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Increased Linux Use With SCO's Defeat Predicted
twitter writes "The defeat of SCO's infamous copyright attack has Forbes wondering if a GNU/Linux boom is upon us. They discuss how this will benefit Novel, IBM, Chrysler, AutoZone and Red Hat. 'The SCO Group frightened potential business users away from Linux with lawsuits demanding billions in royalties. But the litigious company's claims were shot down in a ruling that will likely boost uptake of the operating system.'"
Is this the same company you have repeatedly accused of being "paid M$ shills"? And now they're right on the money?
They are hardly, "right on the money", but at least one reporter there has woken up and it's better late than never. My hope is that this represents yet another company that's defecting from the M$ monopoly. Their defection would be remarkable when there is so much M$ advertising money at stake. The stock prices reported are accurate facts, their predictions are interesting because they have their head in the big dumb company world, and their defection could be a sign of shifting alliances.
A gnu/linux boom because the SCO threat is gone would be a double win. Any boom is a win, but one that proves the SCO attack succeeded will be fuel for the next M$ anti-trust case. Delayed justice is not very good, but it's better than none.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
*Companies formerly threatened by SCO peek out from their spider holes*
"Is it safe to use Linux now?", they say timidly.
The game.
A little company with a lot to protect in the PC market. 20 Mil is such a paltry sum though, they probably don't even remember making the donation.
God is real unless declared integer.
Nobody believed them anyway.
Did they?
The SCO Group did not return a call seeking comment on Monday.
Maybe their phones were disconnected for non-payment?
Trolling is a art,
Please. The name of the company that makes things like Netware and did a deal with Microsoft is Novell, not Novel. It's not that hard to get right!
Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
Reports of a Linux boom have been greatly exaggerated... it's been slowly picking up market share over time and will continue to do so... nothing sensational is going to happen... it's a good OS... it's getting better every day... as the OS is made "idiot-proof" all of the idiots will adopt. A great strategy would be to get linux in the elementary and middle schools, get 'em young.... keep 'em for life. It's an ellipses heavy tuesday.
Those who know, do not speak. Those who speak, do not know. ~Lao Tzu
You probably couldn't have shorted it. There have to be shares available in order for a short position to be taken up.
Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
1. SCO doesn't own Unix ...
2. Novell does
3. Microsoft has an agreement with Novell
4. Therefore...
5.
Insert at #5 any meaningful answer that will prevent users from thinking that MS owns, or could claim to own, even the minimal part of Unix.
So this is what was keeping Linux market share from increasing? I thought it was that most people were too used to windows and not willing to learn a new operating system. Thanks for clearing that up. Can we please get a bit of perspective on this. Linux is doomed to a fringe market share unless something extremely bad happens from Microsoft... yes even worse than Vista. This suit was not hindering all that many people from installing Linux. I know here at work we were running it on our servers, with nothing but mild amusement every time one of these stories came down. Linux will primarily be run in the server space with fringe desktop user space for the foreseeable future. Those who's management is in bed with Microsoft for what ever reason will continue to run Windows Server in their servers. Those who hate M$ and don't have any problems with some of the unsupported functionality will run Linux. This suit changes nothing.
The mouthpiece of conventional wisdom. I'm been seeing more interest in Linux stemming from the progress in Ubuntu development than anything.
I never got the impression that anyone choosing Windows over Linux was doing so because of the SCO case. It may have been just one more excuse but I can't think of a time it was the primary reason a customer picked .NET over a LAMP stack. YMMV, of course.
I believe we will see more interest in Linux, mainly because interest was already picking up, not because of this ruling. And that includes Linux on the desktop. Again, mainly because it makes a nice desktop, not because of this case.
If Microsoft loses share in the server or desktop market they've got no one to blame but themselves. Vista was a giant FUM-BLE at a time they really needed to hit one out of the park. If you don't mind me mixing sports metaphors. ;) But the big problems aren't related to Vista. Byzantine license requirements, ever escalating fees, product activation, DRM, back-stabbing EULA's...those problems will continue to haunt Microsoft.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I was thinking the same thing. We need another acronym. I vote for POO - Presumption, Overconfidence, and Overzealousness.
To anyone claiming 'this changes nothing', you're overlooking a great opportunity. Practice this phrase with me:
"Yeah because that worked out GREAT for SCO!"
Now, prepare to use this move to any and all of the following objections:
A) Linux is full of stolen code, and using it means you'll get sued.
B) Linux suffers from tons of IP problems, and using it means you'll get sued.
