Unsealed SCO Email Reveals Linux Code is Clean

rm69990 writes "In a recently unsealed email in the SCO vs. IBM case, it appears that an outside consultant, hired by SCO in 2002, failed to find copyright violations in the Linux Kernel. This was right around the time Darl McBride, who has before been hired by litigious companies as CEO, was hired. It appears that before SCO even began its investigation, they were hoping to find a smoking gun, not believing that Linux could possibly not contain Unix code. Apparently, they ignored the advice of this consultant."

Comments

Interesting

[BWJones]

It appears that before SCO even began its investigation, they were hoping to find a smoking gun, not believing that Linux could possibly not contain Unix code. Apparently, they ignored the advice of this consultant."

Gee, that sounds familiar. Seems to be a popular strategy in both business and *cough*cough*cough, government these days. Seriously though, this is a model that does appear to have some traction in a variety of fields in that if you press your case hard enough, and you convince enough of the right people, there is ground to be gained from simply sticking to your guns no matter what the reality happens to be. In my business, when you have a theory, you design an experiment to test it and collect data in an attempt to disprove that theory. When the data supports the theory, then you are golden. The way NOT to run business, science (or government) is to come up with a theory (or a desire) and then try to fit the evidence to support what you want. This of course is exactly what has happened with the SCO case, a couple of other business debacles in the news recently and interestingly, in the hunt for WMD in Iraq.

Re:Interesting

[the_mighty_$]

this is a model that does appear to have some traction in a variety of fields in that if you press your case hard enough, and you convince enough of the right people, there is ground to be gained from simply sticking to your guns no matter what the reality happens to be

Important note: whenever a business/government tries this horrible tactic, they always fail. SCO's case is (has) colapsed, people all around the world view the US government as untrustworthy, etc. Sometimes it takes a while, but they always lose in the end.

News stories like this are just a nice reminder to everyone not to try tactics like this.

Re:Interesting

[adamy]

I served. I vote.

I don't agree with that saying though. People who server in the military learn to take orders, perhaps really dumb orders. I don't want a society filled with those people; I am afraid we may have just that anyway.

Re:Interesting

[Charles W Griswold]

Of all the bumper stickers I have ever seen, the one on my truck annoys the most people.
It simply says "If you didn't serve, don't vote"
I am tired of these namby pamby arm chair quarterbacks talking tough but scared to put on a uniform

You served in the military, I take it. If so, then you must have sworn an oath to protect the constitution. Yet, here you are telling people they don't have a right to vote when the constitution clearly says that they do. Nice, real nice. Ever heard of the word "hypocrit"?

Yeah, here you are talking tough, but you're too scared say who you are, you Anonymous Coward.

The nail in the coffin?

[bhsx]

Probably not. This whole thing is still going to take another year or so to play out. Not the SCO has a snowball's chance; but they'll keep going at least until their "prepaid" lawyers run out on them. Hopefully that'll happen before they get to court. Actually, hopefully not, as if they were to quit halfway through the court procedings the judge would probably ask the bar association to investigate them. F*cking lawyers, er rather, THESE f*cking lawyers.

Re:Reveals Darl McBride is Dirty

[nokilli]

It isn't unrelated. Why do you think people like Darl McBride feel that they can get away with shit like this?

Because that's the example that's been set at the top.

Don't get your hopes up...

[James A. D. Joyce]

...as much as I'd love for SCO to get their arses handed to them, I wouldn't get excited until their suit is actually thrown out of court.

Re:advice to McBride....

[CyricZ]

Err, you mean Bernie Ebbers. But the real question is: will he actually spend 25 years in jail? That's doubtful. It wouldn't be surprising if he was actually out within 2 or 3 years, and back at the helm of some corporation within half a decade from now. CEOs are never held truly accountable for their actions. It won't happen with Ebbers, and it won't happen with McBridge. That is just a flaw with the system.

Rhetorical question? Practical answer

[twilight30]

'And why did Darl tell the world, and Congress, that because Linux was written by volunteers, there was no way to know if it was clean code, that it was a "free-for-all", that "there's not a policeman to check in the code at the Linux kernel level to ensure that there are not violations", when they already knew that it presented very clear evidence of purity?'

Because Darl is a lying cunt, that's why.

Re:Jail time

[bigberk]

possibility that they deliberately inflated the stock price with their claims

Of course they did! That's how it's done in the stock market. You have to understand this before you ever touch a stock trading screen. Even if an executive knows that their business is dead, as long as they can prop up public perception (lawsuits, advertising, stunts) they can prop up the stock price. Then the insiders exit either directly or indirectly, and once that is done it no longer happens what happens to the corporation because those in the know have saved their butts. When SCOX was reaching new highs I kept telling people this was a short opportunity from heaven; it was classic pump-and-dump and all you needed was a little computer knowledge to be able to tell fact from fiction. I doubt McBride ever thought linux licensing was sane and I doubt he thought he would get away with the lawsuits. BUT the news tricked the public into buying SCOX shares, which was all that was needed

Insurance

[Locke2005]

There was, at one stage, the idea that we would sell licenses to corporate customers who were using Linux as a kind of "insurance policy" in case it turned out that they were using code which infringed our copyright...

