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McBride At A Loss For Words

An anonymous reader writes "That, at least is the verdict of Linux Business Week's Maureen O'Gara, who reports that, with all the latest twists and turns, with BayStar and RBC in particular, SCO's CEO was finally bereft of words to describe what it's all been like. In the end he settled for 'This is like...nothing.' As O'Gara herself says, the latest SCO news is plain weird."

292 comments

  1. Hah. by oGMo · · Score: 4, Funny
    McBride is at a Loss for Words

    Maybe he shouldn't have used them all up before.

    --

    Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage

    1. Re:Hah. by jtwJGuevara · · Score: 5, Funny

      Or he can claim that someone else took his words and are using them in an open forum while infringing on licenses in the process of doing so.

    2. Re:Hah. by Kjuib · · Score: 2, Funny

      or maybe his vocabulary is just not as big as other poeples. It might be suffering from vocab-envy. That would leave him with a lose of words. I think I have some spam in in Inbox that might help him to get a bigger - vocab.

      --
      - Your stupidity got you into this mess, why can't it get you out? -Will Rogers
    3. Re:Hah. by Tarantolato · · Score: 5, Interesting

      McBride is at a Loss for Words

      Maybe he shouldn't have used them all up before.

      This is probably a good thing. In fact, as it presently stands Darl could teach a thing or two about not running your mouth off unnecessarily to a certain other proprietary Unix company.

    4. Re:Hah. by moviepig.com · · Score: 4, Funny
      'This is like...nothing.'

      Not that he necessarily needs religious salvation, but... is there a trace of Zen in that quote?

      --
      Seeing bad movies only encourages them. Watch responsibly
    5. Re:Hah. by SmackCrackandPot · · Score: 5, Funny

      That reminds me of the scene in the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy where Arthur Dent manages to get the entire crew out of some tricky situation by finding the right button to activate the improbabilty drive.

      Asked by Zaphod Beeblebrox if he was responsible, Arthur replies "Oh, it was nothing". The entire crew take his statement literally and continue on with their previous conversation; much to Arthur's annoyance.

      Perhaps Darl's wearing his DuoGenta, Superchromatic, Pyro-sensitive sunglasses, which have just turned black.

    6. Re:Hah. by Raven42rac · · Score: 1

      Is he going to sue Webster now for stealing his words?

      --
      I hate sigs.
    7. Re:Hah. by ronaldb64 · · Score: 2, Informative
      Perhaps Darl's wearing his DuoGenta, Superchromatic, Pyro-sensitive sunglasses, which have just turned black.
      Wouldn't that be "Joo-Janta 500 Super-Chromatic Peril-Sensitive Sunglasses" (which become opaque when the wearer gets scared)?

      As for the current state of the glasses, I agree completely. Apparently they also de-activated the overly-active Babelfish...

      --
      There's no place like 127.0.0.1
    8. Re:Hah. by blackmonday · · Score: 2, Funny

      I would have preferred a Neo-ish response:

      "This is like...whoah."

    9. Re:Hah. by nexex · · Score: 1

      didnt that phrase appear in a rap song first?

      --
      Winter 2010: With Glowing Hearts
    10. Re:Hah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Netcraft confirms...

      Oh, hell. You get it already.

    11. Re:Hah. by Taxilian · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It doesn't sound to me like he's really at a loss for words. I could be wrong, but to me it seems more like he's trying to downplay things, because he doesn't want people to see this as a "big fight against the big bad linux people" because that's too close to "big fight against the big bad sco people". Darl McBride wants people to see that to him it's just a foregone conclusion that we should all pay him for our copies of linux. I am about to install it on another computer... yet I don't feel any urge to pay up. I guess I'm just as confused as everyone else.

    12. Re:Hah. by Storm · · Score: 4, Funny
      It might be suffering from vocab-envy. That would leave him with a lose of words.

      ...And the urge to go out and buy a Hummer H2. Compensading for something, Darl?

      --
      --Storm
    13. Re:Hah. by Aadomm · · Score: 0

      test

      --
      Mention the Lord of the Rings one more time and I'll more than likely kill you.
    14. Re:Hah. by bstone · · Score: 2

      Actually, Darl has been silenced it seems. Just look at what it's done to their stock, no more "pump", and everyone seems to be dumping.

      It's obvious that Darl has to be unmuzzled to again start suing more of their own customers, declare that donating code for free is unconstitunal, claim ownership of code written by others, etc. Otherwise, poor SCO is just going to tank at a 10%/week rate.

      Aside from that, without Darl and the Iraqui Information Minister, the news just isn't all that funny any more.

    15. Re:Hah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      If the wearer gets scared, they're not working right.

      Ideally, they should go black *before* the wearer perceives the peril.

      I mean, what's the point of being blind when you already KNOW what's going to get you? Far better to be blind and not know the nature of the peril, I say.

    16. Re:Hah. by cshark · · Score: 1

      Maybe all the investor pressure is making him think before he speaks. I think maybe he's starting to understand that all this grand standing is bad for business.

      --

      This signature has Super Cow Powers

    17. Re:Hah. by alannon · · Score: 1

      More correctly, the sunglasses turned black to PREVENT the wearer from seeing something which WOULD scare him/her. How they knew what would scare the wearer, it never says...

    18. Re:Hah. by M.+Baranczak · · Score: 1

      starting to understand that all this grand standing is bad for business.

      What business?

    19. Re:Hah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which reminds me... You often tell people not to
      use words they do not understand. In case
      of Mr. McBride, the above could be simplified
      to a statement like "please, do not speak".

      a radioactive cat has eighteen halflives

    20. Re:Hah. by FreeForm+Response · · Score: 1

      No, no. It's like I always tell people about my truck: it's not compensation, it's transportation . ;-)

    21. Re:Hah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uh oh. Time to sue Webster.

    22. Re:Hah. by Thing+1 · · Score: 1

      Well, there is and there isn't.

      --
      I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
  2. surprisingly by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    he was referring to how much his stock will be worth.

    1. Re:surprisingly by Daniel_Staal · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Baystar must think the same. Otherwise, why call selling stock at a loss a 'financial opportunity'?

      It is an opportunity, if you realize it is insanely overpriced right now, and will only go down in the future. Never mind that you are going to loose money by selling the stock at a lower price than you bought it for; they are selling it at the highest price it will ever be in the future. This is their best opportunity to minimize their losses.

      The backers are getting out. Watch SCO burn...

      --
      'Sensible' is a curse word.
    2. Re:surprisingly by gilesjuk · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The previous rises in price were due to the potential earning power of 'taxing' large organisations deploying Linux. Since that's unlikely to happen and their case is looking weaker it is no wonder their shares are falling.

      It's not like they sell anything to make a profit.

    3. Re:surprisingly by zowch · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The 'financial opportunity' in the article refers to BayStar's purchase of $20 million worth of the Royal Bank of Canada's share of SCO at less than the Bank paid for them. Therefore, BayStar is coming out on top in the deal, making it a 'financial opportunity.'

    4. Re:surprisingly by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Never mind that you are going to loose money by selling the stock at a lower price than you bought it for...

      Well with all their loose money, I'm sure they'll lose a lot... ;)

      I've seen you post on the Yahoo message boards, haven't it? :)

    5. Re:surprisingly by ptbarnett · · Score: 0
      Baystar must think the same. Otherwise, why call selling stock at a loss a 'financial opportunity'?

      Consider this:

      1. Baystar loses their entire investment in SCO, including their most recent purchase from RBC -- but not until SCO has spread as much FUD about Linux as possible.

      2. Microsoft voluntarily settles with Burst.com for an astronomical sum and Baystar gets a significant return on that investment.

      By settling with Burst.com, Microsoft pays off Baystar for funding SCO's litigation. By buying up more of SCO's preferred stock, Baystar just increased their equity in the "arrangement".

      If Microsoft is guaranteeing a certain percentage of return on Baystar's investment in SCO, then Baystar just locked in a bigger profit.

    6. Re:surprisingly by bubkus_jones · · Score: 1

      Or to roughly how many Linux Licences they've sold.

  3. 'This is like...nothing.' by Triumph+The+Insult+C · · Score: 5, Funny

    no no ... see, he was refering to what SCO has based their case on

    --
    vodka, straight up, thank you!
    1. Re:'This is like...nothing.' by sampowers · · Score: 0, Troll

      Well that's just like... Your OPINION, man...

    2. Re:'This is like...nothing.' by Erik+Fish · · Score: 1

      "Ah felt...nossing. Not ze despair...Not ze dismay...Not z'amuse-mon. Nossing."

    3. Re:'This is like...nothing.' by psycho_eddy · · Score: 1

      great reference man, The Big Lebowski

      --
      your denial is beneath you, and thanks to the use of hallucinogenic drugs...i see through you - another dead hero
    4. Re:'This is like...nothing.' by M.+Baranczak · · Score: 1

      DUDE
      They kept saying they believe in nothing.

      WALTER
      Nihilists! Jesus. Say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos.

  4. Yah by ohstoopid1 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Thats like.... woah

    1. Re:Yah by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Funny
      So I was working on this plan to kill Linux, I had Microsoft and Baystar and RBC on my side, and then like the lawyer started going "You BEEPing BEEPs at SCO need to BEEP your BEEP"... and then I lost the lawsuit.

      It was a really good business plan, too...

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  5. SCOX price right now... by dacarr · · Score: 3, Informative
    As usual, here it is. Down US$.15 as of posting this.

    FP?

    --
    This sig no verb.
    1. Re:SCOX price right now... by Mind+Booster+Noori · · Score: 1

      Well, even today it has been lower that it is now (minium of today 5.15, now 5.20). Anyways, expect it to keep going down and down...

    2. Re:SCOX price right now... by AndroidCat · · Score: 3, Funny

      Posting that knocked them down US$ .15? Post some more then!

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
    3. Re:SCOX price right now... by garglblaster · · Score: 2, Interesting
      cool stuff.

      Just wondering what a slashdotting of this stock might look like

      I mean everybody on /. shorting this stuff..

      ..should be interesting..

      --

      perl -e 'printf("%x!\n",49153)'

    4. Re:SCOX price right now... by dacarr · · Score: 1
      Oh, please.

      Well, OK, I'm not too proud to admit I wouldn't have bought it last year and sold during autumn, when it started going down from the $22 high in July, but I think many of us have a little more dignity than that, garg. =)

      --
      This sig no verb.
    5. Re:SCOX price right now... by TopShelf · · Score: 5, Insightful

      One day doesn't really tell much. A more interesting view is the 3 month performance. Then take a look at the 1 year graph, and it looks like SCO is heading right back to where they were before this whole episode began - circling the toilet bowl of history...

      --
      Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
    6. Re:SCOX price right now... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Informative? dacarr was in such a hurry for a first post the price is wrong. SCO is much closer to $5.15, no $.15.

    7. Re:SCOX price right now... by garglblaster · · Score: 1
      :^)

      --

      perl -e 'printf("%x!\n",49153)'

    8. Re:SCOX price right now... by Jeremy+Erwin · · Score: 1

      all he said was that it was down 15 cents from yesterdays close.

    9. Re:SCOX price right now... by dacarr · · Score: 1

      Well said. I mean, last week's sudden $1 plummet says nothing, likewise - but the general trend, QED, is "down". Although I like the toilet bowl analogy, and would mod you +1 funny had I not commented already. =)

      --
      This sig no verb.
    10. Re:SCOX price right now... by quixoticsycophant · · Score: 1
      My favorie is the 1-year graph.

      Talk about convex manifolds embedded in 1-logarithmic 2-space! LOL

    11. Re:SCOX price right now... by d34thm0nk3y · · Score: 1

      As usual, here it is [yahoo.com]. Down US$.15 as of posting this.

