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SCO Springs a Prospective Buyer

clemenstimpler sends a link to Groklaw, which has been following the proceedings dealing with the conversion of SCO's bankruptcy to Chapter 7 (i.e., liquidating the company). SCO has announced a prospective buyer. "...SCO has suggested it has a buyer. That doesn't mean it will avoid Chapter 7 of course, nor does it mean that the bankruptcy court will OK the suggested sale. But it likely does mean more delay, which is what this is likely all about. SCO very much wants to wait until the appeals court rules in SCO v. Novell. ... Hearing set for July 16 with backup for July 27. SCO has already moved to make it July 27. combo hearing on convert and sale. Frankly, it would not totally amaze me if the three entities that filed motions to convert were to appeal this. If not, SCO got its desired delay."

89 comments

  1. For our Benefit by nametaken · · Score: 5, Funny

    They're dragging it out so we can savor it.

    1. Re:For our Benefit by Kjella · · Score: 1

      Sounds like an 11 hour art noir film. Those that made it might think so, the few still paying attention might think so but must people would like it to have ended five hours ago.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    2. Re:For our Benefit by Muad'Dave · · Score: 2, Interesting

      As Willy Wonka said, "The suspense is killing me. I hope it lasts."

      --
      Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
    3. Re:For our Benefit by dkleinsc · · Score: 1

      Actually, if I had to guess they're probably dragging it out so Darl et al can continue to draw salaries.

      --
      I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
  2. Paging Buffy Summers... by petrus4 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This article's title gave me the mental image of a decomposing zombie clawing its' way up out of the ground.

    Hopefully as the article suggests, the sale will be forestalled, and some judge will finally put a stake in this monster once and for all. ;)

    1. Re:Paging Buffy Summers... by SonOfFlubber · · Score: 4, Funny

      "decomposing zombie clawing its' way up out of the ground" ....

      .... Darl of the Dead?

    2. Re:Paging Buffy Summers... by iCodemonkey · · Score: 1

      why cant we come up with the legal equivalent of a shotgun. shotguns ALWAYS work against zombies, or im i wrong?

      --
      Deja Moo: The feeling you've heard this bullsh*t before.
    3. Re:Paging Buffy Summers... by Dhalka226 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Hopefully as the article suggests, the sale will be forestalled, and some judge will finally put a stake in this monster once and for all.

      I doubt it. A bankruptcy judge's job is essentially to ensure that SCO's creditors get the maximum amount of money back under the law. From that perspective, liquidation tends to be a fairly lousy solution, particularly for companies deeply in debt. A buyer is, of course, the best solution: Somebody willing to assume that debt and, hopefully, turn the company around to making some money again. Then it can start to pay back its creditors and if it falls apart again, well, you're just right back at the liquidation stage -- little lost but time.

      So unless the judge can determine this is nothing but a bullshit stalling tactic on the part of SCO--and I doubt any judge would do so without at least a hearing or two on the matter--they're almost certain to let it pass.

    4. Re:Paging Buffy Summers... by scotsghost · · Score: 1

      NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

      quiet you fool! you'll give some groklaw fanboy ideas...

    5. Re:Paging Buffy Summers... by Rogerborg · · Score: 1

      Oh, great, now Maureen O'Gara will run a ZOMFG Linux Zealots Plot To Kill Darl - I Have Proof!!!!! article.

      --
      If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
    6. Re:Paging Buffy Summers... by Thoughts+from+Englan · · Score: 1

      why cant we come up with the legal equivalent of a shotgun. shotguns ALWAYS work against zombies, or im i wrong?

      Think Geek agrees.

      --
      That was supposed to be "Thoughts from England" ... Oh well.
    7. Re:Paging Buffy Summers... by hedwards · · Score: 2, Funny

      We should go all in and just bring in Bruce Campbell, he's only a hundred, I'm sure he can still fight off a horde of IP attorneys and zombies.

    8. Re:Paging Buffy Summers... by russotto · · Score: 3, Informative

      I doubt it. A bankruptcy judge's job is essentially to ensure that SCO's creditors get the maximum amount of money back under the law. From that perspective, liquidation tends to be a fairly lousy solution, particularly for companies deeply in debt.

      Right now, realistically, the best the creditors can hope for is liquidation and for someone to buy up "substantially all the assets" of the company. That probably amounts to zero, but at least it allows them to finally write off the bad debt and be finished with the litigation. Zero all they can expect in any case, the only question is whether it is zero now or zero later.

