New Survey Finds No Linux 'Chill' From SCO Suit 582
daddywonka writes "According to this article at internetnews.com, an upcoming survey from the Robert Frances Group shows that 'cost-savings and the General Public License, or GPL, are trumping any concerns about SCO Group's claim of copyright infringement within parts of Linux.' The survey only covers 15 companies. That doesn't seem very reassuring to me. Do any slashdotters have experience with their companies pulling the plug on Linux projects due to the SCO trial or is it business as usual?"
No worries... (Score:5, Insightful)
I am sure there are exceptions, but my guess is that this is the overall trend.
Re:No worries... (Score:5, Funny)
And that works on your planet? You people are alien!
Re:No worries... (Score:5, Interesting)
If the likes of IBM were to cave in to SCO the landscape would change dramatically. Headlines in the WSJ and NYT about IBM giving up Linux or big companies having the shell out big payouts after being sued would catch management's attention, and darkness would descend.
Re:No worries... (Score:5, Interesting)
Yes, but MS flew several of our execs (mostly technical execs) to Redmond to highlight their products, particularly aiming at the low-cost computing model. It was basically an attempt to take a whack at Linux since we were 4 months into a company-wide effort to adopt Linux at the expense of commercial UNIX and Windows.
The sales/marketing people made quite a large mention about the SCO suit making it sound like a forgone conclusion that Linux would be dead in a matter of months.
We're the largest business unit in my company and others looked to us for guidance on it. The presentation backfired and our CIO came back pretty hardened against MS.
Basically he felt it was "Use our stuff b/c Linux will be gone and then you won't have a choice anyway".
It's just the flip side of the coin...
Re:No worries... (Score:3, Funny)
The American version is "grasping at straws".
Re:No worries... (Score:5, Interesting)
Here's what to do with it (Score:5, Interesting)
I didn't think SCO had actually sent any invoices out - it hasn't made the news, and all the legal types I've seen comment have been pretty confident that SCO wouldn't send anything out without lots of "This is not an invoice" fine print to try and avoid legal consequences.
Re:Here's what to do with it (Score:4, Informative)
Re:No worries... (Score:3, Interesting)
If the case is settled quickly it will only be because SCO doesn't have one. If the case is dragged out, SCO can't afford to keep it up and will bankrupt itself trying to drop the
Re:No worries... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:No worries... (Score:3, Insightful)
Get yourself a mainframe. One cabinet, thousands of linux images.
Re:No worries... (Score:5, Insightful)
But all this does not really matter. What matters is that the public statments SCO has made do not add to there case but take away. IBM has been smart and kept their mouth shut. If you notice, the more SCO talks, the more bad press they get. When this whole fiasco started, SCO was blabbing away, and IBM kept quiet. Then IBM counter-sued and kept moving. While SCO started to cry foul. Now even the NYTimes has picked up on the merritless nature of their case. More and more editorials are not boading well for them. So even the non-geeks are getting into it.
But still, Darl did get a place on the top 25 CEO's. And there is still some favorable press. However, by and by, it looks like SCO shot themselves in the foot by refusing to keep their mouth shut, substaniate their claims and by alienating a lot of people.
Re:No worries... (Score:3, Funny)
Emerson Poem Quote about Darl... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:No worries... (Score:3, Insightful)
That doesn't help much. All it takes is one disgruntled employee to blow the whistle on them. That's how companies using unlicensed Microsoft products usually get busted.
Re:No worries... (Score:3, Interesting)
Seriously, if this goes bad, how in the hell is SCO going to find Linux users to chase? I can only think of those that use enterpise solutions from Red Hat/SUSE and the like who have customer databases to suponea. If a company has some talented admins and stick to free distros from the net how will SCO or anyone else for that matter find them to collect from?, NetCraft? That is just one box, or a farm of boxes, e
Re:No worries... (Score:3, Insightful)
And even if SCO were to somehow prove that they have IP in Linux, the fact that they refused to allow mitigation of the infringement is enough for a court to deny them compensation.
IANAL, ICBW, &
Re:No worries... (Score:3, Interesting)
Who things it the Admins that matter here ? I mean really ? The reason why Linux continues to do well is perceived cost, and by that I mean be a real enterprise looking for decent support and get a "free" version of Linux... err no.
