Gadgetopia

Novell-SCO case finally heading to trial: The details of this case are so juicy and delicious that I m almost drooling with anticipation. I m so loving this. US Bankruptcy Court Judge Kevin Gross has granted Novell s motion to lift SCO s bankruptcy stay so that Novell can continue with its lawsuit, through ...

"Hey SCO, Sue Me": What's Next?: John Everitt sent this email to SCO. "I am a Linux user. I feel that SCO's tactics toward an operating system of my choice are unjust, ill founded and bizarre. I am willing to be sued because I am confident that SCO's tactics toward ...

WSJ breaks down lawyer's potential winnings from SCO v IBM: If I ever hear this guy claiming that he's doing it for the sake of "free enterprise," I may retch. "Documents SCO recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission say the Lindon, Utah, software firm 'is in the process ...

SCO License Fees Would Hurt Linux Market: Gartner has issued a stronger warning on using Linux in the enterprise. They've warned about this before, but this time they even advised a certain segment to pay off SCO: "Don't ignore the problem by hoping IBM will win or settle its lawsuit ...

GROKLAW: A blog devoted solely to the SCO / IBM / Linux soap opera.

SCO Linux lawsuit > Linux Users Standing Fast Despite SCO Legal Threats, InternetWeek Readers Say > July 8, 2003">Linux Users Standing Fast Despite SCO Legal Threats: SCO's threats are met with a collective yawn. "SCO's Linux lawsuit and threats seem to be having little affect on IT managers except ...

SCO Owns Your Computer: More information about what SCO is upset about. This looks like more than 80 lines of code to me. "Specifically, [SCO] believes the 'SCO technologies' which were misappropriated into AIX, IRIX, and the derivative UNIX-alikes (including Linux) are: JFS (Journalling File System); NUMA (Non Uniform Memory ...

Possibly hurting SCO, investor unexpectedly calls loans: This may be the beginning of the end for SCO. One of their major investors has asked for $20 million of their money back. In a letter to SCO on Thursday, Larkspur, Calif.-based BayStar Capital cited unspecified breaches of the loan's terms in ...

SCO to yank SGI's Unix license: True to rumors, and just like they did with IBM, SCO has announced it will revoke SGI's license. "'We have received a letter from SCO Group alleging that, as a result of our activities related to the Linux operating system, we are in breach ...

On Sunday, responded to a comment about SCO, and it got me thinking. I finally dug down to the real thing about SCO that pisses me off. This may be obvious to a lot of people, but it had been lurking in the back of mind for a while until ...

SCO What have WE Forgotten?: Some real concern about the SCO problem. SCOP is five days away from having to fess up about its code. Start the countdown. The men and women who play the stock market on a regular basis are no fools and something unknown to Slashdot ...

Judge orders SCO to show Linux infringement: Start the countdown, folks, SCO has 30 days to actually reveal the infringing code in Linux. IBM won a tactical victory Friday in a legal battle with SCO Group when a judge ordered SCO to show within 30 days the Linux software to ...

Is Microsoft Behind SCO's $50 Million Cash Infusion?: Rumors are flying that Microsoft has found a new way to funnel money to SCO back-door financing on the war with Linux. "Hot on the heels of The SCO Group's announcement that BayStar Capital has invested $50 million in the company, ...

Torvalds Slams SCO: Linus gets all up in SCO's face about their "infringing code." On the subject of SCO's claim that it's not feasible to remove the offending code from Linux: "They are smoking crack. Their slides said there are [more than] 800,000 lines of SMP code that are 'infringing,' ...

SCO Announces Intellectual Property License for Linux: According to SCO, Linux now costs $699. (NOTE: See comments, this is introductory price only.) "SCO will be offering an introductory license price of $699 for a single CPU system through October 15th, 2003. Pricing for multiple CPU systems, single CPU add-ons, desktop ...

SCO's next target: SGI? "Chris Sontag, the senior vice president in charge of SCO's effort to derive more revenue from its Unix intellectual property, has said two things that suggest SGI is a likely target. First, Sontag said in June that SCO is contemplating legal action against another major North ...