      Alright, so the score is!
      1 day: down
      5 day: down
      3 month: down
      6 month: down
      1 year: about even
      2 year: up
      5 year: down(hehe) a lot

  6. Stop reporting it by fr0dicus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    SCO now thrive on headlines alone. Stop talking about them and they'll go away quicker.

    1. Re:Stop reporting it by bonch · · Score: 1, Insightful

      This is Slashdot, where we must meet our daily quota of something to bitch about. If it wasn't an SCO article, it would be a Microsoft or RIAA article in its place. This site has become a brick wall where people spraypaint their geek frustrations all over it and revel in the shared agreement they find with others here, because outside of Slashdot nobody cares all that much. "RIAA who?"

    2. Re:Stop reporting it by grafikhugh · · Score: 5, Insightful

      At this point negative headlines do not help their stance. The lawsuits are real and they will be settled in court. I think its important for the negative press to keep flowing. If we stop paying attention to their actions then maybe that could be interpretted as us not caring what the outcome is or worse that we fear what the outcome will be.

      --
      The Surgeon General says sigs are bad for me.
    3. Re:Stop reporting it by trybywrench · · Score: 4, Insightful

      SCO now thrive on headlines alone. Stop talking about them and they'll go away quicker.

      well they're not thriving anymore. It's kind of sad really, SCO use to be contender.Don't they have a spot secured on the UNIX timeline along with ATT and the others somewhere? Too bad mgmnt/greed/stupidity/etc got in the way. oh well, you know what they say, out with the old in with the nucleus.

      --
      I came to the datacenter drunk with a fake ID, don't you want to be just like me?
    4. Re:Stop reporting it by alienw · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      If you don't like it, go away and/or STFU.

    5. Re:Stop reporting it by mattdm · · Score: 5, Informative

      well they're not thriving anymore. It's kind of sad really, SCO use to be contender.Don't they have a spot secured on the UNIX timeline along with ATT and the others somewhere? Too bad mgmnt/greed/stupidity/etc got in the way. oh well, you know what they say, out with the old in with the nucleus.

      In this case, very literally out with the old. This company isn't the historical SCO at all, but rather an offshoot of the Linux company Caldera, renamed to SCO after buying many of that original company's Unix assets.

      The original SCO lives on renamed to Tarantella -- which was basically their only profitable software product at the time of the sale.

    6. Re:Stop reporting it by RLW · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's the not caring that's the problem. Sure there are lots of things to think about and do in one's life but if nobody raised a stink when interests like the RIAA or the MPAA move to steal our rights then we would have none. So, instead of complaining about the reporting of this stuff write your congressman and tell him to send these other guys packing. While it's true that Slashdot has a anti these guys slant that does not mean what's said here is unimportant or completely unbiased. But often stories get posted here which reference obscure events that the big media outlets won't cover.

    7. Re:Stop reporting it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Speaking of frustration....

      It's called sex man. If noone is willing to give it to you then find someone to pay for it.

    8. Re:Stop reporting it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Irony, thy name is bonch. Bonch, who must meet his daily quota of something to bitch about. If it wasn't a SCO article, he would be bitching about a Microsoft or RIAA article in its place.

    9. Re:Stop reporting it by Mick+Ohrberg · · Score: 1
      Reminds me of Andre Linoge - "Give me what I want, and I'll go away."

      Except, hopefully, these stooges will go away eventually without getting what they want. As a matter of fact, I agree with the parent - ignore it and forger about it, and it'll eventually starve.

      --

      Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.

    10. Re:Stop reporting it by somethinghollow · · Score: 2, Funny

      It seems what happened is that we DID quit talking about them for at least several days. Now we are talking about how they aren't saying anything! I hate to see what SCO news is going to be like after they dissolve the company...

      "SCO Still Closed
      From the This-Is-The-365th-Time-We-Posted-This Dept."

    11. Re:Stop reporting it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting
      "Stop talking about them and they'll go away quicker."


      Going away quick is the _last_ thing the Linux community should want.


      A chance to test the GPL with Darl "i've got... like nothing" McBride vs. IBM is the best thing that could ever happen to Open Source software in a business environment.


      This is the best chance to give GPL software some business credibility that there ever was.

    12. Re:Stop reporting it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      ...outside of Slashdot nobody cares all that much.

      Gee, it must not be important, then. Good thing someone's provided me with the final axiom for my deduction kit -- If Nobody Outside Slashdot Cares, It's Not Important.
    13. Re:Stop reporting it by Zebidiah · · Score: 0

      I think SCO has dropped all of the GPL related charges (if indeed there were any to begin with, rather than just mouthing off).

      I don't think it was ever going to be tested in court. Not by SCO anyway.

  7. As witty as a Keuna Reves Quote by idgrad · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Whoa...

    --
    "If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, now would it?' -Albert Einstein-
  8. Could be worse by orthogonal · · Score: 5, Funny

    SCO's CEO was finally bereft of words to describe what it's all been like. In the end he settled for 'This is like...nothing.'

    McBride then followed-up: "But at least I'm not 'Robert S.' Rumsfeld,"

    1. Re:Could be worse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
      McBride then followed-up: "But at least I'm not 'Robert S.' Rumsfeld,"

      Donald H. Rumsfeld could say that too, but somehow I doubt that he derives much solace from it.

  9. 0+0=0 by mabu · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's obvious Darl was describing the value of his company.

    1. Re:0+0=0 by pete-classic · · Score: 1

      Of course 0-0 also =0.

      I feel a song parody coming on . . .

      -Peter

    2. Re:0+0=0 by los+furtive · · Score: 1
      Hehe, reminds of me the Kids in the Hall skit where Dave Folley asks his son:

      "How many girls did you go out with today son? None? Well you know what they say, zero plus zero equals FAG! That's right son, zero times any given number equals FAG! Think about it ya little mathematician."

      --

      I'm a writer, a poet, a genius, I know it. I don't buy software, I grow it.

    3. Re:0+0=0 by mabu · · Score: 1

      Actually I think Darl reminds me most of the Kids in the Hall skit, "The Bass Player".

  10. What is the latest news? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    . . . the latest news is just plain weird . . .

    So what is the latest news? BayStar? That's old news.

  11. stock quote? by mosschops · · Score: 2, Funny

    'This is like...nothing.'

    I don't suppose he was looking at the SCOX share price when he said it?

  12. Loss of words. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Smartest thing he's ever done.

  13. Choice quote by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    So McBride figures BayStar doesn't have a legal leg to stand on

    Brought to you by the words "Shoe", "Other" and "Foot".

    1. Re:Choice quote by LMCBoy · · Score: 1

      ...or "pot", "kettle", and "black".

      --
      Liberal (adj.): Free from bigotry; open to progress; tolerant of others.
    2. Re:Choice quote by GMFTatsujin · · Score: 3, Funny

      You forgot "Mouth."

    3. Re:Choice quote by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And the letters "F", "U", and the number 0.

    4. Re:Choice quote by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But you missed the best part of the quote,

      "...and BayStar's lawyers, he said, still haven't told SCO's lawyers how SCO breached their contract. So McBride figures BayStar doesn't have a legal leg to stand on..."

      Now if I could only think of another case in which the plaintiff failed to specify how the contract was breached.

    5. Re:Choice quote by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought 'Boot' 'Up' & 'Arse' were more apt...

  14. Let's see YOU try and wrap it all up! by Mr.+Darl+McBride · · Score: 5, Funny
    You can't imagine what this last year has been like for me. I'd like to see you try and simplify the kind of a rodeo I've been on. I've squeezed this tiny little company for millions in salary while utterly destroying any chance of a future it's had. And in doing so, I've made dozens of other millionaires and paupers alike. You try and simplify that kind of thing into an analogy.

    As if all that weren't enough, I've tried to bring you people gold, and getting my home IP banned from Slashdot was my only thanks.

    This will be my last post to Slashdot as Mr. Darl McBride. Mod it up or mod it down, I don't much care anymore. I'm going back to my simple ranch hand ways while Boies and Sontag round up the rest of whatever's left for our ginormous IP firesale, if there's even anything there to capitalize on anymore.

    Thanks to those of you who have moderated me up in the past, those of you who took the time for pithy and cute replies even if you didn't like me, and those who lightened up enough to have a laugh instead of freaking. It's been like... like... it's been like nothing else.

    ~Darl

    1. Re:Let's see YOU try and wrap it all up! by GPLDAN · · Score: 4, Informative

      There is a good comment at the end of the parent article. The comment is, predators have their eyes close together - to focus on prey. Prey has eyes far apart, to see predators better.

      Now look at Darl's beady eyes. Which do you think he is?

      Does anyone know what Darl is actually going to put on his tax return this year? Well in excess of $1M. He can retire to his farm, and count his coins, until some other company run by scumbags needs a pointman to take the stones thrown at them. In fact, I bet if you interview the current class at Harvard Business School - there are a lot of people who admire Darl for agreeing to be the beat-down man for his pittance of the booty.

      Of course, most of the masterminds of the Enron scandal seemed to come from HBS, so there ya go.

    2. Re:Let's see YOU try and wrap it all up! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Darl could well end up without egg on his face.

      In the corporate world, he has stood up did his masters bidding. It was unpopular, unpleasent, and had nothing to do with reality. He is standing in a storm of controversy.

      I believe we call withstanding adversity a character building experience.

      He might well be rewarded for his efforts.

    3. Re:Let's see YOU try and wrap it all up! by Shadwhawk · · Score: 1

      There is a good comment at the end of the parent article. The comment is, predators have their eyes close together - to focus on prey. Prey has eyes far apart, to see predators better.
      This is grossly offtopic, but I just thought I'd comment anyway.
      From my understanding, it's not eye spread that counts. Predators have eyes on the front of their heads, so they get all those good advantages that come with binocular vision, particularly judging distance. And, typically, the wider the eyes are spaced apart, the better, since you get more parallax. Prey, on the other hands, have their eyes on the side of their heads for the best all-around view possible. Some hooved animals have nearly 360-degree vision. Not so great with distance judging. The only advantage to spreading these eyes out further is that you can reduce blind spots.

    4. Re:Let's see YOU try and wrap it all up! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is a good comment at the end of the parent article. The comment is, predators have their eyes close together - to focus on prey. Prey has eyes far apart, to see predators better.

      Now look at Darl's beady eyes. Which do you think he is?


      Sounds like anti-Japanese propaganda during WWII, or anti-Semitic propaganda.

      Just saying.

    5. Re:Let's see YOU try and wrap it all up! by vsprintf · · Score: 1

      Darl could well end up without egg on his face.

      Hah. Nice try, Darl. You wish.

      In the corporate world, he has stood up did his masters bidding. It was unpopular, unpleasent, and had nothing to do with reality. He is standing in a storm of controversy.

      Still having those delusions of grandeur? Your storm is a tempest in a lukewarm teapot.

      I believe we call withstanding adversity a character building experience.

      I believe most of us would attribute creating adversity for personal gain to a lack of character. You are best known for suing everone in sight, including your previous employer.

      He might well be rewarded for his efforts.

      Run for it, Darl, before Sontag decides to save himself and sends all your emails to the SEC. You've had your last million dollar paycheck. Be sure to post once in a while from the islands. We'll miss your chemically bronzed visage, vacuous claims, crack-induced lawsuits, and hilarious interpretations of the Constitution. Not! Die poorly.

  15. article text by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    the site seems to be slowing, but not dead yet. here's the text:

    SCO CEO Darl McBride, the most hated man in the computer industry, says he's reached for an analogy to describe SCO's experience since suing IBM. "This is like...," he's said to himself, groping for an elucidating comparison, only to conclude, "Nothing...Nothing compares to what's happened in the last year."

