Slashdot Mirror
McBride Says No More Lawsuits From SCO
thephotoman writes "Well, Darl McBride gave an interview to IDG News Services in which he said that SCO is not going to sue any more customers. They do bring up the issue of the SCOsource Linux licensing, and how much of a failure it has been. Instead, they plan to start marketing their flavor of Unix. However, as he's not dropping the current lawsuits, there's no good reason to believe him on this change in strategy."
Not suing customers, particularly your own, is usually somewhere high on the list of Winning Business Strategies.
"Smithers, how much did our iron-fisted grab for licensing fees get us?"
"$11,000, last quarter, Sir."
"Ehhxcellent! They must be crowding around like lemmings, eager to hand over their money!"
"Uh, No Sir, it cost us millions to get that much."
"In the parlance of that oafish brute Homer Simpson, D'oh!"
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
He must have lost his funding.
It seems strange that he would give up for any other reason... he's shown himself to be hell-bent on his mission.
Sigs cause cancer.
Someone gave McBride the wrong quote. He actually meant to quote Hudson, from Aliens:
"Well that's great, that's just fuckin' great man, now what the fuck are we supposed to do? We're in some real pretty shit now man... That's it man, game over man, game over, man! Game over! What the fuck are we gonna do now? What are we gonna do?"
What's coming up next, Duke Nukem Forever or Doom 3- .... oh wait...
I guess the acid finally wore off. Spend millions to extract THOUSANDS!!!!!! in licensing fees. I am trully in awe of your threeleet business skillz, Darlzor.
====
Crudely Drawn Games
McBride says they wont sue their own customers any more, but those "communist, anti-american, pro-terrorist" linux users got them just desserts coming, ayuh.
Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
"I think right now we've got the claims in front of the various courts that we need in order to get our complaints heard and to get them argued and to get resolution. With respect to being more vocal or going after new targets at the customer level, we don't see the need for that. We had the need to get the basic issues on the table, but we're fine to argue the merits of what we have out there right now (in) the current litigation setting."
There's something in law called "res judicata," (incorrect definition here) which means if something is decided by one court, it's binding on a court in another jurisdiction. The definition given is incorrect in stating that it applies only to the parties in the original suit. It can be used against a party in the original suit, if it's the same facts/situation, and the original party had ample and adequate opportunity and reason (motivation) to provide a full defense in the first case.
If there is going to be a lot of cases, usually a company will do several, in different forums/jurisdictions, and see if they get a good result. If they do, such as SCO getting a ruling that all Linux violates their copyright/trade secrets/whatever, then they can use that in subsequent cases when suing. The inverse is also true. If a court finds that SCO is a bunch of mindless jerks that will be the first against the wall when the revolution comes (e.g. their claims are totally without merit), then they really cannot go after anyone else without overcoming some really large hurdles.
Not only do I play an attorney on TV, I am an attorney in real life as well.
In other words, now that they have no customers, they will only be sueing ex-customers.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
McBride: We've got to figure out a creative way to market our brand of Unix or Linux will wipe us out. Anybody know how our product is better then any Unix flavor or Linux. We're not leaving this room until we get some ideas!!!
*fast forward 12 hours later nothing said*
McBride's junior exec: Sir, I believe this is known as the "oh sh*t moment in business" sir...
...in bed
It's kind of like saying, "I'm sorry I kicked your dog, but I'm not going to be kicking any more dogs because it seems to get dog owners upset," while kicking the dog several times...
My personal opinion is that Darl actually loves Linux, and he's been working as hard as he can to, on Microsoft's dime, paint the anti-Linux crowd as raving maniacs... I mean, he's not really this broken, is he?
This is just confirmation that they have committed corporate suicide. I don't think they would do this unless they'd figured out that they have scared off prospective customers (and partners) and sabotaged their sales efforts. But if things have gotten to that point, McBride telling a magazine they're going to refrain from suing customers in the future has exactly zero chance of restoring enough trust in the company to revive their sales.
I love Linux. I think SCO's claims are totally without merit. But please remember, just because Darl McBride says he won't sue any more customers does not mean he'll follow through. Remember, he's made all kinds of claims and promises in the past, almost none of which turned out to be true. His lack of honesty (or, optimistically, his lack of knowledge) cuts both ways.