SCO: Darl-ing for dollars | CNET News.com: This article sheds some more light on what, exactly, made it into Linux from Unix: "'I can see getting three, four, five, lines of code identical,' said Chris Sontag, senior vice president of [SCO], pointing to a nearly full page of allegedly copied ...

SCO Receives Nasdaq Notice Letter: Ha, ha, ha. [ ] the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel has determined to delist [SCO s] securities from the Nasdaq Stock Market and will suspend trading of the securities effective at the open of business on Thursday, December 27, 2007.

Judge Says Unix Copyrights Rightfully Belong to Novell: Has the last chapter in SCO s IP land grab been written? Is this finally the end of one of the most pathetic attempts at IP abuse in recent memory? In a decision that may finally settle one of the most bitter legal ...

HP to indemnify Linux customers: A great strategy here by HP. "Hewlett-Packard plans to announce Wednesday that it will indemnify its Linux customers against potential legal actions by SCO Group. An HP representative confirmed late Tuesday that the company will announce plans to assume liability for its customers' use of ...

SCO declares bankruptcy after failed patent suits: I am so loving this. Service provider SCO Group ended a major phase in the history of both UNIX and Linux today by declaring chapter 11 bankruptcy, forcing the company to reorganize before it can resume normal business.

Microsoft millions back SCO case: More on the Microsoft money rolling in the back door of SCO. The SEC filing confirms that Microsoft, which has much to gain from dissuading businesses from adopting Linux, has paid at least two sums to SCO to licence Unix, the second for $8m. [...]James ...

SCO irks just about everyone in tech except Microsoft: A fantastic summary of the SCO mess and who's sleeping with whom. If you just don't get it yet, this article is concise, accurate, and pretty funny to boot. "The topic du jour in technology is SCO Group — not just ...

SCO shows IBM the code: Finally. Ten months after launching its lawsuit against IBM Corp., The SCO Group Inc. has finally provided Big Blue with a list of files and individual code samples that, it claims, violate its intellectual property rights. The information was sent to IBM on Monday...

SCO actions prompt Linux warning | CNET News.com: This SCO thing is going to get worse before it gets better. "Analyst firm Gartner Group has recommended that customers minimize their use of Linux on important systems because of questions resulting from SCO Group's warnings about legal liability." Gartner is the ...

MyDoom Net Worm Scores Hit, Knocks Out SCO Site The MyDoom Internet worm claimed its first scalp Sunday, paralyzing the Web site of American software firm SCO Group with a massive data blitz. [...] The speed and severity of the attack surprised security officials. "It was spectacularly successful," said Mikko ...

Partners fund SCO Group s next lease on life: Why would someone do this? Stephen Norris & Co. Capital Partners said Thursday it and unnamed Middle Eastern partners will fund The SCO Group with up to $100 million to take over the financially beleaguered Unix company, move it out of bankruptcy ...

Opinion: Should UnitedLinux Boot SCO?: UnitedLinux was formed several years ago in an attempt to bring some continuity to Linux distributions unite file system structure, etc. One of the four founding members was Caldera...now SCO. Hilarity ensues. "...in March of 2003, the organization's unity appeared to be torn asunder ...

Wired News: SCO: Buy License, Avoid Suit: SCO offers a licensing plan to all Linux end-users. "'While using pirated software is copyright infringement, our first choice in helping Linux customers is to give them an option that will not disrupt their IT infrastructures. We intend to provide them with choices ...

The whole SCO-IBM-Linux-Novell-MS mess explained: These are getting so commonplace, that I'm tempted to write a summary of the summaries. Still, some good information here. "Wall Street certainly hasn't written off SCO, which was trading above $10 per share on Thursday. That's up from $2.21 in March, the day before ...