The other reason is that the OS is a commodity item and the applications for the most part are running on application servers, probably running Java. So if SCO wins you either sign-up to Microsoft or pay the cash for Windows or Solaris x86.
One interesting thing for Linux nex
Re:No worries... (Score:4, Interesting)
What I'd like to know is, are there any companies who were planning Linux projects that are holding until after an SCO resolution?
Not here, all Win, all the time. (Score:3, Funny)
Oh wait, gotta reboot....
Dogu
ps - as much as I hate to admit it, we've been switching most everything over to Win2000 and/or XP Pro and the overall reliability of workstations and servers has improved - we don't crash and burn nearly as often as we used to.
Re:Not here, all Win, all the time. (Score:3, Interesting)
Wow, you crash much less than you used to. That's really nice. I've been running Linux on my home machine for nearly 10 years at this point. Except for two times when I misconfigured X back in the old days, my only crashes have been because of bad hardware. That's it. The Linu
Re:On mine, also. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Networking and hard crashes. (Score:3, Informative)
This is not something I've ever even HEARD of for Linux, *BSD or Solaris.
Poor quality code in ring zero is still poor quality code. An OS is BUILT for managing computing resources. If it can't do that well, it's pretty useless.
Re:Not here, all Win, all the time. (Score:3, Insightful)
Linux is still cheaper tho. :-D
Re:No worries... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Suggestion (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't think the courts would be particularly impressed with this suggestion. It is somewhat analagous to the idea that if I distribute a dictionary with a remarkable similarity to the Oxford English Dictionary [oed.com] but with a little disclaimer stating that it is up to the copyright owners to notify me within a set timeframe, then I get an implicit right to distribute their work. Ain't gonna happen. Copyright holders get until the copyright expires to protect their work, which is as it should be. (The question of how long the protection should last is a different matter.)
The simple solution if any packages are found to contain unauthorized copied code is just to remove those packages from distributions until they are fixed. One of the great benefits of the "duplication of effort" that goes into GNU/Linux, and which is often criticized on in this forum, is that there is no shortage of packages if alternatives need to be found quickly.
Remedies for this crap (Score:3, Interesting)
Is this legal, for a company to go about talking crap that's as yet unproven?
For a year now they've been throwing around allegations of suing anyone who uses Linux, claiming ownership of parts of Linux, and only involved in ONE court case so far. It seems awfully crap, to be honest. They're claiming the IP that may or may not be there is in another product and providing no proof. It's a year of this now!
Is what they're doing legal, or pushing the boundaries of legality yet?
Do not hold your breath (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Remedies for this crap (Score:3, Informative)
Not really, FUD has a more specific meaning
My plan (Score:5, Informative)
Re:My plan (Score:5, Funny)
Please no more recursive acronyms
My boss doesn't really give a *&$# (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:My boss doesn't really give a *&$# (Score:5, Insightful)
Which means you dont have a clue about how he feels about the whole thing.
If he would know about the lawsuit, he might think/act differently...
We were one of the 1500... (Score:5, Interesting)
Needless to say, not being an IP company, there was a lot of wrangling over how to proceed. Originally, the decision was made to cool off on Linux deployments until Legal could evaluate things. In an ironic little twist of fate, that meant that for a couple of projects we purchased IBM P-series boxes and AIX rather than deploying on Linux. I guess the thought was that IBM had a legal team and would protect AIX long after it bailed on Linux, or something along those lines.
Lately, however, it's become a non-concern. The case has become so ridiculous that it's not treated seriously anymore.
My suggestion to people who are having trouble in the office is to point the bosses to groklaw.net. Pamela has done such a fantastic job there. Her analyses are useful for lawyers, suits, and geeks all together. That's an amazing feat.
Way to go Pamela!
Business as usual (Score:5, Informative)
We use *BSD... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:We use *BSD... (Score:3, Funny)
Real world example from UK (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Real world example from UK (Score:3, Interesting)
I would suggest that a better approach might be to reply, "Let's sit down with Legal (or our counsel on retainer) and talk it over". Prior to the meeting with Legal, forward the lawyer (barrister in your area?) both the plain and the annotated filings from Groklaw, plus some lin
Re:Real world example from UK (Score:3, Insightful)
Going to legal is going to be costly, put projects on hold, and ultimately result in having to wait and
Business As Usual (Score:5, Funny)
Ed
My company... (Score:5, Interesting)
The decision was made to upgrade that machine (before I was hired) since we're well over 60 employees strong. If they run a general ledger report, it brings the machine down to its knees.