So, if you are an SCO customer, or even if you aren't, and if you run Linux, BSD, or Windows (all of which SCO has stated a claim to), you are still not safe. They may still sue you, even after claiming they won't.
Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.
SCO has a product and engineers to maintain it? When the hell? I thought they were just a group of ninja-attack lawyers based out of a defunct Taco Bell store owned by a Microsoft operative . . . . .
Only in a Slashdot fantasy can a Slackware install turn into several hours of sex . . . . .
who are not SCO customers...
Verbal statement is nothing, SCO could be planning for another lawsuit while everybody's relaxed enough to step into a trappy.
A trappy is like a trap except there's nothing in it, but this doesn't stop people from being frightened by it.
Uselessful technology (Air-Charged
playing Doom 3.
"Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change."
Darl vs. Satan
SourceHosting.net, LLC
Ready. Set. Code.
http://www.sourcehosting.net/
Ah Darl. Silly, silly Darl. SCO Unix had its day 7-8 years ago, when Linux was still a hobby. The key market they owned was the x86 commodity hardware Unix. Linux absolutely owns x86 hardware-based *nix now, official Unix name or not. No ounce of marketing muscle you could possibly muster will change that fact. You're dead. Go away. And no, "Linux" didn't steal your IP, which you're quietly admitting now. Thanks for the 2+ year roadblock. Now fuck off.
RW
Nothing to see here. Just Darl's usual nonsense.
===== Murphy's Law is recursive. =====
"However, as he's not dropping the current lawsuits, there's no good reason to believe him on this change in strategy."
That should read, "However, as it's Darl McBride, there's no good reason to believe him at all."
"Hardly used" will not fetch you a better price for your brain.
Cloudscape donated to Apache, new Helix, Open-XChange going GPL, now this...
Things are going too well. Look for Microsoft patent lawsuits to be unleashed tomorrow.
...who would even dare think of writing their apps for the SCO Openserver/Unixware platform anymore. In fact it would not surprise me one bit to hear of all the major players begin to announce dropping all support for their products to run on SCO's flavors of *nix in the very near future.
With features like:
Risking having to migrate again in a year or two when they're bankrupt?
No 2Gb+ file support
No 64-bit support
Ever-diminishing support from the OSS community, which ironically provides the most useful server apps for the platform?
Risk future lawsuits from SCO if you do migrate?
I mean.. SCO Unix has been uncompetitive for years now, while their management has been throwing all their effort into last-ditch lawsuits.
Naturally.. it's all bullshitness as usual from SCO. But it's always worth the debunking, in case someone actually thought SCO had something of value.
Both customers were sued...
McBride saying "No More Lawsuits" is like an alchoholic saying "No more alchohol" after beating on his wife and kids.
Who knows, maybe there's some 12-step program he can join.
At this point, I beleive a state from SCO about what they will do in the future carries an information content of zero.
Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale
A tale of a fateful trip
That started from a "Unix Port"
Aboard a sinking ship.
The mate was a mighty selling man
The skipper wasn't sure
Six passengers sat sail back then
For a legal language tour (a legal language tour)
The language started getting rough
The chrysler case was tossed (almost)
If not for the "courage" of the fearless crew
The lawsuits would be lost (the lawsuits would be lost)
The ship held ground on the shore of this
Old Mormon Desert Isle
With Billy Gates
And Ballmer too
Some millionaire
Named McBride
A Courtroom Star
McNealy and Canadians
Here on Darl McBride's Isle
TRANSLATOR ENGAGED:
There is much pleasure to be gained in useless knowledge.
I definately want to invest my entire IT budget into the flagship product of company that is surrounded with the stench of certain failure. How much is it? $699 per CPU you say? Is that all? Well that's just giving it away! Here, I'll pay you $5000 per CPU because the more I pay the more I get my money's worth, right? I mean afterall you get what you pay for and nothing is free, right? My CEO will be so happy with my informed decision to bank our IT operations on SCO products and support.
In Damler, the judge threw out most of their case, so they can't argue that the next one is brought in good faith.
Fight Spammers!
