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Daniel Lyons of Forbes Admits Being Snowed by SCO
certain death writes "Daniel Lyons of Forbes Magazine has admitted to being snowed by SCO, regarding their lawsuit over Linux and SCO code. He specifically mentions Groklaw's role in the case, and regrets his early articles giving the company the benefit of the doubt. 'I still thought it would be foolish to predict how this lawsuit (or any lawsuit) would play out. I even wrote an article called "Revenge of the Nerds," which poked fun at the pack of amateur sleuths who were following the case on a Web site called Groklaw and who claimed to know for sure that SCO was going to lose. Turns out those amateur sleuths were right. Now some of them are writing to me asking how I'd like my crow cooked, and where I'd like it delivered. Others in that highly partisan crowd have suggested that I wanted SCO to win, and even that I was paid off by SCO or Microsoft. Of course that's not true. I've told these folks it's not true. Hasn't stopped them. The truth, as is often the case, is far less exciting than the conspiracy theorists would like to believe. It is simply this: I got it wrong. The nerds got it right.'"
just so you know
"I'm a Genius!"*
*Not an actual Genius
Does anyone else read " It is simply this: I got it wrong. The nerds got it right" like a high-school jock saying "damn nerd beat me again"?
Mr. Lyons, let's rephrase it to say "I fucked up big time; and everyone else with half a brain COULD see the facts but I couldn't".
Also, downplaying the fact that the journalist made a huge mistake by saying "I got it wrong, big deal", is in itself a tremendous blunder; as someone whose most valuable skill is his reliability, knowing that he fucked up big time in something so obvious should ring sirens for anyone currently paying this guy money to write.
I bet you work for CMP! LOL!
I seem to remember SCO released all its technical employees several years ago. Towards the end, they consisted of a handful of people who just handled the books and the lawyers.
Really, there has been no SCO for a long time.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
And just what would you call someone who knows Unix and its history and knows how Linux and Minix were developed you're a nerd. If you fit in to that category you're a nerd.
They knew the rules, they gambled and lost. Had they done even the weakest analysis of the SCO case, they would have passed. Such is life for those that wish to play that game.
Any of their employees that didn't have a vested interest are already gone. Those that are still around have profited very well indeed by sucking the life out of SCO and shilling for Microsoft. They have been well compensated and will move on to the next scheme. Perhaps they can find employment in the Patent Troll industry.
Yes, and now he wants to redeem himself and hope everyone forgets that he trashed Groklaw and the Open Source Movement. I have no sympathy for him anymore than I will when Laura Didio admits she was wrong.
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
I agree. Only nerds are entitled to call nerds nerds. Next time he has his computer devirused he might find a few key files corrupted.
More seriously, I sent in a letter to a local newspaper a few years ago criticizing them for constantly referring to software developers as nerds, like it was some terribly witty and original joke. I asked them if it was also their practise to refer to lawyers as shysters.
The letter never got printed. On the other hand, their use of the term "nerd" seemed to stop after that.
Since a lot of people who criticised him came from a site which bills itself as "News for nerds, stuff that matters", I hardly think it's out of line for him to refer to them as nerds. :)
On the other hand, this seems like a fairly weak apology overall, considering the amount of vitriol he's heaped upon Linux developers, advocates, supporters and fans in the past. I think he owes a few people (especially PJ) a more personal apology. On the gripping hand, this move clearly shows that he's a hell of a lot more classy than O'Gara (whose career would be over if there were any justice) or Didio.
At least he didn't call them "freetards" this time.
If you've read his stuff - even the fake steve jobs blog which experienced a bizzare crossover of the groklaw personal attacks, you'll see it was a lot deeper than that. They were opinion pieces driven by a clear agenda and I would be extremely suprised if there was no financial incentive to do so. PR is not journalism.
How many people were duped into investing in SCO because a reputable magazine like Forbes backed them? How many had their shares wiped out completely because his "analysis" of the legal situation turned out to be a mere parroting of the paid corporate shills?
I'd be more than mad if I lost my money because of this man's inept journalism. I'd be hiring a lawyer.
John
so someone who says a number of blogs are full of crap(which they are, many are just people using the cover of being 'unbiased' to flame) compared to a blog which was admittedly a parody of certain people is somehow inconsistent?
I didn't realize that if someone denounces the media as biased they can't go make the daily show......
You got fooled.
His article is not an apology; it is an excuse.
He does not show sincere remorse. He refuses to recognize the qualities of the other side: knowledge, expertise, analytical skills. Instead, he excuses himself as being wrong by saying that the "nerds" got lucky in thier amateurish biaised opinion.
On top of that, it is very impolite to excuse yourself. You should (1) ask someone (2) to accept your (3) sincere apologies. If all 3 are done, then there can be forgiveness.
I will not forgive him or forget him until he asks nicely and means it.