It was originally proposed to put the business application on a Linux machine. But, my manager, (the VP of IT) said that with all of the hoo-hah going on about Linux, he suggested against it. Instead, he bought a brand-spankin'-new HP 9000 box, running 11i.
I'm a huge Linux proponent. I've been a Linux consultant for the past four years, and do EVERYTHING Linux. I was disappointed to hear that the whole SCO/Linux thing changed my VP's mind about Linux. The good news is that after I started with the company, I impressed upon the VP the importance of Linux, and what a crap-case SCO has.
Our new mail server (slated to be built Q1 2004) will be running RHEL. I told him not to worry about the SCO business, they'll crawl under the carpet and die soon enough.
I just take great satisfaction in knowing that we're replacing a SCO server with an HP 11i server! HA! Eat dirt, Darl.
Re:My company... (Score:5, Insightful)
In terms of the Red Hat law suit, this is demonstrable damage to the Linux Business.
Re:My company... (Score:3, Interesting)
No chill in the defense sector.... (Score:5, Interesting)
We're just laughing at the SCO license as it will take our per unit cost from $0 to $699. Something about how they'll change their minds when 4ID shows up at their door.
On the otherhand, this device was originally intended to run W2K on dual processors, so $699 may be cheap....
The other way around.. (Score:5, Informative)
We have made plans to switch away from it.
"/Dread"
Re:The other way around.. (Score:5, Informative)
We have made plans to switch away from it.
Go ahead and do it. Progress DB (and 4GL env) works very well in Linux. I had a role in switcing a Progress environment from HP-UXen to HP ProLiants, and it was easy and trouble-free. It will be even easier for you, since you can keep on running on the same HW.
Why on earth are you still running SCO, BTW? Do the machines carry some weird SW that is not found in Linux?
SCO Employees reading slashdot (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm curious
Re:SCO Employees reading slashdot (Score:4, Interesting)
No mass defections as far as I can tell.
P.S. HI BOSS! Hope you don't figure out that I wrote this!
What a load of justification crap (Score:5, Insightful)
While there are companies that have hired slave labor (BWM, Bayer), and those that continue to employ near-slave labor (Nike), and even those that have killed en masse (Union Carbide, Monsanto), trying to steal the hard work of tens of thousands of people and claim it as your own, then force the creators to buy their own work back at extortionate prices (or any price, for that matter) is still pretty damn low. About as low as one can get without doing actual, direct physical harm to others.
Frankly, anyone willingly working at SCO, recession or no, deserves the low self esteem they undoubtably enjoy and the difficult job prospects their current employment on their Resume post-law-suit will almost certainly bring. This notion that earning a living justifies doing what is unequivocably wrong is complete and utter bullshit. Evil isn't defined by the difficulty of doing good, it is defined by the harm it causes others. The fact that doing the right thing would be difficult for those foolish enough to be working at Caldera/SCO has absolutely no bearing on the fact that what they are doing all those long hours they put in each day is wrong both morally and ethically, nor does it absolve them of one iota of their part in it all.
I'm sick to death of "my employer made me do it" or "I fear unemployment so I have no ethics" crap this formerly great nation seems to have instilled in so many of its drones. It rings a hollow as the famed defenses of the Nuremburg trials, or the death-bed repentences of dying Christians. (cue Godwin-Law pundits)
Re:What a load of justification crap (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:What a load of justification crap (Score:3, Insightful)
Then I wouldn't hire you to work in HR.
Our company expects SOME ethical standards of its employees. Apart from little things like not wanting people who'll happily embezzle funds, the outside world judges us by our people. If we hire people who'd work at SCO then people will think we're on SCO's level.
Perhaps even more importantly, we want people who can recognise a lost cause when they see one.
Re:What a load of justification crap (Score:3, Interesting)
You would be surprised at potential employers reactions when I gave a brief synopsis without being specific. They were impressed.
