Many people replied how courts won't accept this as proof, but nobody seems to have mentioned the fact that this is a weak kind of proof because, even if it is accepted as proof, the demonstration of the proof destroys it. You can only open your letter once.
On the other hand, registering a document with the Copyright Office or having a digital timestamp made, provides recurring proof.
If IBM buys SCO then IBM becomes responsible for the lawsuits... not good.
And SCO's shareholders get enriched... also not good.
No, IBM's best course of action is to keep going and eventually the court will judge in favour of IBM and award IBM anything remaining from the dust which is SCO. It is likely however that Novell will claim all remaining assets first, so IBM will not be able to recover the many millions it spent in legal fees (and the cost of the time spent answering discovery requests and so on, too).
Unfortunately the openness doesn't extend to NVIDIA, who refuse to release specifications or other assistance to
developers working on the ULi M920x chipset, which is used for receiving Digital Television.
NVIDIA bought ULi
and then cancelled development of the M920x, but you can (still) buy DVB receivers which use this chipset.
Requests for assistance or interface specifications have been refused by NVIDIA.
Yes, there are a lot of choices out there. I chose Linux because it has a critical mass, in a sense, for software and further development. Obviously it's not a critical mass in many other senses (like how one cannot easily buy a computer with linux preinstalled, but preinstalled windows is ubiquitous).
So far however, it seems that only Linux and Apple have any chance of defeating Microsoft. And only a thin chance at that. And why must Microsoft be defeated? Due to their reprehensible business practices, of course.
If I want to use Vista, I should be able to. That doesn't mean that I shouldn't also have control over my computer. I shouldn't have to give up those games, or that HD DVD/Bluray playback, or my Microsoft Outlook, or my general look-and-feel which isn't truly duplicated anywhere in the FOSS world. If I want to, I should be able to have my cake and eat it, too.
Like I said, if you want to use Vista and have control over your computer, you'll be fighting Microsoft all the way.
Freedom and Choice are different things. I support choice, but I encourage freedom. No self-respecting person chooses slavery. It's a choice, but it's a poor choice, particularly when freedom is there for the taking.
And linux is pretty much immune to viruses. Linux is inherently more secure than windows because applications don't run as root; they don't have permission to modify/usr, modify the kernel on the fly and things like that. If there's an exploitable hole in Firefox, it can muck up _my_ home directory and start to do things as me, but due to the nature of unix where you can see what processes are running and you can terminate them, the scale of the problem is reduced. The virus can't hide itself in my directory - at least, it can't hide itself from the ls command because it can't modify ls. And another reason that linux is inherently more secure than windows is the entire design philosophy which treats data as data, not code which is just one mouse click away from being executed.
Go ahead. And send me an email if you improve on it.
There are solid ethical and technical reasons to move away from Windows.
Not everybody can do that - some businesses are locked-in because they
use specific software which is only available on Windows. Dedicated
gamers need to run whatever platform their game requires. But for the
rest of us, the average user, we have a choice.
The ubuntu people have done a fine job making linux more user-friendly to
non-technical people. Now is the time to encourage people to move away
from Windows. Microsoft is weakened from the long development cycle and
the lacklustre take-up of Vista. Vista has been roundly criticised in
the press (computer vendors as usual continue to breathlessly hype the
software). Microsoft is in trouble with the EU. Their lap-dog SCO is
desperately clutching at straws, having failed to FUD linux for the
last 4 years.
Linux needs a critical mass of ordinary every-day users. Only Linux and/or
Apple stand a chance of breaking Microsoft's vice-like grip on the computer
industry.
... Or you could try to discredit my argument using facts and reasoning, which is the far more intelligent approach.
As far as I know, Microsoft is working with the RIAA and MPAA to limit Vista's capabilities in line with what those
organisations demand. Here's what Bruce Schneier said in
DRM in Windows Vista...
Microsoft put all those functionality-crippling features into Vista because it wants to own the entertainment industry. This isn't how Microsoft spins it, of course. It maintains that it has no choice, that it's Hollywood that is demanding DRM in Windows in order to allow "premium content" -- meaning, new movies that are still earning revenue -- onto your computer. If Microsoft didn't play along, it'd be relegated to second-class status as Hollywood pulled its support for the platform.
and
Microsoft is reaching for a much bigger prize than Apple: not just Hollywood, but also peripheral hardware vendors. Vista's DRM will require driver developers to comply with all kinds of rules and be certified; otherwise, they won't work. And Microsoft talks about expanding this to independent software vendors as well. It's another war for control of the computer market.
Now if that's not a case of Microsoft developing an OS to further its own interests, as opposed to its customers' interests, I don't know what is.
Well, if you want to get back control of your computer, you could uninstall Vista and install Linux.
Sure, this technique could be used to let you modify Vista and patch device drivers and so on, but
you'd still be fighting Microsoft and their whole "we'll tell you where to go today" attitude toward
operating systems.