Experts: Vicious worm 'Linux war' weapon: They just can't catch a break. Virus experts suggested MyDoom's author was a fan of the Linux open source community, because the bug, which targets computers running Microsoft Windows, launched a Denial of Service Attack on SCO's site. Goes back to my point about ...

SCO sees loss on legal fees: This is a good thing. Let's keep those legal fees high. Someone file a lawsuit against them for just being bastards. Controversial Unix software company the SCO Group reported a loss for its fourth quarter on Monday based largely on hefty legal fees the ...

SCO's case against Daimler-Chrysler for license infringement went to trial this morning, but didn't stay long. The judge quickly dismissed all of SCO's relevant complaints against Daimler. At 0959, Mr. Rosenbaum was given another minute to answer SCO's arguments, and broadly stated, "Your Honor, this is a fishing expedition." In ...

SCO Says to Act Against IBM if No Deal by Friday: This is getting juicy. You have to give SCO credit for having the cohones to revoke the license of the one of the largest companies on Earth to their core software product. "'If we don't have a resolution ...

Start-up launches Linux legal protection Open Source Risk Management plans on Monday to begin selling Linux users protection against copyright infringement claims such as those levied by the SCO Group. The New York-based company is launching the insurance-like offering after a six-month study that compared Linux with several versions of ...

SCO Needs to Put Up or Shut Up: It's tough to argue with this: The SCO Group has spent the past couple of months directing sensational allegations and vague threats toward Linux and any individual or company that develops, markets or runs the operating system all without presenting a ...

SCO Group Web site allegedly hacked again: Of all the demographics on the Net to piss off, old-school Unix hackers wouldn't be my first choice. The denial-of-service attack started at 6:20 a.m. ET Wednesday and continued through the day, said Blake Stowell, spokesman for the Lindon-based company. Unidentified attackers managed ...

Armed and Dangerous: Open souce champion Eric Raymond goes ballistic on SCO in an open letter. "I'm not sure which possibility is more pathetic — that the CEO of SCO is lying through his teeth for tactical reasons, or that you genuinely aren't capable of recognizing honest outrage when you ...

Hackers cut off SCO Web site "SCO's Web site was largely out of commission until Monday morning, a representative of the Lindon, Utah-based Unix and Linux seller said Monday. Performance measurement statistics from Netcraft indicated that the site had been down since Friday night." I wondered how long it would ...

Taking Aim at Linux: You've been warned: "In an aggressive move that could have a profound effect on open-source software and the Unix arena, The SCO Group which owns rights to Unix has issued a warning that Linux is an unauthorized derivative of Unix. The company also says ...

A short time after becoming the first SCO licensee to publicly announce their license purchase, EV1's CEO Robert Marsh expresses buyer's remorse: So how does Marsh feel about the deal nearly a month later? "Would I do it again? No. I'll go on the record as saying that," Marsh said. ...

SCO has extended its campaign to squeeze blood from a Linux server to Linux users this week by suing Autozone for its use of the OS. The best part? The court they're filing the suit in will manage the case using Linux. However, the defence may take heart that the ...

Big Blue Fires Away: IBM isn't a company to sit idly by and get screwed...I mean, sued. I pity the fool that awakens that beast. "IBM, which is being sued by Lindon, Utah-based SCO for embedding parts of SCO's Unix software code in versions of the free Linux operating system, ...

SCO Group reports quarterly loss amid legal battle against IBM: Here's a good status report on where the SCO battle stands right now. SCO is bleeding money, and IBM is standing firm. Both sides are lawyered up to the hilt, and neither is flinching. However, in a war of attrition, ...

SCO to argue General Public Licence invalid: They're apparently going to try and invalidate the entire concept of open-source. "The GPL licence allows software and work derived from it to be copied by anyone at no charge. But according to today's WSJ, quoting lawyer Mark Heise, the GPL is pre-empted ...

SCO Mobilizes for IBM Unix Battle: Between this and the Oracle/PeopleSoft imbroglio, enterprise IT has become a soap opera lately: SCO will seek to stop IBM from selling its version of Unix, AIX, which has been shipping since 1990 and accounted for 15 percent of all Unix server operating system ...