    9. Re:Paging Buffy Summers... by macraig · · Score: 1

      The only sure-fire way to "put a stake in it" is to aim straight for the heart: Darl McBride. Lock him up in a windowless cell with no Internet access, or better yet castrate him to make sure there will never be a Darl 2.0. Darl McBride is one of the true "useless eaters" that eugenicists were debating in the early part of last Century.

    10. Re:Paging Buffy Summers... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think you're wrong. My advisers have assured me that my bid of $24.38 will almost certainly be successful.

      My first action as the new owner will be to fire everybody in a senior management position, then invite the underlings, excluding the legal team, to take what they want of the remaining office equipment.. Everything else on eBay by the weekend.

      Seriously, is this not another example of why companies go the litigious route? Why bother actually doing anything when all you need to do is sue a load of people, followed by more legal pontification when you lose?

  3. Why Won't You Die? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Beneath this balance sheet there is more than cash. Beneath this balance sheet there is a fraud, Your Honor, and frauds are lawyerproof.

    - With apologies to Alan Moore.

  4. While I agree with what you said, not the image by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    This image, http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/5233c6cac0.jpg was a little un-called for.

    Richard has done quite a good job, imo. I met him once at an "overnighter" kind of rally for political refugees when we both entered this country almost at the same time. I never could quite figure-out his political views beneath all the "free software" senses that he advertised using all his "free labor" methods of devoting all that time to such strategy. It appeared effective at a fiscal scale, but not at a family one.

    I must say, though Caldera was a completely different company these past years since Darryl gave direction, the true Caldera Linux lives-on in the servers that still run it. I fondly remember administering Caldera 2.2 and 2.3 using their excellent-at-the-time Novell Netware extensions for IPX disk shares and this eased integration with existing Novell-dominated environments in the civil service sections of the government institutions whose documents I helped archive and maintane with complete satisfaction. Somtimes I sit and think just what happened to such a great company, it having the only Linux distribution with DOSEMU to Caldera's DR DOS at the time as would seem the perfect replacement for a Windows For Workgroups, NT, and 95/98 installation while all the other distributions leached off it's tuned perfection.

    It will sadly be missed, but still runs on my old 486 network gateway with a IPX Meridian SCSI 14-drive CDROM array.

  5. Undead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    SCO the UnDead.

    But actually, this is what one should normally expect from a litigation company. The US legal system makes it easy for this sort of harassment (in this case, of Linux supporters IBM/Novell/etc) to continue virtually forever.

    This is obvious. But the takeaway message is worth posting clearly... Just because you're in the Right, you cannot assume the courts will vindicate you. Once accused in civil court, you are mired for as long as the other side wants (or can afford). Don't. Get. Sued. In. The. USA. Broken System.

    1. Re:Undead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think Stallman should buy it, and rename it as SNU

  6. I get it by Starlon · · Score: 5, Funny

    They're getting a bailout! The government will now own Linux.

    --
    Health Freedom is almost as popular as Freedom itself.
    1. Re:I get it by shentino · · Score: 1

      Unless something funky happens with Kimball's ruling during appeal, Novell has that card.

    2. Re:I get it by La_Boca · · Score: 1

      Prove it.

  7. Idle speculation... by MsGeek · · Score: 1

    ...would that suitor be based in Redmond, WA?

    --
    Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
    1. Re:Idle speculation... by iamdrscience · · Score: 1

      What would Eddie Bauer or Nintendo of America want to do with SCO?

  8. How many hops to M$ ? by Alain+Williams · · Score: 2, Insightful

    How far do we need to follow the money to find Microsoft ?

    1. Re:How many hops to M$ ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As far as it takes to create a conspiracy.

    2. Re:How many hops to M$ ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah... these SCO versus Novell epics always confuse me, after all, it's Micro$oft vs. Micro$oft after all.

    3. Re:How many hops to M$ ? by rbrausse · · Score: 1

      uh, one hop? (hey - this is slashdot :))

    4. Re:How many hops to M$ ? by FithisUX · · Score: 1

      If Microsoft is behind I suggest Microsoft to opensource it and base Windows8 on Unixware ala Apple.

  9. Chinese? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Far out. With the current financial situation I wouldn't have thought anyone would want to part with $10 just for SCO! It must be the Chinese...

  10. Justice by davro · · Score: 1, Funny

    Give the judge a trench gun and be done with these pesky zombies.