That's like saying M$ no longer makes operating systems because they have too many bugs.
SCO is going to find a new revenue route. And it's going to be nastier than sueing nontechnical grandmothers.
Quote "We think in the future, software developers are going to be more motivated by getting paid for their work rather than contributing and not getting paid."
Um. Ya. I haven't cared about getting paid so far. I'll think about that in the future.
Sheesh.
What if, instead of pursuing hopeless litigation against other behemoth companies, you just tried to please the customers you had and try to make your product a better product?
They would have failed, yes. Probably. But, who knows? Maybe they would have been able to garner a reputation for good service, and hold onto their core base for a longer time then they are now. Maybe they could have even segued into providing linux solutions, and made partnerships with other major companies (like IBM) instead of suing.
Would SCO be a more successful company if they had? They might have failed yes, but they would have a good reputation, and they might have even been successful (or bought out), if they had played their cards right. Alas, they threw it all to the wind on a shot-the-moon scenario that will only end in tears for everyone.
It just saddens me that people have such a lack of perspective.
Can you imagine what it'd be like if they hadn't decided this?
"Alright! Welcome to this year's Forum! We've got some exciting things to discuss this year. Now... before we start... how many of you are Solutions Providers and Software Engineers? How many hands? That many. Huh. I have no idea why you guys are here. Now... how about the lawyers? How many? Yeah! Hello. And Buisness Strategists from other companies competing against Linux solutions? Hello! Good crowd! We've got some really exciting news for all you guys...!"
Granted - any solution providers who DO show up should still be asking themselves what they're doing there.
As I would have expected, and was the sole intent of these responses, the SCOX stock price took a nice step up on Monday following the interview in which SCO's CEO heighlighted SCO's other enterprises.
Does Darl think that they'll drop their countersuits at this news? Like a sociopath moving into a hippie commune "We're not crazy anymore... We've changed! We love everyone now. ALL BETTER!"
As The SCO Group Inc.'s reseller and developer community gathers for its annual SCO Forum convention in Las Vegas this week, one question on many attendees' minds will be whether the company's future will be as a software vendor or as a litigator.
The answer is No, they do not have a future as a software vendor or litigator.
Or ask the Wright brothers. They sunk their company by investing all their time in litigation against competitors instead of development and innovation.
>As The SCO Group Inc.'s reseller and developer community gathers for its annual SCO Forum convention in Las Vegas this week, one question on many attendees' minds will be whether the company's future will be as a software vendor or as a litigator.
Just who is attending this thing? How large is their "reseller and developer community", and does it have anyone in it other than SCO employees? Where is it being held, the back room of the Denny's on Fremont Street? Anyplace else, and the hall is going to look rather empty.I'm pretty sure the question about their future as either a software vendor or litigator has already been answered in the marketplace.
Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
Didn't they already half-implicate BSD in one of their interviews?
They love to make those vague implications. For a while there, we were hearing a new one every week. So much for that?
McBride, who in the past claimed SCO wouldn't sue Linux users but later did, is now claiming they won't sue Linux users anymore.
At what point does McBride's ideas of lies and truth begin and end?
It's a relative term, but I'd say "pretty quickly" instead.
And I'm not sure what they plan with SCO Marketplace either. I'd love to see an NDA on that contract.
Anyone notice this?
...
IDGNS: Why did SCO recently decide to file a trademark claim for AT&T Corp.'s old Unix subsidiary, Unix Systems Laboratories (USL)?
McBride: There are a couple of reasons around going back to the USL part of the business.
We think that there's a very bright future in the company to return to the model that we had in the past with Unix Systems Laboratories.
Quite a bit of revisionist history going on there, with Calde^H^H^H^H^HSCOG along with McBride and company at USL.
. 62,400 repetitions make one truth -- Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
Judge: "Prosecution? You may present your case."
SCO Lawyer: "I know... KUNG-FU!! HHYYYAAAAHH!!"
Judge: "Uhh.. Defense? Yours?"
Linux Laywer: "We beleive the fact that the prosecution is attempting to break his desk in half with his forehead is representative of our case, your honour."
