that the BSA's tactics are underhanded, ruthless, and unfair. But my central point is that MS uses them to enforce license compliance, and while it may suck, those "OEM" Office 97 licenses aren't gonna cut it.

      I think MS is a despicable, ruthless, money-grubbing monopoly, much like most of the pharmacorps. I don't think their overly-restrictive definition of a "client" requiring a CAL is fair. I think they should compete with product, not rhetoric and bully tactics.

      But I still think they have a right to dictate how many concurrent live installations you can get out of one CD.

      GTRacer
      - Step 2: ???

      --
      Defending IP by destroying access to it? That makes sense, RIAA/MPAA. Go to the corner until you can play nice!
    37. Re:"a few years"? by tiger99 · · Score: 1
      If the legal proceedings go badly wrong for SCO, which is certain, it is not impossible that the court may eventually order the code to be put in the public domain, or under GPL, as part of punitive damages, in fact it may be the only asset SCO can put up to pay the damages. In that case, the value (true worth, as intellectual property, and working code) will rise enormously, but the cost (economic) will fall to zero. Publicly available code is of inestimable value, but no economic worth whatsoever. The value is in the knowledge, functionality and usefulness, and is priceless. Information is in its own right always valuable, even if it is not sold. Free as in speech does not mean worthless, nor does free as in beer. Things which are freely shared and used by all, such as the air we breathe, have a value, maybe not a cash value but a value in supporting life. The true value of the entire GPL codebase, in terms of the spread of useful knowledge, is many, many billions of whatever currency you happen to use. Its net worth to an accountant is of course zero. Free market forces don't work here.

      The other day, someone here mentioned an open source project which was of immediate use to me, value to me nearly priceless (months of work saved, in fact something will be done that could not have been done in the time I have), cost zero. The standard laws of economics can't apply when the product is free. The cost and the value become separated. It works the other way too, some of the less well engineered applications which come with a Linux distro are, to most people worthless, yet they have a (smallish) incremental cost in the download, or in the number of CDs needed.

      The problem is of course linguistic, we use the word value in several ways.

      If the courts eventually do dispose of the source in the appropriate manner, to compensate all users and creators of free software for the damage done, it will not damage IBM, Sun, HP and other licencees because their proprietary additions (and therefore their full codebase) would still remain closed, at their discretion of course.

      I am guessing that the value of the Unix source on the open market might be $50 to $100 million, if it finally emerges that Linux has been damaged by (say) $25M (although I would already rate it higher) then applying punitive damages, giving the rights to the source to the FSF, Linus etc would be about the correct remedy.

    38. Re:"a few years"? by Monkelectric · · Score: 1
      the pop industry is all about stripping consumable income from the teen market, which is by definition naive, immature, and not generally capable of independent thought/analysis.

      I dont think you're giving teens enough credit. Know what I was doing in high school? Consuming jazz albums like crazy, playing my sax all over southern california in jazz competitions and was a board member for a voulenteer organization.

      My point is, teens can be responsible and useful members of society -- the problem is of course that parents, media and government reinforce the stereotype that teens are proto-adults of whom nothing is expected.

      Know how I became involved in that voulenteer organization? I was asked, thats all.

      ok, rant over :)

      --

      Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley

    39. Re:"a few years"? by tiger99 · · Score: 1
      I agree where legal things are concerned, although M$ is a proven Illegal Monopoly. But, where software is concerned, SCO Unix is far, far better than anything Sir Bill and his gang of hopeless incompetents has ever come up with, which is not to suggest that it is nearly as good as either Linux or BSD, of course. I understand that McBride was not part of the company when the product was developed to its present standard.

      SCO servers tend to run for a year or more between reboots, the average for Windoze is a few weeks at best. Linux or BSD are normally rebooted only to do kernel updates or clean the air filters, SCO reliability is similar but the overall package lacks a lot.

    40. Re:"a few years"? by drooling-dog · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Well, you're right, it's not impossible to be an institutional Microsoft customer if you're vewwy, vewwy caweful and keep stwict wecords of evwything you do.

      But in a world with choices, this kind of exposure should maybe impact yours, don't you think?

    41. Re:"a few years"? by Master+of+Transhuman · · Score: 1


      Well, given that many small countries have lousy "educational" systems and little media and less money, one has to suggest that "western" countries are a little bit better at propaganda than some other countries.

      In most countries, the population has a two-thousand-year history of NOT trusting the government - having seen one dictator after another come and go and nothing changes. The US has a 200-year history of TRUSTING it's government - which was a mistake from Day One.

      --
      Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
    42. Re:"a few years"? by El · · Score: 1

      Actually, "western states" are a bit of an anomoly; questioning authority is actually a big part of our culture. For thousands of years, cultures socialized people to accept the pronouncements of their leaders unquestioningly. Now we have a culture where people are free to question or even mock their leaders. As far as the teen market, it goes in fads because for something to become popular, it usually has to be perceived as being against the establishment. Then the corporations rush in to co-opt the "new" form of expression into their marketing campaigns. Soon the teenagers, who have been trained to be cynical, realize what has happened, and start looking for the next thing. Look, we have a culture where "Joe Isuzu" was a popular ad, because people have been trained to automatically assume that ads are lying to them! Give the kids some credit -- they're smarter than you think.

      --

      "Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney

    43. Re:"a few years"? by cptgrudge · · Score: 1
      the average for Windoze is a few weeks at best.

      This rhetoric is tired. The only "Windoze" servers that won't run for over a year are kept up by incompetent admins. I know because my MS Windows 2000 systems have been up for over a year. Find another argument.

      --
      Qualitas edurus commercium, nullus penitus net rimor, nullus deus beneficium
    44. Re:"a few years"? by torpor · · Score: 1

      Questioning authority is actually a big part of our culture.

      I really don't see that, on average. When I lived in the States, it was all too easy, in my opinion, for authority to overrule any rational thinking on many, many matters.

      Television authority was near resolute in some areas. Political Authority, expressed as 'opinion-vs.-counter-opinion' in every possible forum, essentially seemed to be only accessible through dialecticism, an 'all or nothing', 'do or die' approach. Most people I encountered never were able to really see that. Everything seemed so bi-polar, and after a hundred folk or so, predictable.

      There's a 'frontier mythos' that Americans question everything and are therefore 'tougher', but I honestly have not seen that much difference at all, between mid-Western American Citizen, and Ruhrgebieter Deutscher, when it comes to 'questioning authority'.

      This condition is a farce... the opposite case is more common.

      Just my opinion, and my sample-size may be swayed, I do know that. But its still just an opinion formed on 15 years of functional survey of culture.

      ... who have been trained to be cynical ...

      This is exactly my point. Cynicism is not a valuable trait, yet it is promulgated as a behavioural meme at every possible juncture, on Television, in 'smart magazines', in the papers, etc. Its a vicious cult of distrust, actually, which is created; not intelligent humans able to assess their environment appropriate to their means.

      If people start distrusting everything, its far easier to control them with the things they distrust than it is to control the very things which people put trust in.

      So, I make you cynical generally in nature, promote it as a viable way of life, and you end up in league with no-one, and nothing, having decided essentially nothing, since its all possibly wrong and therefore useless to assume 'rightness' at all.

      Okay, so yeah. We all face the Infinite sooner or later. But sometimes, it pays to have an opinion.

      --
      ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
    45. Re:"a few years"? by CyberKnet · · Score: 1

      But in a world with choices, this kind of exposure should maybe impact yours, don't you think?

      Absolutely.

      When you are talking about using Microsoft software, you're paying every step of the way. You pay for the software, for the support, for the upgrades. You pay for everything. In return, you get the right to run software that is probably about as good as most of your other choices.

      If someone chooses to accept that as their lot, then they should be prepared to keep the records required to ensure they can prove they are in compliance with their licensing agreements.

      Personally, I do not think I could make the decision to use Microsoft software in a business and accept that fate. It is important to note, however, that this does not grant me the right to say "It's not possible to maintain these records!". It means I get to say "I am not able to maintain these records, and I should have chosen from amongst the alternatives..". That there is a rather large difference betwen the two statements should be obvious.

      Like you said: In a world with choices, this kind of exposure should impact my choice.

      --
      Video meliora proboque deteriora sequor - Ovidius
    46. Re:"a few years"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uneducated people can be influenced using completely illogical arguments. They do not trust their government. I lived in Soviet Union and I know what all that shit is. Believe me, it is much better to believe in your government, be cheated sometimes and try to influence it than do nothing. US government is pretty good and open compared to what was/is in other non-western countries.

    47. Re:"a few years"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Artificially inflating a stock does only work until you run out of money. "

      If M$ is funding the "painting", running out of money isn't a problem.

    48. Re:"a few years"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This has to be one of the best arguments for migrating to open source software.

    49. Re:"a few years"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      While I agree almost totally with your post, I resent the use of the word hippie before free software advocate. The people I've met with the most pirated software are the ones in suits, not birkenstocks. I think hippies are dirty and crude, while the biggest free software advocates are in my experience polished professionals.

      On another note. I used to work as a IT guy for a school district outside of Philly in the suburbs. One year, as we were finally upgrading to windows 2000, someone notified me that I had to pack up all the Macs in the building and move them to a different school. The reason we had to do this was because apparently MS absolutely refused to let us renew our MS Office license unless we did so. We had already just spent the 300 grand or so required to license Windows to the school and then they pulled this. Most of the macs we moved were older ones, about 10 years. But 150 or so brand new iMacs had to be moved to the elementary school where they now have the most kickass art lab in the friggin planet. I actually read the letter from MS. When we decided to look at openoffice (by my suggestion), the BSA showed up at our door. We had not yet moved all the MACS out of the high school and so we had to buy Office, and MS somehow got a 15 year contract as well.

      I'm not sure if I can get sued for posting this, so I did it as AC. I don't need the headaches.

  3. SCO by Ckwop · · Score: 1

    It annoys me that a copy that never even authored the stuff can buy the copyright off someone and then sue them for copyright infringement. SCO have done nothing to help linux grow into a useable operating system.. They're just milking money out of crazy IP laws.

    Simon.

    1. Re:SCO by wtrmute · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The really unfortunate part is that in the elder days, Caldera used to be one of the better Linux distros out there. They had a good system installer, lisa, for example. Shame, really, what mr. McBride's done with the company.

    2. Re:SCO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Xandros, is in my opinion the latest iteration of the Caldera legacy. Not a bad one might I add.

    3. Re:SCO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      My first Linux system was Caldera 1.3, which I used for about 8 months before changing to Redhat.

      One of the main differences between the distributions was that Caldera very rarely issued package updates, even though Redhat and others were updating their respective packages. For those who don't know what that implies, I'll spell it out: insecure and mostly unsupported.

    4. Re:SCO by tiger99 · · Score: 2, Informative
      Yes, their Linux was a better overall package that their Unix. They shot themselves in the foot on that one, by not putting enough development into Unix to keep ahead. Better still, they themselves could have legally merged the code, and made Unix free, earning real money from support etc, as the more commercially oriented Linux distros do very nicely. "If you can't beat them, join them."

      I have SCO (Caldera) Unix and SCO (Caldera) Linux at home, somewhere.....

      They don't licence Unix freely for personal use any more, because allegedly people were cheating and using it commercially. That is of course criminal, and should not be condoned. But I doubt that it happened on a large scale, there never was much sign that AT&T Unix for example was being copied illegally. Business users usually know that the penalties for being causght are too great, and if your servers are visible on the Internet, you will be caught, sooner or later.... I think the withdrawal of new licences for personal use was simply one of the first McBrideisms, trying to show how poor little SCO was being ripped off by unscrupulous FOSS people (who would of course not bother, because Linux or BSD offers more facilities, as I discovered).

  4. CA's Response (URL changed) by AlabamaMike · · Score: 5, Informative
    CA Says It Didn't Pay SCO No Stinking Linux Tax

    The Linux faithful have been hammering Computer Associates as a heretic since the British publication Computer Weekly quoting the SCO Group's CFO Bob Bench identified CA Thursday as one of SCO's rare Linux licensees.

    CA senior VP of product development Mark Barrenechea says that Bench's claim is nonsense. CA has not paid SCO any Linux taxes, he said.

    Drawing up short of calling SCO a liar, Barrenechea claims that SCO has twisted a $40 million breach-of-contract settlement that CA paid last summer to the Canopy Group, SCO's biggest stockholder, and Center 7, another Canopy company, and has turned it into a purported Linux license.

    As a "small part" of that settlement, Barrenechea said, CA got a bunch of UnixWare licenses that it needed to support its UnixWare customers. SCO, he said, had just attached a transparent Linux indemnification to all UnixWare licenses and that is how SCO comes off calling CA a Linux licensee.

    But when CA agreed to that settlement, Barrenechea said, "It was not CA's intention to become a Linux licensee. It has nothing to do with CA's product direction or strategic direction," he said.

    CA has absolutely no sympathy for what SCO is doing, Barrenechea said, and in fact, he said, reading from a formal statement, it stands in "stark disagreement with SCO's tactics and threats."

    Barrenechea and CA's Linux chief Sam Greenblatt are worried that CA will be tarred with the SCO brush and that CA's considerable Linux ambitions will be damaged by a disaffected, if not hostile, open source community when in reality CA has "nothing to do with SCO's strategy and tactics," they said.

    CA was the mystery company SCO was thinking of when it announced last August that an unidentified Fortune 500 company had supposedly become a Linux license. SCO privately described the deal as "significant."

    CA couldn't disassociate itself from the rumors that identified it as that licensee because of an NDA that the Canopy side had insisted on hedging in the $40 million settlement with, Barrenechea and Greenblatt said.

    Barrenechea said that SCO now regards that NDA as being off because of the legal discovery that's been going on in SCO's $5 billion suit against IBM.

    See, SCO lawyer Mark Heisse in a letter dated February 4 to IBM lawyer David Marriott at Cravath Swain identified CA, Questar and Leggett & Platt as Linux taxpayers.

    According to that letter, which is up on the Groklaw site, Heisse owed IBM a copy of the CA agreement on CD.

    Barrenechea said that SCO was dropping CA's name to associate itself with the "third-largest software company in the world" and build support for its "lost cause."

    But according to Barrenechea, not only are SCO's IP ambitions doomed, but its Unix interests are a "trailing negative" on the road to dropping from 10% of the market to 3%-5% in a few years and then "SCO will be irrelevant," he said.

    By the way, CA doesn't have enough UnixWare licenses to cover all its Linux servers, Greenblatt said.

    In answer to CA's contentions, SCO said its lawyers think that CA has a Linux license.

    Meanwhile, Bench also told Computer Weekly, whose story was picked up by sister paper InfoWorld and maybe other properties in the IDG stable, that SCO had signed between 10 and 50 Linux licenses.

    The new URL is: http://blogs.cocoondev.org/dims/archives/001770.ht ml
    --
    Pimpin' all the Karma Hoes!
    1. Re:CA's Response (URL changed) by Bombcar · · Score: 4, Insightful
      By the way, CA doesn't have enough UnixWare licenses to cover all its Linux servers, Greenblatt said.



      Best darn quote in the article!

    2. Re:CA's Response (URL changed) by jackbird · · Score: 1

      You know you're in trouble when your "case study" customers make public statements that they wouldn't touch your product with a ten foot pole...

  5. This is rich by John+Harrison · · Score: 5, Insightful
    SCO "sells" Linux licenses as part of a lawsuit settlement and includes an NDA so that the "customer" can't publically admit that they are (or are not) a customer.

    It smells pretty desperate when you won't let your "best" customers comment on what they've bought from you.

    1. Re:This is rich by njcoder · · Score: 3, Funny
      "It smells pretty desperate when you won't let your "best" customers comment on what they've bought from you."

      Sounds like they didn't even want their customers to know they were their customers.

      It is rumoured that Larry Ellison had a dream on monday night in which Darl McBride, dressed in a blue sequen tuxedo, was trying to put a pen in his hand. Ellison thought it was a weird dream until the following day when his assistant let him know the maid turned in what she thought to be important papers found under the bed. Turns out they were SCO Linux license contracts.

      In an interview, Ellison's assistant commented on his reacation. "He had an odd look on his face. On the one had relieved that he was not having dreams of McBride holding his hand. On the other completely disgusted. 'It's bad enough he's attacking the linux community, does he have to mock the cruise line magicians as well by dressing like them?' he said", reported his assistant.

      In a related story, the headquaters of the compay that runs Ellison's personal security exploded today. There were reports of a Mig fighter plane in the area.

      P.S. Only a small fraction of the stuff I make up is really true.

    2. Re:This is rich by arkanes · · Score: 1

      What SCO needs to do is work up a deal with McDonalds to give away a free Linux license (for individual, non-buisness use only, of course!) with every Happy Meal. They'll "sell" millions of them in a couple months and have all the PR weight they'll ever needs.

    3. Re:This is rich by Photon+Ghoul · · Score: 1

      PR weight

      Clever

    4. Re:This is rich by John+Harrison · · Score: 1

      So close! Instead they should put them in 2/3rds of the Pepsi bottles that don't have a winning iTunes code.

    5. Re:This is rich by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You spell and type like a genetically abused jackass. That's rude. This forum is too good for you. Be gone.

  6. It'd be nice........ by phunhippy · · Score: 1, Interesting

    It'd be nice if CA put out a press release pointing this out..... but somehow I think they won't... oh well :(

    1. Re:It'd be nice........ by indigeek · · Score: 2, Interesting

      From the article
      CA couldn't disassociate itself from the rumors that identified it as that licensee because of an NDA that the Canopy side had insisted on hedging in the $40 million settlement with, Barrenechea and Greenblatt said.
      Barrenechea said that SCO now regards that NDA as being off because of the legal discovery that's been going on in SCO's $5 billion suit against IBM.

      If CA is now doing this, this will be the first time a company has stood up without worrying about money, breking an NDA for the sake of moral correctness (You know you should not trust SCO when the say that NDA is invalid) .
      Otherwise goodluck to the guy who put it on the blog.

    2. Re:It'd be nice........ by erktrek · · Score: 1

      They might if they really want to incorporate GNU/Linux as a future strategy - fostering "good will"(tm) anyone?.
      As long as they are not hampered by twisted and evil NDAs that is...

    3. Re:It'd be nice........ by teromajusa · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Moral correctness? They're trying to build a Linux business and they don't want to be seen as one of the bad guys to the community. They found a good legal excuse to get them out of the NDA, weighed the risks vs rewards and decided it was worth the possible law suit. I don't see any evidence of moral courage here.

    4. Re:It'd be nice........ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is not such a "pretty picture"

  7. This is just great news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    MS should have some explaining to do to the judge who's watching the antitrust settlement.

    Developers, developers, develo..., ups

    Subpoenas, subpoenas, subpoenas

    1. Re:This is just great news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dont try to look anonymous, Steeve B.

  8. Speak the truth brother Linus.. by glassesmonkey · · Score: 5, Interesting

    LA Times (free crappy reg) story
    Here's the highlights (emphasis added):

    SCO Confronting Its Creation
    Company's CEO is taking precautions as the head of the 'most despised' tech firm

    From Bloomberg News

    Darl McBride, chief executive of SCO Group Inc., says he sometimes carries a gun because his enemies are out to kill him. He checks into hotels under assumed names. An armed bodyguard protected him when he gave a speech last month at Harvard Law School.

    Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux operating system, calls SCO "the most despised company in technology."

    McBride and SCO are more hated than Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, and its Chairman Bill Gates, according to some Linux backers. That's because SCO, once a backer of Linux, has turned around and attacked the essence of the system: its free source code.

    "SCO are just complete hypocrites," said Jeremy Allison, co-author of Samba, an open source software that runs a file and print service that SCO sells.

    "The real reason why people don't like SCO, and Darl McBride in particular, is that he is so dishonest," Torvalds, 34, said in an e-mail.

    1. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by mabu · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Darl McBride, chief executive of SCO Group Inc., says he sometimes carries a gun because his enemies are out to kill him.

      If this isn't proof-positive that this guy is a few meg short of a gig, I don't know what is.

      Nobody wants to kill McBride. He's doing a pretty good job of destroying himself.

      SCO is like an infinte loop. We're just waiting for their resources to get eaten at which point we'll all roast marshmellows over their core dump.

      McBride and SCO are more hated than Microsoft

      Ok, let's not get carried away here. SCO's antics, while reprehensible and immoral, are nowhere near as threatening to the future of open source as Microsoft's. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not getting bombarded on a daily basis from worm-infected SCO machines. Microsoft has that dubious distinction and therefore deserves top honors.

    2. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by dreamchaser · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Ok, let's not get carried away here. SCO's antics, while reprehensible and immoral, are nowhere near as threatening to the future of open source as Microsoft's. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not getting bombarded on a daily basis from worm-infected SCO machines. Microsoft has that dubious distinction and therefore deserves top honors.

      Being the most hated doesn't make them the most feared. You're correct that MS is the biggest threat to Open Source. That isn't a reason to hate them, but to be wary of them. Granted, they have used some despicable tactics in the past and are masters of FUD, but nothing they've ever done rises to the level of what SCO has been attempting.

      I think the assessment of SCO being the most hated is true. Your milage may vary.

    3. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by Get+Behind+the+Mule · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Darl McBride, chief executive of SCO Group Inc., says he sometimes carries a gun because his enemies are out to kill him. He checks into hotels under assumed names. An armed bodyguard protected him when he gave a speech last month at Harvard Law School.


      I think we all know that Linux and open source advocates can get quite overheated in their advocacy, especially in email, so that it tends to damage the reputation of the whole community. It's quite common in Slashdot nowadays to see us reminding one another to keep cool and rational when we publicly criticize SCO and the other bad guys of the IT world.

      But SCO has been trying to exploit this bad habit rather heavy-handedly lately, evidently to discredit their opponents and gain some sympathy. And now it's gotten to the point that SCO is unfairly exaggerating the tone of the criticism

      Is there really any credible evidence of serious threats of violence against Darl McBride? To be sure, he's probably been suggested to more verbal abuse than even he deserves, but I think it's highly unlikely that there's been a threat of physical harm that should be taken seriously. It's awfully easy to blow your stack in email, but that's a long way away from actually doing something in the Real Universe. At any rate, Darl's levelling a very serious accusation that should not be made or taken lightly.

      I suspect that Darl doesn't really think he needs a gun or an armed bodyguard. I think he thinks it's useful if other people think he needs a gun or an armed bodyguard.
    4. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by EasyTarget · · Score: 1

      Is there really any credible evidence of serious threats of violence against Darl McBride?

      Well.. if you systematically piss of a very large and diverse group of people, in a country where guns are readily available and using maximum force (physical and legislative) to solve issues is considered normal, even laudable (witness the way your government and corporations behave and present themselves), what do you expect?

      I'd be pretty paranoid about a lone nutter too.. Mind you, hiring a good bodyguard, and listening to what they say, would make more sense.