    What happened in the last few days proves his point.

    BayStar, the venture capital outfit that wants its money back from SCO - a highly uniquely situation even for the computer business - has suddenly and out of the blue doubled its position in the company.

    The Royal Bank of Canada, which BayStar brought into the $50 million investment the pair made in SCO last fall, the investor that has reportedly never expressed doubts about the strength of SCO's position or, unlike BayStar, has never complained to SCO about its behavior, sold $20 million worth of its SCO shares to BayStar.

    And the bank is converting the rest of its preferred stock - that it paid $10 million for - into 740,740 shares of SCO common presumably to dump it on the public market. Presumably too it won't sell the stock immediately since the conversion cost it $13.50 a share, more than double what SCO's been selling for.

    BayStar and the bank's $50 million represented 17.5% of SCO.

    Neither BayStar nor the Canadian bank will discuss what happened. The bank merely calls its action a "business decision" and BayStar claims it was presented with "a strategic and financial opportunity."

    McBride claims he doesn't know any more than we do. He's had barely any contact with the bank and all he knows is that he got a letter from them last Wednesday outlining what it was doing, but not explaining why.

    McBride also claims that he doesn't know what BayStar's about either.

    BayStar hasn't withdrawn its demand that SCO return its money and BayStar's lawyers, he said, still haven't told SCO's lawyers how SCO breached their contract. So McBride figures BayStar doesn't have a legal leg to stand on and won't be able to get its money back. The money of course is paying for SCO's legal pursuits.

    McBride said he didn't know how buying the bank's shares would strengthen BayStar's position. BayStar, for instance, doesn't have a seat on SCO's board and the shares it owns are non-voting stock.

    Presumably, the shares that the Canopy Group owns - and remember, Canopy got close to $300 million out of Microsoft to settle an antitrust suit - would trump any notions BayStar might harbor about a hostile takeover.

    BayStar managing partner Larry Goldfarb, the guy responsible for the firm's investment in SCO, told the New York Times a couple of weeks ago that he wants SCO to drop its remaining Unix business, jettison its current management, husband its resources, focus on pursuing its IP claims and mind its Ps and Qs in what it says publicly.

    Apparently BayStar's lawyers have been saying the same thing to SCO's lawyers.

    One wonders whether Goldfarb taking the Times into his confidence made the bank lose its confidence in its investment, hold BayStar responsible and demand that BayStar buy it out.

    BayStar's comment about buying the bank's shares being a "financial opportunity" hints that BayStar paid less for them than the bank did.

    Goldfarb told the Times and his PR guy told us - Goldfarb was reportedly out of the country when the news broke and couldn't speak for himself - that despite his disapproval with the way SCO is run he is convinced of the legitimacy of its IP claims and of its winning its case against IBM.

    According to BayStar's Web site, Burst.com is part of its portfolio. It's unclear what the VC's position is, but Burst is the company, reduced to one or two people, that's suing Microsoft for a tidy packet. It's one of the private antitrust suits that Microsoft has yet to settle.

    Burst claims Microsoft, which it collaborated with for two years, ripped off a media transmission technology it designed to send video and audio files electronically and stuck it in Media Player 9.

    Burst has no other business outside its suit and evidently is the model BayStar wants SCO to emulate.

    1. Re:article text by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Wow... This is probably the most poorly-written article I've read in a long time... Are there any Linux users out there who've taken a journalism class?

      I'll try reading this article again when it's posted in English.

    2. Re:article text by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny



      SCO CEO Darl McBride, the most hated man in the computer industry, says he's reached for an analogy to describe SCO's experience since suing IBM. "This is like...," he's said to himself, groping for an elucidating comparison, only to conclude, "Nothing...Nothing compares to what's happened in the last year. Seriously. Not a goddamned thing." He went on to say "You know, when I wasn't busy filing groundless lawsuits, driving my company's reputation into the ground, and buttraping the cub scout who mows my lawn, I learned a little about performance art from my close, personal friend Karen Finley. I'm at a loss for words right now, but I think a little performance art will get my point across."

      And with that he leaped up onto his desk, quickly disrobed, and voided his bowels onto his "Unix Is For The Impotent" mousepad. He began scooping the steaming pile of poo into small cylinders and miming lighting them as if they were dynamite. Then he pointed at the ceiling fan whilrling madly overhead, screamed "This is for the white male phallocracy! This is for Susan Sontag! And this is because Linus won't return my calls!" He flung the poo into the blades of the fan, and as feces sprayed from one end of the room to the other, staining his face and catching in my hair, I began to strongly suspect that Darl McBride just might be losing his grip on reality a little.

    3. Re:article text by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      It is without any reservation and with much vehemence that I can say -- and I'm not kidding here -- that I've not seen such incredibly an obtuse conglomeration of incomprehensible and disjointed run-on sentences disguised as journalism (and in some cases as paragraphs), apparently, but not very convincingly and creating a very disconcerting effect on my on cognition while trying to ferret out a few meaningful tidbits of information, but I'm sure the author means well, but just didn't have a very good English 1A instructor in college, or perhaps had some severe head trauma, or simply has no aptitude for writing. Like me, eh?

    4. Re:article text by MsGeek · · Score: 1

      I am an ex-journalism major. And as soon as my head stops hurting, I'll make a comment about the article and how it mangles the English language beyond recognition.

      My head is still hurting.

      Yep, still hurting.

      Anyway, that wouldn't have passed muster in Prof. Leo Garapedian's Journalism 101 class. "Rewrite, please!" would have been his answer if given something like that.

      And my head is still hurting...X(

      --
      Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
    5. Re:article text by Kazoo+the+Clown · · Score: 1

      According to BayStar's Web site, Burst.com is part of its portfolio. It's unclear what the VC's position is, but Burst is the company, reduced to one or two people, that's suing Microsoft for a tidy packet. It's one of the private antitrust suits that Microsoft has yet to settle.

      Burst claims Microsoft, which it collaborated with for two years, ripped off a media transmission technology it designed to send video and audio files electronically and stuck it in Media Player 9.K/i>

      Burst has no other business outside its suit and evidently is the model BayStar wants SCO to emulate.

      Either that, or have found that the Burst suit is a useful way to funnel enough money into BayStar from Microsoft under-the-table to pay for whatever stunt they are planning to pull with SCO. But that would be one a them tinfoil-hat theories...

    6. Re:article text by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 2, Informative

      And the bank is converting the rest of its preferred stock - that it paid $10 million for - into 740,740 shares of SCO common presumably to dump it on the public market. Presumably too it won't sell the stock immediately since the conversion cost it $13.50 a share, more than double what SCO's been selling for.

      Alternatively, RBC shorted just under 5% (don't need to report) of SCO when it made the PIPE investment, which is apparently a common business practice, and it redeemed this number of shares in order to cover its short and wash its hands of the mess.

    7. Re:article text by fucksl4shd0t · · Score: 1

      Man, I can't *wait* for the movie to come out about this. The only thing I'm worried about (well, two things) are that it'll be one of them 4-hour marathon movies, and that Tom Cruise might wind up playing Darl. Personally, I'd like to see Danny Oldman playing Darl. ;)

      --
      Like what I said? You might like my music
  16. "this is like...nothing" by Savatte · · Score: 5, Funny

    funny, that's what my acountant said when I asked about the money I had left after investing in SCO.

    1. Re:"this is like...nothing" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is that you Bill?

  17. RBC pulling out by Ubergrendle · · Score: 5, Informative

    I work at another Canadian bank, but can confirm that some of my contacts (ex-colleague of mine, actually) in the IT section of RBC are *very* happy with the investment banking's decision to pull out of SCO. For once it appears like the right hand knows what the left hand is doing... their IT department has a few linux pilot projects (one including desktop replacement!) which suggest a conflict of interest internally.

    --
    John Maynard Keynes: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?"
    1. Re:RBC pulling out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Nevermind the fact that RBC is in bed with IBM !
      I used to work IT there and I can tell you that I don't think they'll ever migrate from big Windows versions anymore... Longhorn is not gonna happen at RBC after the problems they had switching from NT4 to W2k..

    2. Re:RBC pulling out by ergo98 · · Score: 1

      For once it appears like the right hand knows what the left hand is doing

      Why would investment decisions of the investment branch have to coincide with internal politics and technical direction? There is no credible reason, and there's no reason why an organization can't internally bet all their chips on Linux, while the investment division bets all their chips on Microsoft (though to better compare with this situation, the investment divisions would bet on many horses, and Microsoft would just happen to be one of them): The two have completely disparate criteria. Any organization that vetted investment decisions through every branch of the organization to make sure the left and right hand agreed would be bankrupt pretty quickly. Of course in this case it's entirely possible that there was some pressure to distance from SCO for publicity reasons (given that RBC is the most respected Canadian company several years running), but normally the two should be entirely exclusive.

      Of course there is some relief by a lot of the tech workers at RBC for the simple reason that SCO is seen as the enemy, and no one wants to be associated with the enemy.

  18. In other news... by Anti+Frozt · · Score: 2, Funny

    SCO CEO Darl McBride was quoted commenting on their current case against IBM as "This is like...nothing."

    --
    In C++, friends can touch each others private parts.
  19. Bring in the SEC! by badmammajamma · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The seem ripe for an SEC investigation. How many shady share trades can they go through before someone looks at it?

    --
    Any man who afflicts the human race with ideas must be prepared to see them misunderstood. -- H. L. Mencken
    1. Re:Bring in the SEC! by bersl2 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      This says it all:

      Insider sales (over last 6 months): 75,000
      Insider purchases: N/A

      Or am I just clueless about how this kind of stuff works?

    2. Re:Bring in the SEC! by Eggplant62 · · Score: 2, Interesting
      The[y] (sic) seem ripe for an SEC investigation. How many shady share trades can they go through before someone looks at it?


      Yeah, well, there's quite the good complaint already submitted, though I don't think it's to the right address. The detail the guy went into with regard to the obvious shady stock trading activities since this case started is pretty astounding.

      Take a look at it here.
  20. The best quote: by roystgnr · · Score: 5, Funny

    "BayStar's lawyers, he said, still haven't told SCO's lawyers how SCO breached their contract. So McBride figures BayStar doesn't have a legal leg to stand on and won't be able to get its money back."

    That's right, Darl, and don't you just hate it when someone accuses you of doing something wrong but refuses to tell you precisely what?

    1. Re:The best quote: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, sound to me like he knows what he's talking about - he speaks from experience on this matter of having nothing..

  21. Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm speechless too

  22. I find this rather funny: by eatmadust · · Score: 1

    McBride also claims that he doesn't know what BayStar's about either. Is he really that thick?

  23. not totally useless... by denlin · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    at least the ads were missing. long live slashdot.

    --
    Yes, I have RTFA. Yes, I have a girlfriend. Yes, I'm new here. And no, I don't want a free iPod.
  24. Sue and Grabbit by Draoi · · Score: 5, Interesting
    BayStar managing partner Larry Goldfarb [...] told the New York Times a couple of weeks ago that he wants SCO to drop its remaining Unix business, jettison its current management, husband its resources, focus on pursuing its IP claims and mind its Ps and Qs in what it says publicly.

    And there's the bottom-line. Don't produce anything worthwhile and use your <ahem> IP to generate revenue via lawsuits. As if we didn't know ....

    Still, the 'jettison management' bit has to have Darl sitting on the edge of his seat!