Yeah, I got a friend named Guido who sells "insurance policies" too... his catch phrase is "Nice place you've got here... be a shame if anything should happen to it!"

Am I misreading the law, or does this actually qualify as extortion?

Just because you have no case

[WillAffleckUW]

doesn't mean you can't start a war of destruction against an innocent party.

Especially if you have lots of lawyers and elitists who care nothing for truth and honor.

Re:Operating systems are Black Magic, Toqueville s

[EvilMagnus]

Let us Quote from the Book of Dilbert, Chapter 12, Verse 3:

And lo, the PHB did say: "Anything I do not understand is simple."

Amen.

In this case, the 'simple' bit is a simple idea - only teams of programmers can make a kernel. It doesn't matter that it's incorrect, just that it's what the PHB believes. It is their dogma. All evidence presented to them is filtered through this belief, or just plain ignored.

Here endeth the lesson.

Too Little Too Late.

[team99parody]

Why do you think people like Darl McBride feel that they can get away with shit like this?

Darl & his MSFT frineds DID get away with it.

My CEO's already convinced that Linux is dirty thanks to lots of Enderle reports that our microsoft rep among others seem to have refered him to.

My bet is that Darl's backers are already praising him and preparing a job for him in much the same way that Rick Belluzzo got rewarded for defeating SGI and HP.

McBride is free and clear

[typical]

No, he really isn't.

Ebbers (not Edwards) is one of a very rare elite -- wealthy white-collar criminals who are getting the book thrown at them. There are very few prosecutions in this arena. It's expensive, you are facing hordes of lawyers, and people wonder why you aren't hauling off murderers.

Ebbers is getting screwed specifically because he was involved in one of a handlful of financial cases that were so egregious that they caught the attention of the popular media, and hence the mind of the public. If you are a politician, and you represent a public outraged over some criminal, you do what you can to have the book thrown at that criminal.

Darl did not piss off anyone other than the statistically insignificant (if vastly disproportionate in influence in the tech world) members of the open source community. My mother has no idea that Darl exists, and there isn't really any way to pack his crimes into a one-sentence damning sound byte that appeals to the public(Ebbers had to deal with pictures of blue collar workers and the sentence "they lost their retirement money"). Nothing scares the shit out of a voting baby boomer like the concept of someone losing their retirement money.

Darl, IIRC, came off of the whole thing rather well, with no liability and plenty of money. And SCO was in the shitter already, so his rep is more of just a CEO willing to try some long shots when not much remains than the guy who killed SCO. He *did* manage the media rather poorly, getting personally involved instead of having a more competent spokesman involved, but that's really the only black mark against him.

Re:Making Sure The Guilty Pay Their Price

[gad_zuki!]

Also, their legal team should be forced to testify to reveal if they knew about this consultant, and if so why they continued these lawsuits with this information. If there's going to be a chilling effect on this madness, the lawyers should not get a free ride. They do not belong in the Bar association if they were doing McBride's bidding the whole time.

This country needs to be cleaned out. Its starting. We got Ebbers on the finacial front, along with Arther Anderson. Soon we'll have Rove or someone from the WH on the political front. Now McBride on the tech front and his lawyers on the legal front.

So much corruption, but at least some opportunities are opening and making an example out of these people goes a long way towards justice and keeping others from doing the same.

Re:Operating systems are Black Magic, Toqueville s

[Spoing]

I talked at length with that guy from the Toqueville institute. ...

... Just like how some people can't possibly understand how a piston engine works, some people aren't cut out to grok OS kernels.

The problem was, you didn't listen to him. If you did, you would have heard him clearly say;

"I'm a PR agent. I've been paid to take a position and I am glad to suck up your time as that's what I am paid to do. I get bonus points by looking somewhat reasonable while you loose your composure in an attempt to convince me of something that I have no personal stake in beyond a paycheck."

Re:Reveals Darl McBride is Dirty

[anagama]

That's right.. like "I did not have sexual relations with that woman"

I long for the days of a president who got a bit of nookie on the side. It's a far better situation than a president who fucks us over, fucks others over, and generates piles of dead bodies. On the other hand, my fossil fuel stocks have been kickin' ass -- even with today's hit on speculation China will not consume as much oil as it has been. Anyway ... if Bush spent more time getting laid instead of boosting profits for his oil cronies, the world would be a better place (and my portfolio worth less -- some cognitive dissonance here but not much -- I'd prefer lower profits and more peace).

Re:Reveals Darl McBride is Dirty

[brandido]

Sorry to get off topic here, but I cannot let such a pathetic comparison stand.