      --
      "Oops, I always forget the purpose of competition is to divide people into winners and losers." - Hobbes
    5. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by nevets · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I mostly agree with you, since SCO is the one that is most visible in doing the attacks. But if Microsoft is secretly funding SCO, shouldn't we hate them more. It would be like hating those that committed 9/11 more than Osama bin Laden, although the hate may be the same.

      I agree that what SCO is doing is just straight out horrible. MS is only evil on a business point of view. I really hate paraphrasing a line from the end of the first Survivor series (here goes my Karma!), but it really does fit. There are only rats and snakes here in business. MS is a snake, and SCO is a rat. But it may be that MS is manipulating SCO to do its dirty work for them. Another bonus for MS is that it even takes the hatred from them and points it elsewhere. So you may have people saying, "MS is bad, but at least they aren't as bad as SCO".

      --
      Steven Rostedt
      -- Nevermind
    6. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by Groo+Wanderer · · Score: 2, Funny

      Oh, the old bodygaurd, gun and zealots out to get them speech again? Hmm, lawsuits, threats, letters and other things failed to prop up the stock price this round, I guess that is one of the few remaining cards left to play.

      What is curious is that they would because it bought them nothing more than derisive laughter last time, why would it suddenly play well now? Guess they never learn.

      Yep, I can see the deviants plotting his untimely death now:
      Linux Enthusiast (LE) 1: Dude, check out my new background.
      LE2: Cool.
      LE1: Wanna go get stoned? (1)
      LE2: No, we have better things to do.
      LE1: Like what?
      LE2: They just came out with a patch to perl, it updates the version by 0.0.03!!!!
      LE1: Whoa!
      LE2: Fire up the torrent, THEN lets get stoned!
      LE1: Yah.

      There you have it, INDISPUTABLE proof that they are out to kill poor Darl in horrible and painfull ways. It has nothing to do with personal insecurity and needing a large steel object as a standin for shattered masculinity.

      -Charlie

      (1) do not read anything into this about the behavior of any of the prominent open source coders I live with and hang out with. Please.

    7. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by Asprin · · Score: 1


      If this isn't proof-positive that this guy is a few meg short of a gig, I don't know what is.

      Nobody wants to kill McBride. He's doing a pretty good job of destroying himself.

      SCO is like an infinte loop. We're just waiting for their resources to get eaten at which point we'll all roast marshmellows over their core dump.



      BTW, that's some sweet 'ring 0' phrasology, there, buddy. [chuckle]

      --
      "Lawyers are for sucks."
      - Doug McKenzie
    8. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by gandy909 · · Score: 1

      "...but nothing they've ever done rises to the level of what SCO has been attempting...."

      you mean SINKS to the level of what SCO has been attempting, don't you? :)

      --

      (Stolen sig) Remember: it's a "Microsoft virus", not an "email virus", a "Microsoft worm", not a "computer worm
    9. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by purdue_thor · · Score: 1

      Darl McBride, chief executive of SCO Group Inc., says he sometimes carries a gun because his enemies are out to kill him.

      Nice. I say that we throw him in a locked warehouse (ala The Running Man) with ESR. That seems like a great match.

      From ESR's website... "I generally shoot plain-vanilla 230-grain copper-jacketed hardball at the range, but load blue-tip Glaser rounds for home defense. In case they fail to penetrate and I can't make a head shot, the last round in the mag is hardball." I have no idea what that means other than "headshot", but it doesn't sound good for an assailant.

      And if we run out of ammo, ESR's apparently also a back belt in Tae Kwon Do.

    10. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Darl McBride, chief executive of SCO Group Inc., says he sometimes carries a gun
      Yeah, ESR, yeaterday's leaking hero, is a gun-nut too.

      Next: duel DMcB vs. ESR
      Place: O.K. Coral
      Time: 12.00
      Betting: - see SCOX stock market

    11. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by resprung · · Score: 4, Insightful

      In my opinion, the SCO lawsuit is one of the best things that could happen to Linux.

      Why?

      A lawsuit hitting Linux was inevitable - to quote Linus himself, any business larger than a lemonade stand is going to get sued.

      Good fortune then that the current lawsuit, upon which future attacks on Linux will be judged, is weak and has been made into such a freakish spectacle.

      The echo will linger for a long time after the SCO claims implode with a massive sucking noise.

      --
      Now is the winter of our disco tent
    12. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Darl McBride, chief executive of SCO Group Inc., says he sometimes carries a gun because his enemies are out to kill him. He checks into hotels under assumed names. An armed bodyguard protected him when he gave a speech last month at Harvard Law School.

      Oh, get real! Look, there may be a lot of flames generated on message boards by Linux and Open Software advocates, but I don't think any one of them is actively gunning for Darl. This is yet more FUD from the ultimate FUD-meister!

    13. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by Get+Behind+the+Mule · · Score: 1
      I asked:

      Is there really any credible evidence of serious threats of violence against Darl McBride?


      EasyTarget answered:

      Well.. if you systematically piss of a very large and diverse group of people, in a country where guns are readily available and using maximum force (physical and legislative) to solve issues is considered normal, even laudable (witness the way your government and corporations behave and present themselves), what do you expect?


      I think it would be much easier if this answer were simply written as "No". An inference followed by the rhetorical question "What do you expect?" is not credible evidence.

      Credible evidence would be verifiable evidence of a death threat, by email or telephone for example, that cannot be dismissed as a crank. It would be real evidence of an actual event, not a surmise.
    14. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by dynamo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Nobody wants to kill McBride. He's doing a pretty good job of destroying himself.

      Uh, I beg to differ there. I am sure a lot of people actually want to kill McBride. I don't personally want to kill the guy, but to be honest its more because of the work involved and the legalities than any desire to see him live long and prosper. If someone else killed him, I would feel like partying, wouldn't you?

      It's like he lives his life with the goal of doing whatever he can to piss off enough people that one of them will kill him. Maybe he has a deathwish and that's what's really behind all of this. Maybe he has a heartfelt desire to meet someone on the internet and get together to slice himself up and eat the pieces together. Maybe he is attracted to his bodyguards and likes to make them pick up kerchiefs he keeps dropping...

      I mean, you are right that very few open sourcers would want to kill him themselves, possibly none. But would they mind if someone else did? I think not. If anyone ever earned it..

    15. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If my name were Darl I'd use an assumed name too.

    16. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by vsprintf · · Score: 1

      Darl McBride, chief executive of SCO Group Inc., says he sometimes carries a gun because his enemies are out to kill him.

      Sounds like Darl attended the Zevon School of Business: Send lawyers, guns, and money . . .

    17. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by BigFire · · Score: 1

      Translation of ESR's gunspeak.

      He uses cheaper solid projectile at the range where all he need to do is to make holes on paper.

      For home defense purpose, he uses glaser-safety projectile bullets that has the added benefit of completely transfering its kenetic energy upon impact (the bullet does not penetrate). Having a round that does not penetrate is important in home defense. If you hit your target, you don't have to patch up holes in your house. If you miss, the bullet won't travel to your neighbor's house, and it doesn't bounce around inside your hose. Glaser round are more expensive than the solid rounds.

      However, if ESR is having a bad night shooting an intruder, he reserve the last round in his magazine of bullets for a solid projectile. This loading pattern is actually fairly standard for home defense purpose.

    18. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by meadowsp · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      "If someone else killed him, I would feel like partying, wouldn't you?"

      No, not really. Civilised people don't celebrate murder.

    19. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by HogynCymraeg · · Score: 0
      He checks into hotels under assumed names.

      Aaah! So that's who Daryl McBride is...

    20. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by Lochin+Rabbar · · Score: 1

      Credible evidence would be verifiable evidence of a death threat, by email or telephone for example, that cannot be dismissed as a crank.

      I think you've hit the nail on the head here. Anyone with a high enough public profile in an area of controversy will get death threats. Almost always from cranks, and 99.9% of these threats are completely empty. The normal course of action is to pass these threats on to the police and say nothing about them. To use them for publicity to try and make yourself out as a victim is a sure sign of a scumbag.

    21. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by Mullen · · Score: 1

      I'll add a bit too.

      He and I use "safety" rounds for home defense for several reasons. In my case, I use Hydra-Shok's.
      1) These are bullets that have to work when there are suppose to work. They have lower failure rates due to being made at stricter tolerences.
      2) They don't over-penetrate, all of the enegry is transfered into the target. This is very helpful since you get great stopping power and you don't have a bullet flying through your target on onto something else you did not want to hit. They do penetrate, since that is what bullets are suppose to do.
      3) High end personal defense rounds also have lower flash so if you shoot them in the dark, you won't be blinded by the flash. Ammo you use at the gun range is not like this.

      Using copper coated bullets at the range is standard practice now a days at all and is manditory in most. When you shoot lead bullets, part of that bullet is vaporized into the air. Since gun ranges can have a lot of people shooting, they tend to have a lot of lead in the air (Which is very bad). With copper bullets you don't have that problem as bad. You still get some nasty stuff in the air, but not enough to hurt you. Also, old gun ranges became a enviromental problem with all the lead in the backstops. Copper coated bullets has more or less has fixed this problem.
      One thing I am suprised at is he starts talking about head shots and that crap. Let's face it, you are shooting at a Bad Guy in your house in the middle of the night, you are going to be pissing your pants. Simply put, unless you have had a ton of training, you are not going to hit a guy in the head. Be real and train to shoot people in the chest area. If you miss by 4 or 5 inches (Which is not uncommon in real life stressful situations) you still going to hit the Bad Guy.
      Another thing, he says 230 grain load, that would be a .45 Cal (1911 most likely). In other words, a fairly powerful hand gun with big bullets, which is not the good choice for home defense. He should step down to a .40 Cal since still get great power, control, and good magazine capacity. .45 tend to be too powerful for home defense and have a low magazine capacity (7 - 9 bullets is common). They are great in combat, but a poor choice in for home defense.

      --
      Linux O Muerte!
    22. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by tiger99 · · Score: 1
      ...SCO "the most despised company in technology."

      Much as I respect Linus, I have to disagree with him on this. The Convicted Monopolist globally has done far, far more damage than McBride could even imagine being able to achieve, through their incompetence, greed, and lack of concern for the security of other people's data. SCO's product is at least of moderately good quality, even if very old-fashioned compared to the latest Linux distros. SCO may be in second place.

      McFraud in particular, and SCO in general, are at the moment a mere pawn in the game being played by their paymaster, Sir Bill, and his vile monopoly.

      However Linus's other observation regarding lack of honesty is proven to be accurate on a daily basis, with every fresh utterance from the (unspecified) McFraud orifice.

    23. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by drooling-dog · · Score: 1
      Nobody wants to kill McBride. He's doing a pretty good job of destroying himself.

      I wouldn't mind giving him a good dope-slap, though...

    24. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by Piquan · · Score: 1

      McBride and SCO are more hated than Microsoft, the world's largest software maker

      Saruman and Isengard are more hated than Sauron, the world's largest glowing eye...

    25. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by morleron · · Score: 1

      If he shoots as well as he thinks the safest place to be will be directly in front of him.

      Just my $.02,
      Ron

      --
      Impeach Barack Obama for violating the Constitutional requirement to be a "natural born" citizen to hold the office of P
    26. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by BillyBlaze · · Score: 1

      It's sad that you got modded down for that. I agree: McBride, Gates, or any other high profile leader being assasinated would be absolutely horrible, and it wouldn't have any positive effect. At the moment, SCO's cyberterrorism charges are baseless, but if something like that happened, even plain old terrorism would apply.

    27. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by snakecoder · · Score: 1

      If this isn't proof-positive that this guy is a few meg short of a gig, I don't know what is.

      Now that I'm done laughing, what the hell does that mean exactly?

      --
      -Nuke the moon
    28. Re:Speak the truth brother Linus.. by RealAlaskan · · Score: 1
      SCO's antics, while reprehensible and immoral, are nowhere near as threatening to the future of open source as Microsoft's.

      You speak about them (SCO and MS) as if they were different. I think that the latest Halloween memo shows that SCO's antics _are_ Microsoft's antics.

  9. hypocriSCOy by T-Kir · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So on one hand the leaked memo was just 'misunderstood' or a piece of creative spin, yet on the other hand the same could be applied to the CA Linux 'licenses'....

    Hmmm, this is just more proof that these guys really do have their heads jammed up their own asses.

    --
    Are you local? There's nothing for you here!
    1. Re:hypocriSCOy by txsable · · Score: 0, Troll

      *Ring* *Ring*

      Hello, Darl?

      This is your proctologist...

      We found your head.

      *click*

  10. No matter what you do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    under no circumstances eat carrots.

  11. Lawsuits dig a deeper financial hole for SCO? by Pelerin · · Score: 5, Informative
    The Motley Fool thinks so. Money quote:
    In addition to the horrific, self-inflicted damage to its reputation, the licensing-lawsuit strategy is delivering a one-two punch to SCO's bottom line. Efforts to license Linux cost SCO $3.4 million in the first quarter. That's right, one-third of total revenue was wiped out. The payback? Twenty thousand dollars. That's not a typo. I know guys who make that much mowing lawns for a summer. Moreover, the balance sheet already currently lists $8 million in liabilities to legal firms. That number is likely to increase with the company's new lawsuit against AutoZone

    Translation: every new lawsuit that SCO initiates costs SCO money in legal fees (and you know Boies doesn't work cheap) and other costs.

    The whole article is here.

    1. Re:Lawsuits dig a deeper financial hole for SCO? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      It's a bit weirder than that. Roughly $9 million of their last year's income was Microsoft doing UNIX licensing. This was money they would not have gotten without the licensing, and basically adds up to Microsoft funding the lawyers.

      Add the $86 million from other Microsoft deals recently revealed on slashdot, and it amounts to Microsoft funding the lawsuits at a 10-1 profit ratio for SCO. As horrid as that is, so far it's an effective business plan for them.

      Anti-competitive and illegal, but not the first time a corporate entity has attacked deadly enemies through funding lawsuits vicariously. Look at the destruction of Cult Awareness Network by the Church of Scientology funding fraudulent lawsuits for a more successful example of the approach.

    2. Re:Lawsuits dig a deeper financial hole for SCO? by TheAcousticMotrbiker · · Score: 1

      Twenty thousand dollars. That's not a typo. I know guys who make that much mowing lawns for a summer.
      Men .. you must have a reaaly big lawn then ...

    3. Re:Lawsuits dig a deeper financial hole for SCO? by pubjames · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Efforts to license Linux cost SCO $3.4 million in the first quarter. That's right, one-third of total revenue was wiped out. The payback? Twenty thousand dollars.

      Some things about all of this are very clear to me.

      SCO was a relatively big company before, which they are now knowingly destroying. They are are following legal actions that don't make sense and are unlikely to return as much money as they cost. Why? That doesn't make sense.

      The common Slashdot response is it is because they are stupid. I don't think so. If they are not stupid, then what could explain these apparently nonsensical actions? Well, if it was in someone else's interest that Linux had legal difficulties...

    4. Re:Lawsuits dig a deeper financial hole for SCO? by WCMI92 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "The common Slashdot response is it is because they are stupid. I don't think so. If they are not stupid, then what could explain these apparently nonsensical actions? Well, if it was in someone else's interest that Linux had legal difficulties..."

      It's obvious what they are getting out of it.

      The board members and other execs are getting dollar stock options then dumping them at 10 times (or more) what they paid for them. The FUD does their funders (Microsoft) wants, AND pumps up the stock price so they can cash in as well.

      NOT ONE of their insiders has excercised an option then stayed long... They have all dumped IMMEDIATELY. That says alot for what they think of the long term viability of Scaldera.

      SCaldera ceased to be a company and became a scam when McBribe came in.

      --
      Corporatism != Free Market
    5. Re:Lawsuits dig a deeper financial hole for SCO? by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 3, Insightful

      time for the Chewbacca defense!

      --
      liqbase :: faster than paper
    6. Re:Lawsuits dig a deeper financial hole for SCO? by 4of12 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Boies doesn't work cheap

      Events have twisted full circle.

      If you go back about 5 years, David Boies was an attorney for the Justice Department, where he did a bang-up job prosecuting Microsoft for anti-trust violations.

      Of course, we all know how that turned out, with a settlement that doesn't seem to have visibly shaken Microsoft's business.

      Then, about a year ago, the SCO debacle starts up with Boies leading the charge.

      "How could Boies betry us?!?" cry the Linux zealots.

      Ignore that and consider the implications of these recent revelations. Doesn't this evidence beg for a re-examination of the terms of the settlement or the opening of a new investigation?

      --
      "Provided by the management for your protection."
    7. Re:Lawsuits dig a deeper financial hole for SCO? by rixstep · · Score: 1

      apparently nonsensical actions

      There's nothing nonsensical about it. It's all brilliantly planned, and up to now, going 100% according to plan.

      It's bloody brilliant. Evil, but brilliant. And the longer people do not get it, the better their chances are.

    8. Re:Lawsuits dig a deeper financial hole for SCO? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He does seem to making a pretty profit off of Microsoft via SCO.

      Hmmm.

    9. Re:Lawsuits dig a deeper financial hole for SCO? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      As horrid as that is, so far it's an effective business plan for them.

      How is it effective? What has it done for shareholder value in the long term? It is corporate malfeasance for current shareholders if you ask me. Sure, the folks holding shares at the $1 level last year (read: Canopy) are sitting pretty, but those who invested recently based on false or misleading public statements are going to be left holding the bag. And for the most part, the deals that SCOX have engaged in have been structured in such a way that stockholders shares are being seriously diluted, and the new investors are stepping in with far more rights (through preferred shares) than the common stock holders.

    10. Re:Lawsuits dig a deeper financial hole for SCO? by GPLDAN · · Score: 1

      Boies is a partner in his firm. When SCO pulled up in a UHaul full of $1000 bills, and said, "hey - can we give this to you? It's really Billy G's money, but he said we could spend it." I'm sure that Mr. Boies didn't blink twice, or even take a moment to savor the irony. He immediately started calculating the compound interest and projected his firms profit for the quarter. He IS a lawyer, after all.

  12. SCO is a liar by madchris · · Score: 1

    This simply adds more hard core evidence that SCO is operated by liars. One would imagine these idiots would try a little harder to cover up their stupidity.

    1. Re:SCO is a liar by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One would imagine these idiots would try a little harder to cover up their stupidity.

      If they were smarter they would be able to cover up their stupidity... but then they wouldn't be "idiots", would they?

    2. Re:SCO is a liar by OwlWhacker · · Score: 1

      Microsoft has already succeeded in exploiting the vast quantity of morons out there. SCO has probably risked being so un-subtle because it's common knowledge that there are so many gullible simpletons in existance.

  13. We believe you by mabu · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, if SCO says Microsoft isn't funding them, we should undoubtely put that truth in proper context with all the other truths SCO has been claiming.

  14. Well, that's one question answered. by Trillan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    All along, I've been wondering if enough lies are floating around at SCO that they actually believe their horse crap.

    It looks like this proves that's the case. They've lost any grip on reality now.

    1. Re:Well, that's one question answered. by paiute · · Score: 1

      When I think of Darl, I picture Hitler down in his bunker. As shells from the Red Army explode overhead, Adolf is still moving nonexistent German divisions around on a map and babbling about ultimate victory.

      --
      If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
    2. Re:Well, that's one question answered. by rixstep · · Score: 1

      They've lost any grip on reality now.

      Ridiculous. They've stirred the open source pot dextrously. Bill Gates couldn't have done it better. In fact, he's the one who did it.

  15. Taxpayers, huh? by XeroRIAA · · Score: 2, Interesting

    See, SCO lawyer Mark Heisse in a letter dated February 4 to IBM lawyer David Marriott at Cravath Swain identified CA, Questar and Leggett & Platt as Linux taxpayers.

    "Taxpayers", huh? I never knew... Must be so difficult, to pay a tax on a product that COSTS NOTHING..

    Where do they get all that money for that damn tax?And where does it go? I bet Darl wants us to believe it's that secret Linux shadow government that causes all the problems in... Woops.. Sorry. Wrong case...

    1. Re:Taxpayers, huh? by sapped · · Score: 1

      Must be so difficult, to pay a tax on a product that COSTS NOTHING..

      Sadly, it's not as difficult as you may think. If somebody gives you a car or a house, you will most likely end up paying tax on it somewhere down the line even though it cost you nothing and the other person already paid taxes on the product.

  16. SCOsores hall-of-shame inductees by glassesmonkey · · Score: 5, Informative

    No. 1 is EV1Servers.net who announced SCO lied about how much they were paid (Microsoft is a fan of EV1)
    (little did the CEO know when he made the deal that SCO planned to 'worth' him out of seven figures)

    No. 2 is CompterAssociates who announced SCO lied about "linux licenses" which are really from an unrelated settlement

    No. 3 is Leggett and Platt say SCO lies and they don't have a license and "would not have an interest in doing so"

    No. 4 is Questar Gas said they just wanted to get things over with and also runs Apache/1.3.26 (Unix) on Windows 2000


    Make sure *you* are Legally Unencumbered(tm) by getting a SCOsores license
    and don't forget to head over and sign your Clean Slate contract with the RIAA

    1. Re:SCOsores hall-of-shame inductees by Kazymyr · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The actual wording is that EV1 didn't pay seven figures cash. My interpretation is that they may have given SCO something else beside cash to add up to seven figures.

      Hmm... what might SCO want from a hosting company... hmm, SCO has been recently DDOSed... hmm...

      --
      I hadn't known there were so many idiots in the world until I started using the Internet -Stanislaw Lem
    2. Re:SCOsores hall-of-shame inductees by SQLz · · Score: 1

      EV1 forever goes on my list of most hated morons.

    3. Re:SCOsores hall-of-shame inductees by An+Onerous+Coward · · Score: 1

      I thought the actual wording was that EV1 bought $1M worth of licenses. That is to say, they bought 1400, "valued" at $699 each. But say that SCO offered a 99% discount just to get the good press for their licensing...

      --

      You want the truthiness? You can't handle the truthiness!

    4. Re:SCOsores hall-of-shame inductees by An+Onerous+Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Questar [STR] is pretty much a natural gas monopoly here in Utah. A cursory look at Yahoo's information didn't bring up any immediate red flags regarding major investors.

      I did notice Dixie Leavitt [wife of former governor-turned-EPA-director Mike Leavitt] is on the board of directors, and I remember there was a small controversy a couple of years ago because Mikey was working on legislation that would impact Questar when his dad stood to benefit from the legislation.

      Anyhow, it's got a lot of Utah connections. I wouldn't be surprised if a deeper investigation turned up something more interesting.

      --

      You want the truthiness? You can't handle the truthiness!