  11. No appeal of the delay by Mostly+a+lurker · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I very much hope the Office of the US Trustee, IBM, Novell and others do not appeal the delay. Of course, they have excellent grounds for doing so, but the result would likely just be a longer delay. SCO has successfully gamed the system, and will probably gain a six week delay in the process. If this is appealed, it will probably take longer than six weeks just to argue and get a decision. Meanwhile, SCO will argue that the purchase agreement cannot go forward with the Chapter 7 conversion hanging over their head (BS, of course, but prove it).

    1. Re:No appeal of the delay by Lorien_the_first_one · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The ideal arrangement is to have the purchase go through before the appeal. Then have the appeal denied. That way the estate is refreshed with big bucks just in time for the hoovers to move in.

      --
      The diversity and expression of human opinion is essential to human survival.
  12. Hmm... by eugene2k · · Score: 0, Troll

    Now, imagine the appeals court rules SCO has the rights to Unix! Won't that be fun!

    --
    Apple has "Mac vs PC", Microsoft has "Laptop Hunters", Linux has recession
  13. Hiding the money by jrumney · · Score: 4, Insightful
    From another article (I can't access groklaw right now, so I don't know if the same is stated on groklaw):

    The remaining SCO company will also continue to enforce its appeal of U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball's ruling in August 2007 that found Novell, not SCO, rightfully owns the copyrights on the Unix operating system, he said.

    So this is an attempt to get the remaining cash and Unix assets out of reach of Novell, and leave the shell of SCO (plus some mobile products that most likely have no value) to continue the lawsuit, with no money left over for Novell and IBM when they eventually run out of appeals.

    1. Re:Hiding the money by jrumney · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yes, divide that by the number of sales per annum, and you'll quickly see that SCO has infinite value.

    2. Re:Hiding the money by Lorien_the_first_one · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Perhaps, but with the current administration, and the new legislation winding it's way through, it could conceivably get easier to pierce the corporate veil. This lawsuit represents the height of corporate avarice. What makes it all the more interesting is that the only newspaper willing to continue to run stories on it seems to be the Salt Lake Tribune. Yet the lawsuit will have worldwide influence once the appeals have run their course.

      I'm really looking forward to the trial of IBM's counterclaims, and the damages decided from them. At that point, we're very likely to see where the money for the suit came from.

      --
      The diversity and expression of human opinion is essential to human survival.
    3. Re:Hiding the money by jamstar7 · · Score: 1

      So this is an attempt to get the remaining cash and Unix assets out of reach of Novell, and leave the shell of SCO (plus some mobile products that most likely have no value) to continue the lawsuit, with no money left over for Novell and IBM when they eventually run out of appeals.

      Sounds bout right. As long as Darl gets paid, who really cares?

      --
      Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
  14. Wrong - just advertising on someone else's work by dbIII · · Score: 2, Informative

    Bullshit.

    You have been conned by stupid MIT staffroom politics which has escaped onto the net. Linux is not a GNU project, the GNU operating system is called HURD. I think the whole gnu/linux thing and the LiGnuX thing before it was just a response to people asking RMS what he had done lately. He has done a lot of worthwhile things but linux was put together by others. The gnu tools are incredibly useful but make up only a small portion of most linux distributions and are not there at all in some of the embedded distributions (which use a different C library and use busybox).
    There is a linux distibution called is "Debian gnu/linux", but all the packaging has been done by Debian without involvement by gnu.
    It also seems you have confused GNU with the GPL and seem to think the GPL restricts commercial activity - keep in mind that not even Halliburton are afraid of it since all it really means is telling people where you got your free code from. It isn't 1995 anymore, and even then anyone that took the time to actually read the thing wouldn't have been that worried about it.

  15. in this day and age? by MoFoQ · · Score: 2, Informative

    in this day and age...after the credit implosion and GM's bankruptcy..after Madoff....there's someone still stupid^H^H^H^H^H^Hbold enough to buy SCO?
    Man....can someone get me his number? I've got a few dozen bridges and landmarks to sell him, not to mention a few automobiles.

    1. Re:in this day and age? by Chrisq · · Score: 5, Insightful

      in this day and age...after the credit implosion and GM's bankruptcy..after Madoff....there's someone still stupid^H^H^H^H^H^Hbold enough to buy SCO? Man....can someone get me his number? I've got a few dozen bridges and landmarks to sell him, not to mention a few automobiles.

