Bummed out and depressed

[jimbrown]

Hi

I don't know which category is most appropriate for this post but I just want to say that the more I read about SCO and the huge slew of new lawsuits (or threatened ones) being launched almost every few days, the more depressed I get. I've been using Linux for over a year and have become more and more fond of it...almost to the point of being obscessed with it.

Then one day...poof!...here comes yet another "big greedy corporation" that could'nt make it in the real world who suddenly decides to rain on everyone's parade by trying to milk the cash cow and get rich the easy way and at everyone else's expense. I've built my entire business on this OS and I could'nt imagine using another one or a world in which all servers ran on crappy Windows boxes (yuk).

Anyway, I guess what I've heard all these years is really true - that someday, computers will become nothing more than black boxes (like your TV) and controlled by only the very wealthiest individuals who control everything you see, hear and do. There's an old saying and it's true..."he (or she) who owns the gold rules".

I just hope these parasitic leeches of society fade off into the darkness after a series of stunning legal defeats and that their CEO ends up out on the streets with a tin cup. this would be real justice - not some M$-bribed judge or clueless jury.

Just my "rant". Sorry, this has begun to consume me and I needed to get it out. thank's for listening.

[chatins]

This is not just another "greedy corporation." SCO is a paper virus that is soon to hit the shreader.

[sharth]

Originally posted by jimbrown
Anyway, I guess what I've heard all these years is really true - that someday, computers will become nothing more than black boxes (like your TV) and controlled by only the very wealthiest individuals who control everything you see, hear and do. There's an old saying and it's true..."he (or she) who owns the gold rules". Quite Impossible. Even if sco is correct in its suit against IBM, there is still source code. We can ask them, hey, what was stolen. Take it out of the kernel, and re-write it as an open-souce solution. Or buy the solution and liscence it gpl. Either way, linux will move on, or another free os will take it's place. and as long as there are hard-drives (or permanent media-storage, we can write an os. And then we can back it up. It would be quite illegal for a company to destroy our hardware. So we install it. If in the eula for the software, it says cannot install another os on this computer, then we fight it (illegal eula or something), or we use 2 seperate computers.

You are worrying way too much...

[Will in AZ]

I wouldn't worry about this one too much. SCO is walking through a major minefield on this one. Common thinking is that they're trying to get bought out, but their bluff is being called. Here's a few of the mines:
1. SCO says code has been copied. If it has, SCO has distributed copied code itself. That weakens their case substantially.
2. There's GPL issues all over the case. One could be all it takes to blow SCO out of the water.
3. Proving copying of the code will be difficult at best.
4. SCO is not forthcoming with the code they say has been copied. They are showing selected people samples under a non-disclosure agreement. Here is the problem with that: If they know that there's copied code, and they have not shown this code to IBM to give a chance to rectify the situation, SCO will be hard-pressed to convince a judge that a problem exists. 100 days notice has to be given under the contract, and that notice was given a litle over 100 days before. In that time, IBM was either supposed to fix the problem (i.e. get rid of the code) or quit selling AIX. Now if they don't know what code was infringing, how could they have fixed it? No chance to mitigate has been given, and that can cripple a case.

And what awaits on the other side of the minefield if they make it across? IBM's army of lawyers. SCO won't get too far.

[Tjoh311]

Originally posted by Will in AZ
And what awaits on the other side of the minefield if they make it across? IBM's army of lawyers. SCO won't get too far.

Yeah not to mention financial chaos!!! didn't their stocks take a big dive today? In my opinion, SCO's recent actions reflect that of a company that is dying, and groping for one last monitary breath.
10 years from now we'll be like, "SCO? Who's that?"

[blackbelt_jones]

Something like this was bound to happen, and I for one am glad it's happening here and now, because SCO appears to have less than the case they'll need to prevail, or even to avoid public humiliation.

In my opinion, Linux has a lot more to gain than to lose in this situation. If IBM loses, they'll have to pay damages far less than the billion dollars SCO is asking for. The code will have to be cleaned up, and based on what SCO is showing people, that would be a one day job. If IBM and Linux win, Linux is going to come away looking more respectable, and its detractors will be more suspect. Future attempts to drum up FUD against Linux will always be associated with the public debacle that appears to be shaping up for SCO-- and no one's going to forget that Microsoft is helping to finance the spectacle.

Remember that IBM can make this thing go away any time they want, by buying out SCO. So far they appear to be amused-- and they ought to know whether they've stolen the code or not.

For a really illuminating discussion on the SCO case, check out

http://www.thelinuxshow.org

And listen to the archived show for tuesday, June 10 2003, (as I'm writing this on June16, it'll be available as "last week's show") Join the show about 30 minutes into the program. This is a partisan panel, but they're also clearly well-informed. Eric Raymond (who I know as the author of The Cathedral and the Bazzar describes SCO's chances in terms of the classic snowball-in-hell metaphor. If listening to this doesn't cheer you up, I think it's time to consider medication.

Remember that the greatest strength of the Linux Community is the community itself. If SCO managed to take away every line of code-- which is not going to happen-- do you really think the GNU/Linux users of the world will throw up their hands and say: "Well, this sucks, but I guess I'm going to have to use nothing but windows from now on?" Of course not! We'd all have a new free operating system to play with in a very very short time, and it would probably be better. It would certainly be more unified, and therefore probably more competetive.

This is important! The IT cluture of the next few ceturies may be shaped by our ability to prevent microsoft from coming away from the birth of the digital age with all the marbles. What's unfolding on all our computers is a real honest-to-god historical battle-- but, as historical battles go, this one is not only shaping up to be unusually bloodless, it's also a huge amount of fun. There have been and probably always will be many many harder ways to be fighting against greed, ignorance, and megalomanic *****ion for life, liberty, and the right to one's own voice. If the worst we will have to encounter are a couple of chicken**** corporate legal actions, then we are truly truly blessed

So I say: cheer up! Praise the lord, and download the ammunition!

And pity the fools.

[Modorf]

Anyone going to ditch their linux install for a BSD install because of SCO?

Nathan.

[hop-frog]

Originally posted by Modorf
Anyone going to ditch their linux install for a BSD install because of SCO?I was going to ditch my Linux install to try out whatever SCO is offering, but it seems they are closed for business. :(

[st0rmrd]

If need be, yes, I'd switch to BSD... but let's make it clear... we're talking about the Linux part of the GNU/Linux operating system... anything but the kernel is not supposed to be infringing anything, and due to the efforts of FSF it is highly unlikely that it does... Now, be aware that even if we had to ditch the Linux kernel altogether, there is still the HURD kernel being built for a while now, so if developers flock to it, contributing GPL (non-infringing) code to it, etc. all will be ready in a weeks time :p (that's the worst case scenario)

as SCO is concerned: they have to prove a few things before winning this case:

1) they own the code they refer to, that is, it's no BSD derivative (like the early '90s lawsuit) and that it hasn't being copied off of Linux
2) the code they own has been copied to Linux
3) that they (SCO, Caldera, SCO group) didn't put it there
4) that IBM did it
5) that they had NO WAY of knowing that they were distributing THEIR code, with the OPEN SOURCE Caldera Linux and/or SCO Linux
6) that the GPL license doesn't protect them, if they didn't know, because otherwise they distributed the thing and everything is over

especially the last two are really hard things to prove... so even if it comes to it, they will have to ask the pity of the judge, because there is no excuse of distributing infringing copies (they are going to sue others for using infringing copies of their work, while they distributed them too!)

good luck SCO

PS. I really think that SCO is not going to survive long enough to see this battle through... :p

EDIT: the usual bad english (corrected the really ugly ones that I can spot reading it again :p)