    5. Re:SCOsores hall-of-shame inductees by Kazymyr · · Score: 1

      Straight from the horse's mouth. Notice how he insists twice on "7 figure cash payment"

      --
      I hadn't known there were so many idiots in the world until I started using the Internet -Stanislaw Lem
    6. Re:SCOsores hall-of-shame inductees by Gzip+Christ · · Score: 1
      My interpretation is that they may have given SCO something else beside cash to add up to seven figures. Hmm... what might SCO want from a hosting company...
      Brains... juicy, delicious brains...
    7. Re:SCOsores hall-of-shame inductees by xthor · · Score: 1
      No. 4 is Questar Gas said they just wanted to get things over with and also runs Apache/1.3.26 (Unix) on Windows 2000
      What sucks about this is that Questar's customers can't boycott it. Ideally, I would never do business with a company that licensed anything from SCO... but here in Salt Lake, I gotta pay them to get the natural gas that heats my water and my home.
    8. Re:SCOsores hall-of-shame inductees by crimethinker · · Score: 1
      Best quote from the techworld article:

      The company sees itself as educating people about its rights in the same way that the RIAA - the US music industry body - has sued individuals in an attempt to prevent the free trade in copyrighted music.

      We all know how well the RIAA is faring in public opinion.

      Watch the stuporbowl commercials next year: IBM will have 12-year-old kids saying, "I'm one of the many people sued by SCO for using Linux, but we're here to tell the world, we will still use free software!"

      -paul

      --
      Pistol caliber is like religion: everyone has their favourite, and theirs is the only right choice.
    9. Re:SCOsores hall-of-shame inductees by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      SCO is right about the "7 figure cash payment", they're just using several figures of decimal precision where most people would round up.

    10. Re:SCOsores hall-of-shame inductees by RoadOfTheDevil · · Score: 1

      Which 7 figures?

      Is that with or without the pennies? Because $1,000,000 is a lot more than $10,000.00

      Chris

    11. Re:SCOsores hall-of-shame inductees by spitzak · · Score: 1

      You doofus. The quote your link points to from "headsurfer" is:

      I would discount ANY reports or quotes of a 7 figure cash payment as has been reported.

      We did agree to a one time payment, however we did not agree to pay a 7 figure cash payment as reported in the media.

      Just like the news articles said, SCO has carefully said it was "worth" 7 figures. Which is true if you multiply the number of EV1 Linux machines by the $599 (or whatever) SCO price claims one license is "worth". They gave a "discouint" to EV1, I suspect the discount was $0 mixed with a threat to sue them over some UnixWare licenese they have.

    12. Re:SCOsores hall-of-shame inductees by Chester+K · · Score: 1

      The actual wording is that EV1 didn't pay seven figures cash. My interpretation is that they may have given SCO something else beside cash to add up to seven figures.

      SCO says the deal with EV1 is "worth" seven figures to them. They'll be using the deal as "proof" that their licenses are legit in future shakedowns of other companies, so having a deal with EV1 on paper is "worth" quite a lot as a PR tool to SCO.

      --

      NO CARRIER
    13. Re:SCOsores hall-of-shame inductees by DDumitru · · Score: 1

      Maybe they agreed to host sco.com

      With all of the DDos attacks and bad press, I would charge them $1M/month for that.

      It is kinda like the premium that hosters charge spammers. How about some $100/Gig BW.

  17. SCO: Leaked e-mail a 'misunderstanding' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
    1. Re:SCO: Leaked e-mail a 'misunderstanding' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      Late Thursday, a Microsoft representative told CNET News.com that the company is not financially involved in the SCO-BayStar deal, saying its only financial relationship is its license of SCO's intellectual property.

      "The details of this agreement have been widely reported and this is the only financial relationship Microsoft has with SCO," the representative said in an e-mail interview. Microsoft "has no financial involvement in the SCO and BayStar agreement, and (Microsoft) has no financial relationship with BayStar."

      When Microsoft was asked specifically whether it or any of its employees played a role in connecting SCO to BayStar, the company declined to comment.

    2. Re:SCO: Leaked e-mail a 'misunderstanding' by Bigby · · Score: 1

      wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. It deserved 5 wows.

      Microsoft answers a couple questions and then "declines to comment". We know Microsoft is not lying here. CNet asked the perfect question, as now we know Microsoft employee(s) funded BayStar to fund SCO.

    3. Re:SCO: Leaked e-mail a 'misunderstanding' by LMCBoy · · Score: 4, Funny

      Reminds me of the classic SNL skit:

      President Carter, while visiting a nuclear power plant, attempts to avert a core meltdown and is transformed into a 12-foot tall glowing mutant.

      Reporter: "Is it true that the president is now over 15 feet tall, and a glowing mutant?"

      Press Secretary: "No! Of course not! That's ridiculous! Where do you guys come up with this stuff?"

      Reporter: "Is the president over ten feet tall?"

      Press Secretary: "No comment."

      --
      Liberal (adj.): Free from bigotry; open to progress; tolerant of others.
    4. Re:SCO: Leaked e-mail a 'misunderstanding' by HangingChad · · Score: 2, Insightful
      has no financial involvement in the SCO and BayStar agreement , and (Microsoft) has no financial relationship with BayStar

      But they didn't say anything about RBC and RBC won't say who the big investor was. If MS funneled the money through RBC they could still claim not having any relationship with Baystar was the truth.

      --
      That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
    5. Re:SCO: Leaked e-mail a 'misunderstanding' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Follow the money, it leads straight to Paul Allen

    6. Re:SCO: Leaked e-mail a 'misunderstanding' by man_of_mr_e · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "We believe the e-mail was simply a misunderstanding of the facts by an outside consultant who was working on a specific unrelated project to the BayStar transaction, and he was told at the time of his misunderstanding," Stowell said, reading from a statement. "Contrary to the speculation of Eric Raymond, Microsoft did not orchestrate or participate in the BayStar transaction."

      My question is, how are they SUPPOSED to answer this? I mean, MS employs some 80,000 people. How could they possibly know if someone who is in their employ may have played any kind of role in that? Even if what they say is true, there's no way to answer the statement other than to decline comment.

    7. Re:SCO: Leaked e-mail a 'misunderstanding' by Rob+Riggs · · Score: 1
      how are they SUPPOSED to answer this? ... How could they possibly know?

      The standard, accepted response in such a situation is to state that they have no such information, or that they simply do not know. To withhold comment implies that that there is information there that they do not wish to divulge. Any other interpretation is simply naive.

      Now, it may be as simple as they don't want to divulge that they do not know, but I would consider that a rather charitable supposition when dealing with Microsoft.

      --
      the growth in cynicism and rebellion has not been without cause
  18. This is a new low for SCO by dubdays · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Since they decided they really can't get a whole lot of people to buy their linux licenses, SCO have to give them to companies without their knowledge, and then call them "Linux IP licensees" and issue a statement as such just to try to weasel a few more bucks from other "uninformed" companies who then decide to buy the "licenses" after all. It's time for CA to lay the smack-down and discredit these punks.

  19. 30 posts by m00nun1t · · Score: 5, Funny

    30 posts so far, not one from anyone saying "I was wrong about the comments I made about Microsoft in the previous thread".

    And I'm not expecting any.

    1. Re:30 posts by Duhavid · · Score: 1

      Color me stupid, but what does anyone have to apologize for?

      --
      emt 377 emt 4
    2. Re:30 posts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The previous thread is still open. It's tempting to go flame the hell out of them. Some of them were real jerks the way they said it was fake (name calling, etc).

  20. Is it breaking the law ... by burgburgburg · · Score: 5, Insightful
    for Baystar to continue to deny that Microsoft had anything to do with the funding if in fact they did? I realize that Baystar is not under oath right now (right now), but patently false statements about publicly traded companies seems like it might be crossing a line.

    One can only hope.

    1. Re:Is it breaking the law ... by MonkeyDluffy · · Score: 2, Insightful
      but patently false statements about publicly traded companies seems like it might be crossing a line.


      No, it's normal in SCO-world.


      -MDL

      --
      Happy meals fund terrorism
    2. Re:Is it breaking the law ... by Bigby · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Microsoft quote to CNet:

      "When Microsoft was asked specifically whether it or any of its employees played a role in connecting SCO to BayStar, the company declined to comment."

      Microsoft did not fund BayStar. Microsoft funded an employee, who then funded BayStar. They are covering their money trails.

    3. Re:Is it breaking the law ... by Jaywalk · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Is it breaking the law for Baystar to continue to deny that Microsoft had anything to do with the funding if in fact they did?
      No, because it's true. Sort of. In a twisted SCO sort of way.

      "Microsoft" is a large publicly traded company. As an entity, the only money Microsoft gave SCO or arranged for SCO to get was the licensing fee. That does not mean that one or more of Microsoft's multi-millionaire employees didn't make the arrangements, but he did it when he wasn't wearing his Microsoft hat. SCO says that the leaked memo came from a contractor who was mistaken and had been corrected. The "mistake" was that the contractor didn't notice that his Microsoft contact had taken off his Microsoft hat.

      --
      ===== Murphy's Law is recursive. =====
    4. Re:Is it breaking the law ... by asr_man · · Score: 1

      Unethical perhaps, but illegal? Doubtful. Misrepresentation in this context is to parties outside of the transaction, and there are no direct material consequences on the receivers of their misstatements.

      Furthermore, MS can credibly characterize their financial link to SCO as consisting only of the IP license deal because the other transaction was between MS and BayStar, not MS and SCO. Sure, it's a case of weasle words -- they're only telling what their direct financial links are. Not a lie, just a partial truth. Standard marcomm tactic.

    5. Re:Is it breaking the law ... by kalidasa · · Score: 2, Interesting

      A more interesting question is this: is announcing that they have license agreements with CA and Leggett at about the same time they're making their financial conference call when they do not in fact have such licenses misleading investors in a way that will get SEC after them?

    6. Re:Is it breaking the law ... by Rob+Riggs · · Score: 1
      Misrepresentation in this context is to parties outside of the transaction, and there are no direct material consequences on the receivers of their misstatements.

      Public statements by publicly traded entities may have material consequences to stock holders. With a company as widely held as Microsoft, the probability is rather high that a good number of the "receivers of their misstatements" are materially vested.

      In this case, MSFT shareholders may be concerned for at least two reasons that I can think of: 1) this behavior may be overstepping the bounds of a monopoly; and 2) it may show that MSFT is more worried about the competition than they appear to let on.

      I know that some will pick up on the apparent dichotomy of the two reasons that I posted in the previous paragraph. However, I think they are self-reinforcing. MSFT has no sizeable competition, and to go to the extremes that MSFT is with regard to Linux, when one considers the disparity in market share, is a bit paranoid.

      --
      the growth in cynicism and rebellion has not been without cause
  21. SCO's whole story is just TOO bizarre... by cozziewozzie · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I mean, who could have thought of a worse, more stupid way to piss off the whole tech sector and drive yourself into bankruptcy. The more I think about it, the more this strange idea develops that SCO (Caldera) is actually doing all this rubbish to help the Linux community. OK, it is way out there, but in some perverted way, it makes sense.

    First of all, you have a Linux company (Caldera) who, despite their best efforts, has trouble staying afloat. At this time, there is no corporate support for Linux, the big vendors are running away from it, and the "GPL has never been tested in court" is touted as an argument all over the place. Big UNIX vendors only see Linux as a way to get people into their more proprietary solutions.

    So, Caldera buys out a UNIX vendor and does the most ridiculous thing imaginable: sues everybody, proclaims that Linux is communist and all that bullshit. Fast forward to the current situation: IBM, HP, Novell and other big players are squarely behind Linux and protecting it. Microsoft is exposed as a greedy monopolist who uses underhand tactics (yet again). GPL gets tested in court and it is under such circumstances that guarantee a strong precedent in GPL's favour. The UNIX heritage is cleared once and for all. Linux wins, in a BSD fashion, and is free from corporate FUD. And who pays the bill? Greedy investors.

    This could turn out the be the best thing for the corporate image of Linux ever.

    1. Re:SCO's whole story is just TOO bizarre... by zephc · · Score: 1

      "I mean, who could have thought of a worse, more stupid way to piss off the whole tech sector and drive yourself into bankruptcy."

      Not to mention to make yourself the most unemployable person in the tech industry (that means you, McBride!)

      --
      "I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
    2. Re:SCO's whole story is just TOO bizarre... by pubjames · · Score: 1

      This could turn out the be the best thing for the corporate image of Linux ever

      I think that SCO must be really helping the Open Source Development Lab to bring more corporates on board. SCO's recent actions against the automobile industry, for instance, give the OSDL a great opportunity to go to all of the big automakers and say "this is what can happen if you buy software from proprietry vendors like SCO. We offer a different model..."

    3. Re:SCO's whole story is just TOO bizarre... by Rich0 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Not to mention to make yourself the most unemployable person in the tech industry (that means you, McBride!)

      Franky - unless he is sued personally over this matter, I don't think it will matter much.

      Once anybody has a couple of million in the bank, they can simply sit back and coast on investments. They can afford insurance against anything imaginable, and work truly becomes fun since you can walk out any time you get bored or annoyed with your boss.

      Sure, McBride won't get any invitations to programmer parties, but he's probably got enough money to not worry much about having another job...

    4. Re:SCO's whole story is just TOO bizarre... by jfruhlinger · · Score: 2, Offtopic

      --- Join the Society Against Raping the Word "Definitely".

      How about a society against raping the word "rape"?

    5. Re:SCO's whole story is just TOO bizarre... by paiute · · Score: 1

      I think that while the crater is still smoking, IBM will find a way to sue Darl personally. They will find grounds to do it, and defending himself will take care of any personal profits he might have left.

      --
      If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
    6. Re:SCO's whole story is just TOO bizarre... by novapyro · · Score: 2, Interesting
      • Franky - unless he is sued personally over this matter, I don't think it will matter much. Once anybody has a couple of million in the bank, they can simply sit back and coast on investments. They can afford insurance against anything imaginable, and work truly becomes fun since you can walk out any time you get bored or annoyed with your boss.
      A couple of million isn't much, particularly to a CEO. But your overall point is true: he doesn't have to worry about employment. He can just start another company, or (even more likely) come in and take over at a small firm that doesn't have enough cash to pay salary for a CEO. He can make a deal where his salary is deferred, use his name recognition to get fringe investors.

      Now, he may have to do this in another industry. Say, log home construction, or something. Or municipal sewer maintenance. Basically, an industry where the players don't know or care about SCO. But he can do it.

      The only thing that will keep this man from being very rich someday is provably running afoul of SEC regulations, to a degree which will attract regulatory interest. Other than that, I think he'll do well.

      Now, I'm not saying he should do well. Unless he is delusion (or very stupid while simultaneously being very brazen) he must be an untrustworthy liar. But he's got CEO experience, M&A experience, he's shown he's not afraid to litigate, and he can do financing deals. So, if he can stay out of jail, he'll excel. The bastard.
    7. Re:SCO's whole story is just TOO bizarre... by jackbird · · Score: 1
      Sued, Nothin!

      It's federal prison Darl needs to be worried about.

    8. Re:SCO's whole story is just TOO bizarre... by Dav3K · · Score: 1

      What do you mean??! McBride is still trying to save up enough for his second home, remember? He's cash-poor and hungry. He's just the sort of greedy, desperado patsy required to tank a failing organization and go down with it. He's far from being 'set for life.'

    9. Re:SCO's whole story is just TOO bizarre... by scalis · · Score: 1

      Only one flaw though.
      Why hire expensive and repsected lawyers that actually might do a "good" job to run a case you have no intention of winning?
      I do understand that the words "respected", "lawyer" and "good job" normally do not belong in the same sentance.... but still.

      --

      True ravers don't need drugs
    10. Re:SCO's whole story is just TOO bizarre... by rixstep · · Score: 1

      He and everyone else in that Utah ghost town have been suckered by Gates.

      It's classic British war tactics - something Gates would not have missed. It doesn't say Gates will ever define the rewards these losers get for doing all this dirty stuff for him; it totally precludes them having any direct contact with him at all; and no matter how it goes, Gates will deny, both to authorities and to SCO - they've been suckered big.

      But Gates might still end up killing open source. Don't underestimate him. Never do that.

    11. Re:SCO's whole story is just TOO bizarre... by spitzak · · Score: 1

      Only problem with this "plan" is, why would Microsoft fund it? Even if SCO went and told Microsoft "we are going to kill Linux if you give us money", if in reality they were really "we have this secret plan to make Linux rool and we are going to fool Microsoft into paying for it!", they would be in serious trouble for lying to Microsoft in a contract.

      I actually had a different elaborate scam which apparently has been disproved. In it, SCO is on it's own, and is purposely pretending that they are being secretly funded by Microsoft. Nobody can really see the money, because, you see, it is a big illegal thing and they have to hide it. But they will make as many public statements as possible that are carefully designed to be obviously orchestrated by Microsoft. Then investors will think "hey if I buy SCO stock, I will get some of that enormous payoff from Microsoft" and this elaborate lie is used to kite the stock.

      It appears now, with Microsoft's "no comment", that Microsoft really did fund this, so that elaborate idea is out. It really is exactly as everybody suspected all along...

    12. Re:SCO's whole story is just TOO bizarre... by starling · · Score: 1

      Definitely.

    13. Re:SCO's whole story is just TOO bizarre... by scrytch · · Score: 1

      "The meeting of the Society Against Societies Against Things has come to order"

      "First item on the agenda: Disband the Society Against Societies Against Things."

      "All in favor, say 'aye'."

      "Motion passes. Meeting adjourned."

      --
      I've finally had it: until slashdot gets article moderation, I am not coming back.
    14. Re:SCO's whole story is just TOO bizarre... by pclminion · · Score: 1
      Definition of rape.

      3. Abusive or improper treatment; violation: a rape of justice.

      Your degree of offense seems to indicate that you have some direct experience with rape, and we're all sympathetic to that, but the word was used in a proper sense. People tend to abuse the word "definitely" and use it improperly.

      Take your crusade elsewhere.

    15. Re:SCO's whole story is just TOO bizarre... by El · · Score: 1

      McBride won't get any invitations to programmer parties Ok, so what's the down side?

      --

      "Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney

    16. Re:SCO's whole story is just TOO bizarre... by GPLDAN · · Score: 1

      In Utah, a couple mill should set you up for life, maybe help you buy a few more wives.

    17. Re:SCO's whole story is just TOO bizarre... by puppet10 · · Score: 1

      Heh SCO - The Phantom Menace

      I wonder if McBride is JarJar Binks? ;)

      --
      -------- This space intentionally left blank --------
    18. Re:SCO's whole story is just TOO bizarre... by r_j_howell · · Score: 1

      Unfotunately, if he can show the Canopy group making money on this, and at the same time staying out of jail (both very likely) there will certainly be someone out there who will hire hi to play the same game somewhere else.

    19. Re:SCO's whole story is just TOO bizarre... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Not to mention to make yourself the most unemployable person in the tech industry (that means you, McBride!)

      Given Microsoft's history of deals with executives that sacrifice their company for the good of Microsoft, I expect that Darl will have a cushy VP position there in short order.

  22. SCO was going to sue Bank of America??? by intertwingled · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I find this zdnet news article to be velly intellesting.

    --
    -- SKYKING, SKYKING, DO NOT ANSWER.
  23. HypocriSCOy? by sczimme · · Score: 2, Funny


    Hypo-crisco-y. Hmmm.

    I got it! It means a slick/greasy hypocrite.

    Actually that fits. Good one, T-Kir. :-)

    --
    I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
    1. Re:HypocriSCOy? by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 1, Funny
      Hypo-crisco-y. Hmmm.
      I got it! It means a slick/greasy hypocrite.
      Actually that fits. Good one, T-Kir. :-)
      It's even better when you figure out that Crisco is a lubricant of choice for anal fisting...
    2. Re:HypocriSCOy? by Bob+McCown · · Score: 1

      Or for rebuilding an ancient steam locomotive (3rd photo from the bottom)

    3. Re:HypocriSCOy? by spood · · Score: 1

      I got it! It means a slick/greasy hypocrite.

      Sure makes it easier for them to slide their heads up their asses, too!

      --
      ---- Just another spud server.
  24. CA is hardly a saint by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Before everybody jumps on the bandwagon of saying "good for CA to tell us what it could", remember that CA is probably the single most hulking software beauracracy in the Universe. It rivals the old IBM in terms of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) creation as a method of retaining customers. After CA jumps on your boat, they begin a cash-sucking operation and paralyze any new development. I'm not sure we want to side with CA.

    All this posted anonymously because my employer is continually having cash sucked out of it by CA as they suck all useful life out of its products.

    1. Re:CA is hardly a saint by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree with you. CA is an Oracle-wannabe, with just as much sleaziness.

      They moved into our town and snow-jobbed the local convention bureau into giving them all their business on the premise that they'd bring CA World to their city. After the contracts were signed, CA pulled their convention from the city and screwed the whole community.

    2. Re:CA is hardly a saint by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      CA is an Oracle-wannabe, with just as much sleaziness


      I'm no fan of Oracle (with the chips falling in California, it is now proven that not only can you get fired for buying Oracle, but also brought up on criminal charges!), but CA is way beyond Oracle in terms of sleaziness. Oracle has a real software product (OK, it's rarely used as more than a warmed-over SQL engine, and often times not used as anything better than a fancy spreadsheet, but that's the fault of the customer and not Oracle). CA is just a cash-sucking operation, nothing else.

    3. Re:CA is hardly a saint by triumphDriver · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Just read this ( http://www.linuxworld.com/story/39996.htm ). it is the tip of the iceberg at CA

      CA is not any different than Enron or Parlamat.
      Definitly not a company to be respected in any way.

      --
      I grew up in the Fulda Gap, where did you?
    4. Re:CA is hardly a saint by intertwingled · · Score: 1

      And neither is Chrysler. In fact, I hate Chrysler because of the poor quality jeeps they've been turning out (my 1994 YJ is a hunk of junk.) But I hate SCO worse. So, I am with Chrysler in this fight.

      --
      -- SKYKING, SKYKING, DO NOT ANSWER.
    5. Re:CA is hardly a saint by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      CA may not be saintly, but they're no SCO.

      And, the three guys most responsible for the shenanigans that caused the investigation are gone.

      This thread is not about loving CA. It's about not hating it because of SCO lies and deceit. It's about "no, CA did not pay protection money". Let's keep the focus here.

  25. Blake inserts foot into mouth by codepunk · · Score: 4, Interesting

    So why on earth are the suing Autozone if they have
    a license to run the binary form in Linux. Isn't that the meat of their argument.

    A little quote from Blake reguarding the CA vapor
    license deal.

    "UnixWare licences allow SCO customers to run UnixWare and the SCO Intellectual Property Licence allows Linux end users to run our Unix intellectual property in binary form in Linux. Today, CA has a licence in place to run our Unix IP in binary form in Linux without fear that they may be infringing on our intellectual property."