I work for myself now and would wish any of my employees quit if they have a moral issue with what the company is doing.
Sure, by American standards, noone is wrong (Score:3, Insightful)
The management are just doing the best for their shareholders. That is what they are paid for: to play the system as best they can to boost the stock price. It is not their fault that the system sucks.
The politicians who could fix the system are just doing what it takes to get elected. Taking actions that would ups
Most adults have faced this sort of choice before (Score:5, Insightful)
Nice view, from way up there on your high horse, but put yourself in the same situation. The economy is in the shitter. You quitting wouldn't change a damn thing.
"Yeah, I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyway. If I hadn't, someone else would have." I cannot believe that an adult would even field such an answer in public, much less accept its veracity.
It's not like they're committing genocide - it's a fucking law suit.
No one ever suggested it was genocide. However, what so is doing is much more than a lawsuit. Indeed, it is a lawsuit in name only.
Were it merely a lawsuit, it would not entail the vast amount of public FUD, misdirection, deception, and outright lies (including lies that contradict one another) that has come from SCO's management. Indeed, attorney's strongly discourage such statements, as they are destructive to their client's case. The fact that SCO shows no such restraint (and that SCO's lawyers apparently feel no need to reign them in or insist upon such restraint) demonstrates prima facia that this isn't so much a lawsuit as something very, very different.
At its heart it is an attempt to defraud thousands of free software out of their hard work, to defraud third parties by charging licensing fees for things that do not belong to them, and to defraud their investors by pumping up their stock value through deceit and market manipulation.
They may be within the limits of the law in the United States (or they may not). They certainly are not within the limits of the law in Australia, Germany, and numerous other countries.
Either way, they, and those who support them, are unethical, and I for one would never hire an HR person who would knowingly hire unethical people and open my company up to the potential of such behavior within my own ranks. Nor would I hire an HR who would staff my company with weak-minded people who put a paycheck ahead of any ethical considerations, or who cannot recognize a lost cause when they see one.
Re:that attitude is the root of what we call evil (Score:3, Funny)
So says the Anonymous Coward.
Re:What a load of justification crap (Score:5, Insightful)
Personally I don't see anything wrong with an employee remaining loyal to a company that allows him or her to put food on the table and a roof over his or her head. Not only is that admirable, but I would rather hire that person over one who decided to jump ship when times were tough.
Besides, since when did doing one's job, which DIDN'T include spreading any FUD at all, equate to Nazis "following orders"?
Mod me down if you like, I don't care anymore.
It seems you switched off your critical thinking (Score:4, Insightful)
Nope. You missed a logic lesson.
I did not compare SCO employees trying to feed their families with Nazis trying to feed their fmailies. I did compare the justification "I am only doing my job" used by an alleged SCO employee with the justification "I was only following orders" used by famed war criminals in years past.
The crimes being justified couldn't be more radically different from each other, indeed they utterly unrelated. However, the justifications used by both parties are virtually identical. The latter ("I was only folling order", ie. "I was only doing my job") has been formally and resoundingly debunked; the former ("I am only doing my job"), being semantically identical to the latter, is likewise nonesense.
The only similiarity between this troll posing as a SCO employee and war criminals of centuries past is that they use exactly the same justification to defend their immoral and unethical behavior, and that justification holds absolutely no water.
Re:SCO Employees reading slashdot (Score:5, Funny)
I am running linux and have not paid any copyright to SCO. I'd like to know if you are willing to sue Brazilians running Linux. If so, I'd like to be sued by you, but I have no clue on how to proceed. What info do you need to sue me ? Please let me know and I'll promptly provide you all the requested info. I am running it in just one machine, but am willing to run it in more machines if it increases my chances of being sued. This is a serious question, please reply.
Re:SCO Employees reading slashdot (Score:3, Funny)
No choice my a$$
"/Dread"
I saw one deal affected (Score:5, Interesting)
One project that we just worked on, the knowledgable CIO was leaning toward Linux for a web application, and decided at the last minute to go Microsoft due to the lawsuit. (he has both Linux and MS Web Servers, and it was pretty much a toss-up in his mind, prior to the lawsuit.) This guy's a SHARP CIO in most every one of his decisions.
