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Posted
by
CmdrTaco
from the this-is-only-gonna-get-more-interesting dept.
djtrippin writes "Linus comes forth on the SCO v IBM suit and how it pertains (or doesn't, for that matter) to Linux." He definitely puts a fair amount of perspective on the whole thing. This story really is only going to get more bizarre.
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84. Prior to IBM's involvement, Linux was the software equivalent of a bicycle. UNIX was the software equivalent of a luxury car. To make Linux of necessary quality for use by enterprise customers, it must be re-designed so that Linux also becomes the software equivalent of a luxury car. This re-design is not technologically feasible or even possible at the enterprise level without (1) a high degree of design coordination, (2) access to expensive and sophisticated design and testing equipment; (3) access to UNIX code, methods and concepts; (4) UNIX architectural experience; and (5) a very significant financial investment.
I think SCO missed them most important ingredient, the one they haven't got: a clue.
by Anonymous Coward writes:
on Monday March 10, 2003 @11:54PM (#5482322)
SCO-Caldera says in paragraph "82" that "it would be difficult or impossible for the Linux development community to create a grade of Linux adequate for enterprise use
This is interesting... Linux just happens to have partition ID 82 when you use fdisk...
I suspect he put a very polished spin on something that might be looked at in a very public fashion.
Take IBM's response to the press - IBM denied SCO's charges and said that it had no prior knowledge of the matter before being served with the lawsuit. You just know IBM's IP lawyers really wanted to say 'Get up, boy. I bet you can squeal. I bet you can squeal like a pig.' Perhaps it is just wishful thinking on my part...
Also they've missed out the fact that bicycles are lower cost and often more practical than a luxury car, better suited to european cities and third world countries, and perhaps the future of transport for humanity:)
I think I have access to the SysV code. I also have access to VMS somewhere, and NT. Do I look at them? Why bother? All you can learn is what not to do.
He Came from A Mountain On High. And Borne Upon His Shoulders Was Borne The Sacrificial Bull of An SCO CEO. And Thus He Spake
"Be Not Afraid My Children, For I Have Busted Them Gorts Up."
Amen
Btw, as I noticed the site had been slashdotted, a thought occured to me. When this happens to a site, does anyone else sit back and imagine a poor, defenseless server shrieking its last, dying breath, before being blown through the stratosphere while melting off slag? No. K.
Seriously, I've never seen this except on +5 comments. Feel free to moderate me down into oblivion.
Well, usually only two kind of comments feel the need to add that message. There's the ones which are really good but against popular opinion, hence the author thinks they will be modded down, and states that he doesn't care.
The other type of comment that gets added to are the really terrible ones. These are the ones that really didn't need any further reason to be modded down. Of course, you probably don't see these ones since they get modded below the level you browse at, more than likely. Hence, you only see it on the really insightful (yet often anti popular opinion) posts, which wind up getting modded up for their insight.
Hope that cleared things up for you. Of course, this is massively offtopic, so feel free to moderate me down into oblivion...
I think the more important question is, if this *DOES* come to trial, are they going to charge for admission? It's starting to sound like it would be the most entertaining thing I've seen in years!
Hmmmm. But in Utah? Isn't it kind of religious out there? I'm not sure I'm allowed in that state. For some reason, there's a booming voice every time I go near a church that says "You Aren't Welcome Here.".. My girlfriend won't sit anywhere near me, even at weddings, in fear of being struck by lightning.. I think Utah is one of those states that may turn itself inside out just for me attempting to cross the border. Just picture that whole Moses parting that river thing, in reverse.
Maybe it'd be fun after all..:)
All joking aside, it would be interesting to listen to. I want to know how SCO owns all Unix's and the idea of how they work, and even Linux, although their parent company (correct me if I got that part wrong) was selling a distribution for years..
Poor Linus though, he can't put an X on his name to name his program Linux.. I guess that means Malcom-X is just Malcom again or he owes SCO money.:)
Btw, as I noticed the site had been slashdotted, a thought occured to me. When this happens to a site, does anyone else sit back and imagine a poor, defenseless server shrieking its last, dying breath, before being blown through the stratosphere while melting off slag? No. K.
