View Full Forums : ROFL! Microsoft/SCO versus Linux


Panamah
01-10-2004, 02:33 PM
I knew from background chatter that SCO was trying to foo up Linux, but today I went looking for an explanation of what it was all about. Here's what I found:

http://www.arie.org/doh/
Anyone here old enough to remember Dukes of Hazards?

Well, looking further it seems like SCO can't figure out how to make a product that will earn them some money, so they're just trying to figure out how to use lawyers to make money off of work someone else has done. I bet this will really make them a popular company with people who buy software...
http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopics/os/linux/story/0,10801,88503,00.html

Heh! More, more...

http://news.com.com/2100-1016-1010569.html
Open-source advocate Bruce Perens lauded Novell's move. "Today, the company has done us a tremendous service by stomping upon an obnoxious parasite," Perens said in a statement. SCO "has loudly and repeatedly asserted that they were the owner of the Unix intellectual property, all of the way back to AT&T's original development of the system 30 years ago. They've lied to their stockholders, their customers and partners, the 1,500 companies that they threatened, the press and the public."


Juicy stuff.

Tiane
01-10-2004, 05:51 PM
Aye, it's pretty sad. SCO was a dying company with no relevant products, so they decided to pull this stunt. Well it got them publicity anyway, but really just shows how sad they've become. And the whole idea of suing an open-source project like Linux is ludicrous... who exactly are you going to sue? You cant stop things like this. It's a movement spawned by a few people that set hobbyists and enthusiasts afire with possibilities. Stamping out a few bright spots here and there (or making a fool of yourself trying) isnt going to do anything but light your own pants on fire.

At least all Microsoft is doing so far primarily is whining heh... wah wah Linux costs more in cost of ownership! Wah wah it's not secure! (And windows is? Ha!) Wah wah... well... Linux has a long way to go to be a viable mainstream desktop replacement, but MS has the foresight to spot a competitor from years away (always has. Smart bunch.) But it comes back down to the open-source idea, and the fact that there's no real way you can fight back against such a thing.

An amusing recent development, IBM unveiled plans to switch over ALL of their in-house development and office computers to Linux over the next couple years, and dump MS completely.

Tia

Fyyr Lu'Storm
01-10-2004, 07:45 PM
What does SCO make?

Cloudien
01-10-2004, 07:58 PM
FUD. Not a lot else.

Not even going to comment beyond that!

Glarnor
01-10-2004, 08:11 PM
Just a quick synopsis from the top of my mind, might not be entirely accurate.

Linux is written from scratch. IBM got a contract from AT&T back when they were the major owner of UNIX, which is the foundation for the IBM mainframe software AIX.

AT&T sold the rights to UNIX System V (A mostly outdated system) to Novell, who later sold it to SCO Group.

Before AT&T had the rights to UNIX, they were in the hands of Santa Cruz Operations.

SCO Group is formerly known as Caldera, one of the major Linux Distributors. They changed names shortly before making the billion dollar claim for damages caused by IBM.

IBM has been supporting Linux for quite some time, and has donated quite a bit of code, which according to IBM is separately developed from the AIX system, while SCO Group claims it is UNIX technology.

SCO has not been very forthcomming about showing the supposed infractions, to the point where most agrees it's merely smoke to inflate their stocks, which has risen quite astronomically.

SCO has also made several other false claims, such as Linux being a UNIX derivative, (Linux was written from scratch by Linus Thorvalds, and the development team has grown quite large over time.), and claiming copyrights over several Linux files, including files Linus Thorvalds remember writing and later kicking himself over because he broke binary compatability.

SCO Group has presented some evidence, but it has been proven to come from other sources than UNIX. They're still quite adamant, but most believe all of their so-called evidence is provable to be from somewhere else.

Another reason they are withholding it, claiming it is a trade secret, is because people will immediatelly start removing and writing from scratch any piece of software found to be infringing, and if they actually do have a case, their IP will be removed from Linux and they'll have no claim over it.

The judge is getting tired of their stalling and has ordered SCO to show the evidence. They had until tonight or tomorrow night to deliver the proof to IBM, which most believe they won't do because there isn't any proof, and that IBM will on the 23rd, which is the next court date, ask for a dismissal.

So... unless you believe in miracles, I'd not buy any SCOX stocks now.


EDIT: *chuckle* Forgot to answer the question which prompted me to write this in the first place. SCO Group is/was? a Linux Distributor and also sells UNIXWare, a rather costly and mediocre UNIX.

Tiane
01-10-2004, 08:59 PM
SCO going after Google now for some cashola heh...

http://www.forbes.com/markets/bonds/newswire/2004/01/09/rtr1205268.html

These guys go to the RIAA school of litigation? Sue everyone, provide proof later. What a joke. Next thing you know the RIAA police commando teams will be knocking on your door... oh wait they already do! (http://www.laweekly.com/ink/04/07/news-sullivan.php , http://www.riaa.com/news/newsletter/102103.asp )

Panamah
01-10-2004, 10:15 PM
Ok, here's what I read. SCO is paying their lawyers with SCO stock so if SCO wins something, the lawyers get paid. If they don't then the stock value goes into the toilet and they don't get any money. The gleam in the wolves eye! Apparently everytime SCO announces they're suing someone the stock goes up. Gag me!

Another tidbit. Apparently SCO sent nasty-grams to 1500 large corporate users with Linux systems saying they are using their software without proper licenses. SCO, since they're losing the battle with the big guys, like IBM and Red Hat, says they're going to go after the end users. People are guessing they'll go after a large corporation in economic difficulty that won't be able to afford going to battle over it.

So we go from nuisance lawsuits to... extortion?

Geez...

SCO had Unix ware from way back, before Linux was out. Apparently at some point Novell held the copyrights for System V and now they're saying that they didn't sell the copyright to SCO, so SCO hasn't got a leg to stand on. That's pretty funny. :p

I remember Unix Ware as being a pretty yucky Unix system to work on. But then again, I prefered the BSD Unixes.

God, unraveling who wons Unix is like trying to figure out who gave the whore clap. Hasn't like everyone owned Unix at some point?

Glarnor
01-11-2004, 12:11 AM
Well, if they fail to prove there is SCO IP in Linux, which was put there by IBM, noone will take them seriously, not only that, in several countries (Germany off the top of my head) Linux based businesses has gotten injunctions against SCO to make claims until they can show proof.

Anyway, if they fail to prove there's IP in Linux, they've lost the case. After they lose vs IBM, everyone they have threatened will be able to have a field day suing SCO, but I suspect the Executives will have dumped their shares by then, so it's not going to hurt the ones in charge.

That news post you linked to is rather oldish, it was followed up by one from SCO showing a contract amendment (http://news.com.com/2100-1016_3-1013865.html) which did sign over the rights. Novell didn't have a copy of it, but it was apparently signed by their executives.

Slashdot (http://slashdot.org/search.pl?topic=88) has a lot of links about it. If you decide to read the user posted threads, I recommend you read at 1+, 0 and -1 generally have a lot of trolls.

There is also Groklaw (http://www.groklaw.net/) which is run by a paralegal and focuses exclusively on the SCO case. If you dig around, you ought to find a bit of everything there, including court transcripts.