      Yes sure, he's the guy that's managing your retirement account.

    2. Re:in this day and age? by sumdumass · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I would buy SCO if I had the money. Not because I think it is a gold mine or anything but because of all the people claiming rights to Unix, SCO is the only company trying to claim Linux is a derivative and do something about it.

      If a few geeks, maybe backed by Novel, IMB, or some other companies using linux in their products purchased SCO at the liquidated price, they could operate their own distro, are large enough to demand Unix drivers and could open enough specs to allow OSS drivers, and put an end to this saga once and for all. We could call this pack, GLOSCO or Geeks for Linux and getting Over SCO.

      I'm seriously wondering why we have seen talk of something like that. SCO or SCOGQ is trading for around 15 cents a share now, if every geek in the world contributed $100, that would be 666 shares. With 15.2 million shares outstanding, it shouldn't take much more than 22 or 23 thousand people to buy it outright at $100 plops. Get IBM, Hitachi, Motorola, Novels, perhaps a few of the distros to donate and that number drops fast. All the IP gained could be placed into a trust account and SCO can operate as a commercial development platform with OSS driver access and open improvements for the rest of us.

    3. Re:in this day and age? by SnarfQuest · · Score: 1

      I wouldn't be surprised if they received their share of the economic stimulus package.

      I mean, look at all the people they keep working. Lawyers, grocklaw, shashdot posters, Microsoft's anti-linux commissions, Novell, IBM, ...

      Sure, they produce nothing useful, beyond the entertainment value, but don't you want to "save" all those jobs?

      --
      Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
    4. Re:in this day and age? by R2.0 · · Score: 1

      "in this day and age...after the credit implosion and GM's bankruptcy..after Madoff....there's someone still stupid^H^H^H^H^H^Hbold enough to buy SCO?
      Man....can someone get me his number? I've got a few dozen bridges and landmarks to sell him, not to mention a few automobiles."

      Sure - his number is 202-456-1414.

      --
      "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
    5. Re:in this day and age? by bugs2squash · · Score: 1

      Wow, SCO and 666 in the same post - who'da thought?..

      --
      Nullius in verba
    6. Re:in this day and age? by jamstar7 · · Score: 1
      That's all very well and good, except for two things.

      1. The cash would go directly into Darl's pocket. Yeah, we might be finally rid of him, but still...

      2. The company would get stuck with all the debt from the lawsuit & such, with no income being generated. Remember, SCO is running on fumes, and what little comes in goes right back out to Darl & the lawyers.

      --
      Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
    7. Re:in this day and age? by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      The answer to 1 is simply, don't care. Money going to Daryl on his terms is bad, on your terms is not, especially when you get what you want. Plus we would have the books and could look at Daryl's practices then report any illegal activity to the feds for prosecution. I think Giving him money to end his idiocy as well as having a chance at seeing him locked up is more then acceptable.

      As for 2:The company would get stuck with all the debt from the lawsuit & such, with no income being generated. Remember, SCO is running on fumes, and what little comes in goes right back out to Darl & the lawyers.

      This isn't as much of a problem as you might think. First, you would be buying by shares of a corporation, it isn't like you would assume this debt yourself personally. At best, your out your $100 or whatever. But this is where companies like IBM and Novel and others come into play. They can carry the debt for when profit being made isn't enough to cover it as well as we can sell off aspects of the Unix license or open source it in the process of "reinventing the business model" to make it profitable. Then the official statement would be that releases before X is open to anyone, even if the strategy backfires and bankrupts the company.

      That last part can be done in several ways, one could be an indefinite contract to every major (or minor) distribution for a one time payment that allows them, they customers, and any down stream client to do whatever with the Unix code in whole or in part (basically follow the intents of the GPLv3 but without applying it and leaving the final license to the contracting parties other then SCO.

    8. Re:in this day and age? by MoFoQ · · Score: 1

      it would definitely have to be renamed to avoid the pitchforks and torches, especially of those who went into hiding due to the economy imploding (that and H1N1)

    9. Re:in this day and age? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey!!!!! How'd you get my number? Who are all these weirdo's calling me.

    10. Re:in this day and age? by MoFoQ · · Score: 1

      wait...I'm the one managing/using up my retirement account....this is the first I'm hearing that I'm buying SCO

    11. Re:in this day and age? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Man, I've CALLED Darl's house before. D: Don't throw that phony shit up. :x The number was floating around on Freenet back in 2004. I'm sure someone could find it if they looked.