Heh. I imagine a CAT5 cable glowing a bright cherry red, and a server actually spitting out the connector from the RJ45 plug holding that cable.
The NOC operator plugs it back in, and actually hears "PPPTTTTUI!!!" as it's spat back out again...
You knew this was going to happen. Ever since SCO announced this lawsuit, I was just waiting for IBM to come in and take them out. You know, I almost feel bad for SCO. Almost.
This is the first time I've cheered for IBM since, well, um, since.....
I use "it's" as a possessive pronoun, despite the fact that it's technically correct to use "its," simply because it is not intuitive. I imagine it was devised as a distinction between the possessive pronoun, and the contraction for "it is," but the meaning is obvious in context, so it's a valueless prescriptive rule. Nearly everyone uses "it's" in place of "its" unless they are told by someone that it's incorrect, and that tells me that it's not intuitive - and I believe that language should be as intuitive as possible.
So this is my little civil disobedience, I'm such a rebel!
-If
Of course, "his" and "hers" and "theirs" don't have apostrophes, but unfortunately just adding the apostrophe doesn't really solve that little problem. Damned if you apostrophe, and damned if you don't apostrophe!
And apparently their claims are that Linux could not POSSIBLY have advanced as fast or as far as it has without stealing UNIX IP, it MUST be stealing UNIX IP
Does anyone else find it interesting that this argument has such a strong parallel to the argument Christians use to try to refute the possibility of evolution?
It is terrible that IBM stole this from SCO. That kind of coordination is extremely valuable and IBM should definately have to pay licensing fees for it.
This whole episode has been amusing to watch. Sometimes it seems like Sun, IBM, Microsoft et al conduct themselves with all the decorum of your average third-grade kid. Take Sun's response to the lawsuit, or Dell's new ad with a not-so-subtle dig at Sun. I can just see some of these CEO's running into each other in some fine restaurant and getting down to the "nyah nyah nyah nyah-nyah"s pretty quickly...
... many patents and trademarks and what not that this basically ammounts to sco shooting off their mouth. It's like pulling a knife on someone who is in a tank.
MozillaQuest Magazine: So why are we are such a bad source for news?
Linus Torvalds: Because you're an utterly clueless one man operation that has nothing pleasant, informed or useful to say about anything. Having demonstrated woeful ignorance of your namesake Mozilla and after being shunned by that community you're now expanding your ignorance about other topics too. In fact I am surprised I am even talking to you - perhaps someone should have warned me.
SCO (aka Caldera) has their own take on this on their Web site. They explain what SCO's new SCOsource division is...
"SCOsource is a new division in SCO. Its purpose is to license and protect SCO intellectual property."
That is to say that their job, like the job of every part of a company, is to contribute to the bottom line.
"SCO is the owner and licensor of UNIX System V operating system technology which originated in Bell Labs in the 1960s and has been evolved and enhanced continually since its introduction."
This is almost true. In reality the UNIX System V codebase has stagnated in the last 5 years because no one really cares.
"SCO is also responsible for licensing and enforcing all copyrights and patents associated with this technology."
An interesting angle. Almost a "hey, we don't *want* to go around suing people, but it's our responsibility to... well, us." That takes some major meatballs.
"Of course UNIX technology has been licensed since its inception, starting with the original licenses offered by Bell Labs, through those of USL, Novell, and now SCO."
Now we start to get a little too honest. Doesn't really make SCOgroup/source sound very useful...
"SCOsource will continue to offer traditional UNIX System technology licensing activities, but it will also create new licenses to meet the changing demands of today's market."
We'll take money from anyone who is stupid enough to give it to us.
"Changing market conditions are leading SCO to both expand its licensing programs,..."
We're pretty much broke, so we're going to ask everyone to pay us and see who bites.
"... and to take a more careful look at possible unlicensed use of its intellectual property."
Oh, and I guess we might as well sue some deep-pockets too. After all, it might work and what the hell have we got left to lose?!
Huh. And I thought Windows 9x/ce/me/nt/2k/xp was more like a bicycle with training wheels, loose gooseneck, no seat, with front brakes that lock at random.
Linus says... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:fp (Score:0, Funny)
Thanks and goodnight.
