Slashdot Mirror
SCO Says 'Linux Doesn't Exist'
4A6F656C writes "In an article on LinuxWorld.com.au, Kieren O'Shaughnessy, director of SCO Australia and New Zealand, details SCO's plans for Australia, stating that they have 'prepared a hit list' and "would approach Australian Linux users to ensure they had an IP licence." In closing, he adds 'Linux doesn't exist. Everyone knows Linux is an unlicensed version of Unix'." UnknowingFool writes "IBM's lawyers have been busy the last few days. Groklaw has reported a number of different filings. On the heels of last week's motions (1) and (2) for summary judgement, they have filed more documents. First, IBM wants large portions of SCO's testimonies striken (removed) on multiple grounds. Deep in the motion, they call out SCO to produce the 'experts' that did the code comparison analysis. If IBM wins on most of these points, SCO will have very little left in the way of legal evidence. SCO answers on IBMs 10th counterclaim. IANAL but from I understand SCO says this copyright infringment that SCO has allegedly committed on one of IBM's patents is irrelevant to the case and the court doesn't need to decide on it. So SCO is saying that they can sue IBM for infringing on their Unix copyrights and patents but IBM can't counter sue on a specific patent. IBM also filed another memo to support summary judgement. As a matter of law, SCO has to produce evidence to backup its claims. This mountain of evidence SCO has claimed all this time: If they don't produce it, the court has to rule in IBM's favor."
Also, if Linux doesn't exist, will my computer still work when I get home? I've got important stuff on there, and I'd like it to not be a figment of my imagination, as I haven't backed it up lately.
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"I did nothing. I did absolutely nothing and it was everything that I thought it could be."
A philosophy professor walks in to give his class their final. Placing his chair on his desk the professor instructs the class, "Using every applicable thing you've learned in this course, prove to me that this chair DOES NOT EXIST."
So, pencils are writing and erasers are erasing, students are preparing to embark on novels proving that this chair doesn't exist, except for one student. He spends thirty seconds writing his answer, then turns his final in to the astonishment of his peers.
Time goes by, and the day comes when all the students get their final grades...and to the amazment of the class, the student who wrote for thirty seconds gets the highest grade in the class.
His answer to the question: "What chair?"
Well, to put this in context, since Kieren O'Shaughnessy says Linux doesn't exist, IBM lawyers should respond to all the lawsuits as 'What Linux?'
Free XBox, PS2
A lot of things SCO does reminds me of a child's behaviour, and this is one of them. Kids often dwell on things that please them, and act as if problems don't exist.
When I was a little boy I came home from school and asked my mom if we could skip Thursday. She was puzzled and said "no". She later found out that I had gotten in trouble at school, and the teacher had scheduled a disciplinary meeting on Thursday afternoon.
Thursday doesn't exist.
Slashdot Syndrome: the sudden, extreme urge to correct someone in order to validate one's self.
Let's be clear - IBM isn't doing this out of any altruistic "we are the world" type of spirit. They are doing it because they believe it's good for their business and they will make money. That's what the business of business is and what their shareholders expect.
"The bigger the lie, the more they believe." - Det. Bunk
I know SCO doesn't have much (if any!) credibility with geeks on Slashdot, but when you want to win a court case you have to maintain credibility in your claims.
Using terms like "hit list" is not a good way of gaining credibility with investors and with judges. Claiming that something doesn't exist and then trying to sue people for using it doesn't help your credibility with anyone.
The legal system isn't deaf or blind to the media; SCO's ridiculous actions will affect the outcome of subsequent court cases. As we've seen with IBM's increasing success in court, SCO just hasn't learned these lessons.
Not that I mind at all.
Does IBM's actions buy loyalty?
Yes.
I don't think all of us will now put down our lives for IBM. If they ever tried to pull a fast one, I have no doubt everyone would turn on them real quick. But for the mean time they have proven themselves to be a friend. And many of us are in positions to make purchasing decisions. And while we may not all go out and buy Big Blue mainframes, when two comperable deals are on the table IBM now has a slight advantage.
And that's not the only reason to support FOSS. IBM is doing several things that are good for its business. They sell hardware, and hardware needs software. Better/cheaper software makes for more profit on hardware.
Slashdot Syndrome: the sudden, extreme urge to correct someone in order to validate one's self.
I think they are getting 3 things.
1) They don't have to pay the billions in damage SCO wants.