  16. Tagging 'diealready' (n/t) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is time to die, SCO. Die in peace, but die already (and never come back)!

  17. The REAL reason by Linker3000 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I understand they just need a bit more time to conclude their purchase of the Duke Nukem Forever codebase and issue a call for investors to fund completion of this vital work.

    Oh, there won't be a game coming out of all this - SCO will have a pile of algorithms and methods specific to the gaming world stretching back as far as the first annoucement of DNF and so they can then start to examine games produced since that date from all the big players to see if they have 'pinched' anything.

    3. Profit

    --
    AT&ROFLMAO
    1. Re:The REAL reason by forgotten_my_nick · · Score: 2, Funny

      "I understand they just need a bit more time to conclude their purchase of the Duke Nukem Forever codebase and issue a call for investors to fund completion of this vital work."

      Based on previous experience I suspect they would be more likely to buy that codebase, then claim others had stolen that code in their own FPS games and offer to allow end users to license to use a product for a small fee. Then sue EA, pump shares, dump shares, lose and then file for bankruptcy.

    2. Re:The REAL reason by jamstar7 · · Score: 1

      Based on previous experience I suspect they would be more likely to buy that codebase, then claim others had stolen that code in their own FPS games and offer to allow end users to license to use a product for a small fee. Then sue EA, pump shares, dump shares, lose and then file for bankruptcy.

      Good plan. We oughta patent it as a business method.

      Oh, wait...

      --
      Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
  18. What if it is Microsoft?! by G3ckoG33k · · Score: 1

    What if the prospective buyer is Microsoft?! Who could object to that, and on what grounds?!

    Scary.

    1. Re:What if it is Microsoft?! by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      We don't want Microsoft owning Linux, and every Unix out there. Then they will own all the OS's that have a marketshare that can be represented with up to 2 decimal points.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  19. remeber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That MS funds *both* SCO and Novel

  20. Rest of the deal by parcanman · · Score: 1

    I wonder if SCO told their buyer that Linux (all of it) is part of the sale? They probably said "yea, this guy with a blue blanket and a red and black striped shirt who calls himself Linus is gonna try to tell you that Linux isn't ours to sell, yea, just ignore him".

    --
    Why lie when you can just make up stuff and claim it to be true?
  21. That's not how an appeal works by gavron · · Score: 3, Insightful
    The Court can rule that the case goes back to the Utah Court or not. It will not rule on the merits of the case, so it will not ever in any way, shape, or form rule that SCO has the rights to Unix or any other pipe dream.

    There is no indication that the decision of the appeals court will occur in the next six weeks. SCO is stalling because that is the tactic they've adopted from the very first "suitcase of proof" and "millions of lines of code" and "MIT deep-divers."

    FUD works when it lasts for a very long time, not when it's immediately dispelled.

    E

  22. One by Yvanhoe · · Score: 4, Informative

    One hop :
    http://www.infoworld.com/t/platforms/sco-strikes-gold-verizon-just-strikes-728
    Microsoft bought $6 million of "licenses" to SCO in 2003.

    --
    The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
  23. zzzz by apodyopsis · · Score: 1

    I'm not dead! I feel fine! I think I'll go for a walk! I'm getting better! ..

    Honestly, its like the monster that will not die, nothing works - garlic, holy water, silver bullets, stake, decapitation, fire and even the BFG9000 could not finish it.

    Just stay down, everybody will be much happier and we are all waiting for the party.

  24. sorry -- should probably have included the other by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Assets to be so purchased shall not include those assets (the "Excluded Assetsâ) set forth on Schedule 1.1(b)

    ----------------

    so my relatively new theory is that "excluded assets" would include patents, all trademarks that aren't UNIX and UnixWare, and all copyrights (in my 50/50 preponderance of the evidence opinion (that aren't UNIX and UnixWare copyrights - or at some point turn out to not be UNIX or UnixWare copyrights).

  25. That would be Glenn Reynolds by smittyoneeach · · Score: 1
    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
    1. Re:That would be Glenn Reynolds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What does the Ole heh-indeedy Perfesser have to do with anything?

    2. Re:That would be Glenn Reynolds by smittyoneeach · · Score: 1

      "legal equivalent of a shotgun"

      --
      Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
  26. Potential buyer by Joe+U · · Score: 5, Funny

    I almost bought SCO. But I spent the $10 at McDonalds instead.

