Slashdot Mirror
Stay Lifted, Novell Vs. SCO Can Go Forward
A number of readers suggest we check out Groklaw, where PJ is reporting that a bankruptcy judge has granted Novell's request to lift the stay so that its trial against SCO can proceed in Utah. The judge concluded that Judge Kimball is the best one to decide how much SCO owes Novell, and that SCO cannot make any "reorganization" plans — including any "fire sale" of assets — until it knows this figure.
Had SCO chosen an opponent with shallower pockets, the system would probably have failed. Having said that, it's still good news :-)
If I had an Ass, I'd call it Fanny Bottom, then I could slap my Ass; Fanny Bottom, on the Arse.
And that's exactly where I think this has indeed been a fiasco. SCO never, not for one moment, in court or out of it, actually justified its claims. There's something desparately wrong with a legal system that takes four years to work its way through absolutely nothing at all. It's repugnant that discovery can take this long. The minimum threshhold for any litigation ought to be showing some evidence for your claims immediately after filing, not using discovery and countless motions and countermotions to keep it going for years and years.
People call all of this a victory. It's not, it's a goddamned shame that crooks like McBride can use the court system like this. I'm not saying you should have all the evidence for your claims, but SCO did claim to have all these lines of code, which they never actually produced, and so far as I'm concerned day one before the judge should have gone something like this:
SCO Lawyers: We have all these lines of code demonstrating that our intellectual property was stolen.
Judge: Please provide the code.
SCO Lawyers: Well, we don't actually have it, so to speak. You know, it's code, and it's a lot of pages, and we want IBM to release their code so we can compare it to our code to show what we claim.
IBM Lawyers: Your honor, here's the complete Linux source code, as well as a complete revision history. We downloaded it off the Net just like SCO can.
Judge: So, provide the infringing code.
SCO Lawyers: Well, we can't at this moment...
Judge: Case dismissed.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
About the huge amounts of money part... I honestly wonder what the *real* economic impact of SCO's saga of scare tactics has been to the open source community at large, specifically employees and customers of leading Linux vendors. How many purchases of Linux-based products were shelved or cancelled based on SCO's claims of infringement?
:(
How many businesses were on the verge of trying out a Linux distro at their office, but became became convinced that open source software was some kind of "poison?" How many might still think that way due to a lack of education or a residual feeling of unease? On the plus side, the old saying is "there's no such thing as bad advertising", right?
512 MB RAM, 20 GB disk, 200 GB transfer, five datacenters. $19.95/month.
"The system works..... it works slowly, it costs huge amounts of money, but it does work......"
Three simple reasons to say "the system" does NOT work:
Justice my arse! If the software industry worked as slowly as justice, and as expensively, we'd be using a $5,000 abacus instead of a computer.
Think of it - there's still all the BS appeals. Justice isn't looking all that appealing now, is it, unless you, like justice, are blind AND slow.
Kevin Smith on Prince
"Had SCO chosen an opponent with shallower pockets, the system would probably have failed."
The system HAS failed.
Pump-and-dump for McBride and his cronies, FUD-fest for Microsoft, and Novells' money being illegally converted to fund all this. Justice? Only when McBride is in an orange jump-suit, and rats on those behind the "corporate veil".
Kevin Smith on Prince
Keep in mind that although the system works slowly, this case has been exceptionally slow. SCO has been able to drag this one out far more than is normally possible.
The reason SCO was able to do that is that while the system is designed to thwart foot-dragging by defendants, it doesn't do as much to prevent foot-dragging plaintiffs. The theory is that the guy who files the suit is motivated to push the issue -- or else why would he have file the suit? So, the system largely puts the plaintiff in the driver's seat, and SCO has taken every opportunity to stand on the brakes.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
"The wheels of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceeding fine" (Sextus Empiricus) I think that when this started, certain people wanted to make absolutely certain that SCO could not wriggle out of it. Every "i" dotted, every 't' crossed. Their fate was sealed some time ago. Now they face destruction. Certain, total and prolonged destruction. I suspect that SCO will be held up as a lesson of what not to do for a very long time.
Protoplasm. Quiet Protoplasm. I like quiet protoplasm.
Oddly enough, they are looking for .NET programmers here. Also note that their development is in New Delhi. Perhaps the Indians don't realize the type of company they are working for?