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Eulogy For Groklaw
akgraner writes "When I got up this morning, the news was all over Facebook and the free software news sites: Groklaw, the site that was influential in the SCO legal cases, will stop publication on May 16. It's news that I hear with decidedly mixed feelings."
"You simply cannot invent any conspiracy theory so ridiculous and obviously satirical that some people somewhere don't already believe it."
-- Robert Anton Wilson
No, Beavis, it wasn't. The prior article was about Groklaw closing. This article is about one person's opinion on groklaw closing. It might be silly, but it isn't a dupe.
After Right won out, the soldiers returned to their homes, their fields and their shops. Preference for talk of the long bloody battle faded and was replaced by the need for a coat of paint on the house, the weather and cracker barrel politics. A memorial was placed somewhere, where those who remember the dark days could pay homage, but soon too the grass grew high and the leafs of Autumn covered it, all while a new generation ran with boundless energy in the park nearby and soon the heroes were forgotten, with what had passed before living on in the result of deeds.
And the perfect setting for a new battle to foment on yet another front.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Hah, that's just what they want you to believe.
A marriage is always made up of two people who are prepared to swear that only the other one snores.
Well, if you read her mission statement, she clearly said it was for SCO related stuff.
While we all appreciate the work that PJ has done ... she's free to follow other pursuits. She's invested 7 years in it; maybe she feels it's time to move on.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
You can see the crapfloods Florian Mueller makes there about how PJ isn't a real person (even though she worked for ODSL, and Steven J Vaughan-Nichols wrote that he met her several times, etc.), or hop over to LWN and hear him complain about how HE is more deserving of recognition.
May 16th is Red Dress Day, in honor of Pamela Jones.
It's common for people to create an organization to solve a problem when no solutions exist. Most of the time though those people keep going even after the problems have been solved. Greenpeace and PETA are examples. Their original goals were met and instead of going "ok we won", they just kept going. As they searched hard for relevance, their organizations become more radical and extreme in the process until they get to a point where they become a new problem.
It's nice to see someone actually be able to quit when there's no reason to still exist. I'm afraid groklaw would take the same route as it tried too hard to remain relevant.
PJ pretty much says it all. In 2001 the battle was SCO fronted by Microsoft trying to destroy Linux. SCO was attacking IBM, but was also trying to take out Linux with FUD such as the $699 per cpu Linux license. The battle was on the desktop and in the server room. Groklaw was there, and combat the FUD and the community was able to defend Linux from SCO.
Now the battle is in the cloud and mobile space. Microsoft, no matter what conduit they work through is an attack on Google. Google is a large company with plenty of brains and money. They can take care of themselves.
There is truth to this, Groklaw relied on our collective memory of computer history from the 1970s to the end of the 1990's. If enough of us looked over the details SCO presented, we would notice where they got the facts wrong. This "community" will not be nearly as useful in the battle over the smartphone and the cloud.
All I can say is I enjoyed the site, it was quite a ride. Thanks PJ for keeping us geeks in the loop.
vi +
His moaning and groaning on LWN is typical
What a load of crap, considering
1. not only that Mueller is not a lawyer, but has done his best to give the impression he is, and not corrected it when people fell for it
2. has always been aware that PJ is a real person - he posted his crap on SJVNs blog at zdnet, the same Steven J Vaughan-Nichols who wrote that he's met PJ.
3. when I pointed out to this piece of work on the weekend that PJ had spoken with SJVN and RMS, he didn't ask for any citation for SJVN, just RMS. He already had seen the SJVN article. He's such a bad liar.
Of course, what can you expect from someone who is trying so desperately, and failing so badly, to re-invent themselves as a mouthpiece for hire for somebody ... ANYBODY ....
He's just another amateur troll, one of those "useful fools" we occasionally hear about ...
... but it's worth posting here, but without the aliens.
Go on over to LWN and look at Florian's continued meltdown about how PJ isn't relevant and he is.
http://lwn.net/Articles/437650/
There's a lot said there that exposes Florian's true colors.
He heaps praise on the people who spread the most FUD about Linux. Robert Enderle, MOG, Dan "Lyin'" Lyons, and Ed Bott led the charge in the media against Linux. The only person he left out to praise was Rudy De Haas ("Paul Murphy" pseudonym). I'm sorry, but the list of above people have nothing worth listening to and his defense of them shows what side of the fence he's on.
--
BMO
And the amazing thing is Alex Jones is the curator for most of them.
BGE spotted.
(bitter groklaw exile)
Emphasis on the "bitter"
Even _Arthur has gotten over his exile, why can't you?
--
BMO
I never really read Groklaw, but from what I understand, they cover lots of issues outside that scope as well. In fact, it says so on the link you just posted.
While anyone can respect her desire to bow out (she's put tremendous effort over the years into the project), it seems wasteful to just say "It's over, I'm closing the site" rather than to say, look to name a successor if she wants to move on.
Other sites could spring up to cover the overlap of tech and legal issues, but why not use a site that's already recognized for leading in this area? She doesn't have to be involved, but I do hope that the folks who are / were close to her within the project have urged her to consider turning the site over to someone else.
Touch everywhere, even when inappropriate.
When PJ started this, it was to defend Linux, which at the time didn't have much in the way of large financial support, and only a very few outfits openly using it. The tides have simply turned. SCO no longer poses a threat since they're no longer able to do business in any capacity. They've sold their assests, their money is gone, their management team that brainstormed this whole mess has been scattered to the winds, and PJ wants to move on and go about her life. I think the mission of Groklaw has come to its fruition. Let the lady have her peace.
If anything, this further deconstructs the theories that there were big influences behind this small lady. Big influences can keep things going. PJ needing to step down and being willing to say so just confirms that there are no big interests pushing her to keep on.
I'm actually relieved. How many focused advocacy groups, when their cause has won its primary battle, face the same choice, and instead say, "what can we do with this new-found power we (think we) have gotten for ourselves?"
A group that comes to mind right now fitting this is MADD, but so many groups kind of turn into activist HeLo cancers - they just won't die, and go on and on fighting at real or imagined windmills perpetually. MADD has won the war, but fights the battle still, going after smaller and smaller problems (or strawmen arguments) that in their mind are as big, if not bigger (today), than the original problem, even if they really aren't by most sane and sober evaluations.
But maybe this is the normal way of humans - we get the prize, and want more MORE! Is it enough for Altoids to have curiously strong peppermint candies? No, so they create curiously wintergreenier mints, curiously cinnamonnier mints, etc.
The Cold War is dead, so we need to create a new terrorism threat (that, honestly for the west, was far worse in the 70's and early 80's) to replace the Soviets & the Red Menace...
On a job well done. Many times the case was a PR campaign, and Groklaw painted the picture plainly from the legal briefs. Time to celebrate the victory, and victory it is, Its sad that a rogue bunch of idiots burned SCO to bankruptcy, as well as wasted a lot of time and money instead of improving a non-microsoft brand. But Groklaw stood as a beacon of clarity.
Thanks again, in honor of what you have done, and the standard you have set for others to follow.