    --
    Alison

    "It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." - Albert Einstein

    1. Re:Sue and Grabbit by SmurfButcher+Bob · · Score: 1

      Yep, they should have phrased that better, and used the latest "fix all" hype for self-justification, since no nay-sayer would be able to argue against it -

      "...drop its remaining Unix business, offshore its current management, "

      --

      help me i've cloned myself and can't remember which one I am

    2. Re:Sue and Grabbit by dazed-n-confused · · Score: 3, Funny
      the 'jettison management' bit has to have Darl sitting on the edge of his seat!

      And here's a picture of Darl's seat , courtesy of SCO's just-closed Polish office. (The former manager of which is now setting up his own Linux business, specializing in helping users migrate from SCO's software onto Linux -- which is not SCO's, of course! -- see Groklaw for details)

    3. Re:Sue and Grabbit by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 1

      Still, the 'jettison management' bit has to have Darl sitting on the edge of his seat!

      Yes, but does "jettison management" == "golden parachutes"? I'd love to be kicked out if I had one of those. All that money for like... nothing.

    4. Re:Sue and Grabbit by red+floyd · · Score: 1

      Don't produce anything worthwhile and use your <ahem> IP to generate revenue via lawsuits.

      Well, my IP is 127.0.0.1, so I'm suing anybody who is using that address for <DR-EVIL>ONE MILLION DOLLARS</DR-EVIL>!!!!!!!

      --
      The only reason we have the rights we have is that people just like us died to gain those rights. -- Cheerio Boy
  25. Page weirdness by dacarr · · Score: 3, Interesting

    A little offtopic, but has anyone noticed that the advert server for this site is having trouble servicing the slashdotting that Linuxworld is taking?

    --
    This sig no verb.
    1. Re:Page weirdness by denlin · · Score: 1
      i did a few seconds before you, yet got bumped for "offtopic". :)

      - go ahead, see if i care.

      --
      Yes, I have RTFA. Yes, I have a girlfriend. Yes, I'm new here. And no, I don't want a free iPod.
    2. Re:Page weirdness by fucksl4shd0t · · Score: 1

      That's because your post didn't make any sense. I understand it only now after reading your response to the other guy's post, apparently saying the same thing.

      Rule #1: If you don't want to get bumped for being offtopic, make sense.

      --
      Like what I said? You might like my music
    3. Re:Page weirdness by denlin · · Score: 1

      i have a tendency to do that. my reply to the parent was not so much a rant (hence the smiley) as much as it was supposed to have been an acknowledgement that i was privy to the missing ad. apparently, i had failed to type a complete thought two times in a row. :(

      --
      Yes, I have RTFA. Yes, I have a girlfriend. Yes, I'm new here. And no, I don't want a free iPod.
  26. Microsoft DOUBLED Their SCO Investment!!!!!! by stankulp · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "BayStar, the venture capital outfit that wants its money back from SCO - a highly uniquely situation even for the computer business - has suddenly and out of the blue doubled its position in the company."

    Bill is not going to give up on this stalking horse.

    This could go on forever.

    I guess that's the whole freaking idea.

    --
    We must be alert to the danger that public policy could become captive to a scientific-technological elite. - Eisenhower
    1. Re:Microsoft DOUBLED Their SCO Investment!!!!!! by Daniel_Staal · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yeah, but it is getting all them from the bank that they financed to buy stock in SCO originally, which is selling off all their stock.

      SCO won't see any of this money. It just keeps the bottom from dropping out of their stock price a little longer...

      --
      'Sensible' is a curse word.
  27. silence is golden by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "McBride is at a Loss for Words"

  28. I have an analogy for you by jamienk · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The SCO/BayStar/RBC deal going bad is like...

    When Stalin's and Hitler's alliance collapsed.

    1. Re:I have an analogy for you by dacarr · · Score: 1
      GODWINS LAW!

      ...um, wait a minute....

      --
      This sig no verb.
    2. Re:I have an analogy for you by Thurn+und+Taxis · · Score: 1

      In that case, maybe it's a good thing that Darl carries a gun.

      --
      On stereophonic equipment, the monaural sound obtained through multiple channels will enhance your listening pleasure.
  29. nice try by ch-chuck · · Score: 1

    pc unix is a true democratic force that just won't be owned - one is reminded of King Canute commanding the waves of the ocean to stop.

    --
    try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
    1. Re:nice try by 16K+Ram+Pack · · Score: 1

      And Darl Mc Bride is the biggest Cnut out there.

    2. Re:nice try by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      sarcasm>Yeah that's just what I was thinking...

    3. Re:nice try by ozamosi · · Score: 0

      PC Unix is a force that IS owned. Thats why BSD and Linux aren't unix; the can't afford to pay the price to be able to call themselves Unix.

  30. Okay--the stock joke quota has been met by bonch · · Score: 4, Funny

    I've seen at least 10 of the same jokes in these first 30 comments about what McBride "really" meant. Okay, we get it. You're trying to get a Funny. Darl must have been referring to the basis for his case, or his stock quote. Haha.

    Now, no more, please?

    1. Re:Okay--the stock joke quota has been met by mosschops · · Score: 1

      Now, no more, please?

      Awww! Not even a small "was he looking at the wage he'll get once he's working at McDonalds?" or a teeny "was he commenting on what's left after the comments were stripped from the Linux code SCO owns?"

      Ok, I'll get my coat...

    2. Re:Okay--the stock joke quota has been met by AvantLegion · · Score: 1
      I've seen at least 10 of the same jokes in these first 30 comments about what McBride "really" meant. Okay, we get it. You're trying to get a Funny. Darl must have been referring to the basis for his case, or his stock quote. Haha.

      Now, no more, please?

      No no no, get this.... he was talking about what's... in his HEAD! Get it? Nothing..... in his HEAD! Hahahahah..... come on, dontcha get it? NOTHING..... in...... his head!

    3. Re:Okay--the stock joke quota has been met by Mick+Ohrberg · · Score: 1

      I think he was talking about his...umm. Well. You know.

      --

      Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.

  31. When they make the movie by raider_red · · Score: 2, Funny

    I guess we have the next part for Keanu Reeves to play. It's at about his intelligence level too.

    --
    It's good to use your head, but not as a battering ram.
    1. Re:When they make the movie by AndroidCat · · Score: 2, Informative

      He's booked, check my sig. (He'll be trying to play a character with multiple-personalities. Don't worry--they'll cartoon over the results.)

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
    2. Re:When they make the movie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Personally, I've always pictured Danny DiVitto in the role. Sure, Daryl and Danny don't look even remotely alike, but DiVitto has a knack for playing comic slimeballs.

    3. Re:When they make the movie by RustyTaco · · Score: 3, Funny

      Nah, it's more of an Aston Kutcher role. Just think of it:
      Darl: Dude! Where's my code?
      IBM: Where's your code dude?
      Darl: DUUDE! Where's my code?!?
      IBM: I donno dude, where's your code?

      - RustyTaco

    4. Re:When they make the movie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They already made a movie where he plays the son of the Devil.

    5. Re:When they make the movie by kubrick · · Score: 1

      Keanu Reeves? Winona Ryder? A Scanner Darkly shot in the style of Waking Life?

      Jesus H. Freaking Christ. Wouldn't it just be cheaper for the Hollywood types to go and piss on Phil Dick's grave in shifts or something?

      --
      deus does not exist but if he does
  32. OT: Awful web design by fsck! · · Score: 2, Offtopic

    I can't read that article, the site is too painful to look at. That orange and black checkered background strobes violently when the pages is scrolled on a flat panel screen. It's like watching Pokemon with one eye while someone rubs salt in the other.

    Interesting though, two of the embedded ads were error pages from IIS. "Too many users are accessing the site at this time" or something. Clearly, whoever is advertising on linuxworld.com is a true believer.

    1. Re:OT: Awful web design by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Always put salt in your eyes.

  33. the message is clear: by trs9000 · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    dont fuck with linux!

    1. Re:the message is clear: by Zathrus · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I think the message is a bit more muddled than that if that's what you think the message is.

      From the article:
      BayStar managing partner Larry Goldfarb [...] wants SCO to drop its remaining Unix business, jettison its current management, husband its resources, focus on pursuing its IP claims and mind its Ps and Qs in what it says publicly.

      And, a bit further down:
      that despite his disapproval with the way SCO is run he is convinced of the legitimacy of its IP claims and of its winning its case against IBM.

      What BayStar wants is not for SCO to drop its lawsuits -- it wants to expand them, if anything. And it wants SCO to drop the irrelevant parts of its business while doing so -- meaning everything but the lawyers.

      Problem is, current SCO management doesn't want to do this. Worse yet, the management is criminally incompetent when it comes to knowing when to shut the fuck up and is garnering additional ill will by saying silly things. (Which, in a worst case scenario could be admitted as evidence by the judge -- highly doubtful though).

      Anyone that thinks Baystar is a friend to the Linux or OSS crowd is not reading. It's not even legal meanderings -- it's plain English folks! Baystar feels the only "real" business SCO has is in the courts. And that's precisely what we don't want, because it will mean a long, drawn out court fight.

      Given all this, we should be cheering for McBride. He's much more likely to cock things up than Baystar is.

    2. Re:the message is clear: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      or maybe it was a joke?

  34. Pot, meet kettle by linuxtelephony · · Score: 5, Insightful

    BayStar hasn't withdrawn its demand that SCO return its money and BayStar's lawyers, he said, still haven't told SCO's lawyers how SCO breached their contract. So McBride figures BayStar doesn't have a legal leg to stand on and won't be able to get its money back. The money of course is paying for SCO's legal pursuits.

    So, Baystar's demanding their money back due to breach of contract without telling how the contract was breached means they don't have a legal leg to stand on.

    Why does this sound so familiar?

    Oh, that's right. SCO claims to own code that was put into Linux, but won't tell what code SCO claims to own.

    Is this Darl's way of admitting that SCO doesn't have a legal leg to stand on?

    --
    . 62,400 repetitions make one truth -- Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
  35. A show, er, case about nothing by payndz · · Score: 1
    So does this mean that Darl's case is as likely to arouse laughter as 'Seinfeld'?

    "Darl is gettin' angry!"

    --
    You must think in Russian.
  36. The real scum of the earth ... by krumms · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ... is BayStar, who seems to be much more interested in funding IP lawsuits than in Real Business.

    I thought "Wow, the stockholders have woken up!" when I first read about the whole BayStar thing.

    But fact is, BayStar has issues with SCO because the former is saying "Dump all your staff, minimize expenses, and just sue, sue, sue." and the latter isn't totally complying - so BayStar is taking their ball and going home.

    The fuckwits.

    1. Re:The real scum of the earth ... by phasm42 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The parent poster makes an excellent point. I sometimes wonder about SCO's employees, the ones that actually wrote their software. I wonder how they feel about SCO attacking Linux. It would be pretty weird if one day you came to work and found out that your new CEO has decided to attack other companies using baseless accusations because your funding comes from a parasitical IP company. It's the sorta thing that would make you want to quit -- if you weren't already being laid off because the company didn't need to actually produce anything.

      --
      "No one likes working in a hamster wheel, and your shop smells of cedar shavings from here." - TaleSpinner
    2. Re:The real scum of the earth ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i believe the engineers were mostly, if not all, fired quite a while back.

  37. I'm told... by AchilleTalon · · Score: 4, Funny
    he's already planning to write a book on this experience and for living after SCO has finally die.

    Proposed titles for the book includes:

    Gates of the Hell!

    --
    Achille Talon
    Hop!
    1. Re:I'm told... by Triumph+The+Insult+C · · Score: 1

      I heard it's titled "How to be a Corporate Bitch" and a subtitle "alienating your own community"

      or, maybe I'm just confusing SCO's book with Cisco's bitch, the IETF and it's book

      --
      vodka, straight up, thank you!
    2. Re:I'm told... by silicon+not+in+the+v · · Score: 1

      or...
      "Darl M for Murder"

      --
      We may experience some slight turbulence and then...explode. -Capt. Mal Reynolds
  38. What else could he say?? by Eggplant62 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Would you be proud of your activities after having ruined your corporation's reputation in the business environment? I wonder how the guy sleeps at night.