    --


    Got Code?
    1. Re:Blake inserts foot into mouth by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      well iirc they were suing autozone for using their unix libraries on something else than on their unix platform.

      their rationale was that autozone couldn't have possibly ported autozones apps so smoothly over to linux without using the libs without permission on linux. doesn't sound very convincing? well that never stopped sco before.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    2. Re:Blake inserts foot into mouth by Wyzard · · Score: 4, Informative

      Because the AutoZone suit isn't over AutoZone's use of Linux. It's over AutoZone's (alleged) use of proprietary SCO libraries on a platform other than UnixWare (presumably in violation of a license agreement)

      The fact that the "platform other than UnixWare" happens to be Linux is irrelevant -- as someone else around here put it, AutoZone could be using Commodore 64s and SCO would still sue them for using UnixWare libraries there. SCO wants you to think the suit is over Linux, but it's nothing of the sort, and if AutoZone had never done business with SCO in the first place, and just used Linux from the start, this lawsuit wouldn't have occurred.

    3. Re:Blake inserts foot into mouth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Excuse me if i you think this is nitpicking but i think you're wrong here and this has been posted so often on /. and groklaw that it's now nearing urban legend status IMHO ;)

      The alleged use of "the famous SCO OpenSewer libraries (tm)" by Autozone was mentioned in SCOs "SUPPLEMENTAL RESPONSE TO INTERROGATORY NO. 8" in the *SCO vs IBM* suit.

      As far as i can see there is no mention of this in the claim against Autozone, only the usual vague statements against Linux:

      19. The Copyrighted Materials include protected expression of code, structure, sequence and/or organization in many categories of UNIX System V functionality ... ad nauseam.

      20. On information an belief, parts or all of the Copyrighted Material has been copied or otherwise improperly used as the basis for creation of derivative work software code, included one or more Linux implementations, including Linux versions 2.4 and 2.6, without the permission of SCO.

    4. Re:Blake inserts foot into mouth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I bet that a C64 would outperform any SCO installation,

  26. On Topic by z0ink · · Score: 1
    Barrenechea and CA's Linux chief Sam Greenblatt are worried that CA will be tarred with the SCO brush and that CA's considerable Linux ambitions will be damaged by a disaffected, if not hostile, open source community when in reality CA has "nothing to do with SCO's strategy and tactics," they said.

    Then it's a good thing that this article was posted on slashdot. I'd highly suggest reading through this one.

    I'd say calling the OS community hostile is a pretty good look on things --- considering the fact that it faces extinction. Come on now, why would somebody support the death of their well being.
    --
    Steal This Sig
  27. Sorry, but CA is a ruthless software company... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They buy companies and immediately layoff 20%. They ask the managers and rank everyone, and the bottom 20% get chopped off immediately.

    Then, they basically mothball all new development in these acquired companies, and after Indians have been trained on how to maintain the software, they fire everyone in North America/Europe.

    This is their business strategy. They don't care about their employees and their customers.

    Sorry, but I don't give one shit about CA. They could go belly up for all I care, and it would only be good for the software industry.

    1. Re:Sorry, but CA is a ruthless software company... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dead on mate. Fine if they try to toast SCO, but everyone shouldn't laud them as heroic. Their overall record is pretty bad, especially if you are one of their customers. [See numerous complaints at
      http://weblog.infoworld.com/foster/2004/02/27. html #a81 and
      http://www.gripe2ed.com/scoop/section/Columns ]

    2. Re:Sorry, but CA is a ruthless software company... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe if you'd been good enough to not be in that 20%, you wouldn't be here flaming CA as a coward. I've seen at least three comments just like tis from this loser.

  28. Yeah right.......the whole world misunderstood ! by wongqc · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Memo misunderstood? Is SCO now implying to the world at large that all of us had failed our english comprehension?

    Can everyone sue for personal attacks? :P

    Not only they don't know how to count...(million lines of code)... they have problems with their english language too! I am sure Darl's teachers won't be pleased :P

  29. Techworld article on Leggett & Platt & CA by glassesmonkey · · Score: 5, Informative

    Since the site is horribly slow and I haven't seen the news about Leggett & Platt anywhere else, here's the text:

    05 March 2004
    Two of four SCO licensees deny their purchase Linux licence? What Linux licence?
    By Robert McMillan, IDG News Service and Kieren McCarthy, Techworld

    Two of the four companies that SCO has publicly named as having bought a licence from it to use Linux, have denied doing anything of the sort.

    Both Computer Associates and Leggett & Platt have been held up by SCO as purchasing a $699 (384) licence to cover the alleged SCO copyrights in the open-source operating system. But both have publicly stated that they have done no such thing.

    The chief architect of CA's Linux Technology Group, Sam Greenblatt, admitted the company had struck a deal with an investor in SCO over UnixWare licences and said that for each UnixWare licence bought, it was indemnified against a Linux box but he denied outright that the company had bought a licence specifically dealing with Linux.

    Leggett & Platt was even clearer. "I have now talked to our people who handle our Linux systems and, at least at a corporate level, we have not bought such a licence from SCO Group," said the company's VP of human resources, John Hale. "To their knowledge they would not have an interest in doing so."

    The denials come the same day that SCO was forced to admit an email appearing to demonstrate that Microsoft had helped fund the group to the tune of $86 million was real. But, the company claims, the email does not show what people claim it does.

    This same misunderstanding approach was used by SCO to explain CA's statement. SCO spokesman Blake Stowell said that CA had indeed obtained an IP licence for Linux in an email. "UnixWare licences allow SCO customers to run UnixWare and the SCO Intellectual Property Licence allows Linux end users to run our Unix intellectual property in binary form in Linux. Today, CA has a licence in place to run our Unix IP in binary form in Linux without fear that they may be infringing on our intellectual property."

    This hazy distinction angered CA's Greenblatt, who strongly objected to the portrayal of CA as a IP licensee for Linux. "To represent us as having supported the SCO thing is totally wrong," he said, before accusing the company's tactics as "intended to intimidate and threaten customers". "We totally disagree with [Darl McBride's, SCO CEO] approach, his tactics and the way he's going about this," Greenblatt added.

    SCO claims to have copyrighted material within the Linux open-source operating system and has embarked on a dramatic legal battle to enforce them. Earlier this week, it expanded its lawsuits to include one of its own customers and a company using the Linux software and warned that it "will take and continue to take" legal action against Linux end users. The company sees itself as educating people about its rights in the same way that the RIAA - the US music industry body - has sued individuals in an attempt to prevent the free trade in copyrighted music.

    However, one financial analyst said that the conditions surrounding the CA licence did not cast a favorable light on SCO. "I think it just speaks to the weakness of their case. Why could CA have not been convinced to take a licence without legal action," said Dion Cornett, managing director with Decatur Jones Equity Partners.

    The other two companies that have been named as IP Licence for Linux customers are EV1 Servers.Net and Salt Questar. Both have confirmed that they did purchase SCO's licence.

  30. Maybe MS has 123,000 Linux boxes... by drwtsn32 · · Score: 5, Funny

    and their $86M payment to SCO is just to cover the $699/each licensing fee.

    1. Re:Maybe MS has 123,000 Linux boxes... by barthrh2 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Oh, OK. That makes sense. For a minute I thought that they were funding the effort. Instead they are paying them for a license that no other corporation believes is valid.

      I hear that MS hired Oliver North as a consultant to purchase the licenses. When prompted, Steve Balmer "could not recall" any such arrangement.

    2. Re:Maybe MS has 123,000 Linux boxes... by Bigby · · Score: 1

      SCO has a "special" licensing cost for companies who license other non-UNIX-like operating systems. For each Linux tax, they charge $43 million. So MS bought 2 licenses.

    3. Re:Maybe MS has 123,000 Linux boxes... by Almond+Tree · · Score: 0

      Sure! They had to. Their MS servers kept crashing and they needed them for backup.

      --

      bau bau chicka chicka mau mau

  31. Re:Who Cares? by tds67 · · Score: 1
    Just report back to us either when:
    a) SCO gets a court order banning Linux or
    b) SCO gets bankrupted by IBM
    I really don't care about anything else

    c) SCO's website is back up.

  32. Small fish in a big pond by hexium · · Score: 1

    The probable scenario for the CA claims: One little department inside a big company buys 2 licenses because the secretaries cousin's son told her they could get sued and now "CA is licensed"

    1. Re:Small fish in a big pond by hexium · · Score: 1

      Ok, so I didn't read the article. ;( But I bet this will happen :)

  33. SCO in the vernacular by stuffduff · · Score: 5, Funny
    I bet that any day now ESR will be modifying the jargon file to include several new derogatory for business practices, and other things; all along the lines of:

    SCO: (sKO) verb

    1. To deliberately mislead, usurp or inappropriately lay claim to intellectual property. To attempt to gain by deciet. He was SCOed.
    2. To be a pawn, manipulated by another for sinister purposes. They used him to SCO those other guys.
    3. To cast dispersions on the integrety of rightous code. They tried to SCO Linux.
    --
    "Can there be a Klein bottle that is an efficient and effective beer pitcher?"
    1. Re:SCO in the vernacular by walterbyrd · · Score: 1

      On the yahoo message boards, whenever somebody dumps a load of shares, and thereby causes a sharp (but usually tempory) price drop; it is often commented: "looks like somebody took a sco."

    2. Re:SCO in the vernacular by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ACK, why can't people spell "deceit" properly? I never understand the difficulty in it... If you can't remember the word's spelling, then at least repeat the rhyme, "I before E, except after C". In this case, the "I" and "E" are after "C", and so it becomes "CEIT".

    3. Re:SCO in the vernacular by rixstep · · Score: 1

      To be a pawn, manipulated by another for sinister purposes. They used him to SCO those other guys.

      This one's right on. Is 'SCO-punk' a word? For their all Bill's 'punks'.

  34. Superb quote from the article by madprof · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "By the way, CA doesn't have enough UnixWare licenses to cover all its Linux servers, Greenblatt said."

    Shame eh?

  35. PJ has a point by burgburgburg · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Reading over at Groklaw, I saw that PJ has a great point: Now that the memo is noted as authentic, IBM can subpoena Microsoft and ask for their email and documents.

    Imagine the fun things they'll find!

    1. Re:PJ has a point by nytmare · · Score: 1

      But would that allow Microsoft to retaliate by subpoenaing IBM for their email records?

    2. Re:PJ has a point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't forget, MS doesn't keep emails that people want to see! (Don't have the link, but there was a recent case of them claiming the backups were gone)

    3. Re:PJ has a point by rpillala · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Given Microsoft's creative email retention policies I doubt they'd find much. Someone's probably purging emails right now if they haven't already.

      Ravi
      --
      When the axe came to the forest, the trees said, "Look out - the handle was once one of us."
  36. Well that's it then right? by ravenspear · · Score: 3, Funny

    I mean, SCO is such a beacon of truth, why not just take them at their word?

    Or better yet, why don't we ask M$ directly if they gave up the dough?

  37. We all knew. by ljavelin · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Most industry analyists knew that Microsoft was concerned about Linux.

    But I for one never quite realized that Microsoft was in a panic.

    I heard all the rumors - "maybe Microsoft is behind the SCO lawsuit"... but I didn't think Microsoft would actually be funding this entire effort. I mean, isn't Microsoft focusing on the Next Generation Great Thing that will put Linux to bed once and for all? Obviously, the answer we now have is "no".

    I read the news yesterday, and it seemed pretty clear that the memo was a fabrication. I mean how could such a blatent memo be true? And with all the grammar and spelling errors? It just didn't add up. Mircosoft is smart, right? They hire smart people, right? They may be a monopoly, and they may make try to lock their customers into their products, but they're doing it to make globs of $. That's smart, right?

    Well obviously I was mistaken. Microsoft was more-or-less caught trying to fuck up the entire Linux industry by buying what is looking more and more like secretly misusing the courts. On top of that, Microsoft is looking like it's releasing blatent lies about the Linux industry under the guise of Microsoft fabricated or controlled companies.

    Microsoft, it's time to come clean. Don't you think it's time that you admit that you're funding these lawsuits?

    Or is Microsoft so scared about Linux and the Law that it'll continue to shelter itself behind a quickly diminishing cloud of deception and covert control of companies like SCO?

    1. Re:We all knew. by Trigun · · Score: 1

      Microsoft, it's time to come clean. Don't you think it's time that you admit that you're funding these lawsuits?

      Fuck no! Sure Microsoft is a behemoth, but IBM, Daimler AG, Autozone, RedHat, etc. is bigger. Not even Microsoft could fend off the lawsuits from that kind of Mea Culpa. The company would be decimated, that $40 Billion in cash would be wiped out, and the entire software industry would be thrown in disarray.

    2. Re:We all knew. by elgaard · · Score: 1

      If MS were willing to do something like this that at best make them look bad, they must really have thought that is was going to work.
      That it would stop Linux or at least halt Linux for a year or two.

      Of course the adoption of Linux might have been even faster without all this, but I hope that those who thought this would hurt Linux will realize it was not worth it.

      Although I am sure that someone will manage to take out a few millions and spend them in south america somewhere.

    3. Re:We all knew. by saigon_from_europe · · Score: 2, Informative
      Most industry analyists knew that Microsoft was concerned about Linux. But I for one never quite realized that Microsoft was in a panic.

      Well, it still does not have to mean they are in panic. Probably they are, but let us consider the situation even if they are not:

      Linux (better said Open Source) is only obvious threat for them at this moment. With their huge pile of cash, they can afford to spend 100 millions on one target - Linux, in this case. Destroying commpetitors is allways worth of money. And having in mind their attitude toward competitors - it is allways worth of a lot of money.

      One more interesting thing in whole this story - (if I understoof correctly) SCO is suing their own costumers over some SCO Unix librarires. IIRC, that was the story before the legal process related Linux kernel was announced. Also, most parts of their case against IBM are abandoned by SCO, reducing it basically to contract infrigment.

      So the situation is like this: we are speaking in public about millions of lines of code. But we are sueing IBM about some other things. We are speaking about sueing top 500 companies about Linux, but actually we are sueing only those who used to be our customers over some libraries issues. Problem with this is that in public this seems like they are sueing Linus over stealing code and sueing everyone because of use of Linux.

      If this is not misuse of legal system, if this is not ilegal, then I really don't know what the justice is.
      --
      No sig today.
    4. Re:We all knew. by rsax · · Score: 2, Funny
      Microsoft, it's time to come clean. Don't you think it's time that you admit that you're funding these lawsuits?

      Microsoft: "Umm no. We discussed this amongst ourselves and came to the conclusion that this really isn't the time to come clean".

    5. Re:We all knew. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...Then they fight you ...

    6. Re:We all knew. by rixstep · · Score: 1

      But I for one never quite realized that Microsoft was in a panic.

      Wow. Little Rip van Winkle! Been asleep five whole years, have we?

    7. Re:We all knew. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Viva La revolucion!

  38. doesn't seem illegal, but it's underhanded by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    read the memo and the article. If I interpret it correctly, MS has been helpful referring SCO to potential investors. Since MS knows these firms, they do have some influence on them. It doesn't appear MS is directly funding it, but I'm sure they are indirectly funding/influencing companies like Baystar. Is this illegal? Nope! It is underhanded and sneaky. But did anyone really expect MS not to try? Grow up people, it's called business.

    1. Re:doesn't seem illegal, but it's underhanded by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, it's not called business, it's called violating antitrust laws once again.

    2. Re:doesn't seem illegal, but it's underhanded by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I really don't know about the law itself....

      But while Baystar denies MS is involved directly (which could mean they are indirectly) they declined to say whether Paul Allan or his company is involved.

      **That, McGrath said, could explain why people were assuming that Microsoft was an investment partner alongside BayStar, but he was unable to say if Vulcan was such a partner.**
      http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,4149,1 491476,00.as p

    3. Re:doesn't seem illegal, but it's underhanded by Asic+Eng · · Score: 1
      Huh? We should excuse immoral behaviour just because it's done by a company? Why should we? Capitalism teaches us that, if you demand ethical behaviour from companies you buy from, then they'll adjust to market. If we have enough people like you, who accept anything a company does because "it's business", then obviously they'll get away with it.

      Besides it's far from clear whether bringing frivolous law suits via a proxy company is legal, or whether it's compatible with anti-trust restrictions which apply to Microsoft.

    4. Re:doesn't seem illegal, but it's underhanded by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Try telling that to former Enron employees, who made their money off of shady dealings as well. That is NOT called business.

    5. Re:doesn't seem illegal, but it's underhanded by f00zbll · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Well if history can teach us a lesson about Anti-trust and Microsoft, I would say our government has told the public it is not illegal. Mildly annoying maybe, but I would hardley call the courts decision punishment. I'm biased obviously. For it to be illegal or perceived as illegal, the court would have to really fine or alter Microsoft's business practices. We can all see from MS behavior it's business as usual.

      Besides it's far from clear whether bringing frivolous law suits via a proxy company is legal

      Well people and companies file BS law suits all the time right. Hopefully most of them get dismissed. In an ideal world, businesses would behave ethically, but the behavior of companies the last 4 years paint a different picture.

    6. Re:doesn't seem illegal, but it's underhanded by Sanction · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, while economics teachers may teach about a theoretical Capitalism where consumers can easily influence companies through the market, reality with its mega-conglomerates tends to strongly disagree with theory.

      --
      Well I'm the doctor and I say you're dead, so shut up and take it like a man!
  39. Shares by ciderpunk · · Score: 2, Interesting

    SCO seem to want to be bought at the moment, which made me think if everyone on /. had a single share in sco, we could bring forward proposals at their agm and get voting rights on how the company was run.

    Just a thought ...

  40. In fact... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    David Boise and company get 20 percent off of the top of all SCO IP Licences sold. When this is all over just watch these fucking rats pointing the finger at one another.

    SCO: Well our legal representatives said we had a case !!

    Boise: We don't know anything about C Programming, we relying on the technical expertise of SCO, they said we had a case !!

    You just wait and see.

    1. Re:In fact... by kcbrown · · Score: 1
      David Boise and company get 20 percent off of the top of all SCO IP Licences sold. When this is all over just watch these fucking rats pointing the finger at one another.

      Perhaps. But win or lose, Boise and company are going to get a shitload of business after this, because they'll have demonstrated that they're willing to sue anyone for anything on behalf of anyone who is willing to pay. I dare say that in today's "business" climate, that could be worth a lot -- companies that hired them would be more likely to get an extortion payment^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hsettlement from their victim^H^H^H^H^H^Htarget than if they had hired another firm, because this one has proven itself willing to go to court no matter how bad the plaintiff's case.

      --
      Use 'slashdot stuff' in the subject line in any email you send me if you want to get past the spam filter.
  41. let me clarify... by LighthouseJ · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I used to not care about this SCO business but its been going on for long enough for me to at least be interested and might as well get the facts straight, so if anyone can help get me straight on this...

    SCO (Formerly called Caldera) owns the rights to UNIX. SCO is now threatening to sue businesses that run Linux because they didn't buy their license, even if they aren't using their UNIX? For example, I could install Red Hat and be sued for copyright infringement because I don't have a license to UNIX? Sounds like racketeering to me...

    I blame business too eager to plead guilty and settle, them saving money is costing the rest of us (the Linux-running business community) lots of precedents we'll need to fight later. But if all this is true, SCO is making lots of enemies, at least Microsoft made Windows for people to use to get to the top, SCO just sues to pay the bills.

  42. *bangs head on desk* by andih8u · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Seriously, the 15 updates per day about what SCO is doing and what Darl had for breakfast is really enough already. All you're doing is making it look like they might have a valid case since you're so intent on discrediting them all the freaking time...just shut up and let them discredit themselves.

    --


    slashdot, news for crazed liberal socialist zealots
    1. Re:*bangs head on desk* by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 2, Funny
      Seriously, the 15 updates per day about what SCO is doing and what Darl had for breakfast is really enough already.
      Well, why don't you start SCODOT????
    2. Re:*bangs head on desk* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Oh just shut the hell up and turn off the SCO/Caldera related stories in your FUCKING PREFERENCES PAGE.

      How many more people have to moan about this!!!

    3. Re:*bangs head on desk* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "How many more people have to moan about this!!!"

      I think we'd need to know how many MS and SCO employees hang out here before we could determine that.

      Imagine getting news at a news site... What is the world coming to.

    4. Re:*bangs head on desk* by lxs · · Score: 1

      Come on. Many of us have been following the whole sordid affair from the first mutterings about licence issues by Caldera well over two years ago.

      It would be a shame to walk away now that the whole stinking mess is finally being dragged to the surface.

    5. Re:*bangs head on desk* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      since everything is coming to a head right now, it's natural that there would be a lot of stories about this. You probably haven't noticed that it's crunch time for SCO right about now.

    6. Re:*bangs head on desk* by brain1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Not to flame, but this needs to be stated.

      I know there seems to be an inordinate amount of interest with SCO, but you must realize that there are a LOT of developers who are putting Linux into commerical products, all legal within the GPL. I am involved in such a project. In addition, there are many major companies that are using Linux as enterprise server iron. Companies like RedHat, SuSE, Mandrake, etc, are built upon selling a distribution of Linux.

      As to my project, for me to have to flush Linux, and use embedded BSD, or VxWorks would be throwing away a year of development. Seeing the Linux distro companies die would be a tragedy.

      The concept of free (as in freedom) software has brought rich rewards to all who embrace the concept, use, and contribute to it. The only viable threats to the Redmond monopoly is Apple, BSD, and what we call Linux.

      Yes, I agree there is a lot of FUD and idle speculation running around. Much of it belongs in the "tin-foil hat" paranoid category. Ignore it, or laugh about it. But keep the interest going!

      But the crucial point is this: If SCO were to pull this off it would cripple many corporations in an already weak, recovering economy. Products, such as TiVo, Linux-based PDA's, Linksys routers, just to name a few, would come under the fire of SCO's legal department, crippling many, and entirely flushing others. And dont think that BSD would escape unscathed. Even if SCO were unsuccessful against trying to challenge BSD, (and remember that Apple's OSX has BSD parts within it -- they could be dragged into the middle of it) more damage would be done.

      In the end we would end up with essentially a monopoly in computer operating systems. No choice, just pay, pay, pay.

      I know what I have said has been already been posted in various forms, and I'll probably get modded as redundant, but serious interest is warranted.

      Think of it this way. A cockroach, like SCO, hates bright lights and avoids being seen. Keep the lights on and polish your magnifying glass, because the SCO headquarters needs a good dose of insecticide.

      -dh

    7. Re:*bangs head on desk* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, keep posting SCO news, it's like watching a perpetual car race with lots of accidents... a goldmine of entertainment!