    1. Re:Potential buyer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They were going to let me pay $5... SUCKER

  27. Red Dwarf quote?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "He's like a blind old, incontinent sheep dog. Take him out to the barn with your shotgun and blow the mutha away! It's the kindest thing!"

  28. Re:what other trademarks -- Novell/SCO thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Darl, just STFU. Everybody knows you're full of it.

    The court has already ruled that the asset sheet doesn't say what you're claiming it does. Just go away.

  29. "Potential" is the key word here by UnknowingFool · · Score: 3, Informative

    I don't really think there is any serious buyer. Previously SCO tried to launch an emergency sale to York management only to have the bankruptcy court and all its creditors object to the deal. What SCO never made clear (or tried to hide) in that deal was who would get the liabilities from the Novell judgment against them. If the sale had gone through, Novell would have had to spend years figuring out who owed them the money. This is just another ploy to stall for time.

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  30. Why won't they die?????? by motherpusbucket · · Score: 1

    If this keeps up, we'll have to add SCO to the nuclear attack survivor list currently including cockroaches and Cher.

    --
    "You can't really dust for vomit" --Nigel Tufnel
  31. Erm....guys? by Sj0 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Hang on.

    So they lied about linux containing unix code.
    Then they lied about owning full unix rights.
    Then they lied constantly about their ability to handle it in court.
    Then they lied to the court by using stalling tactics pretending they needed information.

    Maybe they're lying? You know, flat-out, bald faced shameless lying? They're already so badly in trouble in the courts, what's one more lie if it helps stave off death a bit longer?

    --
    It's been a long time.
    1. Re:Erm....guys? by BabyDuckHat · · Score: 1

      Lying isn't immoral if it's done in the course of business or litigation.

      /leaves to wash self with lye and a wire brush

  32. buyer: the Devil. consolidating his assets. by swschrad · · Score: 1

    your next general release of SCO Unix will run on the Mattel Aquarius and Coleco Adam only. please to transfer your databases to cassette tape.

    --
    if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
  33. more time wasting cobblers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why the hell does the American leagal system just stop fingering their collective fannys and kill this bunch of ambiguos twats off once and for all end dead terminated you will NOT be back this is now getting a little tiring a few months yes but years do me a favour hello are you awake F**K them off will ya be done with it

    Sheessh

  34. Just another case of msft backed corruption? by walterbyrd · · Score: 1

    This is 4th "prospective buyer" in 19 months

    Whenever scox's bankruptcy comes to trial, scox tells the judge about some mysterious prospective buyer, and scox gets another delay. Scox has been playing this game for nearly two years, and there is no end in sight. Of course, the dubious buyouts never materializes.

    Either the judge falls for the same trick every time, or there is corruption involved. Considering that msft has been behind the scox-scam every step of the way since the beginning of the scam (over six years ago), the possibility of corruption is real. After all, msft is the company that admitted to bribing public officials in the OOXML scam.

  35. Just another case of msft backed corruption? by walterbyrd · · Score: 1

    Just another case of msft backed corruption?

    This is 4th "prospective buyer" in 19 months

    Whenever scox's bankruptcy comes to trial, scox tells the judge about some mysterious prospective buyer, and scox gets another delay. Scox has been playing this game for nearly two years, and there is no end in sight. Of course, the dubious buyouts never materializes.

    Either the judge falls for the same trick every time, or there is corruption involved. Considering that msft has been behind the scox-scam every step of the way since the beginning of the scam (over six years ago), the possibility of corruption is real. After all, msft is the company that admitted to bribing public officials in the OOXML scam.

  36. Microsoft, duh... by MsGeek · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Anyway, the suitor has been announced: Gulf Capital Partners. Which raises the question: is there a Microsoft connection to these guys? The only company with any discernible reason to keep Sweet Zombie SCO alive is Microsoft.

    I have answered my question: yes there is a definite MS connection. "The issue is not if you're paranoid, it's if you are paranoid enough." -- Max, "Strange Days"

    --
    Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
  37. Did this prospective buyer KNOW of SCO? by crovira · · Score: 1

    Maybe its like those crappy telephone "bait and switch" scams and somebody just thought they were just buying "Naughty Nurses" porn.

    Suddenly instead of a DVD of said "Naughty Nurses" they suddenly open a box full of SCO stock.