    SCO has no chance of surviving even if they get the
    $5 billion by some stroke of insane luck. Who would do business with a company headed up by this overly litigious asshole? "Contracts are what you use against parties you have relationships with," indeed.

    1. Re:What else could he say?? by DroopyStonx · · Score: 4, Funny

      If SCO has no chance to survive... then perhaps they should make their time!

      --
      We have secretly replaced these Slashdot mods' sense of humor with a rusty nail. Let's see if they notice!!
    2. Re:What else could he say?? by Prod_Deity · · Score: 1

      "....overly litigious asshole?" I thought it was Litigous Bastards

    3. Re:What else could he say?? by IANAAC · · Score: 1

      Ha Ha Ha Ha ....

    4. Re:What else could he say?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Too funny not to repost:


      McBride: What happen?
      Ballmer: Somebody set up us the bitchslap.
      Ballmer: We get lawsuit.
      McBride: What!
      McBride: Main screen turn on.
      McBride: It's You!!
      BigBlue: How are you gentlemen!!
      BigBlue: All your rights are belong to us.
      BigBlue: You are on the way to bankruptcy.
      McBride: What you say!!
      BigBlue: You have no chance to survive make your time.
      BigBlue: Ha Ha Ha Ha ....
      McBride: Take off every preferred share.
      Ballmer: You know what you doing.
      McBride: Move shares.
      McBride: For great profit.

    5. Re:What else could he say?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not to nitpick or anything but that should be 3 Ha's.

  39. lost for words?? by floydman · · Score: 1

    "They call me Mr. verbal... ppl say i talk too much".

    "yeah, i was almost gonna tell you to shut the fsck up!!"

    --The Usual Suspects

    --
    The lunatic is in my head
  40. Like that bank heist that went wrong.. by Performer+Guy · · Score: 5, Funny

    He was going to say "This is like that bank heist in Illinois that went wrong, we had to shoot our way out.", but realized he was talking to the press and not his buddies at Canopy and managed to stop himself just in time with "This is like... nothing".

  41. Summary by sethadam1 · · Score: 3, Insightful


    Nothing too interesting to see here, folks. In summation: Darl is still a jackass.

  42. déjà vu by CodeMonkey4Hire · · Score: 3, Insightful
    BayStar hasn't withdrawn its demand that SCO return its money and BayStar's lawyers, he said, still haven't told SCO's lawyers how SCO breached their contract. So McBride figures BayStar doesn't have a legal leg to stand on and won't be able to get its money back. The money of course is paying for SCO's legal pursuits.
    This sounds like when SCO was playing Hide the 8-ball with IBM's "infringing code." (The link is from an article about Autozone vs. SCO.)
    --

    Let's go Hurricanes!!! 2006 Stanley Cup Champions!!!
  43. From the Article by Ghengis · · Score: 4, Funny

    The Royal Bank of Canada, which BayStar brought into the $50 million investment the pair made in SCO last fall, the investor that has reportedly never expressed doubts about the strength of SCO's position or, unlike BayStar, has never complained to SCO about its behavior, sold $20 million worth of its SCO shares to BayStar.

    That has to be one of the worst sentences I've read in a news article. I know it's still gramatically correct, but talk about hard to follow! Sure it may be off-topic, but WOW! It looks as if anyone can be a writer these days.

    --

    "The best laid plans of mice and men gang oft agley..." - ROBERT BURNS

    1. Re:From the Article by Ibanez · · Score: 1

      I suck at grammar, so I wouldn't know if it was correct or not, but any English teacher I ever had would have told me to rewrite that. And this being in a paper thats supposed to sound intelligent, much less the news.

      Blake

    2. Re:From the Article by cr0sh · · Score: 1

      Actually, isn't this a style used by writers in Germany (I can't remember what the style is called, but I do know it has a format like this, and tends to date from a long while back) - can anyone back me up on this?

      --
      Reason is the Path to God - Anon
  44. fight club quote: by trs9000 · · Score: 1

    The people you are after are the peole you depend on;
    we cook your meals.
    We take out your trash.
    We connect your calls.
    We drive your ambulances.
    We guard you while you sleep.
    Do not fuck with us!

  45. Baystar wants to keep SCO low-profile by phasm42 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I think Baystar wants to keep SCO low profile and is telling McBride to shut his mouth because if more people were aware of their parasitical business model, I think it would hurt them financially and they might suffer some backlash from the public at large. As it stands now, probably only the IT community, and maybe just a subset of that, is aware of the implications of this lawsuit.

    --
    "No one likes working in a hamster wheel, and your shop smells of cedar shavings from here." - TaleSpinner
    1. Re:Baystar wants to keep SCO low-profile by Molecular+Mechanic · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Baystar has said it wants SCO's officers changed -to shut them up.

      As far as hurting them publicly - just how can they be hurt? They have no cutomers. The damage can only be to their legal case, if they talk long enough that they screw themselves.

      MM

    2. Re:Baystar wants to keep SCO low-profile by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      New buzzword: sco-profile "We're going sco-profile for a couple of weeks to really milk it"

    3. Re:Baystar wants to keep SCO low-profile by silicon+not+in+the+v · · Score: 1

      telling him to shut his mouth? With the way he started to say something and then changed it to nothing, he seemed like Charlie McCarthy with Baystar's hand up his ass.

      --
      We may experience some slight turbulence and then...explode. -Capt. Mal Reynolds
  46. strong sell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    check out nasdaq.com, scox is a strong seller, while IBM even with the nice high stock price is marked as a good buy.

    sco is over.

  47. So let me get this straight... by canfirman · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Burst has no other business outside its suit and evidently is the model BayStar wants SCO to emulate.

    So let me get this straight...BayStar has bought up RBC's investment in SCO and wants SCO to get out of every other business it's in and focus on it's pending lawsuits? Doesn't that strike anybody as odd? Basically, BayStar has told SCO to put all of it's eggs in one basket, hoping that the bottom doesn't fall out. If SCO loses against IBM, then there would be nothing left, the stock would take a pounding (probably become "Penny Stock"), and BayStar loses on it's investment. Strange.

    Either BayStar is betting a huge wad of cash on this "horserace" hoping for the big payoff, knows something we don't (which I doubt), or is really stupid. Whatever the management at BayStar is smoking, I'd like some of that.

    --
    It is not our abilities that show what we truly are... it is our choices.
    1. Re:So let me get this straight... by Performer+Guy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The entire pretext of the BayStar investment was the I.P. dispute. So yes, they're betting a huge wad of cash on this horse race. Nothing else about SCO justifies any of the investments made. The money is a war chest to pay lawyers. This is 100% about the copyright dispute. Unfortunately for this grand plan the copyright dispute has been transformed into a pure contract dispute. But infact this is part of SCO's scheme, if SCO wins they'll spin it as a copyright victory and scare the bajesus out of everyone and hike their value in the process. The Press, ever the uneducated dolts will swallow this hook line and sinker and publish SCOs anti-Linux FUD.

      This is why SCO are suing the "end users" they chose. They're the only ones SCO has a chance with because they've signed SCO contracts permittig things like audits. Even the end user suits aren't about copyrights, they're about contracts. Should SCO win they'll be hyped as copyright victories too. This is the strategy.

    2. Re:So let me get this straight... by Jahf · · Score: 5, Interesting

      "Horserace" is my guess.

      Think of this situation as the mirror of an Angel Investor with an up and coming company. The Angel might invest in 10 startups and have 9 of them die before going public and yet still make a fortune.

      In this case, if they can buy 10 failing companies $100M each, each having a $1B+ lawsuit in process, only 1 of those guys has to win their lawsuit for BayStar to make their money back and then some.

      What is the best chance that BayStar has for SCO to win? SCO has to focus EVERYTHING on winning (even though by doing so they almost certainly will disappear after the win anyway).

      Perhaps this should be the defition of a "Devil Investor"?

      I wouldn't be at all surprised if SCO hinted that they would do just this, but they probably din't -commit- to it.

      Of course we all know that some times 10 companies out of 10 fail, so BayStar could screw themselves out of the cash, which is why they put pressure on their investments to do the burn-out legislation in an all-out attempt to win.

      And I'm with you, I would smoke hundreds of millions of dollars if someone gave me billions to do so :)

      --
      It is more productive to voice thoughtful opinions (reply) than to judge (moderate) others.
    3. Re:So let me get this straight... by 16K+Ram+Pack · · Score: 1
      But really, SCO have nothing else.

      At the end of this lawsuit, assuming IBM win, there will be a crater in the stockmarket where SCO used to be. IBM, Red Hat et al will sue them to oblivion.

      If I was using SCO software, I'd be quite worried about that.

    4. Re:So let me get this straight... by Eccles · · Score: 2, Informative

      So let me get this straight...BayStar has bought up RBC's investment in SCO and wants SCO to get out of every other business it's in and focus on it's pending lawsuits? Doesn't that strike anybody as odd?

      No, because Baystar's largest investor is owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and their eighth largest investor is Microsoft. This should surprise no one.

      --
      Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
    5. Re:So let me get this straight... by FreeUser · · Score: 2, Informative

      Either BayStar is betting a huge wad of cash on this "horserace" hoping for the big payoff, knows something we don't (which I doubt), or is really stupid. Whatever the management at BayStar is smoking, I'd like some of that.

      Or Baystar is merely a front for Microsoft, whose interest in SCO has nothing whatsoever to do with SCO's profit margin, long term business viability, or direct return on investment vis-a-vis the value of SCOX stock.

      Which has already been well documented publicly.

      --
      The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
  48. borrow some from Rumsfeld by anandpur · · Score: 5, Funny

    As we know,
    There are known knowns.
    There are things we know we know.
    We also know
    There are known unknowns.
    That is to say
    We know there are some things
    We do not know.
    But there are also unknown unknowns,
    The ones we don't know
    We don't know.

    --Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing

    Next Day :

    I believe what I said yesterday. I don't know what I said, but I know what I think... and I assume it's what I said

    1. Re:borrow some from Rumsfeld by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      As we know,
      There are known knowns.
      There are things we know we know.
      We also know
      There are known unknowns.
      That is to say
      We know there are some things
      We do not know.
      But there are also unknown unknowns,
      The ones we don't know
      We don't know.


      I have to say, Rummy is getting too much criticism over this statement. He makes perfect sense.

      There are times when you are sure that you don't know something. And since you don't know, you can investigate/research/find out about it.

      There are times when you are sure you know something.

      And then there are times when you are unaware of something that you should know, and you don't know that you should know it.

    2. Re:borrow some from Rumsfeld by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Further Summarized:
      We know about this.
      We don't know about this.
      What the hell is that?!

    3. Re:borrow some from Rumsfeld by Triumph+The+Insult+C · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Don,
      Stop making excuses for yourself. And ditch the AC posting ... it's not like you (making an ass of yourself in public).

      Thanks

      --
      vodka, straight up, thank you!
    4. Re:borrow some from Rumsfeld by nicophonica · · Score: 5, Insightful
      I must say I detest Rumsfeld and his complete and intentional lack of conventional ethics. However, this statement, while highly abstract, makes sense.

      I have a lunch box there is a tuna fish sandwich and something spongy in a brown paper wrapper. I like tuna fish, that is a 'known' and i don't have to worry about it.

      I don't know what's in the brown paper wrapper but I know better then to eat it. That's a 'known unknown' and since I'm not going to eat it, I don't have to worry about that either.