On the other hand you could install Linux and maybe experience some temporary discomfort as you get
used to the user interface or different applications (openoffice or abiword or scribus instead of
MS Word, etc). Maybe you have to give up some games if they won't run emulated. Whatever it costs
you in conversion, consider that you've bought your freedom from the domination of Microsoft. You
now have a stable, reliable system developed by people whose interests are aligned with your interests, rather
than those of the most hated organisations in America.
Linux... There are no backdoors, no spyware; it's pretty much immune to viruses. It won't "phone home" and
accuse you of piracy, it won't disable itself about licensing issues, or degrade the picture quality.
You can run it on multiple
computers if you want. You can share it with a friend if you want. You can update it from the net,
forever. There will always be new free applications for you to use.
Microsoft Vista... it's an operating system designed to meet the needs of major corporations:
Microsoft, the RIAA, MPAA. Managing system resources and running applications is a secondary
function; the primary function is to lock you into Microsoft software and extract the maximum
possible amount of money from your wallet. What's good for Microsoft is not necessarily good
for the user; Microsoft's interests do not align with your interests.
There's a Cave Troll chained to a rock in the middle of an Arena. The Cave Troll is hungry and
roars continuously. You throw people to the Troll as sacrifices. But the Troll continues to
roar; it will never be satisfied. It grows bigger - someday soon it may break its chains and
eat us all. Microsoft is the Cave Troll. Are you going to continue to sacrifice people to it?
Or are you going to say "enough is enough" and take back your control - take back your dignity?
IBM has not asked the court to declare Linux as non-infringing. It has asked the court to declare that IBM's Linux-related activities
are non-infringing.
Obviously Linux in total is a superset of IBM's contribution to Linux. IBM probably doesn't have standing in the court to ask for a
declaration covering the whole of Linux, and if they attempt to do so, that is likely to cause the entire motion to fail.
If, however, IBM wins this Partial Summary Judgement motion, as they may well do, then this is still an extremely important result for linux.
Unlike the poster who recommended reading the oral arguments, I recommend skipping the oral arguments and go instead for IBM's written
motions and briefs. They are very well written and logical.
IBM constructs their motions as a form of logical-or. If the Judge accepts $REASON1 or $REASON2 or $REASON3 then the judge must rule in
IBM's favour. So IBM offers multiple concurrent chains of logic supporting their case. The judge needs only to accept one of them, in
order to rule for IBM. But each $REASON is fully detailed - supported by facts, evidence, legal argument, case history precedents.
SCO's filings on the other hand, are like a shell game. It's hard to pin them down to facts. They pretend to be Caldera and Santa Cruz
and even AT&T when it suits them; at other times they treat them as different entities. Their answers frequently say "please refer
to some other answer", and (as this latest IBM filing says), SCO's replies don't really answer the question or dispute the fact, they
raise some other issue or introduce non-relevant assertions.
They forgot to list the segment of the population who hate Microsoft passionately - due to their business practices, their monopoly, their DRM, their lack of ethics, their EULA which forces you to give up your freedom of speech, their proprietary file formats, their Microsoft Word specifically, and perhaps more reasons.
And then there are the people who believe that Linux has superior design, that the user is more in control of what the computer does, that linux is more virus-resistant, easier to work with and so on.
I think Microsoft should divide all the "win over" percentages on their website by 10.
In 1986 I paid $660 for a 20 meg hard disk drive. So I should feel happy that I'm not paying over 10 MILLION DOLLARS for the brand-new 320 gig drive which I received today.
The RIAA treats us like idiots (when it's not like criminals). CD stamping costs only cents in quantities of 10,000+; even in Australia it's only 99c each for a run of 10,000 including a jewel box (ref: www.cdroms.com.au)
Slashdot Mirror
On the other hand, registering a document with the Copyright Office or having a digital timestamp made, provides recurring proof.
No, IBM's best course of action is to keep going and eventually the court will judge in favour of IBM and award IBM anything remaining from the dust which is SCO. It is likely however that Novell will claim all remaining assets first, so IBM will not be able to recover the many millions it spent in legal fees (and the cost of the time spent answering discovery requests and so on, too).
Thanks.
I already tried to buy him away but it can't be done.
NVIDIA bought ULi and then cancelled development of the M920x, but you can (still) buy DVB receivers which use this chipset.
Requests for assistance or interface specifications have been refused by NVIDIA.
- X means "functionality improvements" (relative to X-1)
- Y means "bugs fixed" (relative to X.Y-1)
- Z means "security fixes" (relative to X.Y.Z-1)
?So far however, it seems that only Linux and Apple have any chance of defeating Microsoft. And only a thin chance at that. And why must Microsoft be defeated? Due to their reprehensible business practices, of course.
Like I said, if you want to use Vista and have control over your computer, you'll be fighting Microsoft all the way.
Freedom and Choice are different things. I support choice, but I encourage freedom. No self-respecting person chooses slavery. It's a choice, but it's a poor choice, particularly when freedom is there for the taking.