    8. Re:*bangs head on desk* by rixstep · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      In the end we would end up with essentially a monopoly in computer operating systems.

      What the hell you think we got now, boy?

      LOL

    9. Re:*bangs head on desk* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wanted: Slashdot Moderators
      ==================
      Special Requirements:

      - Must have IQ of a sea bass

      - No other requirements

  43. WHAT?! by AndyFewt · · Score: 0

    WHAT?! SCO not telling the whole truth?! unheard of!

  44. Re:Who Cares? by HeridFel · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Not for long. I'll get right on it.

  45. Re:Yeah right.......the whole world misunderstood by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    "I am sure Darl's teachers won't be pleased"

    I need some clarification. By Darl's teachers, did you mean Stalin, or Lenin?

  46. Begin Focusing on Destroying SCO by tilleyrw · · Score: 3, Interesting

    In the stead of proclaiming that SCO is run by lying corporate scum bent on world domination,
    I believe that discussion should focus on what can be done to destroy SCO.

    A question for the more legally-knowledgeable among us: The gov't can do this, but is it possible
    for a private citizen or public group to initiate proceedings for the revocation of a corporate charter?

    A civil case resulting in the dissolution of SCOX would be a landmark in the demonstration of power-of-the-people.

    --
    This post encoded with ROT26. If you can read it, you've violated the DMCA. Handcuffs please, sergeant.
    1. Re:Begin Focusing on Destroying SCO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Buy a few shares. There are all sorts of minority shareholder rights laws which could be used against them.

    2. Re:Begin Focusing on Destroying SCO by Zathrus · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The gov't can do this, but is it possible
      for a private citizen or public group to initiate proceedings for the revocation of a corporate charter?


      No idea. The more interesting question, however, is whether or not you could pierce the corporate veil. Particularly Canopy's veil. If there were (as alleged) some underhanded dealings regardin SCO, Canopy, and other Canopy holdings then you could easily pierce the corporate veil.

      Once that's done you can pretty easily sue the directors of the companies involved (both SCO and Canopy) and take them to the cleaners. And there's nothing they can do about it -- their personal property would no longer be immune from lawsuits, and between civil and personal lawsuits you could pretty much guarantee that they'll die penniless paupers in prison.

      Yes, vindictive. But seeing charlatans and crooks hide behind the corporate veil and get off scott free has gotten beyond tiresome. The various scumbags involved in this particular scheme could, possibly, act as a wake up call to a lot of other companies. Wouldn't that be nice?

      Oh well.. it's a nice dream at least.

    3. Re:Begin Focusing on Destroying SCO by cpghost · · Score: 1

      Even if a company is destroyed, its assets will be distributed across its creditors. Where will the Unix IP rights land? In Microsoft's hands? The problem is actually not with SCO itself, but with those rights. How can we get them back, and return them to the IT community as a whole?

      --
      cpghost at Cordula's Web.
  47. fraudsters by Ender+Ryan · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Basically this is a very creative spin on a settlement CA did with Canopy Group regarding a breach of contract settlement totally unrelated to Linux. Associated with that settlement was a set of UnixWare licenses to which SCO has taken the liberty of attaching these 'Linux IP' licenses."

    That sounds like pretty good ammo for a fraud suit if you ask me. It's not in itself enough, but it certainly shows SCO in a lie that's so obvious and deceitful that it just can't be ignored or chalked up to misunderstanding, and it's not too technical for a *moron(ie. a U.S. judge) to understand.

    * no, I don't really think all U.S. judges are morons, but sometimes you gotta wonder...

    --
    Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
    1. Re:fraudsters by SolvayGuy · · Score: 1

      too technical for a *moron(ie. a U.S. judge) to understand.

      Dude, that "moron" will ultimately be the one to determine whether or not one of your favorite hobbies (linux) is A-Ok, or pirated software.


      A little off topic here: Why is linux an SCO target and not *BSD? I'm by no means a technical person and I'm not going to front like I know the answer.

    2. Re:fraudsters by liquidsin · · Score: 1

      Fuck fraud, call it libel. Being associated with SCO is obviously harmful. CA said as much - something along the lines of "we don't want our reputation tarnished because people *think* we bought a license". I'd say there's a good case here.

      --
      do not read this line twice.
    3. Re:fraudsters by katz · · Score: 1

      Because Linux is the current news-maker here, not BSD. If BSD had the glossy-CEO-magazine visibility of Linux, I wouldn't be surprised if it met a similar predicament.

      SCO doesn't care about Linux. SCO cares about making news that will drive up its stock price. SCO targeted Linux because its widespread familiarity makes it a convenient news generator.

    4. Re:fraudsters by spitzak · · Score: 1

      Though BSD and Linux are technically equivalent, Linux has far more exposure in the popular press and for that reason it is Microsoft's #1 enemy.

      I think in fact some IT people install BSD and have to tell their bosses they installed "Linux" because the bosses know what Linux is and not BSD.

    5. Re:fraudsters by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think in fact some IT people install BSD and have to tell their bosses they installed "Linux" because the bosses know what Linux is and not BSD.

      Yes, the technical term for this practice is "lying".

    6. Re:fraudsters by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's a matter of licenses.

      Linux is based on GPL. You use the code, you release the source.

      BSD uses its own license; you can use the code however you like.

      If you're a convicted monopolist, and you want to use someone else's code for your own closed-source products, you can only use the code from a BSD license.

      What's happening with Linux is that more and more good code is coming out in a form that M$ can't use, because it's GPL.

      Hence SCUMX's and M$'s assaults on the GPL.

  48. If Linux goes ... by mcx101 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ... there's still FreeBSD. In the worst case scenario where SCO actually wins its legal battles making it difficult for people to use Linux any longer, FreeBSD could help lessen the sting. FreeBSD already has Linux binary compatibility and Debian is working on porting its tools for use with a FreeBSD kernel.

    It's hardly desirable that SCO does succeed, but at least there are open source alternatives (and AT&T already resolved the issue of proprietary UNIX code in BSD with University of California years ago).

    --
    My operat~1 system unders~1 long filena~1 , does yours?
    1. Re:If Linux goes ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Yes, but as far as I'm concerned the usability stats go roughly like this:

      (i) chance of arbitrary user successfully installing linux on an arbitrary x86 box? (Including getting X server up and running, etc.) About %90.

      (ii) chance of arbitrary user successfully installing FreeBSD on an arbitrary x86 box? (Including getting X server up and running, etc.) About %10.

    2. Re:If Linux goes ... by MonkeyDluffy · · Score: 1
      Well SCO has hinted at looking at the BSD settlement, so if the worst case scenario happens, even BSD isn't safe. But SCO will be gone long before that.

      -MDL

      --
      Happy meals fund terrorism
    3. Re:If Linux goes ... by mcx101 · · Score: 1

      chance of arbitrary user successfully installing FreeBSD on an arbitrary x86 box? (Including getting X server up and running, etc.) About %10.

      Linux is better supported by vendors who make desktop products e.g. SuSE and Red Hat. However, Linux is used mainly for servers, so if we compare a popular Linux distribution to FreeBSD in that context there's not much in it. Do you think an "arbitrary user" could set up X on Debian any more than they could on FreeBSD? Of course not.

      Moreover, if there were a switch from Linux to FreeBSD, then obviously it would also become better supported on the desktop.

      --
      My operat~1 system unders~1 long filena~1 , does yours?
    4. Re:If Linux goes ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, you're quite right - from a server point of view there's nothing in it. In reply to your last point, there would need to be a hefty amount of driver porting from linux to FreeBSD in order for it to get to where linux is now, and it's a little worrying with the threat of SCO over BSD as well, whether there would such a huge incentive for companies to do this.

    5. Re:If Linux goes ... by mcx101 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Well SCO has hinted at looking at the BSD settlement, so if the worst case scenario happens, even BSD isn't safe. But SCO will be gone long before that.

      It's pretty shocking that they have the audacity to say that. After all, in the SCO vs IBM case IBM had access to the UNIX source code. However, the developers of FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD have not had access to the UNIX source code, since BSD ceased to be based in the University of California, Berkeley and became a web-based project at the time of the settlement with AT&T.

      My guess is that SCO have just about zero chance of winning a case against BSD given the previous lawsuit, and that to attempt to dig it up again would be plain folly. At least in the IBM case they have breach of contract, access to SCO source code and the (possible) sympathy vote of big company ripping off little company.

      --
      My operat~1 system unders~1 long filena~1 , does yours?
    6. Re:If Linux goes ... by MonkeyDluffy · · Score: 3, Insightful
      It's pretty shocking that they have the audacity to say that.

      We're talking SCO here.

      ..and that to attempt to dig it up again would be plain folly.

      We're talking SCO here. Logic need not apply.

      -MDL

      --
      Happy meals fund terrorism
  49. Re:CA is hardly a saint (FUD ALERT) by DLG · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Interestingly enough, no one was or is jumping on said bandwagon. I have found it very interesting to read some of the ways that AC has been used to distract this discussion away from Microsoft/SCO.

    I don't think the question here is CA or IBM (another AC posted on how CA is almost as bad as IBM at FUD, which is interesting when the discussion is really on Microsoft and SCO.) but it is certainly good to spread the mud around to make things less clear. I also saw the statement that this was no different than media saying that linux advocates were behind MYDOOM, and that none of the Halloween papers had every been objectively proven as real, despite the fact that both this latest one and many early ones WERE confirmed by Microsoft (and in this case SCO).

    Just a warning to everyone, it seems like there is alot of counterattacks on Slashdot. This particular post might be legitimately from someone who has some grudge against CA and isn't really a press representative sent to sow some discord and confusion into a discussiont hat is already hard enough to follow.

  50. s/suggested/subjected/ by Get+Behind+the+Mule · · Score: 1

    (Dammit, and I previewed the post twice!)

  51. Wow... did these guys graduate from high school? by MC_Cancer_Pants · · Score: 1

    Apart from the numerous typos and incoherent thoughts, reading through this I found blatantly simple misspellings!

    "The next deal we
    should be able to get from $16-20, but it will be brutial as it is for
    go to makerket work and some licences."


    For those of you that don't see my point, brutial is not a word, makerket is not a ward, and licences is a misspelled word.

    This is just one sentence from the memo. I understand that typos are inherent in any memo, but Jesus, misspelling the word "licenses" or "brutal"?

    I'm not one to yell at someone for their grammar or spelling, but it was hard to find exactly what he was saying!

    You'd think that they could find some opensource spellchecker for sendmail to pretend that they wrote!

  52. Itchy Beard! by polyp2000 · · Score: 1

    "However, Stowell went on to say that the memo was misunderstood, and that Microsoft has not been funding SCO,"

    oooh yes, itchy beard, we beleive you. Just like we believe that there is infringing code in the linux kernel.

    --
    Electronic Music Made Using Linux http://soundcloud.com/polyp
  53. To SCO shareholders by 4eek · · Score: 0, Redundant

    If you havent gotten it by now, it would be the right time to shout "SELL!"

    --
    Every problem has a better solution when you start thinking it differently than the normal way.[Steve Wozniak]
    1. Re:To SCO shareholders by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you'd held on to SCO stock throughout this debacle, you'd have made money.

  54. Re:Yeah right.......the whole world misunderstood by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "and if I was an admin"

    Wow... What a revelation in that little quote alone.

    Now hush up and let the adults talk. Get me my coffee refill quick.

  55. Re:SCO in the vernacular.. SCO phrases by gnutechguy · · Score: 2, Funny

    Don't forget SCO phrases:

    "Don't pull a 'SCO' on me"

    -To suddenly forget a promise, fail to meet an agreement, or just be obstructive

    "You're SCO'd"

    i.e. screwed

    "He's been SCOing from the start"

    i.e. lying

    --

    ... and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise
  56. ESR vs Darl, pistols at 20 paces by John+Harrison · · Score: 3, Funny
    The tech worlds two most controversial gun nuts taking each other on!

    SCO could sponsor the duel and put it on pay-per-view. They could rent a boat and do it out at sea since, as I've learned from The Simpsons, "Anything is legal in international waters."

    1. Re:ESR vs Darl, pistols at 20 paces by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd pay to see that.

  57. Re:CA is hardly a saint (FUD ALERT) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    This particular post might be legitimately from someone who has some grudge against CA

    Yes, I do have a grudge against CA. At the same time, it's a good thing that CA isn't squarely on SCO's side. CA has a lot of experience in bulldozering not only the competition, but also its own customers away, and coming out smelling like roses. SCO is coming out smelling like shit, and that's a Good Thing.

  58. OCR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I assumed the spelling mistakes were due to OCR scanning of a printed page. If the party who sent it to ESR was rushed, s/he may have quickly printed the email and then scanned it later to send off. ESR would print it exactly how it was received, with OCR errors intact.

    If you read the groklaw articles, you'll see that the initial posting of court documents are full of the same types of errors since they're scanned from the official court documents (usually in pdf format). The readers then proof it and PJ corrects them as they're pointed out.

  59. Damages to CA by gmac63 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Barrenechea and CA's Linux chief Sam Greenblatt are worried that CA will be tarred with the SCO brush and that CA's considerable Linux ambitions will be damaged by a disaffected, if not hostile, open source community when in reality CA has "nothing to do with SCO's strategy and tactics," they said.

    Advice to CA:

    Document,
    Document,
    Document,
    Litigate.
    Burn SCO alive.

    --

    INSERT INTO comment VALUE('Doh!') WHERE user='you';
  60. Re:Wow... did these guys graduate from high school by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I think you'll find that 'licence' is the correct way of spelling the word, unlike the corrupted, colonial version you might be more familiar with, old bean. ;-)

  61. MS funding and the Halloween documents by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The Halloween 3 document ( http://www.opensource.org/halloween/halloween3.php ), first posted by Eric on Nov 5. 1998, contains an interesting quote:

    "Unless Linux violates IP rights, it will fail to deliver innovation over the long run."

    The comment by Eric is even more interesting:

    { This final remark is worthy of an essay all by itself. It is the least logical -- and at the same time, most damning -- assertion in Ms. van den Berg's entire statement.
    As propaganda, it has a superficial cleverness. It plants the idea that any MIS manager so foolish as to use Linux will find his operating system yanked out from under him by a future patent lawsuit -- perhaps one initiated by (whisper it) Microsoft itself. It's a perfect FUD tactic. ...snip... }

    More clear sighted theory there than anyone would have thought, 5 years ago.

    1. Re:MS funding and the Halloween documents by scrytch · · Score: 1

      Oh wow gee, Eric's such a visionary. Let's count the number of patent lawsuits SCO has filed. Oh that's right, ZERO .

      I for one wish he would have kept his snippy adolescent quips out of the original documents.

      --
      I've finally had it: until slashdot gets article moderation, I am not coming back.
    2. Re:MS funding and the Halloween documents by TampaTim · · Score: 1

      What is your point exactly? These lawsuits follow a very similar line of thought. No they are not patent lawsuits per se, but if they were the strategy would be the same. Do you think Eric was smoking crack to say that the logic of the statement "If there is any innovation in Linux it will violate IP" is bogus?

  62. Why is this so hard to understand? by nagora · · Score: 4, Interesting
    SCO's entire argument is that it owns ALL Unix-like systems. If they get Linux they'll use that as precedent for *BSD, OS-X and anything else they can get a hold of. The money they could make if they get away with this would put MS's contribution in the shade.

    SCO are totally dishonest and they will repeat the "Linux is ours" routine until someone stops them.

    TWW

    --
    "Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
    1. Re:Why is this so hard to understand? by mcx101 · · Score: 2, Informative

      If they get Linux they'll use that as precedent for *BSD, OS-X and anything else they can get a hold of.

      Successfully suing IBM or others re Linux is not a precedent for suing any 4.4BSD derivative. However, a successful lawsuit against a company using a 4.4BSD derivative might be a precedent for a successful Linux lawsuit where BSD code has been used in Linux.

      Of course that's not really what the issue is at all. SCO is unlikely to sue a BSD user or a company selling a BSD derivative. They may try and claim that some of the proprietary code in BSD which was removed in the AT&T settlement made its way into Linux, or that copyright notices on BSD code were removed. You should have a look at this article which cleared the matter up for me.

      --
      My operat~1 system unders~1 long filena~1 , does yours?
    2. Re:Why is this so hard to understand? by nagora · · Score: 1
      Successfully suing IBM or others re Linux is not a precedent for suing any 4.4BSD derivative.

      Perhaps I should have said "pretext". I'm not arguing that there would be any merit in such a case, but there isn't any in the Linux case either and look at the trouble they're causing.

      Because these cases will all involve lenghty technical argument it is almost impossible for a judge to simply throw them out as the baseless stock-pumping exercises they would really be, so no matter the realities of SCO's position they are have the potential to really disrupt the activities of anyone that MS, er... SCO see as a competitor.

      As regards the facts of the AT&&T settlement you have to remember that SCO are liars and crooks and have no interest in what that settlement said; their only aim is to start law cases and thereby disrupt their targets while the legal process takes months and years to toss them out on their ears.

      Speaking from experience, the law is very poor at handling people with no morals at all. The assuption that both sides have some validity and honesty in their arguments gives people like Darl a very undeserved strength in court at least for a while.

      TWW

      --
      "Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
    3. Re:Why is this so hard to understand? by rixstep · · Score: 2, Interesting

      SCO are totally dishonest and they will repeat the "Linux is ours" routine until someone stops them.

      A. How much real research is going into Belgian Blue (Longhorn)? They're more behind schedule every day, with specs tossed out of previous versions of NT for a very good reason.

      B. Chris Gulker and others say MS will come out with their own Linux, not with Longhorn.

      Who's to say the delays are not because MS are monitoring the SCO situation - that they stand poised to buy SCO (who could stop them) at which point they basically own Linus?

  63. did anyone think during reading... by ShadowRage · · Score: 5, Funny

    of the iraqi minister of communications while reading this?

    *que some sco guy getting a check from bill gates and a pat on the back*
    "No! that isnt what you think it is! microsoft isnt giving us $86 million dollars and encouragement to take out IBM and linux.. so it isnt! no! we are the true owners of linux! linus is running a huge corporation that is taking over 95% of the desktop mark...er... what?"

    1. Re:did anyone think during reading... by ignavus · · Score: 1

      I'm really getting bored with people bringing up the former iraqi minister of communications every time SCO says something evasive. Look, the Iraqi guy had his 5 seconds of fame (or infamy) a *year* ago.

      Find a new joke. One a year shouldn't be too hard.

      And go look up the word 'stale' in a dictionary. Especially the adjective.

      --
      I am anarch of all I survey.
  64. And I suppose.. by wrax · · Score: 1
    that we're just supposed to believe Microsoft and SCO really didn't have any deals from what their PR people said? HA!

    I'm sure that their's no evidence now of any goings on after the story broke and someone went barreling for the shredder.

  65. I would like to see... by Maljin+Jolt · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...CA suing SCO for PR damage.

    --
    There you are, staring at me again.
  66. Re:Yeah right.......the whole world misunderstood by MoreDruid · · Score: 2, Funny
    Maybe he had the same teachers as G.W. Bush... and now he's just misunderestimated...

    Right?

    --
    The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy, but the best weapon of a democracy should be the weapon of openness.
  67. Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    CA couldn't disassociate itself from the rumors that identified it as that licensee because of an NDA that the Canopy side had insisted on hedging in the $40 million settlement

    Wow. Proof that not only is Canopy behind all this, but they're pre-meditating the lies they're feeding to the public.

  68. One problem with that theory by Groo+Wanderer · · Score: 5, Funny

    These events happened yesterday, and this is the stock market we are talking about. It was more than 15 min ago, and the traders saw a shiny thing between now and then, it will have no bearing on today's trading.

    -Charlie

  69. Re:Yeah right.......the whole world misunderstood by Black+Parrot · · Score: 1


    > Memo misunderstood? Is SCO now implying to the world at large that all of us had failed our english comprehension?

    Was that memo in English???

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  70. Interesting settlement by UnknowingFool · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Basically this is a very creative spin on a settlement CA did with Canopy Group regarding a breach of contract settlement totally unrelated to Linux. Associated with that settlement was a set of UnixWare licenses to which SCO has taken the liberty of attaching these 'Linux IP' licenses."

    Isn't this right out of the MS playbook? When MS agreed to settle with the Justice department, part of the original settlement proposed millions of dollars of vouchers for schools redeemable only for MS software. Later when it's competitors complained that this just extended their monopoly, it was changed to any software or hardware.

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    1. Re:Interesting settlement by rixstep · · Score: 1

      Isn't this right out of the MS playbook?

      Of course it is!

      Why is everybody else on drugs?

  71. Arrrrrggg!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    ..as I've learned from The Simpsons, "Anything is legal in international waters."
    Not piracy ye scallywag!!
    [I advise ye not to ruin me Pirate comment with yer gibber of mp3 booty]
    1. Re:Arrrrrggg!! by archivis · · Score: 1

      I'll be Pegleg Pete, you can be the one-eyed Parrot!

      --
      In July O7, I got a mac pro. There's no punchline. Just endless joy and wonder.
  72. Read Goebels by jotaeleemeese · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Look for his quote about repeating a lie too many times.

    Tonto.

    --
    IANAL but write like a drunk one.
  73. Yah keep thinking that. by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 3, Insightful
    BSD isn't safe. Even Windows itself isn't safe. We got a maddog and you are thinking it will stop attacking? McInsane even said that they might go after BSD as well.

    And unlike linux BSD doesn't have any large backers. Who is going to pay your lawyers? No BSD better hope that linux wins this battle. If it looses all the other free software projects are next. SCO would be rich and have precedent.

    That settlement would mean nothing to SCO. Truth doesn't. Why should a deal they never signed do?

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

    1. Re:Yah keep thinking that. by CycoChuck · · Score: 1

      Why wouldn't Windows be safe if MS is paying SCO for the law suites? The only reason I can see the SCO would sue MS is if Bubba Gates tells Darl to sue him so that MS can say "if we gave SCO money, then why are they sueing us?".

      --
      Windows is as solid as quicksand.
    2. Re:Yah keep thinking that. by muffen · · Score: 1

      McInsane

      I've always been thinking that McDonalds should name a burger after McBride (I mean, how good wouldn't it feel it eat a McBride for lunch) :)

      I must say that McInsane is an even better name for it :)

    3. Re:Yah keep thinking that. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry, I'm not sure I agree. The idea of eating McInsane is directly linked to thoughts of severe indigestion in my head :-D

    4. Re:Yah keep thinking that. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And unlike linux BSD doesn't have any large backers. Who is going to pay your lawyers?

      In my world, having close to $5,000,000,000 in the bank with no debts and developing a major operating system from a BSD core, makes Apple with OS X a fairly large backer.

  74. Where then does this "short interest" come from? by gotan · · Score: 2, Interesting

    All the time i thought that this was an indication that SCO-stock was massively sold short and that those sellers needed 2.4 million shares (as of Feb. 13) to cover their sales.

