Ernie Ball - Model For Open-Source Transition?

fr0z writes " Ernie Ball is a company that makes guitar strings. After being raided by the BSA in 2000 without warning and fined $100,000 for a few unlicensed copies of software, CEO Sterling Ball vowed not to give another cent to Microsoft and within 6 months, according to CNET News, had the whole company switched to Red Hat Linux, OpenOffice.org, Mozilla, and other free software."

Sweet Noises

[MasterShake]

Well, we now know the rock and roll source for the Free Software movement Maybe we can get some bands and have an open-source concert!

Oh, the irony of it....

[ChiefGeneralManager]

...it might just be me, but is that a Windows 2003 Server ad that appears on the page along with Ernie Ball's story?

More raids please

[cjcormack]

Maybe the BSA should carry out more raids and "convert" more people to Linux!

Re:Oh, the irony of it....

[Zyrill]

well i have a nice linux-banner - nothing to be ashamed of! maybe it's your capitalistic karma that makes the W2K3S banner show?

RAIDED!!!

[dcw3]

After being raided by the BSA in 2000

Hey, I knew we went overboard with the Patriot act, but when did the BSA (Boyscouts of America) start doing raids?!?

ok bad pun

[GW Hayduke]

So they opted away from the "super Sleazy" so they can continue making the "Super Slinky?" /obscure guitarist info

I'm switching

[bunyip]

Yep - hauling out my piano and dumping it. It's time to learn to play guitar.

I wanna support these guys and I'd feel pretty silly just buying strings.

Alan.

Re:More raids please

[Zemran]

At $100,000 each raid it would still be more profitable for them than producing reliable software.

I own an abacus :)

[CGP314]

I don't care if we have to buy 10,000 abacuses

I bet Abacus Inc is pretty pissed at the Red Hat right now. That's one big contract to miss out on.

Don't....

[SushiFugu]

Do not taunt Happy Ernie Bal...er.. wait, wrong ball.

Re:Actually

[WIAKywbfatw]

Show me proof of ownership for your toilet. Bet you can't!

Will a hard dump of its contents do?

Re:Oh, the irony of it....

[clare-ents]

I'm sure it doesn't.

If you wish to add an NT 4 Workstation computer to your network of NT4 machines I'm sure you'd have no problem buying the appropriate license and making sure the hardware had drivers.

Re:Sweet Noises

[jmo_jon]

Hey, hey! Whats wrong with the free software song [gnu.org]!?

Re:BSA?

[hplasm]

What the hell do the Boy Scouts of America want with guitar strings?

Garrottes for woodchucks.

Re:Sweet Noises

[phurley]

Just about everything, have you listened to it?

Re:More raids please

[Zemran]

Of course, the people who are most able to get other jobs move on first

I think it would be the people who are most affected by this that move on first (i.e. those that want to browse rather than work) and those that are actually getting on with work are not going to be too fussed. So the firm loses those that do least work. Seems like a good move but then here am I on /. while at work...

What?!

[mschoolbus]

Where did the Boy Scouts of America even get the right to do this crap to companies...

We never had that much fun in Boy Scouts... =P

Re:More raids please

[tiled_rainbows]

For somebody whose job is filling out forms all day, invoicing and exporting, why do they need a Web browser?

because otherwise they will go insane with boredom, you insensitive clod!

Re:Sweet Noises

[AppyPappy]

The terrible thing is that SCO will now send in the BSA.

Re:More raids please

[Anonymous Coward]

where are you posting from?

SCO, Utah Head Office.

Re:More raids please

[IamTheRealMike]

More to the point, look where he's posting to.

Re:What BSA Raids accomplish

[Baron_Yam]

How does the BSA know you have some of their member's software, and thus *might* be breaking license and are a good target for a raid?

Either you've registered your software and the software vendor shared the list with the BSA, or you were stupid enough to call up the BSA after seeing one of their ads and asking for assistance with license compliance auditing.

The TRUE lesson to be learned from the BSA is pirate ALL software published by BSA members... then there is no record of your company in their databases. Just make sure you don't ever email them from Outlook or via an Exchange server unless you can 'correct' the headers appropriately.

I am going to buy Ernie Ball strings from now on.

[BlackBolt]

Well, that's it for me then - I'm going to buy Ernie Ball strings from now on. Actually, all strings seem pretty much the same to me, what with massive distortion and high volumes, so why not support people who have er.. Balls? (sorry)

Re:More raids please

[Anonymous Coward]

Fuck you from the call centre. We got online.

Re:the downside of all this...

[Loosewire]

yes, however a toddler with no clue can get round it ;-)

Re:More raids please

[babbage]

Yeah, but these people work for a frickin' guitar company. I bet someone like AC/DC [ernieball.com] or Sonic Youth [ernieball.com] is sitting over in the next cubicle from the average desk worker, rocking out all day long. How could you get bored in an environment like that?

"Hey Thurston, more feedback? Thanks!"

Oh the irony

[jmwww]

What if SCO reads that article, and decides to make him the first "end user" sued?:-jmw

Doh!

[redtail1]

This paragraph cracked me up:

So what did swearing off Microsoft entail? We looked at all the alternatives. We looked at Apple, but that's owned in part by Microsoft. (Editor's note: Microsoft invested $150 million in Apple in 1997.)

Somewhere, a man wearing a black turtleneck is going, "Doh!"

Re:Oh come on

[Daniel Phillips]

The BSA went after him because he was well known and too small to fight back. They wanted publicity.

They got it too, but it wasn't the kind they were hoping for.

Re:More raids please

[AntiOrganic]

Have you forgotten? This is Slashdot! You need "6. Profit!" Actually, you don't, and I'm happy for you.