And linux is pretty much immune to viruses. Linux is inherently more secure than windows because applications don't run as root; they don't have permission to modify /usr, modify the kernel on the fly and things like that. If there's an exploitable hole in Firefox, it can muck up _my_ home directory and start to do things as me, but due to the nature of unix where you can see what processes are running and you can terminate them, the scale of the problem is reduced. The virus can't hide itself in my directory - at least, it can't hide itself from the ls command because it can't modify ls. And another reason that linux is inherently more secure than windows is the entire design philosophy which treats data as data, not code which is just one mouse click away from being executed.
There are solid ethical and technical reasons to move away from Windows. Not everybody can do that - some businesses are locked-in because they use specific software which is only available on Windows. Dedicated gamers need to run whatever platform their game requires. But for the rest of us, the average user, we have a choice.
The ubuntu people have done a fine job making linux more user-friendly to non-technical people. Now is the time to encourage people to move away from Windows. Microsoft is weakened from the long development cycle and the lacklustre take-up of Vista. Vista has been roundly criticised in the press (computer vendors as usual continue to breathlessly hype the software). Microsoft is in trouble with the EU. Their lap-dog SCO is desperately clutching at straws, having failed to FUD linux for the last 4 years.
Linux needs a critical mass of ordinary every-day users. Only Linux and/or Apple stand a chance of breaking Microsoft's vice-like grip on the computer industry.
As far as I know, Microsoft is working with the RIAA and MPAA to limit Vista's capabilities in line with what those organisations demand. Here's what Bruce Schneier said in DRM in Windows Vista ...
andNow if that's not a case of Microsoft developing an OS to further its own interests, as opposed to its customers' interests, I don't know what is.
Sure, this technique could be used to let you modify Vista and patch device drivers and so on, but you'd still be fighting Microsoft and their whole "we'll tell you where to go today" attitude toward operating systems.
On the other hand you could install Linux and maybe experience some temporary discomfort as you get used to the user interface or different applications (openoffice or abiword or scribus instead of MS Word, etc). Maybe you have to give up some games if they won't run emulated. Whatever it costs you in conversion, consider that you've bought your freedom from the domination of Microsoft. You now have a stable, reliable system developed by people whose interests are aligned with your interests, rather than those of the most hated organisations in America.
Linux ... There are no backdoors, no spyware; it's pretty much immune to viruses. It won't "phone home" and
accuse you of piracy, it won't disable itself about licensing issues, or degrade the picture quality.
You can run it on multiple
computers if you want. You can share it with a friend if you want. You can update it from the net,
forever. There will always be new free applications for you to use.
Microsoft Vista ... it's an operating system designed to meet the needs of major corporations:
Microsoft, the RIAA, MPAA. Managing system resources and running applications is a secondary
function; the primary function is to lock you into Microsoft software and extract the maximum
possible amount of money from your wallet. What's good for Microsoft is not necessarily good
for the user; Microsoft's interests do not align with your interests.
There's a Cave Troll chained to a rock in the middle of an Arena. The Cave Troll is hungry and roars continuously. You throw people to the Troll as sacrifices. But the Troll continues to roar; it will never be satisfied. It grows bigger - someday soon it may break its chains and eat us all. Microsoft is the Cave Troll. Are you going to continue to sacrifice people to it? Or are you going to say "enough is enough" and take back your control - take back your dignity?
Obviously Linux in total is a superset of IBM's contribution to Linux. IBM probably doesn't have standing in the court to ask for a declaration covering the whole of Linux, and if they attempt to do so, that is likely to cause the entire motion to fail.
If, however, IBM wins this Partial Summary Judgement motion, as they may well do, then this is still an extremely important result for linux. Unlike the poster who recommended reading the oral arguments, I recommend skipping the oral arguments and go instead for IBM's written motions and briefs. They are very well written and logical.
IBM constructs their motions as a form of logical-or. If the Judge accepts $REASON1 or $REASON2 or $REASON3 then the judge must rule in IBM's favour. So IBM offers multiple concurrent chains of logic supporting their case. The judge needs only to accept one of them, in order to rule for IBM. But each $REASON is fully detailed - supported by facts, evidence, legal argument, case history precedents.
SCO's filings on the other hand, are like a shell game. It's hard to pin them down to facts. They pretend to be Caldera and Santa Cruz and even AT&T when it suits them; at other times they treat them as different entities. Their answers frequently say "please refer to some other answer", and (as this latest IBM filing says), SCO's replies don't really answer the question or dispute the fact, they raise some other issue or introduce non-relevant assertions.
All in all, it's most entertaining.
They forgot to list the segment of the population who hate Microsoft passionately - due to their business practices, their monopoly, their DRM, their lack of ethics, their EULA which forces you to give up your freedom of speech, their proprietary file formats, their Microsoft Word specifically, and perhaps more reasons.
And then there are the people who believe that Linux has superior design, that the user is more in control of what the computer does, that linux is more virus-resistant, easier to work with and so on.
I think Microsoft should divide all the "win over" percentages on their website by 10.
Skype should go first, by documenting their protocols and allowing 3rd party clients to connect to the Skype network.
The RIAA treats us like idiots (when it's not like criminals). CD stamping costs only cents in quantities of 10,000+; even in Australia it's only 99c each for a run of 10,000 including a jewel box (ref: www.cdroms.com.au)