Are you seriously saying that since Clinton lied about getting a blowjob, it is OK that the Bush administration lied about intelligence to justify going to war? Don't forget, Clinton got impeached for his lie by the House, but not convicted by the Senate. Given the fact that the repurcussions of Bush's lie is so much greater (we are at fucking war and there was no uranium purchased from Africa, no WMDs, no connection to 9/11), shouldn't the consequences be greater? Maybe Impeachment, Conviction and Jail time? I would say one day for each death that has occurred during the Iraq war - that should work out to between 30 to 300 years.

Sorry to not have much of a sense of humor about this, but the repurcussions of this lie are just too tragic and painful.

Not just the lawsuit

[walterbyrd]

How about:

- it appears that scox's showing of the code to select journalists, who signed an NDA, was a stunt specifically designed to decieve the public. No wonder there was an NDA.

- it appears that scox's showing the code in Las Vegas ScoForum, was not just a mistake, it appears to be another possible deception.

- apparently scox filed the law suit in bad faith, right from the begining.

- scox letters to 1500 businesses, demanding payment for the scox code in linux, appears to be an attempt at outright extortion.

- scox execs enriching themselves by selling scox in the high teens appears a blantant stock scam.

- mcbrides numerous public statements about millions of lines of code, appears to be somewhat less than truthful.

Especially especially if you have msft's $$$

[walterbyrd]

behind you.

Scox would not have been able to pull off the scam without lots of help from msft and sunw.

Re:advice to McBride....

[paulbd]

the jury found him guilty of, in essence, destroying the livelihoods not to mention the pensions of thousands of people. ebbers has caused more misery than most serial killers will ever manage to. i don't know what a suitable sentence really is, but it sure as hell isn't a couple of years.

Lose?

[StevenMaurer]

Your comment reminds me of the Simpson's episode where the departing Mafia don says "Remember: In the End, Crime Doesn't Pay", and then gets into his fleet of limos.

Face facts, SCO was a company whose stock price was floundering. Then Darl came along, ginned up a lawsuit, and multiplied it manyfold. He also got real revenue for the company from "sales" of "licenses" to Microsoft. He's already a multi-millionaire as a result. And despite how slashdot members feel, it's extremely unlikely he'll ever see any jail time.

Big name spammers are much the same. We may all hate them, but they've done very well by themselves. What's the worst that most have them have seen from their billions of dollars of theft of service? A slap on the wrist.

Same thing for Bush and Rove. Had either been remotely honorable or honest, Bush wouldn't have won reelection. Tell me, how is is losing?

Face facts: evil tactics are often winning strategies. Especially because our collective tolerance for corruption is so high (and going higher).

Re:Reveals Darl McBride is Dirty

[Martin Blank]

Part of it was matters of scale. I don't think anything in the legal industry right now -- SCO, Adelphia, Enron, or WorldCom -- scales to a war, and as such, I think such comparisons are inappropriate and designed mostly to garner karma from the anti-conservative Slashdot crowd.

Aside from that, the same crowd that lambasts Bush for 'allowing' the various scandals that erupted after he took office (including the three I mentioned) all really built up during the Clinton administration, something they seem to ignore. For that matter, Ebbers was driving companies into the ground back when Reagan was in office, so there's something to say about the government's (in)ability to keep track of this no matter who is in office. If they're going to blame the Bush administration for allowing deception to become acceptable because it's "the example that's been set at the top," they need to keep in mind that the example is not new to the current occupants of the White House.

I will admit that I was unclear in things. While my intentions were not trolling as I see them, such posts are often seen as trolls by much of the mainstream Slashdot crowd. But sometimes one man's intentions to provoke thought are another man's begging food for the troll.

I also commend you greatly for keeping an open mind, and being mature enough to be able to bring up a rational conversation after your initial response. I took no offense at it, primarily because my political thoughts are all over the place as demonstrated above, and as such I am routinely chased by conservatives and liberals wielding devices intended to induce mass conflagrations upon my person. I simply clarify my views, and hope that others understand me better later on. I am pleased to find another one. People such as you are rare. In fact, I think I shall add you as a friend -- my first one ever. :)

Re:Reveals Darl McBride is Dirty

[brandido]

You do bring up an interesting point - it is possible that Bush and his administration believed that Saddam possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction. However, there are many problems with this:

• Bush had indicated previously that he wanted to attack Iraq.
• The Neo-cons had previously indicated that they wanted to attack Iraq.
• Bush had previously indicated that he wanted to be a war president
• There was a ton of information available that Saddam did not have WMDs, but this information, and the people who presented this information, was ignored and attacked by the administration.

Also, I didn't believe that Saddam had WMDs - I believed that he wanted them, but I thought it was extremely unlikely that he would be able to hide the WMDs and the infrastructure necessary to produce them from a dedicated multi-year search. Afterall, if the Bush administration had such clear intelligence that Saddam had the WMDs, why couldn't they share that information with the Weapon inspectors?