C) Microsoft is going to sue you for using Linux.
The thing that SCO did for us was dismiss the 'forgone conclusion' that the ability to sue is equivilent to the ability to WIN said suit.
Having survived this beast makes for a stronger FOSS community, so long as we don't forget it. Of course with all the noise SCO and Darl made when they thought they were certain to win, that isn't too likely...
Thank you sirs!
"Even though it took an embarrassingly long time Microsoft has finally gotten a handle on viruses/spyware etc. to the point where no one is running screaming from their platform anymore."
When did this happen? Viruses/spyware was one of the largest stimuli for me to finally suck it up and emigrate for good (I was under no circumstances going to reinstall XP or buy Vista). And I'm not alone. Now I've found that Ubuntu does everything I want it to do, my friends will be getting a taste too.
It would not surprise me in the slightest if we were to see Linux achieve double digit market penetration (i.e. 10%) within 2 years. It's kind of like being one of the first kids to play multiplayer Doom and then Quake. You think to yourself "Damn! This is fun! I wonder why everyone else isn't doing this?" And soon enough (given several years), everyone IS doing it. It spreads from person to person virally.
The phenomenon itself parallels atomic physics; as soon as you have on average every split atom triggering another atom to split, you get a chain reaction. This is the same with people and ideas, software (or human diseases). It's just that the chain reaction aspect seems less obvious to us because of the time scale. It might be 2 months before I get around to install Ubuntu on a friend's machine, whereas a neutron emitted from a nucleus will strike another atom on the other side of the bomb in much, much less than a second.
Ubuntu is mostly there. It is there enough that I believe if I installed it myself on a poweruser friend's computer, helped sort out some driver issues, he'd be able to take it from there with the occasional internet search. And it is better than MS in a lot of important areas: stability, security, efficiency (in Watts), ease of installing new software (Synaptic). Not having to worry about spyware or viruses is HUGE. And it's free, by emigrating you've permanently opted out of the eternal upgrade for $$$ cycle, along with acquiring a mental Unix toolkit that will enable further migrations if necessary (e.g. to BSD or other free ixes).
And it is the power users who are critical to this chain reaction. It's not grandma using mail and web who will be installing it on friend's computers. It is the power user. So by all means, get your grandma and girlfriend using it, but if you really care about adoption rates, find another power user and guide them through an installation. Note that something like Ubuntu is gold to a power user (someone who is doing free tech support for friends and family) because it has the potential of being much lower in maintenance. No finding new spyware removers, reinstalling, or any of that. Convert, done.
After that, it's just a matter of time before you have hardware manufacturers and gaming companies coming over too. Then it's over. Within a year you'll get everything of note imported or created. Be it photoshop or office, the bugs will be ironed out extremely quickly. Word will become like Wordperfect used to be. There will still be a few people whining "But word used to work so much better!", but they will be ignored.
If I have seen further it is by stealing the Intellectual Property of giants.
Autozone got sued for switching because SCO alleges that there was a point during the transition when Linux applications are linking to unix libraries. Daimler/Chrysler got sued because they didn't respond within 30 days to a letter sent to the wrong address and, eventually, SCO alleged that when DC said "we are not using Unix" they didn't answer the question "which servers are running Unix" and SCO claimed that they had audit rights to Linux usage. For the latter two points, the Michigan state court sent SCO packing with another expensive goose egg.
having read the article, I felt it was either thrown together or built from pieces of a larger article. The sections just didn't flow very well and there was no depth to any of it. IMO, this seems to be a poor hack at getting something regarding this news into their content.
Notice that they totally missed that Microsoft had put $15M into SCO for a UNIX license and Sun put in $10 million for their UNIX license. Now, it turns out that SCO does not own UNIX and though they were allowed to sell licenses, they were legally obliged to pay 95% of those fees to Novell. IMO, this is atleast as important to the story since both these companies are still around and still fighting against Linux. Not to mention that Novell has some legal issues to deal with related to those licenses and their validity. As the owner of the product, do they not have the right to void such licenses since they were never paid?
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
The general feeling on Groklaw seemed to be that, while SCO and BSF undoubtedly dragged their feet as long as they could, Judge Kimball (and to a lesser extend IBM) were happy to give them enough rope, simply to stop SCO from finding grounds for an appeal, and kicking the whole sordid mess off afresh again in size months time.
As it is, because SCO were given every possible chance to make their case, they are going to find it very difficult to go running to a higher court wailing "it's not fa-a-air!"
And that, I think, has to be a good thing.
Don't let THEM immanentize the Eschaton!