      What I didn't have any idea about, however, was that my lunch box was trapped with a spring loaded poison needle, that's an 'unknown unknown'. Because I didn't have any idea my lunch box could be trapped, I'm dead.

    5. Re:borrow some from Rumsfeld by horos2c · · Score: 1

      As we know
      [snipped]
      We don't know

      You know, this quote could have come straight from Yes Minister..

      In fact, it did. At least a version thereof:

      Bernard: May I just clarify the question? You are asking who would know what it is that I don't know and you don't know, but the Foreign Office know that they know, that they are keeping from you so that you don't know but they do know, and all we know is that there is something we don't know but we want to know but we don't know what because we don't know. Is that it?

      You know, I love that show.. better than a poli-sci degree..

      horos

    6. Re:borrow some from Rumsfeld by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And thanks to the magic of digital cameras and the internet, now we all know!

    7. Re:borrow some from Rumsfeld by beforewisdom · · Score: 1

      I think someone actually published that as Rumsfeld's

      "existential poetry".

      Makes more sense then some of the sarte I read in college :).

      Steve

    8. Re:borrow some from Rumsfeld by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He missed out the following

      Of course there are unknown knowns,
      Where we do not know
      What we know

      Wait.... that sounds like the Sep 11 incident....
      clever man

    9. Re:borrow some from Rumsfeld by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Conventional ethics"? I prefer the term "pussy ethics" - I.e, ethics applied by pussies such as yourself.

    10. Re:borrow some from Rumsfeld by TexasCowboy23 · · Score: 1

      I admire and respect Rumsfeld almost as much as I do President Bush ... (I say that without any sarcasm.) But ... Dr. Seuss had *nothing* on Rumsfeld ... =)

      Coming soon to a library near you: Dr. Rummy's The Known Knowns of the Unknown Knowns and the Unknown Unknowns ...

      --
      Seth Anderson BTW, I'm not 23 anymore -- I am TexasCowboy26 now. =)
  49. There's nothing he can say he's done by tarranp · · Score: 5, Insightful

    SCO has made a major tactical error; they sued Novell alleging slander of title because Novell filed for the copyrights on Unix System V shortly after SCO fled for the same copyrights.

    Essentially, to allege a slander of title, you have to come to the court with

    1) Evidence that you won the title being slandered,

    2) Evidence that the slanderer knew it,

    3) and that you suffered damages as part of the slander.

    The problem is that SCO not only has failed to show evidence of 1 and 2, Novell is waving the letter around where SCO asked Novell for the copyrights.

    Now, if the court dismisses the suit stating that SCO's ownership of the copyrights is in doubt, their case against Autozone collapses, and Red hat can get summary judgement that Linux does not infringe on SCO's copyrights.

    Meanwhile IBM's counterclaims, once litigated will leave SCO in bakrupcy and the GPL will have had its day in court (IBM is suing SCO, among other things, for distributing IBM's copyrighted code while violating the terms of the GPL by forbidding the creation of derivative works).

    Free/Open Source software has been helped rather than hurt by this lawsuit; it is more famous, and its opponents are displaying themselves to be incompetent bufoons. It has educated many of us about the field of intellectual property law.

    1. Re:There's nothing he can say he's done by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Free/Open Source software has been helped rather than hurt by this lawsuit; it is more famous, and its opponents are displaying themselves to be incompetent bufoons. It has educated many of us about the field of intellectual property law.

      I knew it! This was all an evil plot by Stallman, EFF and the "Underground /. Guerilla Association" for the GPL to have its day in court and come out untouched. They are behind Baystar! They funded the lawsuit! It was all staged! McBride is just the hero taking the slander and just putting up with all of this for the good of us all!

      Aaaah... We'll miss you Mc Bride... You've done a great service...

      How is that for a conspiracy theory?

    2. Re:There's nothing he can say he's done by mark-t · · Score: 1
      How is that for a conspiracy theory?
      Not bad... not bad at all.

      So just how many spare tin foil hats _DO_ you really have?

    3. Re:There's nothing he can say he's done by Bull999999 · · Score: 1

      But where does Bill Gates fit into all this?

      --
      1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d
  50. Ironic by CamShaft · · Score: 5, Funny
    BayStar's lawyers, he said, still haven't told SCO's lawyers how SCO breached their contract
    I had to chuckle when I read that.
  51. simply a misinterpretation by justforaday · · Score: 2, Insightful

    See, it's where you place the punctuation. What he's really saying is "This is, like, nothing" meaning that to him and SCO, the Baystar thing doesn't have any affect at all. Or, at least I'm sure that's how SCO will try to spin this...

    --
    I'll turn into a supernova and burn up everything. Well I'll turn into a black little hole and you'll turn into string.
  52. Re:This Is News For Nerds? by DrLZRDMN · · Score: 1

    How much more desperate can slashdot get in embarassing and harassing a honest, law-abiding executive?
    RTFA were talking about Darl Mcbride.

  53. SLASHDOT IS AT A LOSS FOR STORIES by stratjakt · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Who cares. There is absolutely no news or anything of interest in this article.

    --
    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
    1. Re:SLASHDOT IS AT A LOSS FOR STORIES by shimbee · · Score: 1, Interesting

      sadly, i agree. this article is bereft of any important or interesting information or conjecture. it basically says "there's nothing to say about anything."

    2. Re:SLASHDOT IS AT A LOSS FOR STORIES by vsprintf · · Score: 1

      sadly, i agree. this article is bereft of any important or interesting information or conjecture. it basically says "there's nothing to say about anything."

      The article shows that the constantly yapping McBride has been muzzled by Baystar. If Baystar is pulling the strings, we can expect SCO to dump their so-called UNIX operations next. Each little twist is interesting to those of us who are following the story. It's a regular geek soap opera. Tune in tomorrow when Jax from Baystar threatens to have Darl *removed*, and Chris offers to help.

    3. Re:SLASHDOT IS AT A LOSS FOR STORIES by iminplaya · · Score: 2, Funny

      it basically says "there's nothing to say about anything."

      Sounds like a Seinfeld Episode to me.

      --
      What?
  54. RTA, Baystar aren't selling anymore.... by reality-bytes · · Score: 4, Insightful


    Baystar are not selling their shares right now - they just doubled their stock by buying the 20,000 shares that the Royal Bank of Canada just cashed out of.

    --
    Ripping an new rectum in the fabric of spacetime.
    1. Re:RTA, Baystar aren't selling anymore.... by Xenographic · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The irony is that it might be considered a 'business opportunity' to get out of this whole mess while the stock is still worth even as much as it is now...

      The stock only ever crawled out of the sewers based on the hype from their FUD; when the FUD is finally fully abated, it's probably heading right back down there once more...

  55. A month too late. by ebuck · · Score: 1

    Good April Fool's Joke!!!
    Hahahaha!!! That's halarious!

    Oh, wait....

  56. Post the IRC log :) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Do you have an IRC log to back that story up :)

  57. McBride at loss for words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...global warming no longer cause for concern.

  58. Borrow shares by vlad_petric · · Score: 1

    That's how you can make money of a plunging stock. You borrow them now, sell now, and repurchase them later (for the lender) at a lower price.

    --

    The Raven

  59. does this sound familier by linuxbert · · Score: 4, Interesting

    From the Article:
    "BayStar hasn't withdrawn its demand that SCO return its money and BayStar's lawyers, he said, still haven't told SCO's lawyers how SCO breached their contract. So McBride figures BayStar doesn't have a legal leg to stand on and won't be able to get its money back."

    hasent this been what SCO is doing to IBM - Not telling them anything..

  60. That's because... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm guessing it'll go back up (how far past 1.5 can you go, really). Baystar may be trying to break even. Look at a chart for SCO, unless BayStar purchased any time in the last 5 years, they've taken a loss. Right now if they dump another $30k into the stock (which is what 20000 shares of SCO goes for right now), but then it jumps back up to 5, at least they may be able to regain some capital.

  61. Great plot from a previous /. post by IceAgeComing · · Score: 5, Funny

    A great plot with the SCO stock price plotted over Ululu/Ayer's Rock is here.

    Original post with this plot is here.

    1. Re:Great plot from a previous /. post by Seanasy · · Score: 2, Funny

      That adds more meaning to the phrase "rock bottom."

    2. Re:Great plot from a previous /. post by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 2, Funny

      A great plot with the SCO stock price plotted over Ululu/Ayer's Rock is here.

      If you look at the far right side of the rock, I guess we know how this all ends.

    3. Re:Great plot from a previous /. post by 13Echo · · Score: 1

      Wow! Now that's just creepy!

      Looks like someone's falling from the summit.

    4. Re:Great plot from a previous /. post by Sax+Maniac · · Score: 1

      That's funny, but it looks like the rock has been altered to fit the stock price. Either that or the rock got really fuzzy along the edges.

      --
      I can explanate how to administrate your network. You must configurate and segmentate it, so it can computate.
    5. Re:Great plot from a previous /. post by ozbird · · Score: 2, Informative

      Cute, but obviously a fake made using an image clone tool to extend the Uluru up to the graph line.

    6. Re:Great plot from a previous /. post by ms1234 · · Score: 2, Funny

      I think the aborigines will object to associate such evil with their holy place.

    7. Re:Great plot from a previous /. post by crem_d_genes · · Score: 2, Funny

      He could claim a dingo made off with his business plan.

  62. RTFA - Baystar *bought* SCO stock by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Nobody in the article refers to selling stock at loss as a financial opportunity. Here are the two quotes in question:

    BayStar's comment about buying the bank's shares being a "financial opportunity" hints that BayStar paid less for them than the bank did.

    The bank merely calls its action a "business decision" and BayStar claims it was presented with "a strategic and financial opportunity.

  63. An odd pathology by Cruciform · · Score: 4, Funny

    Typically, once an arsonist starts a fire, they leave the building rather than watch it burn down around them.

    SCO seems to be running around locking all the doors, and they're the only ones in the building.

  64. Trying to invoke Godwin's law eh? by sesaetaen · · Score: 2, Funny
    well I call for a Quirk's exception :

    6. "Hitler!" Ha! The thread is over!

    Nope, doesn't work that way. Not only is it wrong to say that a thread is over when Godwin's Law is invoked anyway
    (Usenet threads virtually always outlive their usefulness), but long ago a corollary to the Law was proposed and accepted
    by Taki "Quirk" Kogama (quirk@swcp.com):

    Quirk's Exception: Intentional invocation of this so-called "Nazi Clause" is ineffectual.

    Sorry, folks. Nice try, though.
  65. Re:This Is News For Nerds? by Performer+Guy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    He may be law abiding (I'm not convinced) but he's trying to take the freedoms of thousands of developers away. You should not let your politics interfere with your sense of judgement. People who wrote their own software have a right to use it unencumbered by the claims of some shady characters who misrepresent their efforts. The SCO CEO has lied about Linux, he has misrepresented his own claims, he has failed to meet the basic requirements of copyright enforcement by intentionally not stating any lines of infringing code, while impugning the character of independent developers. Nobody has stolen his code and the technical merits of his claims are baseless, absurd and unsupportable notions of copyrights on ABIs and derivative works have been introduced in court and in the press to hype their case.

    If he has a claim against the community he should state it with specificity, he has never done this. The community should be given the chance to fix any problems (that's a right under the law) and they have never been given that chance.

    SCO does not want this. SCO wants to tax us all for work others have done on copyrights they don't even own if Novell is to be believed.

    McBride is a despicable man of low character, he has demonstrated this to most rational thinkers and he deserves the public scorn that is heaped upon him.