But I agree with other comments; most people don't even know about it. I'll tell you, though, selling Microsoft projects is MUCH easier than selling Linux projects. The average non-technical business person has some exposure to MS and Windows. "Linux.. isn't that software that was written by a bunch of non-professional hobbists and Chinese Hackers in their spare time, and there's no support for it? What if something goes wrong? We're trying to run a mission critical application here, not some hobby system!"
Oh well!
Re:I saw one deal affected (Score:3, Interesting)
Funny how those PHB's think...
On the one hand they want MS because, as you point out:
> The average non-technical business person has some exposure to MS and Windows.
The average non-technical business person wouldn't know how to Admin a server to save their life, yet they choose Windows because thats what THEY know. That's akin to choosing to jump off a mountain on a handglider over taking an airplane because they know
Re:I saw one deal affected (Score:3, Informative)
And you pointed out that Linux is supported by such fly-by-night oper
On the contrary (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:On the contrary (Score:3, Informative)
Well, if performance or future-proofness matter to you at all, pick up RHEL. Solaris is a dead end. BTW, I thought Progress was going to certify RHEL ES. What happened to that?
SCO's impact (Score:5, Interesting)
Rus
Hasn't bothered us (Score:3, Informative)
Two Different Companies - No change here (Score:3, Interesting)
I think thw bigger question is (Score:3, Informative)
albeit, that happening are slim, but would the linux community embrace this or would everyone turn their back on linux and find an alternative??
What would you do ??
Re:I think thw bigger question is (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Fix Linux (Score:5, Insightful)
That's how it's always been.
That's how it always will be.
If even the tiniest shred of improper software is found, Linux will be fixed faster than Microsoft can fight an anti-trust suit.
Chili? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Chili? (Score:3, Funny)
Well, I've heard about SCO giving people the shits...
Business as UNusual (Score:5, Interesting)
This is not necessarily good news... (Score:5, Interesting)
For example, paragraph 82 of the complaint reads:
"SCO's statements are material and affect the decision as to whether a customer would purchase LINUX software or services."
Paragraphs 93 and 94 read:
"93. SCO's actions have caused and are causing irreparable harm to Red Hat, and unless permanently restrained and enjoined by this Court, such irreparable harm will continue.
"94. Red Hat is entitled to actual damages for injuries sustained as a result of SCO's violations of the common law prohibiting unfair competition."
If everyone is ignoring SCO's threats, and they have *no* effect on Linux deployment, then how could Red Hat show actual damages?
I could envision Drew Carey saying in an episode of the American version of the TV show Who's Line Is It, Anyway: "The show where everything's made up and the points don't matter. That's right, the points don't matter. Just like SCO claiming copyright to Linux."
So if you are on Red Hat's side in the Red Hat v. SCO lawsuit, articles like this are not necessarily good news.
Re:This is not necessarily good news... (Score:3, Interesting)
normal people don't know anything about SCO (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:normal people don't know anything about SCO (Score:3, Interesting)
Just a note. Strangely the Sydney Morning Herald [smh.com.au] web site often has links from the front page to Linux and even Linux vs SCO articles. The articles tend to be pro Open Source mostly. Unusually savvy for a mainstream major paper, in Oz anyway.
Who's afraid of the big bad SCO? (Score:5, Funny)
Big bad SCO, big bad SCO?
Who's afraid of the big bad SCO?
Mother F-ing Darl
Who's afraid of the big bad SCO
Big bad SCO, big bad SCO?
Who's afraid of the big bad SCO?
Mother F-ing Darl
Darl is the windy wolf, the three little pigs are IBM, Redhat and Novell. Unfortunately, there were no straw or twigs used in this story, and the three little piggies are all laughing their asses off as Darl stands outside the door of the brick house, huffing and puffing about the validity of the GPL, the mysterious stolen code and Darl's hurt feelings because he tried a working relationship with IBM and it went sour.
C'mon, Darl, let's see you huff and puff and blow the door down. I don't think you can do it!
Switched to FreeBSD (Score:3, Interesting)
Stupid SCO...
Your manager isn't too bright (Score:3, Insightful)
Stupid SCO...
