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SCO Sues IBM over Unix and Linux!


DragonMage
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This is huge folks, SCO just sued IBM over Unix and Linux for 1 Billion Dollars.

The link is practically everywhere.

 

http://news.com.com/2100-1016-991464.html

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,920731,00.asp

 

Ok.. what do you think.. Personally, SCO is getting really really desparate to do this. What would IBM do in retaliation, especially since IBM pretty much backs SCO's United Linux partner SuSE?

 

Oh.. boy..

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That pre-supposes that it being complete stupidity is going to stop it. Remember the DoJ took someone in a different country for watching a DVD they owned in a way not liked by Hollywood. Still it seems odd that one company with a big interest in Linux is suing another.

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Maybe they are not suing Linux directly (since they cannot do that), but what they do is just as bad, i.e. showing contempt for the Open Source Developers throughout the world. Saying that without IBM, linux would not become an enterprise-capable OS is laughable.

 

Look at the quick summary by LWN about SCO's claims.

http://lwn.net/Articles/24747/

 

I think SCO's leaders are trying to use double-speak so that the OS developers don't become angry. Well, too late, the damage is done. The Open Source movement may not be a 800 lbs gorilla, but it's more akin to a million angry rats directed toward a target... (hmmm.. why do I think of them as rats? Must be that Willard movie preview thingie).

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I don't know why anyone gets all in a knot everytime a lawsuit is filed. Most of the time it is a company who is in need of serious money looking for a way to get it from another company that has it. The only people who profit from all of this is the lawyers. Some companies do get a fraction of what they ask for in out-of-court settlements because the larger company wants to do a flea or fly flick like a horse's tail just to get on with things.

 

A good example is Rambus, who has sued practically every memory company and now turns out to have shredded key documents that would have damaged their case. SCO and most other Linux companies have been run by a greedy little bunch of comp sci dot com geniuses (including Mandrakesoft until recently). Few have sought the experience of those in the business world who could have probably made many a success.

 

Others are doomed to go down the tubes because they lack two crucial dimensions of business success, judgement and foresight. These are not common attributes in recent grads even from business schools so it is not a surprise when some greasy shyster goes from medical insurance claims to giant successful companies.

 

Counterspy

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I don't know why anyone gets all in a knot everytime a lawsuit is filed.  Most of the time it is a company who is in need of serious money looking for a way to get it from another company that has it.  The only people who profit from all of this is the lawyers.  Some companies do get a fraction of what they ask for in out-of-court settlements because the larger company wants to do a flea or fly flick like a horse's tail just to get on with things.

 

It's not just about money. It's also an insult to the open source community's open nature.

 

According to the article DragonMage posted, SCO thinks, specifically Linux, would not come this far without stealing/reverse engineering IP from UNIX's code base.

 

This suit by SCO is opportunistic and speculative at best. SCO basically accused IBM helped GPL certain code which should never have been GPLed in the first place.

 

The curious point is SCO did not attack on the Linux kernel directly; since it's open to examination - all the debate can be done openly in public, but it seems it's not what SCO aimed for.

 

In any case, this is a planned move. But I think it already pissed off many developers in the open source community for undermining their originality and programming skills in contributing to free/open source software.

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In any case, this is a planned move. But I think it already pissed off many developers in the open source community for undermining their originality and programming skills in contributing to free/open source software.

 

Exactly, since most open source programmers are coding those stuffs for free, the only thing they put on the line is their reputation as coders (which is pretty much everything). That's why people are tied up in a knot when a statement like Linux is stealing codes from Unix is said. Aren't you angry if someone insult something that you work really hard for?

 

I think Bruce Perens said it best though that the move is planned so that IBM will buy SCO out. I dunno how it will turn out, but I kinda hope that IBM doesn't let that happen.

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To the extent that it is an insult, which I don't think it is, SCO is already reaping the consequences of the symbolic slap in the face with a glove. Suse has distanced itself from SCO and still remains committed to United Linux. The only possible outcome from this is that SCO gets kicked out by the other three. This is their reward for the perceived insult. Other news articles also predicted that this was the end for SCO. Unlike Mandrakesoft who went for bankruptcy protection, it is entirely likely that SCO creditors will call their notes and accounts receivable and force them into a bankruptcy without court protection for embarking on a windmill tilting exercise with other people's money. This is what I meant by foresight and the lack thereof.

 

Counterspy

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They well may be offended. And some of the most distninguished members of the Linux community at that. That doesn't mean that their assessment is objectivley true. They are expressing a feeling which is entirely within their right to do so. I also support the PCL boycott, not that I can find an SCO product anywhere in my city. All they have succeeded in doing is greasing their own slide into bankruptcy. If they lose they will be assessed IBM's legal costs. That's a lack of judgement and foresight. Why would you feel insulted with that kind of behaviour? When people act in such a fashion, I'm for bring back the stocks in the public square where we can throw rotten fruit, eggs and vegetables at them.

 

Counterspy

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Why would you feel insulted with that kind of behaviour?

 

As many analyst pointed out, SCO is being speculative on this. Should SCO somehow out of luck or whatever reason win the suit or lure IBM into settlement, no one can guarantee if or who will be the next. It's strategic in that it's taking the head of the pack down the rest will follow/give in; and attacking a community many of those believe in free/open source software with charges and restrictive license is simply usurpation, in both free beer and free speech.

 

Of course it still depends on how the event turns out, either IBM could have bought SCO, or chooses to fight. The risk is still there, if IBM loses the case or gets into unfavorable settlement of IP rights of UNIX.

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