  66. A BETTER INVESTMENT RIGHT NOW IS CISCO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why? Because it's cheap cheap cheap right now and their earnings are through the roof. They've increased their inventory to decrease the time you have to wait for a router or switch, meaning they will increase sales and customer satisfaction. I'm biased, of course, I went and bought 540 shares.

  67. Let me be the first to say... by fluxrad · · Score: 1

    Who the hell is Robert S. Rumsfeld?

    Oh, and completely off-topic. In your "my patriotism" post, you mention that you wish Clinton had been impeached. He was impeached, he just wasn't removed from office.

    --
    "It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once." -David Hume
    1. Re:Let me be the first to say... by orthogonal · · Score: 4, Informative
      Who the hell is Robert S. Rumsfeld?

      Roberts S. McNamara was Lyndon Johnson's Secretary of Defense, and largely responsible for the quagmire that the Vietnam War became. (After avoiding responsibility for the deaths of 58,000 Americans and untold thousands or millions of Vietnamese, McNamara was rewarded with the Presidency of The World Bank for twelve years.)

      Donald Rumsfeld, of course, is the current Secretary of Defense who decided to ignore military doctrine and top Pentagon generals and top military lawyers in favor of his own ideas on war doctrine and the Geneva Conventions in Iraq.

      Here's what one retired officer (an officer right-wing enough to have compared Howard Dean to Hitler, but also an excellent novelist), Ralph Peters, had to say about Rumsfeld today (emphasis mine):
      ...I have never seen such distrust of a public official [as Donald Rumsfeld] in the senior ranks. Not even of Bill Clinton. Rumsfeld & Co. have trashed our ground forces every way they could.... Rumsfeld has wounded our military and sent our troops to die for harebrained schemes. In place of sound plans, he substituted political prejudices. Election year or not, he has to go.


      So I've decided that it's only fair to remind ourselves of our "proud" history of quagmires, by referring to the Secretary of Defense as 'Robert S.' Rumsfeld.
    2. Re:Let me be the first to say... by fluxrad · · Score: 1

      I think you're the only one who got your joke.

      --
      "It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once." -David Hume
    3. Re:Let me be the first to say... by rosie_bhjp · · Score: 1

      'Robert S.' -- Robert S. McNamara
      'Rumsfeld' -- Donald H. Rumsfeld

      A play on their names to associate the two together.
      McNamara being the Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War during its big ramp up phase.
      Rumsfeld of course, being the Secretary of Defense during the Iraq war, presumably, during its own ramp up phase.

      --
      A radio maverick jumps to internet only. The Future of Rock n Roll
    4. Re:Let me be the first to say... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Soo.... You're saying that Good 'Ol Rummy should be named the head of the World Bank for a few decades?

    5. Re:Let me be the first to say... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd love to give credit to anything bashing Rumsfeld, but anyone who compare's Howard Dean to Hitler is too much of a kook to give any credence to (besides, how is that right-wing? Dean's on the left, so a comparison to Hitler would only refer to politics if it came from, oh, Robespierre or Karl Marx, maybe? Was it just his rather strange vocal performance?)

    6. Re:Let me be the first to say... by bckrispi · · Score: 1

      Let's not forget That McNamara was also instrumental in defusing the Cuban Missile Crisis. Under a moron like LBJ, I don't think any Defense Sec. could've helped to win Vietnam.

      --
      Xenon, where's my money? -Borno
    7. Re:Let me be the first to say... by sTalking_Goat · · Score: 1
      completely off topic but it'd be interesing to see if 30 years dowqn the road Rummy admits his fuck up like McNam did in Fog of War

      somehow I don't think so though...

      --

      My days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle...

  68. sleep by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He will probally sleep well on a pile of cash while his workers look for a new job. does anyone thinks that CEO's like him give a damn about anyone but themselves. He will say he was cheated and move onto the next place that wants him.

    My own uninformed opinion.

  69. Re:This Is News For Nerds? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hahahaha...

    Darl McBride == honet, law-abiding executive

    jihad against Bill Gates

    Wait a minute. Why wasn't this modded +5 funny?

  70. Baystar isn't buying ordinary shares... by tjwhaynes · · Score: 5, Informative
    Baystar are not selling their shares right now - they just doubled their stock by buying the 20,000 shares that the Royal Bank of Canada just cashed out of.

    Yes but Baystar is not buying the currently-$5-and-dropping publicly traded shares. Baystar is buying 20,000 Series A shares worth $1000 each. Now the interesting part is that if SCO is forced to redeem these special stocks, Baystar gets considerably more than the $1000 per share because of the penalty clause - I think it's a 20% premium, so make that $1200 per share. So Baystar is unlikely to be out of cash if SCO is forced to re-imburse it. In fact Baystar will be up $8 million dollars on their holding of 40,000 Series A shares.

    Cheers,
    Toby Haynes

    --
    Anything I post is strictly my own thoughts and doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the opinions of IBM.
    1. Re:Baystar isn't buying ordinary shares... by iminplaya · · Score: 1

      Now the interesting part is that if SCO is forced to redeem these special stocks...

      Chapter 7, 11, (or doubles) should take care of that little problem.

      --
      What?
    2. Re:Baystar isn't buying ordinary shares... by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 1
      So Baystar is unlikely to be out of cash if SCO is forced to re-imburse it. In fact Baystar will be up $8 million dollars on their holding of 40,000 Series A shares.

      That assumes, of course, that SCO has the necessary assets to meet that obligation. What are they worth at present? Perhaps more significantly, what will they be worth if they file for protection under whichever clever financial ruse their lawyers come up with?

      I wouldn't be feeling too smug right now if I were Baystar, that's for sure. They may have taken a calculated risk, but AFAICS it's far from a certain profit.

      --
      If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
  71. Sniff. The smell of comsumers getting burned. by StickyWidget · · Score: 1

    The only reason I can think of for converting to common stock is that they plan to sell to the stereotypical uninformed ETrade drone. On the horizon is a consumer bum-fekking, mark my words. No, YOU cat "your a$$" to dev/null!

  72. informed CEOs by mabu · · Score: 2, Funny

    McBride claims he doesn't know any more than we do. He's had barely any contact with the bank and all he knows is that he got a letter from them last Wednesday outlining what it was doing, but not explaining why.

    McBride also claims that he doesn't know what BayStar's about either.


    You gotta wonder what this guy does all day in his office. I'm thinking he's the member of an uber guild on Everquest with a level 65 rogue totally decked out in planar armor.

  73. Correction to the article by siskbc · · Score: 4, Informative
    From the SCO press release: " The conversion will occur as permitted under SCO's Certificate of Designation, Preferences and Rights relating to the Series A-1 stock. The Series A-1 stock was purchased at a price of $1,000 per share, and will be converted to common stock based on a conversion price of $13.50 per share."

    From the article: "And the bank is converting the rest of its preferred stock - that it paid $10 million for - into 740,740 shares of SCO common presumably to dump it on the public market. Presumably too it won't sell the stock immediately since the conversion cost it $13.50 a share, more than double what SCO's been selling for."

    Always good to see quality journalism. That $13.50 is per share of *preferred stock,* which originally sold for $1000.

    Here's the math:

    They're cashing out 10,000 shares of preferred for 740,740 shares of regular. Regular is 5.16 now, which is about what it would be worth at conversion - bringing them $3,822,218. This also means their shares of preferred stock are worth $3822/share right now. It will cost $13.50/*preferred* share - not common share as claimed by the article - to convert the 10,000 shares. This amounts to a 3.5% loss on the conversion, but that looks golden right now. It certainly would have made no sense if the $13.50 were per common share, as the article mistakenly claimed. In other words, they didn't pay a $13.50 fee to sell a $5 stock.

    Also of interest - the purchase price of the stock was $10,000,000. Given the return of $3.8M, that means that they bought their stock at a price equivalent to $13.57/share of common stock. Probably looked good at one time...to someone.

    --

    -Looking for a job as a materials chemist or multivariat

    1. Re:Correction to the article by Cryogenes · · Score: 1

      Can't say that I understand your math (disclaimer: I am a mathematician) but it would seem to me that $3,822,218 divided by 10,000 shares gives $382/share, not $3822/share.

      Seems like a hefty loss to me, given they were originally worth $1,000/share.

    2. Re:Correction to the article by Scott+Richter · · Score: 1
      Can't say that I understand your math (disclaimer: I am a mathematician) but it would seem to me that $3,822,218 divided by 10,000 shares gives $382/share, not $3822/share.

      ;) I'll not bother describing the current stickiness of my "2" key. You're quite right. I think the rest is OK, as well as the general conclusion: they paid a few percent of the stock value to sell, not over double the stock value. Incidentally, had it been $13.50/share of common stock, that would have been about the same as the original amount they bought in for. So in any case, that would make less than no sense, and they would never have done it. My issues with the "2" notwithstanding.

  74. Most ironic thing I've read for a while by 0x0d0a · · Score: 2, Insightful

    BayStar hasn't withdrawn its demand that SCO return its money and BayStar's lawyers, he said, still haven't told SCO's lawyers how SCO breached their contract.

    The irony here is just sickening.

  75. Can't afford to let any of the court cases wrap up by Kazoo+the+Clown · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There for awhile, SCO was a pretty darn good engine for anti-Linux FUD. And it's pretty clear that was the specific intent of all of Darl's motormouth behavior. But that strategy has by now completely played itself out.

    Now, the absolute WORST thing that could happen in that regard is for any of the court cases to wrap themselves up. If your goal is anti-Linux FUD, a wrap up of any of the suits would appear as a Linux stamp of approval and send it off running.

    So the question is, after attempting every stalling tactic in the book, what effect would a change in ownership of the IP at the center of the court cases have on the cases themselves? And is Baystar in a position to facilitate just such a change of ownership?

    Guess we'll know pretty soon...

  76. It certainly makes business sense by Julian+Morrison · · Score: 1

    Afterall, who now expects SCO's own brand Unix OS to make much money for them? Linux and Solaris have squeezed them out from above and below. If you have a major amount of money riding on SCOX, the only hope you have of recouping it is via the IP lawsuit.

    Of course, you should also sack whatever ignorant chimp bought their shares to begin with...

  77. Re:Sniff. The smell of comsumers getting burned. by sirgoran · · Score: 1

    It isn't the smell of the consumer getting burned, it's the smell from the Bull$hit that SCO's been shoveling.

    My guess is they saw the "evidence" and realize if they stick with SCO, the $hit will stick to them.

    -Goran

    --
    Carpe Scrotum - The only way to deal with your competition.
  78. Oh the irony by Mr_Perl · · Score: 3, Insightful
    BayStar hasn't withdrawn its demand that SCO return its money and BayStar's lawyers, he said, <B>still haven't told SCO's lawyers how SCO breached their contract</B>. So McBride figures BayStar doesn't have a legal leg to stand on and won't be able to get its money back.
    Sounds rather familiar doesn't it?
    --

    My poetry site welcomes the unusual.
  79. new business model. by blanks · · Score: 1

    "Burst has no other business outside its suit and evidently is the model BayStar wants SCO to emulate. "

    aka the bank wants SCO to stop everything, and focus everything on suing people.

    Didn't see that coming.

  80. He was warned by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Before he even launched this frivilous lawsuit he was warned by the former CEO he was replacing NOT to do any legal action because of the backwash on SCO. Please take note, that at the time I am posting this SCO's stock has dropped to 5.15 when just 2 weeks ago it was 8.60 and just 6 months ago it was over 20.

    He got the short term benifits which is all painting yourself to be the bad guy does (even though that wasn't his attempt). Overall, it won't be long before SCO becomes junk stock....if it even survives.