Stupid manager. SCO has already publicly announced that it plans to go after FreeBSD next. Either the case has no merit (probability approaching unity), in which case deploying Linux would have been fine, or it does (probability almost but not quite equal to zero), in which case FreeBSD will be next. Followed by every other brand of UNIX out there (e
Some perspective... (Score:4, Interesting)
And yet no one seems too concerned about the possibility of Windows' market share being too severely affected by this.
So I'd think it's only logical that there wouldn't be too much concern about Linux' future either.
not really (Score:4, Insightful)
money (or lack of) does strange things to people.
SCO who? (Score:3, Insightful)
Since they have plans to decommission a few hundred servers in the upcoming year it looks like their decision will grow the Linux footprint there.
Darl says GPL is valid and they support it... (Score:5, Informative)
The follow-up question *should* have been:
"Given that you support the right to give away software under the GPL, once someone has done so, thereby accepting the terms of the GPL, how can one take the opposing position, after all, the terms don't allow one to 'un-release' under the GPL?"
I had submitted this yesterday, and no doubt 3 or 4 copies of it will show up in the next week, but it is relevant now!
I'm responsible for Linux at my company ... (Score:4, Interesting)
What's the worst case? We switch to FreeBSD or one of the other countless POSIX/C/C++/assembly-friendly kernels out there.
The cat is out of the bag. Operating Systems are no longer so difficult to write that companies should expect to profit from them
My contact in the process control arena. (Score:5, Interesting)
So if IBM is fighting this then IBM is safe.
If SCO was right they would be buying there stock not selling it.
Follow the money.
Charles Puffer
Pretty unknown (Score:3, Interesting)
Big multinational here. (Score:5, Interesting)
My company is a recognizable international Bank, we currently so not have Linux deployed but the writing is in the wall:
-Colleagues of mine are going to RH certification training.
-We have an internal distribution that takes care of internal audit issues 9mostly security concerns) that is being tested an will be ready fro deployment soon.
-The big heads that design this stuff have all Linux under their desks and some even in their laptops.
-It seems (this is a rumour) like the company is evaluating Linux for the desktop. Yup, if we go that way it will be front page history on this site, thousend of Windows machines could go the way of the dodo.
Nevertheless the company is holding on a bit just in case, but I guess it will not be for too long, and in any case part of the deployments will be using Suns's Linux offerings, nothing SCO can do about those.
Another UK point of view (Score:5, Interesting)
Our existing customers have had little/no interest in the entire SCO/Linux debarcle, especially once we read them the gospel of Groklaw, and new customers don't seem that interested either - more the same old NT (Server 2003) vs. Unix question.
Quite frankly we all agree with the general concensus that SCO have dropped some really bad acid although I'd say their paranoia was now justified - we are ALL out to get them now!
We're gearing up! (Score:5, Interesting)
I wouldn't say our company isn't concerned about the lawsuit, but our lawyers, er, Corporate Counsel, basically ripped up SCOs claims for our management's benefit.
If this project is a success, we're looking to leverage Linux at every opportunity we get.
Bah! (Score:3, Interesting)
That was good enough for him.
OTOH, I'm a bit wary of officially experimenting with kernel 2.6 here, simply because of the Sequent code in 2.6. Anyone have any insights into that?
We are pulling the plug on SCO, not Linux (Score:5, Interesting)
IBM is triking back by discontinuing any DB2 or Informix support on SCO. So we are migrating those boxes to Linux/Oracle. The State Agencies I consult
for use HPUX, AIX, Linux, and SCO. No new SCO boxes are going to be implemented, and we are migrating away from SCO. Most small hosts are going to be migrated to the Z series maingframe on a Linux partition.
SCO will be dead in about a year.
It's slowing down my plans (Score:5, Informative)
While legal and management seem to understand that it's a frivolous claim, they also correctly understand that being frivolous has never stopped the legal system from making dumb rulings. For reasons which are quite annoying, we are currently "on hold until this gets worked out" for several very interesting projects. This is real, folks. You know that SCO's claims are bullshit. I know that they're bullshit. Legal and management know they're bullshit, but one bad ruling and the waters get muddier for that much longer.
Remember - if SCO gets bought out without being legally slapped down first, they still win in their mission to spread FUD about Linux and the GPL. I firmly believe this is their real goal, because Linux and the GPL threaten certain people who stand to lose a whole lot because of it.