SCO Lawyer: "OOH!! This hurt head!! Must try, ancient technique! KKIIIAAAAAAAA--DDAAAARLLLL--!" *WHACK!* *Passes out*
Judge: "....um, case dismissed."
Hmmm. Damnit, now I wish I could actually see a ninja-attack lawyer in action... stupid overactive imagination...
McBride Says No More Lawsuits From SCO..
Bill Gates to refund every Windows XP users money "because its rubbish"..
An end to all wars in the world..
A pony for every child..
"You lied to me! There is a Swansea!"
Darl: One announcement that we are making at the show is called the SCO Marketplace, and that's a marketplace exchange whereby we are going to allow developers to come and bid on work-for-hire projects that we have, to fill in the gaps where we're going with our development plan.
Given that software developers in low cost countries like India and Eastern Europe can develop software far cheaper than developers in the US, does this mean that SCO is outsourcing their software development? I can see it now: SCO will fire their engineering staff (what little is left) and announce that they are a "virtual company" consisting of lawyers, suing IBM, and outsourced software projects. SCO will consist of Darl and a few hench-weasels to manage the lawyers and Indian software engineers.
It's not a change of strategy. It's a rout. The suit based on copyrights (SCO v AutoZone) was stayed in favor of the original IBM suit and copyright counterclaims - as was Redhat v SCO - so it's clear that any other copyright-based suit will get the same treatment, making the filing worthless, even as intimidation. The other customer suit (SCO v Diamler ) was a joke that was almost entirley dismissed. There's probalby not enough left for any action.
So it's not a change of strategy, it's a smackdown, one of many they will endure, tho not necessarily quickly.
"that's not encryption - it's a new perl script that I'm working on..." - from some Matrix parody
...they didn't promise to stop suing non-customers...
Please provide at least one instance of SCO having sued a non customer.
SCO has only ever sued customers (or partners or former customers/partners, or entities that have had a contractual agreement of some sort with SCO specifically). Such as IBM (project Monterrey partner), Autozone (former customer), DaimlerChrysler (former customer), and almost Bank of America (customer).
Since they have never sued a non customer, they can't stop suing non customers (akin to the old "when did you stop beating your wife" question). You should realize that making such misleading statements propogate the FUD that make PHBs shiver. And despite their occasional stupidity, the battle won't be won until those at the bottom "get it."
Get it?
"Stop throwing the Constitution in my face, it's just a goddamned piece of paper!" - George W. Bush Nov. 2005
First they came up with "The Plan": Don't buy our products and we won't sue you.
This failed and they came up with "The Other Plan": Buy our products and we will sue you.
They finally tried "The Other, Other Plan": If you don't buy our products we will sue you.
And they had a hit!
No more lawsuits filed by SCO, by there certainly will be a few more filed against SCO:
- BayStar's recent press release says they intend to file for declarative judgement against SCO's
- Daimler Chrysler sent a letter to SCO (and attached it as an exhibit to their summary disposition motion) saying they reserved the right to file an unfair competition claim against SCO, hinting they would if SCO didn't voluntarily dismiss their own suit (and SCO didn't).
- Novell seems likely to file counterclaims against SCO
- The Open Group has indicated that SCO's attempt to register a trademark on Unix System Laboratories is a breach of the Trademark License Agreement contract. And they will be taking it up.
Rather than trying to pound through all of those issues on a daily basis, we've been content to say, "We're going to work our issues through the courtroom, and when everything is resolved there, we'll be good to go
Good to go where, exactly? The unemployment line? A beach in Tahiti? In search of more infringing code in other programs? C'mon, Darl, give us a hint! It's not like you'll be doing a booming business in selling your SCOmware after this is all over.
Perhaps SCO is not sueing any more customers because they've pretty much reached the end of their list of customers?
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
"None of the customers are gonna risk a $50k accounting package gettign messed up to see if it works on something else."
Well, that isn't really the customer's job, that's the ISV's isn't it?
Seems to me that an ISV that doesn't have a migration plan away from SCO already is one that I wouldn't want to do business with. They should have been migrating to something else 2-3 years ago.
And even if SCO were to win the lawsuit against IBM, how does that help their core business? More to the point, how are current SCO customers helped by a win?
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
He says It's no surprise, but it's interesting that it comes from him.