    --
    "By the way if anyone here is in advertising or marketing... kill yourself." -- Bill Hicks
  75. Re:Yeah right.......the whole world misunderstood by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > I need some clarification. By Darl's teachers, did you mean Stalin, or Lenin?

    Both were friendly people in comparison, they just happened to have had actual power ;P

  76. you're an incredible idiot by Ender+Ryan · · Score: 4, Insightful
    You are an incredible idiot. The constant rebuttals on Slashdot and Groklaw(especially Groklaw) are occasionally picked up by the media, which is the only reason anyone at all knows that SCO is full of shit. Without which, SCO's share price would likely be higher, their execs a little richer, and fewer eyes digging up dirt on SCO.

    You have read some of IBM's arguments, no? A lot of it looks like it came right off Slashdot, just presented more professionally.

    Maybe you want people to shut up so SCO has a better chance? Do you own SCO shares?

    --
    Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
    1. Re:you're an incredible idiot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you not only prove my sig but I'm pretty sure that IBM's lawyers have not been prowling through slashdot looking for arguments. In the same token, I doubt that wallstreet traders are sitting around going "well, damn, this site's mentioned SCO for the 15th time today...that's the magic number for us to start driving the price lower."

      My parent post was not about SCO and their fraudulent claims, it was about the fact that /. is going overboard with stories about it. One a day would be sufficient. There are plently of other interesting technology stories that are getting passed over for the latest gossip on SCO. Its the technology equivalent of what J.Lo and Ben Affleck are doing at the moment.

      Lastly, yes, you're an idiot.

    2. Re:you're an incredible idiot by Ender+Ryan · · Score: 2, Interesting
      All I can say is that you haven't read a lot of IBM's legal documents, and you haven't payed enough attention to what the media picks up about the case. The media has cited slashdot a number of times, and a number of times bits of information were first broken in actual slashdot comments.

      Lastly, your sig is a sure sign of your own ignorance. I'm going to walk out on a limb and assume you do not use Linux much, if at all, and are in fact intimidated by the prospect of learning something new, ie. learning about *nix, hence your defensiveness with regards to your own sig. Your sig is a ridiculous blanket statement that bears absolutely no resemblence to the facts, those facts being that many large companies are adopting Linux and are in no way influenced by the more juvenile Linux proponents. The real influence is by companies like RedHat, IBM, HP, etc.

      You don't like the SCO stories, fucking piss off then.

      --
      Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
    3. Re:you're an incredible idiot by Jaysyn · · Score: 1

      Notice the high UID? It's a trend I tell you...

      Jaysyn

      --
      There is a war going on for your mind.
  77. Purposely leaked? by iksrazal_br · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Since sco is arguably on a suicide mission, perhaps they are trying to drag everyone down with them. Maybe the ms money dried up and they want to burn that bridge too.

    Any other possible motives for a planned leak?

    "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." Stephen Hawking

    1. Re:Purposely leaked? by wrecked · · Score: 1

      If that is true, then it would have been far more effective if they had leaked e-mail from Microsoft, rather from Mike Anders.

  78. Ashcroft in hostpital by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    First SCO is being made fools of, now Ashcroft is hospitalized.. One day, software might just be free at last.

    1. Re:Ashcroft in hostpital by LMCBoy · · Score: 0, Troll

      If surgery is required, perhaps they can bleed out his boated evil gland while they're in there...

      --
      Liberal (adj.): Free from bigotry; open to progress; tolerant of others.
  79. Unless of course.... by gosand · · Score: 1
    Being the most hated doesn't make them the most feared. You're correct that MS is the biggest threat to Open Source. That isn't a reason to hate them, but to be wary of them. Granted, they have used some despicable tactics in the past and are masters of FUD, but nothing they've ever done rises to the level of what SCO has been attempting.

    Unless of course they funded SCO.

    In which case SCO is just a pathetic crack-whore, robbing people to pay the pimp.

    --

    My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.

  80. Bill in the Shadows by Walrus99 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    As I understand it (correct me if I'm wrong), C|Net has ties to Microsoft, so its no surprise that they took SCO's side of the story.

    Also, did you notice at the bottom of the story the "white papers" claiming savings in running MS servers rather than Linux servers? These same "white papers" have been linked from other SCO stories on C|Net.

    So who is pulling the strings on all this???

    1. Re:Bill in the Shadows by BenBenBen · · Score: 1
      Also, did you notice at the bottom of the story the "white papers" claiming savings in running MS servers rather than Linux servers? These same "white papers" have been linked from other SCO stories on C|Net.
      /. runs the MS adverts about Win2K3 having a lower TCO than Linux.

      It's all just marketing crap.
      --
      The Slashdot Paradox: "100% Overrated"
  81. Don't forget his tutor! by Elminst · · Score: 1

    Machiavelli.

    --
    No unauthorized use. Trespassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot again.
  82. More scrutiny for a monopolist by redelm · · Score: 4, Insightful
    BG might be able to get away with that argument for StarBucks.

    Yes, the "unwise investment" defense could be given a workout. But do not forget that MS is an adjudged monopolist (upheld on appeal) and thus it's and BG's behaviour is held to a different standard.

    Since SCO is in the "computer field", any transactions between it and MS/large shareholders is subject to anti-trust scrutiny.

    1. Re:More scrutiny for a monopolist by FuzzyBad-Mofo · · Score: 1

      Especially when it's an under-the-table deal like this was. If they're such an upstanding business, why do they resort to shady deals to undermine their competitors?

    2. Re:More scrutiny for a monopolist by GPLDAN · · Score: 1

      THe slippery slope here is the word "competitor". The competition here is not another company. It's an open source O/S. So, who is the plaintiff here, who has been wronged? Redhat? Suse? Novell? IBM?

    3. Re:More scrutiny for a monopolist by FuzzyBad-Mofo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      So, who is the plaintiff here, who has been wronged? Redhat? Suse? Novell? IBM?

      Yes.

    4. Re:More scrutiny for a monopolist by ArekRashan · · Score: 1
      Mod parent UP. This is the purpose and function of antitrust, to prevent a monopoly from undermining, defeating, and eradicating an entire capital industry. A monopolist has the potential to severely harm all of their competitors. If you are a company marketing software or software services, then you are in competition with Microsoft.

      Too bad.

  83. SCO going bankrupt won't help by EmagGeek · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Because part of going bankrupt is to divest all assets, including Intellectual Property. Someone (like Microsoft) would probably leverage their power to buy all Intellectual Property interests left by the demise of SCO and continue these lawsuits on their own.

    Point is, the problem won't simply "go away" if SCO does. Someone else, like Canopy, Baystar, M$, or even IBM, could pick up the ball and run with it.. .

    1. Re:SCO going bankrupt won't help by the_flatlander · · Score: 2, Informative
      Because part of going bankrupt is to divest all assets, including Intellectual Property. Someone (like Microsoft) would probably leverage their power to buy all Intellectual Property interests left by the demise of SCO and continue these lawsuits on their own.
      And that is what IBM's counter suit is for. There will be no remaining "Intellectual", (or any other, for that matter), property left when IBM's patent infringment and Lanham Act violations damages are awarded. This disease dies with the SCOundrels!

      The Flatlander

      Hey Darl? Is that a subpoena in your pocket? Or are you just happy to sue us?

    2. Re:SCO going bankrupt won't help by spitzak · · Score: 1

      Doesn't IBM end up with it if they win?

      IBM could easily turn on everybody as soon as that nasty Microsoft is finished off. Watch out.

      Ideally IBM should do something like put all the rights in the public domain. As a business decision it may make sense due to the enormous immediate karma benefits.

    3. Re:SCO going bankrupt won't help by Sloppy · · Score: 1

      After McBride goes to prison, how many people are going to want to follow his example?

      --
      As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
  84. OSDI/Linus should sue SCO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    OSDL or Linus should start to sue SCO. Linus wrote the code and he should sue SCO for theft! OSDL got a 10 million for legel defense. OSDL shouldn't worry about money. I am sure IBM will more than happy to pipe more money to OSDL. To crash out SCO's cash reserve, we should start more legal actions against SCO. Until they stop bugging Linux users. Even a small suit, they will have to pay a lawyer to handle it.

  85. Global Issues by Short+Circuit · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I had a class in high school called "Global Issues" ... I hated it. It made me aware of things I didn't want to know about, like female circumcision, Waco, Ruby Ridge, anti-abortion violence and domestic terrorism. And we watched "Arlington Road" (which really disturbed me.)

    And the teacher seemed to me to be an obsessive conspiracy theorist.

    But when I have kids, I'll make sure they take that class. It opened my eyes to a lot of stuff that I used to change the channel on.

    This was at Grandville High School, if anyone cares. Call your local school district and tell them you want them to adopt a class like it.

    1. Re:Global Issues by torpor · · Score: 1

      And the teacher seemed to me to be an obsessive conspiracy theorist.

      The problem with conspiracy theorists can best be summed up with this simple question: "What if they are right?"

      --
      ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
    2. Re:Global Issues by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "But when I have kids"

      You're making a pretty big assumption that you'll be allowed to mate and breed.

  86. no, I think he wants to be Ceaucescu... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the "free-market Stalinist" as Christopher Hitchens put it. Of course, D.M. seems to have the same misunderstanding of his position in the world and in the results of his ambition as his role model. He probably hopes that SCO's run doesn't end like Ceaucescu's, which would explain the gun...

  87. In the words of Marvin Gaye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Mother, mother
    There's to many of you crying
    Brother, brother, brother
    There's far too many of you dying
    You know we've got to find a way
    To bring some lovin' here today - Yah

    Father, father
    We don't need to escalate
    You see, war is not the answer
    For only love can conquer hate
    You know we've got to find a way
    To bring some lovin' here today

    Picket lines and picket signs
    Don't punish me with brutality
    Talk to me
    So you can see
    Oh, what's SCOing on
    What's SCOing
    Ya, what's SCOing on
    Ah, what's SCOing on

    In the mean time
    Right on, baby
    Right on
    Right on

    Father, father, everybody thinks we're wrong
    Oh, but who are they to judge us
    Simply because our hair is long
    Oh, you know we've got to find a way
    To bring some understanding here today
    Oh

    Picket lines and picket signs
    Don't punish me with brutality
    Talk to me,
    So you can see
    Oh, what's SCOing on
    What's SCOing on
    I?ll tell you Ya, what's SCOing on - Uh
    Ah, what's SCOing on
    Right on baby
    Right on baby

  88. What a contrast between CA and EV1 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    CA sees, knows where the future is headed, and calls it like it is, "stopping just short of calling SCO a liar".

    While EV1 mumbles some half-hearted SCO PR in order to justify it's "license" purchase, one I believe it made purely for the publicity aspect just prior to launching a new data center.

    I'll continue to buy from and otherwise support CA.

    Fsck EV1, they can rot with SCO in hell.

  89. MOD OFFTOPIC! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have no dealings with CA and they may or may not be evil bastards but there are suddenly a lot of anonymous posts in this story proclaiming the evils of CA.

    smells fishy, like astroturf.

  90. Oscar for worst performance goes to.. by glassesmonkey · · Score: 1

    This article talks more about Questar and confirms our worst fears! It's pretty clear to me that thanks to RIAA, people can sued into submission. I think there will be many other smaller companies who just pay a few $thousand to make it all go away.

    "Questar whom reports quote as claiming their use of Linux to be so light that the trifling cost of paying off SCO was the better option to the likelihood of meeting the ever-more litigious SCO in court."

  91. photoshop SCO getting Pw3nD by TubeSteak · · Score: 1

    "You got Sc0'd"
    lets see some photoshopping

    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
  92. CA by Quill_28 · · Score: 1

    Someone at CA is worried about ethics?

    Woohoo, that's a good one.

    1. Re:CA by ces · · Score: 1

      Someone at CA is worried about ethics?

      Yea, it's got to be a pretty low blow when even CA employees start calling your company unethical.

      I guess that shows just how slimy SCO is.

      --
      Happy Fun Ball is for external use only.
  93. SCO can and has by burgburgburg · · Score: 1

    IANAL: SCO can and has subpoenaed IBM's email records. Microsoft can't because it isn't their lawsuit or counterlawsuit. They'd just be a potential witness.

  94. I don't know if you right by bogie · · Score: 1

    "but nothing they've ever done rises to the level of what SCO has been attempting."

    What's worse? SCO who is attacking linux at its core in a very public way in the courts with made up facts that won't pan out in the end. Or Microsoft who every time a company or government thinks about using Linux they send some executive to cut out a deal where they give away Microsoft products for basically Free? Even worse than SCO's court case is they way Microsoft gets to those in power. Microsoft has successfully gotten to high level government officials and even slowed Linux adoption on an international level by getting US officially to petition against Linux use on a global level.

    If your a true believer in FOSS you'll hate Microsoft as well. You may have to support Windows in your job or at home, you may have to treat Windows users with respect online, and you may have to admit that XP or Win2k3 are pretty good OS's. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't hate Microsoft's goal of destroying Linux or their constantly unethical behavior.

    --
    If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
    1. Re:I don't know if you right by zangdesign · · Score: 1

      But that doesn't mean you shouldn't hate Microsoft's goal of destroying Linux

      That's just standard business practice. Why shouldn't I consider competitors lethal enemies to be destroyed at the first opportunity? There's only so much money to go around and in business, what's important to the stockholders is the profit margin. They paid their money, they expect a return - if I'm a businessman, it's my job to get it.

      or their constantly unethical behavior.

      I disagree with you on this, also. Illegal behaviour, I'm completely against. Unethical behaviour, since it's not by definition, illegal, is more difficult to define. What's unethical to you may have no meaning to someone else.

      The only standard one can objectively apply is measuring behaviour against the law. If a company breaks the law, then I have no sympathy whatsoever - fine them, jail them, whatever. But until they cross that line, they're free to move around as their conscience and public opinion dictate.

      --
      To celebrate the occasion of my 1000th post, I will post no more forever on Slashdot. Goodbye.
    2. Re:I don't know if you right by jackbird · · Score: 1
      Aiming for 100% market share is not a standard business practice. Most large and successful companies understand this.

      MS's failure to understand this led to its illegal behavior and subsequent anti-trust conviction

      By way of comparison: GM does not fund baseless 3rd-party lawsuits against owners of Toyotas in an attempt to slow Toyota's sales.

      GM does not require strange and secret fuel mixtures in their vehicles in an attempt to extract license fees from gas stations.

      GM does not send free cars to countries that are considering fleets of Toyota vehicles for government services.

      GM does not make it intentionally difficult to park one of their cars in the same garage as a Toyota.

  95. haha.. by multiinteruserface · · Score: 1

    Court Using Linux Hears Lawsuit Claiming Linux Infringes Copyright wtf is this..? http://www.corante.com/importance/archives/002243. html i hear SCO want to style themselves on the RIAA.. this sort of thing is a good start..

  96. CA should sue SCO for libel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    SCO's misrepresentations have tarnished CA's reputation. CA has a case for libel. Even if CA did not ultimately prevail, suing SCO would be a great PR boost for CA in the open software world.

  97. Refresh an old-timer's memory please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    When I worked for Tandy back in the good old days, Microsoft supplied us with the Xenix OS for the 68000-based systems (Model 16s & 6000s). At some point in the early 80's, Microsoft sold off the Xenix system (then based on Unix v7, if I recall) to Santa Cruz Operation. My understanding was that M$ owned 25% or so of SCO as part of that deal.

    Did this change or am I senile?

    1. Re:Refresh an old-timer's memory please by zhenlin · · Score: 2, Informative

      The SCO that bought Xenix from Microsoft is not the SCO that currently owns Xenix.

      That is to say, the SCO that bought Xenix is now Tarantella and the SCO that currently owns Xenix was Caldera.

    2. Re:Refresh an old-timer's memory please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I did a search and found a little page mentioning this.
      http://williambader.com/museum/dell/xenixhistory.h tml
      "Caldera http://www.caldera.com bought Unix from SCO http://www.sco.com in 2000. SCO changed its name to Tarantella http://www.tarantella.com/ but kept rights to the name SCO. In mid-2002, Caldera bought name SCO from Tarantella and renamed itself the SCO Group."

  98. you mean 'aspersions' not dispersions... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    otherwise worthy of +5 funny.

  99. Microsoft Doesn't Pay Income Tax by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    To the government MS is simply a healthy company bringing in a boatload of cash, who cares if they don't play by the rules [of capitalism].
    Bringing in boatloads of cash for whom? You are aware that Microsoft doesn't pay income tax aren't you?
    1. Re:Microsoft Doesn't Pay Income Tax by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For Congressmen and Senators who do what they are told for large amounts of under-the-counter cash.

    2. Re:Microsoft Doesn't Pay Income Tax by nobody69 · · Score: 1

      Bringing in boatloads of cash for whom? You are aware that Microsoft doesn't pay income tax aren't you?

      Politicians aren't generally concerned about who is paying too little taxes. They are always concerned about whose business is suffering and who may lose their jobs. So when a company the size of MS says they are being hurt, pols listen. Especially when MS starts talking about all their vendors being hurt and every company that sells MS, or every MCSE losing work, politicians start paying lots of attention. Therefore, when big companies are happy and not complaining (rightly or not), politicians are happy.

      --
      "Bugger this, I want a better world." - Jenny Sparks
  100. thank you by andih8u · · Score: 1

    For the only reasonably stated intelligent reply. Your argument is persuasive. :)

    --


    slashdot, news for crazed liberal socialist zealots
    1. Re:thank you by Ender+Ryan · · Score: 1
      For the only reasonably stated intelligent reply.

      You mean the only reply that didn't insult you? Aren't you full of yourself.

      --
      Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
    2. Re:thank you by andih8u · · Score: 1

      yes, and you're still an idiot

      --


      slashdot, news for crazed liberal socialist zealots
  101. How fiendishly clever! by El · · Score: 4, Funny

    Blake Stowell, knowing that we will never beleive a word he says, claims the memo is real to convince us that it was faked!

    --

    "Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney

  102. If true, makes sense by utlemming · · Score: 1

    Well, with IBM abandoning M$, I could by M$ funding a slush fund to attack Linux.

    --
    The views expressed are mine own and do not express the views of my employer.
  103. Just to prove you wrong... by Little+Brother · · Score: 1
    I was wrong about the comments I made about Microsoft in the previous thread.

    Sadly, I didn't make any comments in the previous thread, but if I had, I'm sure they would have been wrong. Ok, nothing to see here, move along.

    --

    Little Brother, watching the watchers

  104. It wasn't seven figures at all. by Schwartzboy · · Score: 2, Funny

    No, no, no.

    I'm sick of you people constantly misquoting reputable news sources and press releases from large companies, already. It wasn't a payment of seven figures at all...it was seven fingers, as made famous in the Neo/Agent Smith scene in the original Matrix film. As in "How about I give you the finger...and you give me my phone call."

    It's just that EV1 had each of seven highly-placed executives give Darl the finger, resulting in a payment of seven fingers.

    I do so hate having to correct you people.

    --
    "Linux doesn't exist. Everyone knows Linux is an unlicensed version of Unix"- Kieren O'Shaughnessy
  105. The Constitution by rjh · · Score: 3, Informative

    They'd just be a potential witness.

    The United States Constitution guarantees that litigants will "have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor" (Amendment VI). While Amendment VI is construed strictly towards criminal trials, the right to have a compulsory process to obtain witnesses has been construed to also apply to criminal trials.

    A subpoena is the classic tool used to compel witnesses to testify. MS has no protection from subpoena just because it isn't a direct party to the lawsuit(s).

  106. BSA does other dirty work as well by Christian+Engstrom · · Score: 1
    Can you cite any instances where MS unleashed the BSA hellhounds on someone for anything OTHER than unlicensed software use?
    Microsoft is also using BSA as a tool for trying to influence the European Union to follow America's lead and introducing software patents, with a view to making it illegal, or at least impossible in practice, for any small or medium-sized company to even try to compete with Microsoft. You can find more info about it here at the FFII site.

    So this particular hellhound isn't restricted to biting, if there's a politician around it can lick as well.

    --
    Christian Engström, Former Member of the European Parliament 2009-2014 for The Pirate Party, Sweden
  107. A question of legality? by BCW2 · · Score: 1

    If SCO actually added something (Linux IP paragraphs) to an already issued and accepted license for something else, would that be fraud? There is just something that sounds blatantly wrong about modifying an existing agreement without both parties approval.

    Any legal types know the answer?

    Isn't it a conflict of interest to elect lawyers to Congress where thry write laws in souch convoluted language as to guarantee perpetual employment to themselves and their peers?

    --
    Professional Politicians are not the solution, they ARE the problem.
    1. Re:A question of legality? by twistedcubic · · Score: 1

      They didn't add anything to the license. They only threatened to sue companies who use Linux, and some companies paid them off to avoid being sued.

    2. Re:A question of legality? by spitzak · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It's a weird kind of fraud. SCO can claim it would be like buying a candybar and discovering a $1 bill in there, it would not make sense to complain to the candy manufacturer that they did not tell you they added a dollar bill to every candy bar.

      Of course the reason they did this was so they could make the press release. But you could say that the press release does not harm CA so there is no fraud?

    3. Re:A question of legality? by BCW2 · · Score: 1

      If CA actually has any boxes running Linux you get a question of license enforcement. That is the problem I'm look at. Trying to enforce something that wasn't part of the original agreement but unilateraly added later.

      Anyone that thinks SCO wouldn't do that is not paying attention. It fits their current stratagy to a T.

      --
      Professional Politicians are not the solution, they ARE the problem.
  108. Entire Text of LA Times story by sik0fewl · · Score: 3, Informative

    You got all the good stuff but here's the whole thing.


    SCO Confronting Its Creation Company's CEO is taking precautions as the head of the 'most despised' tech firm.

    From Bloomberg News

    Darl McBride, chief executive of SCO Group Inc., says he sometimes carries a gun because his enemies are out to kill him. He checks into hotels under assumed names. An armed bodyguard protected him when he gave a speech last month at Harvard Law School.

    Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux operating system, calls SCO "the most despised company in technology."

    The reason: SCO Group is claiming rights to the Linux open source software code that thousands of users and supporters say should have no owner. SCO filed a $50-billion suit against IBM Corp. last year and on Wednesday turned on Linux users DaimlerChrysler and AutoZone Inc., seeking an injunction and unspecified damages.

    "We are fighting the big battle," McBride said in a telephone interview from his office at SCO headquarters in Lindon, Utah, 40 miles south of Salt Lake City.

    McBride, 44, is pitting SCO against an industry it once helped develop. Less than two years ago SCO, formerly Caldera International Inc., was helping to form a standard version of Linux to compete with Microsoft Corp.'s Windows. Once McBride took the helm in June 2002, SCO changed tack, hired attorney David Boies -- who won the government's antitrust suit against Microsoft -- and began claiming that Linux users infringed SCO's intellectual property.