2) Fear. It had previously been common computer world knowledge; "Don't mess with IBM's legal team". SCO is going in the face of the convention. I think IBM is reestablishing that.
3) Yes, they are getting good will.
As x approaches total apathy I couldn't care less.
We knew this would eventually happen. Hell, SCO knew they would end up in this type of hot water. The whole problem with this mess is that they don't care if they lose.
The connection between themselves and Microsoft is firmly established now. I guess it is still open to debate if Microsoft was the company that came up with the idea of using SCO as a massive FUD machine against Linux, or if they simply started backing SCO once they realised what potential that would have. My personal guess would be that you could probably trace the very idea back to Redmond, but that's really irrelvant here.
For all the time this has been going on, there has been a blanket of FUD over Linux. Most people here saw through it, but even on Slashdot you could find posts along the lines of "...but what if SCO is actually right and their IP is in Linux..." The business world, getting their news from sources like Forbes, had a far different perception. To them, Linux suddenly became a poison pill that no IT manager would touch. You may believe Linux's reputation will eventually recover, but SCO was able to plant seeds of doubt in so many minds in the mean time.
The real trajedy here is that this type of tactic has made SCO management and board members rich, SCO employees unemployed, Linux tarnished in the eyes of the businessman, and most likely nothing will ever be done to punish those responsible for the lies.
"The market alone cannot provide sufficient constraints on corporation's penchant to cause harm." -- Joel Bakan
If Linux doesn't actually exit, doesn't that pretty much negate their complaint?
It's good to use your head, but not as a battering ram.
I don't think they've proven themselves to be a friend. They're currently allies, and hopefully will be for a long time to come, but alliances do not friendship make.
"The legitimate powers of government extend only to such acts as are injurious to others." Thomas Jefferson.
If you ask me, IBM has gone beyond simply defending itself and its own interests. It has to do that now anyway. But it has extended its legal self beyond what it needs to in order to protect/promote FOSS. It has even run linux commercials and really helped put an end to the legitimacy concerns of some management.
I say they're a comfortable ally, and moving into friend catagory.
Slashdot Syndrome: the sudden, extreme urge to correct someone in order to validate one's self.
You mean the perceived market value before they started this pump and dump exercise? What exactly will that tell you? What the three month dive means to me is that even Wall Street realizes that there is no SCO case, there will be no further buyouts and SCO is worthless. People who bought into SCO are sorry they did, including Baystar who recommend that SCO fire their remaining technical staff and become a full time IP scam house.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
They're both 400-lb gorillas, it's just that right now IBM doesn't have its ass pointed at you, ready to unleash a pile of monkeydung on your head.
'Standards' in computing only impress those who are impressed by things like 'standards'.
What IBM is doing is good for business, but not to sell hardware. IBM primarily sells three things: hardware, software and services. They saw their profits begin to errode in hardware, so they began to move to software. They are starting to see their profits erode in software, so they are selling services, in particular consulting service, and that is where the money's at. Based on their '03 financial statement http://www.ibm.com/annualreport/2003/noflash/fr_cf s_cse.shtml, their Global Services rose from $34.9 billion in '01 to $42.6 billion in '03 while hardware slid from $30.6 billion in '01 to $28.2 billion in '03.
Hardware is still up their, but it is slowly declining.
I think they're going to go out, not with a bang, but a whimper. Their ability to construct a case is just going to wither away and die. We'll quit hearing about them (thankfully); then, 20 years from now, we'll hear a "Whatever happened to SCO" retrospective?
This is a little unfortunate. I was counting on their legal shenannigans to destroy them in a publicly enjoyable way.
Secession is the right of all sentient beings.
No. They are impressing on the world that if you assert IP you better damn well have a case!
This isn't about "big" vs "little" as SCO would try to contend. This is about "right" vs "wrong". In other words if you file a lawsuit you better have something to back it up.
Sure information wants to be free, but how much are you willing to pay for the packaging?
Our allies are simply those who interests align with ours. Stop asking companies to do more than act in their own interests: it will never happen. The advance of open source in the corporate world has been because it offers real value, not because of ideals. Ideals may drive the creation, but not the adoption.
is that, like any good capitalist system, it positively leverages greed by putting the public good in the self-interest of moneyed entities.
IBM's doing what they're doing out of self-interest, but the entanglement created by the GPL means that in order to act in self-interest they must indirectly act in the interests of the community as well.
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
There are no tiger attacks in my area and it's all because this rock I'm holding keeps the tigers away.