I *did* short it...back in 2003, but sold in 2004. Made a chunk of cash doing so, too. I'd have made more cash if I'd kept those shares until today, but it took a long, long time to get there and so in the end, it would have only been a marginal investment had I kept it longer. Basically, the stock didn't move for three years as the only people holding onto it were hanging on for dear life, hoping for a miracle.
The investment community decided that the case had no merit in 2004. You can see that in the stock price. SCOX has been a shitty investment in either direction for years.
The cake is a pie
From TFA:
Unix was developed by the old American Telephone & Telegraph. The company allowed the system to be copied, leading to multiple versions, some of which effectively leaked into the public domain. In the early 1990s, Linus Torvalds, then a college student in Helsinki, wrote a version of the program from scratch that he called Linux. Torvalds posted Linux on the Internet, allowing others to copy and improve upon it. The sytem became popular for use on servers as an alternative to Microsoft's Windows.
Yup, that's right, ol' Linus just sat down and cloned the entire Unix operating system from scratch. On his own. With no antecedents.
FreeBSD and Windows are very different.
What are some examples of what they offer that Linux does not for your usage pattern?
-- MartinG To mail me: echo kewyjlcxyzvjfxbqwh | tr bcefhjklqvwxyz
I simply cannot side with this optimistic appraisal of the SCO trials. A lot of time and money was wasted, when everyone knew SCO was spouting crap. They never provided any meaningful evidence, just a wildass claim about all those lines of code that ended up in Linux. A properly functioning court wouldn't let discovery go on for years, but would have expected that SCO would have had the evidence in hand before they ever bloody showed up. A properly functioning court would have proceeded with disbarment proceedings against SCO's lawyers, would have charged those who had come up with the source code claim with perjury and would have tipped the SEC to investigate McBride and his croneys with a pump and dump scheme. All in one day, mind you.
The SCO saga is as good an example of how faulty the courts really are, not some shining example of a effective and efficient legal system.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
In Autozone, one of the things SCO is alleging is that Autozone could not have replaced their SCO Unix system with a Linux system without illegally using (or reverse-engineering) their libraries. The case was stayed pending the outcome of IBM, Redhat, and Novell. Now that it has been shown that Novell owns the Unix copyrights, it will limit what SCO can claim. To proceed, SCO would have to show that the libraries in question are under their copyrights and not Novell's or anyone else's. After all, a lot of the libraries used in Unix and Linux share a common lineage like BSD, GNU, etc. If the libraries were reverse-engineered, SCO would have to show how it was illegally done as reverse-engineering is not illegal per se.
I can see that if it gets to discovery, SCO will show the same ineptitude in code review as it has shown these last several years.
SCO: See, right here, Autozone uses ncurses, which is a rip off of our curses library!
Autozone: First, ncurses came from the GNU project. Second, curses came from BSD.
SCO: So you admit you stole our code!
[Autozone laywer bangs head on table]
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Justice and efficiency are mutually exclusive.
Think about the extreme opposite: a judge being able to rule within 5 minutes on complete bias.
The same goes with our governmental system- totalitarianism vs democracy. Yeah, the totalitarian government may be more efficient... but definitely less just.
And yes, it has to be that way to some extent. Could they put in provisions to help these crazy court cases? Perhaps, but there would still be a level of inefficiency in order to make room for justice.
Buckle your ROFL belt, we're in for some LOLs.
No one can tell me that it should have taken four years to determine that SCO was full of shit. Everyone knew that SCO was full of shit the minute they started making their claims. How can you possibly walk into a court room, demand restitution, without a solid claim to back you up? Why did it take a judge over three years to toss out SCO's "evidence", when their claims changed like some people change underwear?
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Yes, they did. And other experts, let us not forget, testified the opposite. Now to an industry insider, it's fairly obvious that Brian Kernighan's opinion is going to carry more weight than Jeffery Leitzinger's does (at least when it comes to computing). The trouble is that the courts don't know that, and cannot assume that one side's witness is better than that of the other.
Look, I really don't want to fight with you about this. If you're arguing that the US legal system is broken because it allowed BSF to file a gazillion timewasting motions and counter motions, then I think you may well be right. If you're arguing that Judge Kimball is broken, having allowed things to drag on so long, than I think you're probably not.
In any case, I don't have any great emotional investment in the issue. I'm not a US citizen, whatever problems may exist, they're not mine to solve. I'm just reporting what I've gleaned by lurking on Groklaw for the duration.
Don't let THEM immanentize the Eschaton!