    Linux has attracted thousands of individuals and firms, some of whom see it as the only credible threat to Windows. Others use it because it's cheaper.

    The software is now being used by companies ranging from DaimlerChrysler, the world's largest maker of luxury cars, to Lehman Bros. Inc., the fourth-largest U.S. securities firm by capital, to Google Inc., the world's most widely used Internet search engine. Lockheed Martin Corp., the world's largest defense contractor, also has servers that run on Linux as part of its computer network.

    IBM pushes computers that run on the Linux operating system. Shipments of Linux-powered server computers, fast machines used to run websites, rose 53% in the fourth quarter, more than double the rate of Windows servers, according to market researcher IDC.

    McBride and SCO are more hated than Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, and its Chairman Bill Gates, according to some Linux backers. That's because SCO, once a backer of Linux, has turned around and attacked the essence of the system: its free source code.

    "SCO are just complete hypocrites," said Jeremy Allison, co-author of Samba, an open source software that runs a file and print service that SCO sells.

    SCO says it owns the copyright to the Unix system and that parts of the Unix code have been copied into Linux. SCO is demanding payment from each user of Linux. Novell Inc. separately is disputing SCO's claim to Unix.

    SCO claims IBM is distributing the Linux software containing its copyrighted Unix code. It claims companies such as Red Hat Inc. are building products using the same code.

    DaimlerChrysler spokesman Han Tjan said he had no comment on SCO's lawsuit. AutoZone CEO Steve Odland declined to comment on the claims. IBM spokeswoman Trink Guarino said the lawsuit is groundless and the company will contest it.

    "The real reason why people don't like SCO, and Darl McBride in particular, is that he is so dishonest," Torvalds, 34, said in an e-mail.

    --
    I remember when legal used to mean lawful, now it means some kind of loophole. - Leo Kessler
  109. Re:Yeah right.......the whole world misunderstood by DA-MAN · · Score: 1

    I need some clarification. By Darl's teachers, did you mean Stalin, or Lenin?

    Come on dude, why bash the Beatles?

    --
    Can I get an eye poke?
    Dog House Forum
  110. SCO's giving licenses away and then claiming... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting
    the recipients had 'purchased' them.


    Nice ploy, but it's not working.


    Say, McBride, is MS still funneling money to you via third parties, aka Baystar? How does it feel to be Bill Gate's Lawn Jockey?

  111. Off Topic, but still interesting... by gmac63 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Whilst logging into a 7 year old SCO UnixWare box:

    UnixWare 2.1.3 (Bradley) (pts/2)

    login: etr
    Password:
    UX:in.login: INFO: Your password will expire in 5 days
    UnixWare 2.1.3
    Bradley
    Copyright 1996 The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    Copyright 1984-1995 Novell, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    Copyright 1987, 1988 Microsoft Corp. All Rights Reserved.
    U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,642
    Last login: Fri Mar 5 10:26:10 2004 on pts001

    You have mail
    Display Desktop (y/n)? n
    $

    Hmmmm. Copyright 1984-1995 Novell, Inc. All Rights Reserved.??? Whats this???

    --

    INSERT INTO comment VALUE('Doh!') WHERE user='you';
    1. Re:Off Topic, but still interesting... by ces · · Score: 1

      Copyright 1984-1995 Novell, Inc. All Rights Reserved.??? Whats this???

      UnixWare was the old AT&T/Novell port of System V R4 to the i386.

      Novell bought out all of AT&T's rights to UNIX including all copyrights, patents, and trademarks.

      When old-SCO bought UnixWare from Novell they didn't buy the copyrights (or patents). Therefore old-SCO had to include notice of Novell's copyrights and patents.

      --
      Happy Fun Ball is for external use only.
    2. Re:Off Topic, but still interesting... by gmac63 · · Score: 1

      Exactly!

      --

      INSERT INTO comment VALUE('Doh!') WHERE user='you';
  112. Re:Yeah right.......the whole world misunderstood by indigeek · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Please do not equate what Darl is doing to communism. What Darl is doing is exploiting the loopholes of Capitalistic setup for money
    Moreover, Lenin and Stalin are entirely different. Lenin is to Stalin what Nepolean was to Hitler. Lenin was not really responsible for mass murder of civilians (though the formation of USSR out of neighbours might not be very good thing to do in retrospect). Similarly Napolean never sent Jews to the gas chambers either though he,like hitler, attaccked all his neighbours.

  113. But wait... theres more... by gmac63 · · Score: 1

    According to the US Patent office, patent # U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,642 states:

    " 5,349,642, Re. S.N. 08/778,151, June 13, 1997, Cl. 380/25, METHOD AND
    APPARATUS FOR AUTHENTICATION OF CLIENT SERVER COMMUNICATION, Kevin
    Kingdon, Owner of Record: Novell, Inc., Provo, Utah, Attorney or Agent:
    James D. Liles, Ex. Gp.: 2202"

    This may not be extremely significant, but hold that Novell DOES have some IP claims it holds.

    Food for thought.

    --

    INSERT INTO comment VALUE('Doh!') WHERE user='you';
  114. Nope, two different people by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am the original poster of the above parent, and I didn't see the other post on CA.

    But it's clear that many people hate CA for just about the same reason. You seem to love defending CA for some bizarre reason.

    The simple fact is that no one should give a fuck about CA because they are destroying our industry. Their business practices are simply horrifying and they don't give a fuck about their employees or customers... just about giving their board of directors millions of dollars.

    It's kind of like seeing white-supremists geting sued for breaching the DMCA. Yeah, I really hate the DMCA, but I'm not going to rally behind those white supremists because of my hate for the DMCA, or look to them as a savior of some sort.

    In a similar vein, yeah, I hate SCO, but I'm not going to rally behind CA to fight back against SCO. And you shouldn't either. I'll wait for a more worthy ally.

  115. Re:Wow... did these guys graduate from high school by bobintetley · · Score: 1

    ...those of you that don't see my point, brutial is not a word, makerket is not a ward...

    Oh, the irony!

  116. I wonder what Sue Unger thinks of that? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I wonder how Sue Unger (CIO of DCX) feels about being sued (by proxy) by Microsoft?

    A copy of that letter should be dropped on her desk ASAP....

  117. stock terrorists by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 1

    Attacking public targets to cause fear in the marketplace, as a strategy to control the people in the marketplace through fear, is terrorism. SCO is a stock market terrorist group. Where's John Ashcroft when he might actually do something to fix the economy and protect us from terror? Oh, right, down on his knees somewhere, while SCO hunkers down in the Mormon Kush run by Christaliban Orrin Hatch (R-UT).

    --

    --
    make install -not war

  118. Yes! by vgaphil · · Score: 1

    Is it me or is this whole SCO thing looking like the presidential race? Or vice versa.

    int main(){

    int MS = Bush;
    int Linux = Kerry;
    int SCO = Nader
    int total_domination = 100;
    int winner = 0;
    int i = 1;

    while(total_domination > i){
    if(MS){
    i++;
    winner = MS;
    }

    if(Linux)
    i--;

    if(SCO){
    i = i + 2;
    winner = MS;
    }

    if(i == 0){
    total_domination = 100;
    winner = Linux;
    }
    return winner;
    }
    }//End Race

    --
    A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it. -- Einstein
    1. Re:Yes! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Advice: go outside, and get a life.

    2. Re:Yes! by vgaphil · · Score: 1

      Spoken like a true coward!

      --
      A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it. -- Einstein
    3. Re:Yes! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think "Linux = Nader" might be somewhat more appropriate - both helping, and drawing from, the public realm; both the underdog with right on their side.

  119. Do something efficient and what happens? by Ashtead · · Score: 2, Insightful
    I've seen this argument here, and it might be a similar observation that underlies the complaints of IBM as well; that IBM, like Autozone, has done something smart or useful and could not have done it without SCOs "presscioussss" according to SCO. Basically Darl and cronies appear to expect everyone else to be as conspiratorial or incompetent they are as themselves.

    It is like a twisted variation on the "do not explain by conspiracy what may be adequately explained by incompetence" -- which in the SCO worldview has become "do not explain by competence what may be adequately explained by conspiracy"

    It is a sorry state of affairs if whenever someone does something efficiently, that by itself raises suspicions? That's close to libelous, even. It does however seem to be something to look for in the other actions as well.

    --
    SIGBUS @ NO-07.308
  120. Microsoft playing the losers game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Losers try the courts to win in the marketplace. They are joining such luminaries as Lotus (123), Sun, and many others. Netscape?

    I don't think the government will do much, or be able to do much. IBM may be a little pissed off however. Who would win with a full, all out legal war between IBM and MS?

    I wouldn't be at all surprised if all of a sudden Baystar and others pull their investments, leaving SCO and Darl dangling, all as a result of some very interesting conversations between Armonk and Redmond.

    Derek

  121. For the record, what really happened. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Microsoft never paid any money to SCO.

    What happened was that, back in the 80's, standard ATT UNIX was put on the PC; first by Microport, and then others hopped onto the bandwagon, reselling stock ATT UNIX from Intel.

    BellTech, Everex, and I forget who else.

    The key point here is that NONE of these companies were paying their royalties to ATT. Not even SCO was paying theirs at the time (and their royalties actually went to Microsoft, for Xenix, who in turn paid ATT).

    ATT finally woke up to this fact, and demanded that the royalties be paid. This out a damper on the Intel UNIX biz there for a while.

    Within a short period of time, Microport went Chapter 11, Intel "bought" BellTech (I.e. aquired, in exchange for the royalties due). And SCO gave Microsoft a 20% share of their stock in exchange for the due royalties.

    These actions were kept pretty hush-hush from the Press, as it was quite embarassing for all involved. So this article is just spin.

  122. LinuxWorld has the whole story re SCO/CA nonsense by jg21 · · Score: 1
  123. It doesn't matter what MS has to say by Ohreally_factor · · Score: 4, Interesting

    1) When all is said and done, I don't think that SCO will have really done much damage to Linux (or by extension, the GPL). When all this started, the more far-sighted among us said this would be a great test case for the GPL. As SCO's smoke and mirrors have been pierced and as the various cases have developed, however, this has not been about the GPL. It's all been FUD. Most of us have known this for a while, but now EVERYONE knows it. If anything, Linux has gained strength, if this is the best that it's enemies can do.

    2) This potentially hugely damaging to MS. If the allegations are true (I'd put money on it), they're in breach of the settlements. Kollar-Kotelly, the judge of the punishment phase, will certainly want to take another look at the case. The various state Attorney Generals will want to reopen the case. There might also be new criminal charges filed, not to mention civil cases. At the very least, we should see some investigations. And I haven't even mentioned how this might play out internationally.

    3) Regardless of how this plays out in the courts, MS is going to lose big in the court of public opinion. The MS defenders will not have a leg to stand on. (I never imagined Enderle with any legs. Instead, I've always imagined him as a giant farting ass, with no other body parts attached.) The FUD campaign has not only fallen apart, it has backfired.

    4) Having failed to really slow Linux adoption or development, MS will continue to lose ground. Longhorn is two or more years out, folks are already suspicious about "XP Reloaded" (why name a product after a really bad sequel?), and Linux clearly has huge momentum.

    --
    It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
    1. Re:It doesn't matter what MS has to say by jkabbe · · Score: 1

      2) This potentially hugely damaging to MS. If the allegations are true (I'd put money on it), they're in breach of the settlements. Kollar-Kotelly, the judge of the punishment phase, will certainly want to take another look at the case. The various state Attorney Generals will want to reopen the case. There might also be new criminal charges filed, not to mention civil cases. At the very least, we should see some investigations. And I haven't even mentioned how this might play out internationally.

      Correction, when the case was sent back to CKK it was for corrective measures, not punishment. She was not allowed to punish MS.

    2. Re:It doesn't matter what MS has to say by Pieroxy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      1) When all is said and done, I don't think that SCO will have really done much damage to Linux (or by extension, the GPL)
      Well, I hope. It sounds a little weird to me that this is their last card to play. We'll see, but they might have some more cards hidden.

      This potentially hugely damaging to MS
      Why? Because people will start realizing that "MS is bad"? Didn't they already know about it?

      Having failed to really slow Linux adoption or development
      As I said, just don't sell the idea before it's there. Nothing is out yet. There is still plenty of FUD going on and the Linux adoption has already been slowed down - altough not to a large extent. But this is very difficult to measure: How do you know how many people/companies were slowed down because of all the FUD?

    3. Re:It doesn't matter what MS has to say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Regarding your third point, round after round of MS advertisements will most likely numb the memory of Joe Public. He hears the geeks firing off but they are always upset about something...

      What linux really needs is a jingle. Some sort of song or visual that will instantly call up the name of linux when Joe Public hears or sees it. Until it is a household or pseudo-brand name, I seriously doubt that the public will really care. I mean honestly, we can't even effectively get people to stop clicking email attachments, something that might come up every day of thier lives. On what scale does Linux and MS's improprieties come before the bills, kids, email scams, what have you?

      If anything, it is us that will educate the Joe Public about the wrongs that are occurring, but for a huge % of us, we know too much and are too emotionally involved in tech news, therefore we lose the persuasive edge of even debate to fanatical zealotry. No one likes a fanatic, and no one really pays attention to them anymore. My ex girl friend used to equate a discussion with a geek about a topic that is emotionally relevant to them in technology is like tying to argue with religious doomsaying "It's the end of the world!" types.

      This may be the only real drawback to GPL type licenses. (I fully support the GPL for the record.) THere is no one company to be the flag bearer. You never see an ad for Linux. YOu see ads for Red hat, debian, slackware, etc. There are all brands of Linux. There is no marketing department, therefore there is no way to get the name Linux to mean jack to a non techie. If Linux had commercials, more people would care, but since no one owns linux, the only press it gets for J. Public is negetive press, or when compared or contrasted to MS or Apple.

    4. Re:It doesn't matter what MS has to say by Ohreally_factor · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You have a pretty good point on 1). I'm probably being overly optimistic. It's still very unclear if MS doesn't have ammunition to use against Linux on the patent front.

      It's not just a matter of people considering MS bad, but of how bad, or in what ways they are bad with specificity. Within IT departments with internal struggles between the MS camps and the Linux camps, this will (hopefully) give the Linux guys a little more juice.

      I don't know how many companies have slowed Linux adoption, but by most accounts there hasn't been a meaningful slowdown. However, as you say, there hasn't been a definitive study. If you want to accuse me of mindlessly repeating Linux Happy Talk, I'd have to plead Guilty As Charged.

      Anyway, thanks for the reminder not to get too smug. There are more battles ahead, to be sure.

      --
      It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
  124. Re:Yeah right.......the whole world misunderstood by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Funny, my guess was Satan...

    Besides, McBride doesn't seem to like Communism much. At least, that's what I gather from the folks at SCO who put out the false "we support communism" picket signs when SCO was picketed...

  125. Hold on there chief by whittrash · · Score: 1

    until schools start teaching "Propaganda 101" as a basic curriculum requirement, Western States are going to continue to be little more than Sheep Factories.

    Propoganda? I don't think it is helpful to attack the average American for holding a different point of view that we may disagree with. Most Linux users are just as biased as anyone, if not more so. That bias can blind intelligent and reasonable people (this happens all the time in business). Personally, I try to listen and understand why people hold the views they do. I also try to be self critical, even handed and open minded. It is hard some times, and I fail 90% of the time. But only by doing that, and not resorting to counter propoganda, can we learn our strengths and weaknesses. We need to honestly accept criticism in order to overcome our weaknesses. Right now, SCO is clearly and blatantly pointing to a weakness in the Linux model. If Linux doesn't have a weakness, how is it that a tiny company like SCO can cause such huge problems? I am not saying SCO is right, but we have a lot of work to do to make sure that Linux continues to offer freedom to users.

    We need to realize the difference between strategy and tactics. Propoganda is a short lived persuading tool and can only achieve limited success. SCO is achieving some limited success with their propoganda, but their 'strategy' is to use the divided and decentralized structure of the Opens Source community against us, by winning small victories as leverage to divide and conquer and make us believe we are losing. The more success SCO has, the more dangerous SCO becomes. Because of our weakness SCO has the potential to make spectacular long term gains against us, we are only lightly defended and weak to a relentless predator. Realizing and fixing our underlying weakness, and designing a defense/attack mechanism in the Linux business model would be a good strategy to counter SCO. My favorite defense is one I have heard many times on /. which is a distributed legal attack, stalling SCO with 1000's of separate lawsuits in every state in the Union. My second favorite defense is a very strong, well funded and powerful Linux trade group.

    1. Re:Hold on there chief by torpor · · Score: 1

      l. If Linux doesn't have a weakness, how is it that a tiny company like SCO can cause such huge problems?

      Its not Linux that has a weakness, its US law governing the conduct of corporations and their executives, especially that conduct when faced with an 'un-competitive arena' involving Free Products For the Masses, Which the Masses Want.

      Its often said that the US legal system is not perfect. This is such an example. It has nothing to do with Linux' so-called 'problems'.

      SCO is not a problem for Linux. SCO is a problem for business.

      --
      ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
    2. Re:Hold on there chief by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Propoganda?

      No, propaganda. Way to make your entire post look invalid after one word.

    3. Re:Hold on there chief by whittrash · · Score: 1

      Its not Linux that has a weakness, its US law governing the conduct of corporations and their executives, especially that conduct when faced with an 'un-competitive arena' involving Free Products For the Masses, Which the Masses Want.

      There are $billions at stake and ruthless people who will do anything legal or illegal to get that money. They are not concerned about morality or freedom as can be seen with SCO. It seems to me that Linux needs to build some defenses and some strong offensive weapons to take these people on, it isn't enough to rely on companies like IBM who have very narrow interests.

      I agree with you completely, the law is screwed up, but realizing that doesn't fix the situation. We need to make sure the broken system can't be turned on Linux to destroy it, that is what I am trying to get at.

    4. Re:Hold on there chief by torpor · · Score: 1

      There are $billions at stake and ruthless people who will do anything legal or illegal to get that money. They are not concerned about morality or freedom as can be seen with SCO

      This is where law is supposed to protect the people. The only front for this, is law. We (Linux) must win this case against SCO, and must come out on top. To fail to do so would set a very dangerous precedent for future law-makers and their string-pullers ...

      There is no technological solution to this problem, because it is a legal problem.

      Maybe its time for a GPL re-write?

      --
      ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
  126. This dosen't make sence by capaman · · Score: 1

    Why would SCO admit that the e-mail was authentic?

    1. Re:This dosen't make sence by Vancouverite · · Score: 1

      Because, authentic or not, their are going to be some subpoenas issued as a result of this -- to SCO, Microsoft, the consultant, Baystar, and probably every hop the e-mail took getting from point A to point B.

      Since it is real, lying off the bat (saying it's not real) and having the memo discovered to be real makes their second claim ("But it's all a misunderstanding by the consultant!") much less credible.

      --
      We are the Music Makers, and We are the Dreamers of Dreams...
  127. Re:Yeah right.......the whole world misunderstood by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Insightful ? Lenin had many thousand of people shot and millions of others died of famine.

  128. SCOgate by baseZero · · Score: 1

    I hereby rename all of this SCO stuff to: SCOgate . Let's refer to it as thus from now on ... I just like the sound of it. Apologizes to anyone who may have already named it the same.

  129. If true, it's just like the Bay of Pigs by bitterbastard · · Score: 1

    With MS funding someone else covertly to do the dirty work. See how well that worked for the CIA. Had any good cigars lately?

    Not saying MS==CIA. Or that Linux==Castroism/Socialism. No no.

  130. About yesteraday's comments... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I was just wondering.....where are all the people that loudly proclaimed the memo to be ``bullshit'', and that it was a ``fraud''. They seem to be very quiet today, I wonder why?

    I'm too lazy to go through yesterday's comments to dig up their names, but I'm wondering - don't you feel stupid today?

  131. Re:Yeah right.......the whole world misunderstood by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I won't comment on the comparison, but I do suggest you check your historical sources. Lenin did not *personally* condemn anyone to death. He left that to Trotski (who created the first concetrnation and execution camp in a revamped monastery), and Dzerzhinski, who organized the initial purges. This is when anyone who could read, write, or wore glasses was summarily executed along with their families.

    So...Lenin did not personally pull the trigger....true. But he is the one who set policy and appointed the executioners (read that in whichever way you like).

    Again, before posting, check your sources.

  132. Re:Techworld article on Leggett & Platt & by kmankmankman2001 · · Score: 1

    CA didn't _intentionally_ sign on as a SCO licensee for Linux IP, but they did become one - however marginally - as part of their Unixware deal. As someone who is forced to deal with CA on much too frequent a basis, I can tell you that CA is just as sneaky at burying T's & C's into their contracts and I'm literally laughing out loud that _they_ got burned by the same tactics they use to shaft _their_ customers. They have incredible depth in their contracts review support, and somebody seriously dropped the ball here. Somebody is, or soon will be, joining the ranks of the many job-seekers. I shed no tears for either company, they are both scum, and I'm enjoying watching the fur fly between the two.

    --
    "The bigger the lie, the more they believe." - Det. Bunk
  133. What a paranoid freak that Darl McBride is! by Pan+T.+Hose · · Score: 1

    Darl McBride, chief executive of SCO Group Inc., says he sometimes carries a gun because his enemies are out to kill him.

    Oh my God! What a paranoid freak that Darl McBride is! Oh, wait, he's not...

    --
    Sincerely,
    Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
    "Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
  134. Global Ethics by sflory · · Score: 1

    Now I'm having visions of David Gerrold's Gobal Ethics courses from "A Matter for Men".

    --
    IANALBIPOOGL (I am not a Lawyer, but I play one on GrokLaw.)
    1. Re:Global Ethics by torpor · · Score: 1

      Oh man, please don't get me started on the Chtorrans ... ;)

      --
      ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
  135. I wonder.... by dacarr · · Score: 1

    Can CA sue SCO for Libel?

    --
    This sig no verb.
  136. Heh Good one! :))))) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Please mod parent up: +5, Funny!

  137. reverse boycott anyone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How about this - whenever SCO sues a company, all the open source advocates purchase something from that company (I'm thinking $20). This may not always be practical (for example, I'm not buying a car). But in the case of Auto Zone, that's easy.

    The message to the business world would be that it pays in more ways than one to use Linux...like a reverse boycott.

    cheers.

  138. Even playing fields by Tony · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Fair competition does NOT mean that everyone has the same starting point. It just means they have the same field to play on.

    Exactly! And there is only *one* company that can control access to the field. I find Microsoft's "We don't want government regulation in the computer indunstry!" rhetoric disingenuous; MS itself regulates the industry much more efficiently and ruthlessly than the government ever could.