    Either rate, he's full of caca, and he was warned about doing this WELL before hand. Yet he persisted. He's getting what he deserves. And for single handedly destroying SCO, I hope he never finds a job again....the litigous bastard. I wouldn't hire him to shovel sand off my driveway for fear he'd sue me because his back hurt.

  81. Iraqi Information Minister by Pampusik · · Score: 2, Funny

    "In other news, SCO CEO Darl McBride was named as the leading candidate to fill the job of Iraqi Information Minister, recently vacated by Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf."

  82. well, it is saying... by zogger · · Score: 1

    ....from the point of view of the non voting stock talking to the voting stock --> "dump management, they are bozos and have ruined the company, do it now, then let's see if there's anything left to salvage". The voting stock dudes got to be WAY past wondering that, too. Of course, I have no idea who the voting stock dudes are, either, or what they hope to get from this, no way is IBM gonna pay them a nickle, and it's quite unlikely they will win in court anyway.

    I wonder IF they just dropped all the stupid lawsuit nonsense, and got back to work, could they actually come up with some product now, anything that was any good? And even if they did, would anyone use it, let alone pay for it or pay for service?

    I just can't see anyone wanting to do business with them, but I guess in some places they still do. Makes ya wonder though...

  83. wheel of karma by tgibbs · · Score: 1

    BayStar hasn't withdrawn its demand that SCO return its money and BayStar's lawyers, he said, still haven't told SCO's lawyers how SCO breached their contract.

    Who knew that the wheel of karma had such a short turning radius?

  84. Re:SCOX price right now - And Analyst opinion by ArcticCelt · · Score: 1

    And don't forget my favourite yahoo page, the analyst opinions. They give a quote from 1 to 5.

    1 means Strong buy (buy this thing it will go rocket high).

    5 means attention crew leave the ship crash and burn eminent this stock is going down to hell.

    Now, what do you guess the SCO recomendation quote is right now ? ;)

    --

    Yahh, hiii haaaaa! -Major Kong, from Dr. Strangelove
  85. Dream on, fry boy. by Giant+Panda · · Score: 1
    "wage he'll get once he's working at McDonalds?"

    Riiiigggghhhttt. The sad thing is Darl and pals will walk away very rich men. Darl et al. may be sleazy as hell, but the fact that they are taking the legal system for a ride is not illegal. The SEC has said as much.

  86. other peoples words are derivative works of Darl's by choconutdancer · · Score: 4, Funny

    thats why he's at a loss for words. other people have been stealing words from him!

    other peoples sentences are just his words rearranged in a different order. they are obviously DERIVATIVE WORKS of his sentences. some sentences have had the words purposely REARRANGED to OBFUSCATE the true origin of the sentence - Darl. in fact, sometimes the senteneces other people have said are EXACTLY THE SAME are Darl's sentences. word for word. coincidence?

    a bunch of MIT rocket scientists have confirmed that Darl's sentence "yes." has been used elsewhere MILLIONS of times. this is STEALING of his IP and it must stop. sue Darl sue!

    hint to Darl: when you sue remember that (like with the IBM lawsuit) you can pick whatever value you want for damages! rather than sue for an obscenely ridiculous value like 5 Billion dollars you should really go all out this time and sue for 100 GaZillion (GaZillion - copyright Darl McBride) dollars! just think how that will make the stock price in your stock scam to go up. wow! is our legal system cool or what?

  87. Ignore em and they'll go away by Felinoid · · Score: 1

    It dosen't actually work that way.

    SCO isn't press driven it's FUD driven. It's a means of getting Darl McBride to put out more FUD and frighten people away from Linux.
    Darl Dosen't have anything to say this time so what is the point?

    Anyway this is just a modern day "Ignorence is bliss" a notion that has been blast away as one of the worst ideas to be produced.

    Ignorence is not bliss. Ignorence is crossing the freeway in heavy traffic.

    If we ignore what happends around us we'll just get more of the same.

    --
    I don't actually exist.
  88. TROLL IS AT A LOSS FOR CREATIVITY by Felinoid · · Score: 1

    Who cares. There is absolutely no news or anything of interest in this article.

    Darl ALWAYS has something to say.
    Fact is the last few storys where Darl spoke weren't news becouse it's what he always dose.

    News is when something NEW happends. Not something that intrests you personally.
    Every time this topic comes up SCO puts some spin on it. They can't. Thats news.

    --
    I don't actually exist.
  89. Questions for O'Gara by John+Manjiro · · Score: 1

    When, where, and why did McBride say this? The next sentence could easily go on to express his jubilation at the current state of affairs, and given the SCO exec's historically problematic interpretation of reality, would anyone be surprised? One ambiguous sentence, lifted from context and tacked on to a grammatically poor summary of SCO's recent troubles, may make me happy but it doesn't make good journalism.

  90. Watch for the microsoft buyout by Teahouse · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Just a hypothesis, but perhaps BayStar's job is to get SCO to liquidate all employees and make it easy for M$oft to buy out the rights if they hold up against Novell. BayStar does all the dirty work, and then M$oft gets to buy the IP and put it's big lawyers against IBM's big lawyers.

    If the IP doesn't work, BayStar has probably been assured that M$oft will reimburse them for any losses through a lucrative investment deal down the road. They DO have over a billion in the bank after all. $50 mill is pocket change.

    --
    "Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect."- Steven Wright
  91. I keep thinking of 2001 by glenalec · · Score: 1

    "OMG! It's full of .... nothing!"

    --
    The man with no surname and a silly hat

    On the universe: It's bunk.
  92. So, basically, what you're saying is... by Dhraakellian · · Score: 1

    "Do not feed the Troll."

    --
    I've read Grocklaw. BoycottNovell, you're no Grocklaw
  93. "I Wasn't Brought In to Have Warm Fuzzies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful
    he SCO CEO has lied about Linux, he has misrepresented his own claims, he has failed to meet the basic requirements of copyright enforcement by intentionally not stating any lines of infringing code, while impugning the character of independent developers. ... McBride is a despicable man of low character, he has demonstrated this to most rational thinkers and he deserves the public scorn that is heaped upon him.


    I Wasn't Brought In to Have Warm Fuzzies with Slashdot, . I was brought in to increase [SCO's] shareholder value" Says McBride- 17Feb04


    I think this says it all. Business men seldom act out of ethical concerns, they act to make a profit. And it could be argued that McBride's actions have served the shareholder's best interest by allowing SCO to continue operating with a major influx from venture capitalists and Microsoft and others. It could also be argued that without these actions SCO's employees would have been out of work last year. Now I'm not going to say that this man's actions over the past year have not be anything less then contemptable. I rather thought that this form of behavier went out of fashion in the 1980s, but clearly the ME approach to business is still going strong.

    1. Re:"I Wasn't Brought In to Have Warm Fuzzies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      despite popular belief ethical behavior and making a profit are behaviors that can happen at the same time.

      just because i could make money for my company by taking a hit out on your grandmother doesnt mean its okay because its business.

      businessmen have to operate in the rules of ethical behavior too, first and foremost, then they worry about stockholder value.

    2. Re:"I Wasn't Brought In to Have Warm Fuzzies by Performer+Guy · · Score: 1

      Obligations to shareholders do not excuse dishonourable conduct. Here's a clue, CEOs are NOT supposed to lie, and not all companies are out to get something for nothing. MOST companies make product or sell services. SCOs business plan is an extortion scam. It is very probably illegal and funded & encouraged in part by Microsoft which is also an illegal anti-competitive move. McBride helped determine this course of action instead of growing SCO on an honest and viable basis.

      I don't care what your position is on corporate mores, SCO and McBride's activities go way beyond the pale.

  94. Where's the story? by woodhouse · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What's next? SHOCKER: McBride blows his nose!! I know there's a weekly SCO quota on slashdot, but can we keep it to the vaguely significant stories please?

  95. Sounds more like a job for the Dell guy: by rune2 · · Score: 1


    Dell Guy: Duuude your getting weed... I mean uh code!

  96. Not Pyro sensitive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    I believe they were Paron-sensitive sunglasses.
    See if you can find a written reference somewhere I'd like to know.

    '..at the first hint of trouble they turn totally black, thus preventing you from seeing anything that may alarm you'

    (paron from paronoia?)

    1. Re:Not Pyro sensitive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's "peril-sensitive" (as in danger-sensitive).

  97. In other news.... by rune2 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Pigs everywhere are suddenly flying and Microsoft's decided to switch their business model to open source software!

  98. The truth is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    it is a way to take away the focus that a certain richest man in the world had indirectly invested in SCO. dun be mislead

  99. negotiations are complete by khallow · · Score: 1

    It sounds to me like there was some rough negotiating behind the scenes. Perhaps, SCO was getting cold feet or Microsoft had to be pressured to put up more money. In any case, Microsoft has decided that there's a little more value in prolonging the SCO lawsuits. You can bet that BayStar will pull out fast once SCO's lawsuits are no longer considered of value.

  100. Re:See! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    I'd spot you both if I could, but The Man says it's non-transferable.

    Look for a little push the next time mod points flow my way.

    Yeah, I'm posting to AC to protect it. What of it?

  101. a thought I had last week... by way2trivial · · Score: 2, Interesting
    IF baystar really backed the deal entirely

    we all know that RBC took a bath on the shares they converted at 13.50 per, (a loss of ?60? percent) but we do NOT know at what price they sold their premium 20k shares to baystar at.

    if baystar made guarantees to RBC before the inital purchase of the 30 mill$us of stock, it's very possible, they sold their 20k shares for the amount they lost on the conversion, and no one is talking about it.

    do you know, does anyone, that they sold their 20 million dollar investment for more or less than 20 million.. we have all posted the assumption, they sold them to baystar for less than face value.

    maybe baystar paid off RBC for a loan they finagled....

    --
    every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
  102. Nixon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They published nixon's poetry back in the day.

  103. "I have no idea who the voting stock dudes are" by Phragmen-Lindelof · · Score: 1

    I was just thinking that if your house has windows, then your yard probably has gates.

    1. Re:"I have no idea who the voting stock dudes are" by zogger · · Score: 1

      pretty funny man!

  104. watch and learn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    hahaha:

    "BayStar hasn't withdrawn its demand that SCO return its money and BayStar's lawyers, he said, still haven't told SCO's lawyers how SCO breached their contract. So McBride figures BayStar doesn't have a legal leg to stand on and won't be able to get its money back. The money of course is paying for SCO's legal pursuits."

    BayStar watched and learn from SCO!

  105. Re:the message is - fairly - clear: by bw5353 · · Score: 1
    Baystar feels the only "real" business SCO has is in the courts.

    Baystar feels SCO has nothing else, but what they more and more realise, is that SCO may not even have any case for the courts. That's why they want to pull out.

    This is clearly good news for the Linux community.

    Btw, when Baystar made the investment in SCO, they were not doing this as "bad guys". They did it as "incredibly badly informed and misguided gullible guys". If SCO really had had a valdi legal case against IBM (which Baystar clearly believed) Baystar's decision would not be immoral in any way.

    SCO's decision is a different matter, as they clearly against better knowledge try to promote a dead case to get fat money for their shares and personal pay checks for as long as possible, before the whole thing falls down as a house of cards.

  106. Just keep saying that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm sure if you say that the other guys won't try anything funny when you're in the prison showers serving 2-5 years for racketeering.

    Darl, you're an idiot and you deserve everything you're going to get.

    Adios motherfucker.

  107. terrible web page by kwoff · · Score: 0

    That linuxworld page looks terrible.

  108. Over 45,600 readers have enjoyed this article.. by jelle · · Score: 1

    "Over 45,600 readers have enjoyed this article in the past 48 hours"

    Now that's a website that doesn't just take the /.-ing, it even brags about it!

    --
    --- Hindsight is 20/20, but walking backwards is not the answer.