    --
    MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
  38. To my perception, you are in the wrong on this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That post never exclaimed to be a GNU project. Linux was borne in concept on the flowcharts expanded to pseudocode long before it was ever posted on a message board or BBS. Consider the fact that o' Lineus retains the controlling interest in all of those periphernalia and effects and then conditionaly granted its use through GPL. It looks like Linux was always under his control at the beginning, and for those of us that think that is condescending then we must first realize that absolute control begot those conditions to its conditional liberation and restricted to said freedoms until another day comes that Linus with his companyions decide to rescind. GPL is not free, and "Free" from Free Software by RMS is a proprietary notion of doublespeak. Apogee is more free than Richard S's "Free Software" compaction in our minds; materialy so, but not logically endowed as a public-domain release. You see, RMS is trying to bring his doublespeak into a backwards society of kings that behave like slaves to one-another. Rather than dispel the myths and acknowledge that every branch grafted onto that Linux kernel to it's rightful king, RMS continues the ploy through GPL that completely skews the interpretation of it as "copyleft." Whatever machinery looks to uphold that license, it is tainted in such a way that RMS is trying to pre-empt the rights of the owners to rent it from the creator, yet that is all I can say about that.

    You are realy behaving silly in this manner you've exposed your approach onto this subject. There is a fiscal matter being accounted that RMS is trying to dispel, as though the author is in receivership to a bankrupty that prevents himself from unaccounting his works to such a thing as Linux. Why can't an author relieve himself of these properties to contribute to this effort, or is he not in liberty and freedom himself? Stalman's phylosophies only throw gas on the fire in this regard, and in the end none benefit because it draws a proprietary manner outside of the Public just to call "Free Software" as not being free, but with restrictions.

    You got to be joking if GPL and LGPL means otherwise. You and everyone else is on "the clock", their time is worth money to someone else at all times and here comes the delusion to avert from the effort to relieve themselves of this miserable state of work ethic with an alleged "Free Software" GPL'd from another alphabet corporation that is just waiting to be seized by SEC for conversion and accounting fraud. Great. Lovely... I'll remind you that the creators of Unix back in ATT (prior to AT&T) are using Microsoft Windows NT of some flavor to this day. Don't you think you are missing somthing about the population you're trying to touch?

    Next thing you know, RMS will have a unique DRM key to sign all "Free Software" so it wouldn't run on GNU operating systems without the GPL key. Great. Lovely... Despite wherever the software goes, on the paper we still 'have and own NOTHING because of the encumbrances of our nationalities going back into whatever country we are from. If we want to change this, the best abbet would be to write software on a micronation benched upon an oceanic Well stage or interfaced to a international vessel that does not make berth to a port of entry on land, or a ship independent from the plane or planet it unhails from. Yet, whoever holds the bench to negotiate a dispute, he is sovereign; why would a developer dare unconditionally submit to such foreign standard of authority for adjustments that could lead to abandonmnet or change in direction?

    Welcome back to Linux island. That's all we need. :-)

  39. RMS wrote his licence but doesn't run things by dbIII · · Score: 1

    Try actually reading the GPL, it's actually fairly simple.
    However remember that RMS had nothing whatsoever to do with the development of linux apart from writing a licence that Linus liked. All the wailing about gcc by those that want to shove the gnu/linux label down people's throats is irrelevant since if gcc was not there another compiler would have been used. I was replying to the above bullshit that RMS owns linux, not about the other things you have there and although I cannot actually understand a large portion of it you have certainly written a large amount of text. While there are a large number of impressively long words their meaning doesn't fit in context so I suggest using shorter and simpler sentences until you have a better understanding of English. I have the advantage of English as a first language but would still not use such a style. Mark Twain wrote "If I Had More Time I Would Write a Shorter Letter" and it's a good principle to keep in mind even with technical writing. If you have a firm understanding of English and use such a deliberately florid style as a joke homage to barely remembered 19th century fiction please play it on someone else because it just comes out as an unreadable pile of crap full of words that do nothing but waste the time of the reader - and God's sake read something better to inspire you. The only place I've seen a style like that work is in Brian Aldiss' "Barefoot in the Head" but only because the point was that the reader was not meant to understand and to be as confused by the text as if they had a drug addled brain.

  40. Is it me? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hope it wasn't from when I said, 'I'd give them a dollar', here on slashdot, because I was only joking!!!!

  41. y do u think so? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why do you think that bankruptcy court will not OK the suggested sale?
    i mean is there any clear logic behind your prediction?
    70-270 exam