Bottom line, until SCO gets slapped down, my large employer isn't doing any more Linux projects. Solaris is an easy choice here, since we're using it widely already, but the cost savings to be realized are huge, if only we could put aside SCO's asinine behavior and get on with business.
The only impact I have seen is existing prejudices (Score:5, Interesting)
Third Largest Ford Dealership In US (Score:4, Informative)
One of my customers is the third largest Ford dealership in the U.S. and the two that are bigger are in Dearborn and cater to Ford employees.
This dealership has five FreeBSD boxes doing a variety of things, one Redhat box which snuck by me because of the better java support, and one lonely, fearful Open Server system that runs a single application provided by an outside vendor. I'm not allowed to dismantle that one, but I'm certain the vendor has strategic plans to move to some Linux distribution once SCO's stock collapses and they lose all their employees.
I showed the in house admin OpenOffice.org a while back; M$ will be getting no more Office extortion dollars from those guys
We're going to roll out Knoppix to a couple of hundred desktops in 2004. They're just desktops, and I'm kind of a wimp, so I'll make sure it'll all run on a 2.2 kernel and we'll just keep on truckin'.
Screw SCO. If you're really, really, really pissed about it, realize they got their money from M$ and start talking to anyone who will listen about OpenOffice.org - don't abuse the ground troops in a proxy war, get into their homeland and start burning crops and blowing up bridges
For my purposes... (Score:3, Insightful)
In the datacentre i work in, RH discontinuing its "free RedHat" is a bigger deal than all this. We aren't the least bit concerned about SCO. Just Fedora Core vs. Debian for our new servers.
Chill is still there (Score:4, Interesting)
The longer answer is below:
I've read a bunch of these SCO Bad vs. Linux Good threads on
When a large enterprise goes down the road of building a critical business application (read as revenue producing) many times there is a contract negotiation that has an Indemnity clause to protect the company licensing the software from claims against intellectual property asserted by another party. The greatest risk for the mission critical application is that there could be an attempt at an injunctive action against the infringing parties (Not common, but it does happen anyone remember Amazon's one click and bn.com???). This then could mean the company licensing the software that infringes might have to shutdown their application. Not such a big deal if now I can't load those spiffy web applets in my browser to download MP3s or have to make two clicks to buy a book, but a real bummer if Im a bank and I cannot run my funds transfer system.
In the case that a traditional software application infringes on the IP of another the indemnity clause gives the end user some protection. [Of course an indemnity clause from Joe & Bob development, Inc. doesnt really mean that much to Mucho-Huge-Bank-Corp, Inc., but one from Mega-PC-Soft, Inc. might.) In either case it also places a burden, because of the indemnity clause, on the original software developer to do a search of intellectual property to see if the is an infringement and seek to license from the IP owner that intellectual property or re-build the infringing model. If I am a software development shop and know my industry my legal consul can perform that task, as I know the internal mechanisms of the software applications I developed. You see this happen all the time in standards bodies when new specifications are being developed its called "identification of necessary claims" by the parties to the standard.
The trick is this is very hard to do for an enterprise that is the end customer of an application. As such, all new software that use OSS either in the app layer or as the base OS is still being viewed with a hairy eye-ball and needs to have a "how do I move to something else" plan developed before it is deployed in my shop. This is manageable for something like Apache where I can replace it with another web server with a modest amount of trauma, but a whole different story when I need to rebuild from the ground up because I have to toss the operating system.
My $0.02
Time to make even more bizarre claims! (Score:3, Funny)
Let the anal probing begin!
Re:One attorney;s opinion (Score:5, Interesting)
Previous coverage on slashdot, groklaw, and many other web sites have delved way deeper into this than you. In fact, I am somewhat suspicious you are actually a troll, since I can't believe a Fortune 500's legal department can't crank out a more sophisticated analysis than "the files sure look identical". Even us non-legally-trained bozos know that a show of identical looking files is light years away from a case that SCO owns any copyright whatsoever that is being infringed in any way by Linux users. And, in fact, all the facts most of us have seen point the other direction.
When SCO is gone and your IT department points out to your bosses the ungodly amount of time and money you cost the company due to jumping the gun (especially when your competitors didn't take the same silly steps), I'm sure part of those costs will be recouped from the legal department's payroll!