"Linus came forth"? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Linus says it best. (Score:1, Funny)
rejoinder (Score:4, Funny)
From the complaint... (Score:5, Funny)
I think SCO missed them most important ingredient, the one they haven't got: a clue.
Funny (Score:2, Funny)
This is interesting... Linux just happens to have partition ID 82 when you use fdisk...
Hmmm...
What are you talking about (Score:5, Funny)
It's all microsofts fault!
Business Plan (Score:5, Funny)
Those who can't, sue.
Loud-mouthed weasel! (Score:4, Funny)
You'd think the guy INVENTED Linux or something like that. What a jerk!
(Yes, it's carcasm. Calm the f**k down!)
Not is. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:"Linus came forth"? (Score:5, Funny)
Take IBM's response to the press - IBM denied SCO's charges and said that it had no prior knowledge of the matter before being served with the lawsuit. You just know IBM's IP lawyers really wanted to say 'Get up, boy. I bet you can squeal. I bet you can squeal like a pig.' Perhaps it is just wishful thinking on my part...
Re:From the complaint... (Score:5, Funny)
I think I have access to the SysV code. I also have access to VMS somewhere, and NT. Do I look at them? Why bother? All you can learn is what not to do.
Re:The crux of the article (Score:5, Funny)
MozillaQuest Magazine: What sort
<BR>
Linus
<BR>
©&nbs
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
And Lo..... (Score:5, Funny)
"Be Not Afraid My Children, For I Have Busted Them Gorts Up."
Amen
Btw, as I noticed the site had been slashdotted, a thought occured to me. When this happens to a site, does anyone else sit back and imagine a poor, defenseless server shrieking its last, dying breath, before being blown through the stratosphere while melting off slag? No. K.
Obligitory Microsoft BitchSlap... (Score:3, Funny)
Oh, you mean like Microsoft server products?
Re:The point is something else... (Score:4, Funny)
2) Microsoft sells a "Unix" called Interix.
Is there some rule... (Score:4, Funny)
feel free to moderate me down into oblivion
Seriously, I've never seen this except on +5 comments. Feel free to moderate me down into oblivion.
Re:What they say at law school (Score:2, Funny)
Well, this IS Santa Cruz (Score:4, Funny)
While I was at the University, some nutcase brought a $1 Trillion lawsuit against UC Santa Cruz for screwing up his brain with government mind probes.
He lost, quickly, but oh how I feel sorry for the clerk that had to deal with that one.
Re:Is there some rule... (Score:3, Funny)
Seriously, I've never seen this except on +5 comments. Feel free to moderate me down into oblivion.
Well, usually only two kind of comments feel the need to add that message. There's the ones which are really good but against popular opinion, hence the author thinks they will be modded down, and states that he doesn't care.
The other type of comment that gets added to are the really terrible ones. These are the ones that really didn't need any further reason to be modded down. Of course, you probably don't see these ones since they get modded below the level you browse at, more than likely. Hence, you only see it on the really insightful (yet often anti popular opinion) posts, which wind up getting modded up for their insight.
Hope that cleared things up for you. Of course, this is massively offtopic, so feel free to moderate me down into oblivion...
Re:IBM is going to fight... (Score:2, Funny)
In other words, "They told us to take a proverbial jump in the lake, so we did."
Re:Funny (Score:2, Funny)
Seems we have a conspiracy here.
Carl
Re:"Linus came forth"? (Score:5, Funny)
Hmmmm. But in Utah? Isn't it kind of religious out there? I'm not sure I'm allowed in that state. For some reason, there's a booming voice every time I go near a church that says "You Aren't Welcome Here.".. My girlfriend won't sit anywhere near me, even at weddings, in fear of being struck by lightning.. I think Utah is one of those states that may turn itself inside out just for me attempting to cross the border. Just picture that whole Moses parting that river thing, in reverse.
Maybe it'd be fun after all..
All joking aside, it would be interesting to listen to. I want to know how SCO owns all Unix's and the idea of how they work, and even Linux, although their parent company (correct me if I got that part wrong) was selling a distribution for years..
Poor Linus though, he can't put an X on his name to name his program Linux.. I guess that means Malcom-X is just Malcom again or he owes SCO money.