    --
    Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.
    1. Re:Even playing fields by hesiod · · Score: 1

      > And there is only *one* company that can control access to the field

      So you are saying I couldn't write an OS myself (ignoring the fact that it would suck & no one would use it)? I could. Linux's existence is evidence that MS does not control access. They have marketshare. That's it. By saying MS regulates the computer industry, you do a disservice to everyone who writes software outside MS. Anyone who has come up with a standard protocol, etc. Regulation means they tell you what you cannot do. MS cannot tell me what I can't do. If I steal something from them, they can ask the Gov to step in, but that would be the same in any industry.

      People seem to have this notion that the computer industry is by itself in its problems. Any nontechnical problem that has come up in Computers has probably come up somewhere else. Any industry has its giant corporation(s) that do things their way, and any other way is wrong.

    2. Re:Even playing fields by Tony · · Score: 1

      Linux's existence is evidence that MS does not control access.

      Linux's existence proves that MS *does* control access to the field.

      Look at the history of the PC in recent years. BeOS was a superior OS to Microsoft's offerings at the time. Be offered their OS to the major distributors for no license fee at all. Who took them up on it? Nobody. Not Dell, Gateway, or Compaq. Nobody.

      Why? Michael Dell said it was because their MS agreement basically disallowed them from providing another desktop operating system. This is de facto regulation of the market, forbidding entry into the market by controlling the entry points.

      The *only* reason Linux has market share at all is because of the open nature of the development and distribution. The fact it takes a freely-available OS to even take a couple of percentage points away from MS (we won't even talk about "competing" until Linux installations come with 30 percentage points of MS-Windows installations) indicates there is something dreadfully wrong with our industry.

      --
      Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.
    3. Re:Even playing fields by hesiod · · Score: 1

      > Linux's existence proves that MS *does* control access to the field.

      Logic? Hello? If Linux exists, that means there is no unpassable barrier to existence. Otherwise it WOULD NOT BE. I don't understand why this is so hard to realize, it is quite simple. Just because it is built on a different concept does not mean it is a different market. Maybe it's a confusion of terms or something. I consider a free OS to still be a competitor.

      > BeOS was a superior OS to Microsoft's offerings at the time

      Lay down the pipe, son. BeOS was not free (which, to Dell's endusers, Windows appears to be), so no one was going to go & buy it when they already had Windows. That means it is limited to those who are really "into" computers (a small %) and those who, for one reason or another, think MS is the devil (again, a small %).
      "Superior" is a very subjective term. Since it cost money to use the "real" version and I didn't feel like pirating it (well, I tried, but couldn't find it anywhere), so I got the demo version. It sucked. HAAAAAARD. It was clearly NOT a superior OS (this version, at least). It wasn't immediately intuitive, there were absolutely no configuration options (unless all you wanted to do was change the background & make it look prettier), it wasn't particularly fast (although I am sure that was because it wasn't the "full" version) either...
      One important thing about BeOS was that the bundled programs that I know of were very limited. Yeah, it had a web browser & some multimedia stuff, but it didn't have everything MS comes with, and CERTAINLY not everything Linux comes with -- which, IMO, is possibly Linux's strongest suit. Most distributions come with everything the average user will ever need.

      > This is de facto regulation of the market, forbidding entry into the market by controlling the entry points.

      Yes, MS has agreements with companies to only sell their OS. It makes it easier for these companies to provide enduser support. Is it fair? Not particularly, but that's how it is. And not every company is MS-only. They all were because there was nothing else available. But IBM now sells Linux PCs, and a whole lot of smaller companies do too. Come to think of it, of the large PC manufacturers, which ones make PCs that aren't shite & break all the time? IBM? (I only have experience with their very good laptops) That seems to be about it.

      It is not a real viable option to Windows. Linux is more powerful (by FAAAAR), is more configurable, faster. Windows is easy to use, and that is the #1 priority. Secretaries do not have a CS degree. They are not expected to know how to use a CLI -- and they shouldn't, that's why we have IT departments. Too many Linux advocates say crap like "well, if you'd take a half hour to learn it you would be able to do such-and-such." The user should not have to learn it, it should be obvious. That's what those college (G)UI design classes were about.

      > The *only* reason Linux has market share at all is because of the open nature of the development and distribution

      If you mean because its open nature makes it free, then yes. If you mean it's open nature because of politics, then that only applies to hardcore UNIX geeks. If you mean it's open nature because it leads to more secure code & the ability to look at the code and find bugs, then no, not at all (except for the uber-ubur-UNIX-geeks).
      The end user doesn't give half a shit if they can look at the source -- they never will, and they wouldn't understand it anyway. Hell, I wouldn't understand much of it, and I've written plenty of C/C++ stuff in Linux.

      > The fact it takes a freely-available OS to even take a couple of percentage points away from MS indicates there is something dreadfully wrong with our industry.

      Macs? Okay, it's an incorrect argument, since macs are stupidly closed/proprieta

  139. Further gunspeak info... by chadjg · · Score: 1

    Here's a URL for Glaser rounds.

    From the site,

    Will GLASERS penetrate an interior wall ... ? In a straight on shot at unsupported sheetrock, any projectile will penetrate. Sheetrock isn't much of a barrier. However, in most home defense situations, the bullet strikes the wall at an angle. In most cases hitting a stud or door jam. Typically the bullet will start to fragment entering the opposite room as much less lethal pieces. This is why the Glaser Safety Slug is so highly thought of for use in apartment complexes, mobile homes and residential areas.

    The price for 6 pistol type Glaser round is between 10 and 12 dollars, and hardball is widely variable but maybe 10% of that amount.

    I've seen post mortem pics of people shot with Glaser rounds and it's scary. Several of them looked like they had just a small cut, the entrance wound, but x-rays showed massive damage. Another photo showed 2 inch wide cone of flesh blasted out of the mark's neck, but article said that somebody standing behind them would have been just pissed off, not dead. Truly amazing. I personally don't know about that, but it makes sense.

    As far as getting rounds that don't bounce around in one's hose, I think the key is to draw, then fire.

    BTW... If you want to get to know the most anal-retentive, cheap geeks around, start hanging out with reloaders. Their attention to detail is amazing. And there's nothing like going out and blasting the hell out of old cars & cans.

    --
    Why do I have this? I don't smoke.
  140. Simple answer by Overly+Critical+Guy · · Score: 1

    Because people who are actually BUYING their product aren't getting sued.

    --
    "Sufferin' succotash."
    1. Re:Simple answer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There was evidence to prove that Overly Critical Guy is a lying cocksucker, but he deleted it. Think independently.

  141. Microsoft's Next Generation Great Thing is by mindovermatter · · Score: 1

    .. Linux Fund SCO to prove Linux belongs to them. Then have them hand linux over so that it can be branded as the much awaited next genration MS platform :)

  142. SCO debacle has wide-reaching consequences by Mikoca · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Ashcroft got a little queasy upon hearing about the Halloween X document and what it might mean for the future of his pet anti-trust trial.

  143. define: despise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "look down on with disdain"

  144. Let's All Help migration from SCO! by jmors · · Score: 2, Interesting
    It should be abundantly clear to any business running SCO products that to do so presents a high degree of risk! While I am sure that Daimler and Auto Zone can handle the likes of their carefully worded suits from SCO, perhaps it is time to offer some help for small and medium sized businesses who feel the growing need to migrate away from SCO products to Linux. I for one would be happy to help setup Linux servers and networking for any companies in the central Colorado area. Perhaps we could all find our local LUG's and get them involved in such a project as a community service.

    Just a thought here, perhaps this would show the kind of positive, forward thinking and dedicated group we really are!

    --
    The Matrix is real... but I'm only visiting!
  145. Microsoft has learned from their first anti-trust by netglen · · Score: 1

    Microsoft has learned alot from their first anti-trust trial and have made changes to their strategy. First they poured a ton of money into their DC Lobbist force. Before the trial they hardly spent a time lobbying in DC. Since the trial they've poured a ton of MS cash into the pockets of politicians. For their second trick they decided to use a chump company to assault the linux lifeforce.

  146. Re: IBM's Winnings by the_flatlander · · Score: 2, Insightful
    IBM could easily turn on everybody as soon as that nasty Microsoft is finished off. Watch out.
    Well, naturally, you might be right. But. If that were IBM's goal then you'd expect them to simply purchase the SCOundrels outright. (It would be much less expensive than carrying this lawsuit to completion. SCOX's market cap is less than 120 Million USD.) IBM's actions to date would tend to lead one to believe that they are "sending a message" to all the would-be-SCOundrels out there. Namely: We do not negotiate with theives; we will crush you and use the burnt out remains of your business as a lawn ornament in Armonk.

    The Flatlander

  147. BS by El · · Score: 3, Funny

    Blake Stowell, SCO Information Minister -- even his initials are BS!

    --

    "Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney

  148. MS to own SCO Unix rights ? by neurocutie · · Score: 2, Insightful

    SCO does have one remaining asset of value, the rights to UNIX. Quite what those rights is will likely be significantly reduced as a result of the case, but the value will not reach zero.

    So one of the possible outcomes of all this SCO-crap that I would not be happy with is some other company, particularly like MS, end up owning SCO's Unix rights. In reading this infamous Halloween memo, I was worried about this sequence:

    This Microsoft deal is the Ante to the poker game...We should get this done and go after several $2-3 Million deals from the expense side of their company. The will help us a lot and if we execute we could exit and Unix componients we have build potentially back to Microsoft or MCS.

    Difficult to decipher, with all the typos and what not, but what does ".. we could exit and Unix components... potentially back to Microsoft" mean ? Is part of the understanding that after the SCO dust settles, that MS might end up with Unix ? ugh...
  149. /. Mobs... by Some+Clown · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    God I love the mentality on Slashdot. An article comes out with a relatively redundant memo re: Microsoft's involvement with SCO, and CA laying the retorical bitch-slap on SCO, and what does the mob here fixate on? Hmmm... lesse, could it be, Microsoft? For #@$ sake people, there could be a comet streaking towards the earth, about to destroy humanity, and somehow the majority of the tin-foil-hat-wearing-we-hate-Microsoft crowd would find a way to blame them.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm not a huge fan of Microsoft or any other software company for that matter. It's just funny to see the pavlov-like response here when that one word is thrown out.

    "Microsoft"

    Hmmm... just testing.

    --
    "...The mice will see you now..."
    1. Re:/. Mobs... by GPLDAN · · Score: 1

      Yeah, it's so horrible to see the people here get to the heart of the matter. Secretly funding a campaign to discredit your largest threat might be something to be worried about. Nahhh, that's just mob mentality speaking. Let me guess, you also hate PBS documentaries for revealing that Iraq was really about US Oil companies? You hate Woodward and Bernstein because they decided Gordon Liddy wasn't really the mastermind?

    2. Re:/. Mobs... by Some+Clown · · Score: 1

      lol. I'm not sure that I really hate anyone in particular, actually. It's just the mentality you get in large groups of people that's interesting to me. ie; Saying "Cliinton" to a large group of Republicans or "Bush" to a similiarly large group of Democrats yields roughly the same Pavlov-like reactionary, regurgitated, generally uninformed rhetoric. All of that rhetoric starts and grows from the seeds of some truth (ie; Microsoft can be the devil, and has been on several occasions) but it eventually balloons into a mindless spewing of shite by the masses. My point initially was simply that Microsoft's purported involvement in this SCO thing has been hashed and rehashed since the beginning. One new memo which is fuzzy at best, doesn't seem to lend itself to any insights one way or another. The CA portion of the original article however, was newer and offered much more insight into SCO's tactics, yet it barely got addressed in amongst the anti-Microsoft feeding frenzy.

      Insight is good, and I think Slashdot and the people here who make up the community contribute to a lot of meaningful discussions that get to the "heart of the matter." But I also think there's a definite element of partisanship here too, especially when moderated down as flamebait for suggesting that Microsoft might have not been the best focus of a particular discussion.

      Just the same though, I keep coming back... so it can't be all bad. :)

      --
      "...The mice will see you now..."
  150. Thats just screwed up. by Bill,+Shooter+of+Bul · · Score: 1

    So ye old Sco open unix, which was in a previous live ye old xenix created by ye old microsoft, woudst return to whense it came.

    If there was a moderation catagory for annoying, I think this post earns it. funny, how I can write something like that and a commentary about it in the same post, instead of changing it while I could. Eh, such is the Bill.

    --
    Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
  151. THERE IS MORE THAN ONE WAY TO INVEST by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Keep in mind, by SCO's own admission both Sun and Microsoft are paying for "Unix IP licenses". While those two companies may not be behind the $50 mil, you can sure as shit bet their quarterly payments to SCO are viewed as "investment dollars" to assist in the demise of Linux.

    1. Re:THERE IS MORE THAN ONE WAY TO INVEST by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Excellent, excellent points. You know there have been others who have paid as well. CA? perhaps. IBM? no. I wouldn't be surprised if some scared CFO didn't pay up for the Linux protection though.

  152. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  153. Are they that out of touch from reality? by CherniyVolk · · Score: 2, Interesting


    Feb. 22, 1989, the music industry stunned nearly the entire world when they handed Jethro Tull the grammy for best Heavy Metal over Metallica.

    Clearly, MTV and the rest of those yahoo's had no clue what the general population listened too. Its easily argueable they still don't, when was the last time you watched MTV? Better, when was the last time you saw a video?

    "Noone runs Linux, Microsoft owns 99% of the desktop market!"

    Companies scared of SCO's ramblings, figure that there's no harm in a little prospective legal protection... afterall, who's going to complain? "Everyone runs Microsoft Windows."

    Are those suitable for board room politics so out
    of touch of the consumers' wishes that they honestly have no idea how many desktops are running Linux? Are they so gullible to figure that such an act can go unnoticed? That, as far as public backlash goes, there's no consequences due to the lack of users?

    To corporate America, Microsoft and SCO. My GRANDMOTHER is aware of Linux, and not becuase I told her. She asked ME about it! Games are being developed natively for Linux, the pengiun icon is showing up on merchandise ranging from network cards to video cards, from CD-RW drives to packs of diskettes.

    Now, some corporations, where their executives have yet to venture to a local computer store, corner store or at the least mingle with the general public, are now realizing that reality is far from what their so-called-educated marketing team tells them in facy presentations and graphs.

    EV1, felt the heat, heat great enough for them to post publicly an explanation (excuse rather) for their actions supporting SCO's claim.

    No doubt, Computer Associates did infact pay SCO, only to later regret it and "vehemently" try to catch up with public sentiment.

    Corporations try so hard to control the market, they don't even realize when they no longer have control. By the time they catch up, it's too late. (I still don't respect Music Award ceremonies becuase of the foul foolishness of 1989).

  154. Davanum Srinivas' weblog... by Eric+Damron · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "As a "small part" of that settlement, Barrenechea said, CA got a bunch of UnixWare licenses that it needed to support its UnixWare customers. SCO, he said, had just attached a transparent Linux indemnification to all UnixWare licenses and that is how SCO comes off calling CA a Linux licensee.

    But when CA agreed to that settlement, Barrenechea said, "It was not CA's intention to become a Linux licensee. It has nothing to do with CA's product direction or strategic direction," he said.

    CA has absolutely no sympathy for what SCO is doing, Barrenechea said, and in fact, he said, reading from a formal statement, it stands in "stark disagreement with SCO's tactics and threats."

    Barrenechea and CA's Linux chief Sam Greenblatt are worried that CA will be tarred with the SCO brush and that CA's considerable Linux ambitions will be damaged by a disaffected, if not hostile, open source community when in reality CA has "nothing to do with SCO's strategy and tactics," they said."

    So the truth comes out... SCO's "Significant" Linux license taker didn't pay a dime for the Linux licenses but rather had them slipped in uninvited so that SCO could make a misleading claim! Typical of SCO...

    --
    The race isn't always to the swift... but that's the way to bet!
  155. Re:Yeah right.......the whole world misunderstood by Sanction · · Score: 1

    Hmm, destroying an entire sector of industry and attempting to extort money as well as appropriating the work of others as his own in the persuit of short term profits...I'd guess Milton Friedman or Robert Novak myself.

    --
    Well I'm the doctor and I say you're dead, so shut up and take it like a man!
  156. Re:Wow... did these guys graduate from high school by MC_Cancer_Pants · · Score: 1

    I am extremely stupid. ;)

    I have to learn never to try correcting people ever again.

  157. the story at Redmond by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Did Gates have one of his famous fits of temper upon learning of this latest development...?

    Is this a rhetorical question...?

    I don't know... or do I...?

  158. Grrr. Misconceptions irritate me. by crucini · · Score: 1

    I see this idea way to often, and it's nonsense. You act as if SCO wants to go back to being a tiny software vendor. If they win, in the big sense, they will leverage their position to acquire more intellectual property and contract rights. They may acquire these as part of settlements. Then they can attack more companies with more claims.

    SCO's Unix business was dead anyway. How can you possibly think that after winning five billion dollars they would go back to their old Unix business?

    More importantly, I get irritated by this implication that businesses would buy or not buy based on the "niceness" of the vendor. Way more important than niceness is the legal shotgun said vendor is aiming at your midriff. SCO with 5 billion and hundreds of small acquisitions giving them patents and contracts would wield a big scary shotgun. They would certainly not be irrelevant.

  159. SCO P/E by El · · Score: 1

    I see SCO has a Price to Earnings ratio of 48.46... is that a bad thing, in the eyes of stock analysts? Wouldn't most companies with that high a P/E be considered seriously overvalued?

    --

    "Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney

  160. Re:Yeah right.......the whole world misunderstood by spun · · Score: 1

    Okay, AC, I suggest YOU check your sources. I just checked some of mine, and I found nothing about Trotsky starting the first concentration camps in a revamped monestary. Lenin started the first concentration camps. Trotsky was a true revolutionary, and much more of an anarchist than a communist. That is one reason why the capitalist propaganda machine heaped so much hate and scorn on him. Communism was supposed to lead to anarchism, which is pretty much what Libertarians are about, i.e. government by direct agreement of the people, no State. Communists just thought there needed to be some intermediate State. Of course, communism wasn't really practiced for more than a few years in Russia. Power hungry ruthless bastards rose to the top in the chaos and violence of armed revolution and crushed the people's dreams of freedom. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

    Trotsky was IMHO at about the same level of moral and ethical development as our American founding fathers, i.e. not perfect people but decent, forward thinking individuals who care about humanity. Someone like Ghandi would be a step above them, while people like Lenin or Dzerzhinsky (who founded the KGB) would be many steps below. So again, I say check YOUR sources before you malign Trotsky. Check different sides of the story, get a feel for his life as a whole, then tell me he is as evil as Lenin or Dzerzhinsky.

    --
    - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
  161. Class action by M$ shareholders? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "it is clear that SCO is a front for M$ from which no profits for shareholders are to be had."

    So how will the M$ shareholders feel about such an investment? Class action ahoy? Or at least an explanation of why they did it which would bring the whole M$-SCO can of worms out in the open.

    This could blow up spectacularly in Microsoft's collective face. And if Microsoft has to abandon support for SCO, who's going to keep them going?

  162. Re:Boies is and was a mercenary (i.e. lawyer) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    David Boies was not an employee of the Justice Department the way a federal prosecutor is, when he led the lawsuit against Microsoft, there was a fee-for-services contract between him/his law firm and the DoJ. It's not a matter of betrayal at all, it's just a matter of getting a very fat fee for services rendered, in both cases.

  163. SCO in violation of copyright law by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It sounds like what SCO is doing is illegal.

    Issuing a license to Linux under any terms other than GPL is a violation of the GPL, and therefore violates the copyrights on Linux.

  164. Lol! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    from the i-like-big-rebuttals-and-i-can-not-lie dept.

    haha, that's hilarious! I love you, CowyboyNeal.

  165. Spelling Nazi by MrYotsuya · · Score: 1

    [grammer nazi] For the LAST time, Microsoft IS, sheesh..[/grammer nazi]

    That would be "grammar".

  166. Corvair, Nader by sam0ht · · Score: 1

    The problem with the Corvair was little to do with aerodynamics. GM deleted a $5 strut in the rear suspension late in development to save money, which unfortunately allowed excessive camber changes during cornering (wheel leaning over wrt tarmac).

    This lead to tail-happy handling, and under some circumstances the wheel rim could dig into the ground and flip the car.

    It was a huge shame that such an innovative approach was killed because of, essentially, a detail of implementation.

  167. Microsoft is Teh Evil by WanderingFighter · · Score: 1

    This further proves that Microsoft is the Dr. Evil of the Software world.

    I wonder if Sco is going to sue for a Billion Dollars.

    *puts on Dr. Evil Laugh*

    Mwuhahahahaha

    --
    $>man woman
    $>Segmentation fault (core dumped)
  168. SCO v IBM copyright issues by LionKuntz · · Score: 2, Interesting

    http://www.ecosyn.us/SCO_v_IBM_copyright_issues.ht ml

    SCO v IBM: SELECTED WEBPAGES CITATIONS OF COPYRIGHT LAW HISTORY RELEVENT TO UNIX SYSTEM V COPYRIGHT CLAIMS STATUS

    * NO copyrights for computer programs, source code or machine readable binary were copyrightable in the US before 1980.

    * Before 1976, mandatory notices were required on all copyrighted materials in standardized mandatory forms -- failure to adhere to the law regarding mandatory notices on published works forfeited what copyright protection was available.

    * Before 1976 copyright was not automatically conferred upon creating a fixed tangible form -- copyright was limited to those works which complied with the provisions of the prior law "The Copyright Act of 1909". Unix was developed and distributed for seven years under this law.

    * Distributing works, making one or more copies for sale, lease or loan, constituted publication during the first seven years of Unix development.

    * Since 1976, mandatory requirements for copyrighted works have required deposit of copies with the Library of Congress within 3 months of first publication. Unless Unix source code is in the Library of Congress it is not copyrighted. Unless Unix System V is in the Library of Congress, it is in violation of the 1976 revisions. Before 1976 "promptly" depositing copies was mandatory, defined in caselaw as within one year of first publication.

    * Unix System V is a collection of modules, mostly public domain through copyright forfeiture between 1969 and 1976.

    * It is defined as fraud under the 1909 Copyright Act [ 105] "shall insert or impress any notice of copyright required by this title, or words of the same purport, in or upon any uncopyrighted article" to post-fix copyright notices upon works not qualifying for copyright.

    * None of the 1976, 1980, or 1989 adjustments to Copyright laws and the Berne Treaty permitted retroactive copyrights to previously forfeiting or public domain works.

    * Unix System V is basically public domain in the catagory of a compilation or anthology. Only new material added after 1976, or after 1980 (when computer programs first became copyrightable) could possibly qualify for copyright status, and only those collections which complied with mandatory deposit with the Library of Congress. Everything else is not in compliance with copyright laws and treaties.