Re:And Lo..... (Score:5, Funny)
Heh. I imagine a CAT5 cable glowing a bright cherry red, and a server actually spitting out the connector from the RJ45 plug holding that cable.
The NOC operator plugs it back in, and actually hears "PPPTTTTUI!!!" as it's spat back out again...
Wash, Rinse, Repeat.
Soko
Re:IBM is going to fight... (Score:4, Funny)
You knew this was going to happen. Ever since SCO announced this lawsuit, I was just waiting for IBM to come in and take them out. You know, I almost feel bad for SCO. Almost.
This is the first time I've cheered for IBM since, well, um, since.....
This is the first time I've cheered for IBM!
English blathering (Score:3, Funny)
So this is my little civil disobedience, I'm such a rebel!
-If
Of course, "his" and "hers" and "theirs" don't have apostrophes, but unfortunately just adding the apostrophe doesn't really solve that little problem. Damned if you apostrophe, and damned if you don't apostrophe!
Re:Who cares what Linus thinks? (Score:3, Funny)
Does anyone else find it interesting that this argument has such a strong parallel to the argument Christians use to try to refute the possibility of evolution?
Re:"Linus came forth"? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:English blathering (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Atypical of a dying company's last gasp... Sue (Score:3, Funny)
Is that short for "deeply goofy"?
The worst part of it all. (Score:3, Funny)
It is terrible that IBM stole this from SCO. That kind of coordination is extremely valuable and IBM should definately have to pay licensing fees for it.
Much ado about nothing (Score:4, Funny)
IBM has so.. (Score:2, Funny)
Re:The bicycle was MS-DOS, Winows 3.1.... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:The crux of the article (Score:5, Funny)
MozillaQuest Magazine: So why are we are such a bad source for news?
Linus Torvalds: Because you're an utterly clueless one man operation that has nothing pleasant, informed or useful to say about anything. Having demonstrated woeful ignorance of your namesake Mozilla and after being shunned by that community you're now expanding your ignorance about other topics too. In fact I am surprised I am even talking to you - perhaps someone should have warned me.
slashdotted (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Funny (Score:3, Funny)
Re:And Lo..... (Score:2, Funny)
Why did Linus' have a Bourne Shell on his shoulders? So he could hear the C?
Oh sorry
Stor
Re:Windows ME (Score:3, Funny)
Re:The crux of the article (Score:1, Funny)
you forgot the obligatory macro virus...
IBM's new naming convention... (Score:1, Funny)
apologies to all you GNU fans out there...
Commentary on SCO's take (Score:3, Funny)
"SCOsource is a new division in SCO. Its purpose is to license and protect SCO intellectual property."
That is to say that their job, like the job of every part of a company, is to contribute to the bottom line.
"SCO is the owner and licensor of UNIX System V operating system technology which originated in Bell Labs in the 1960s and has been evolved and enhanced continually since its introduction."
This is almost true. In reality the UNIX System V codebase has stagnated in the last 5 years because no one really cares.
"SCO is also responsible for licensing and enforcing all copyrights and patents associated with this technology."
An interesting angle. Almost a "hey, we don't *want* to go around suing people, but it's our responsibility to
"Of course UNIX technology has been licensed since its inception, starting with the original licenses offered by Bell Labs, through those of USL, Novell, and now SCO."
Now we start to get a little too honest. Doesn't really make SCOgroup/source sound very useful...
"SCOsource will continue to offer traditional UNIX System technology licensing activities, but it will also create new licenses to meet the changing demands of today's market."
We'll take money from anyone who is stupid enough to give it to us.
"Changing market conditions are leading SCO to both expand its licensing programs,
We're pretty much broke, so we're going to ask everyone to pay us and see who bites.
"... and to take a more careful look at possible unlicensed use of its intellectual property."
Oh, and I guess we might as well sue some deep-pockets too. After all, it might work and what the hell have we got left to lose?!
Re:The bicycle was MS-DOS, wasn't it? (Score:2, Funny)
I always thought it was more like a SUV myself...
Huh. And I thought Windows 9x/ce/me/nt/2k/xp was more like a bicycle with training wheels, loose gooseneck, no seat, with front brakes that lock at random.