Wired has a fascinating article on how SCO went from being a small-time Linux vendor to a big-time pain in the can under the steerage of CEO Darl McBride. McBride has also received death threats, a challenge to a fistfight, and a flood of denial-of-service attacks targeting his company's email ...

SCO Revokes I.B.M.'s License for Operating System Software: And it's done. "'I.B.M. no longer has the authority to sell or distribute AIX, and customers no longer have the right to use AIX software,' Darl C. McBride, the chief executive of SCO, said." SCO is asking for $3 billion.

Novell Registers Unix Copyrights: Apparently Novell has registered several copyrights recently to Unix code that SCO claims was transferred to it back in 1995. They did this quietly, with no fanfare. SCO's reaction is just priceless. "We see this as a fraudulent attempt by Novell to get something they don't ...

SCO battle rooted in Unix's fragmented history: A good little history of Unix and how it plays into the SCO thing.

SCO to send out Linux invoices "...Tuesday, SCO spokesman Blake Stowell said the company will begin the more active approach of sending invoices requesting payment to commercial Linux users, 'probably some time this month.'"

Sun Sets Sights on IBM's AIX Customers: In the SCO/IBM drama, Sun is playing the role that SAP is playing in the Oracle/PeopleSoft production: Moving to profit from SCO Group's revocation of IBM's Unix license (which IBM denies SCO has the right to do), Sun Microsystems charged in to play ...

New Tool Searches and Replaces SCO Code: "Linux developer Aduva released a tool at this week's LinuxWorld that will allow companies looking over their shoulder for lawyers to replace offending Linux code with code that doesn't infringe on what SCO alleges is a violation of its intellectual property rights." Via ...

Militant geeks are hurting the widespread adoption of Free software. CMP has an article on the subject, and Bruce Perens has written a message to the community condemning actions like cheering on the recent denial of service attacks on SCO. "Do not cheer on attacks on the SCO site. By ...

Bob's Predictions for 2004: Yet another set of year-end predictions. I like this one, though. As for SCO, they'll continue to make noise until the middle of the year, at which point the legal case will implode and the company will give up. By that time, the company executives, insiders, ...

VeriSign Migrating 2,000 Unix Servers to Red Hat Linux: In the midst of the SCO battle, IBM releases new ads, and now Verisign goes and does this: "In the latest big win for Linux and open source, infrastructure service provider VeriSign has decided to migrate 2,000 of its high-performance Unix ...

MyDoom worm spreads as attack countdown begins: The attacks launch on Sunday and Tuesday. Security experts warned on Thursday the fast-spreading MyDoom virus would plague e-mail users for some time as it counts down to a mammoth digital attack next week on Microsoft and software firm SCO Group Inc.

IBM memo advocates move to Linux on internal PCs: This is an awesome move for IBM. I commend them for doing this right in the middle of the SCO imbroglio. In an internal memo that reached the Internet, an IBM Corp. executive challenges company employees to abandon Microsoft operating systems ...

Motor giant Ford to move to Linux: Another nice kick in the face to SCO. "Motor giant Ford is switching to Linux for its sales systems, human resources, customer relations and infrastructure, according to a report in yesterday's Scotland on Sunday." So much for that whole intimindation plan, eh? I ...

Why is it Catfight Thursday you ask? Well, for one, Apple's taking swipes at Microsoft's new MSN Music Service: "It's biggest problem may be that its downloaded songs can not play on the iPod," said Eddie Cue, Apple's vice president of applications. Gates fires back regarding Microsoft's focus on portable ...

Wired News: Sinbad Hears Linux's Siren Song: Watch out, SCO may sue for a cut of the box office. "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, an animated movie from DreamWorks Animation Technology that hits theaters July 2, is the first Hollywood production created entirely on Linux. More than 250 Hewlett-Packard ...

Microsoft offers $250,000 reward to help catch author of virus: This just gets funnier and funnier. Microsoft promised Thursday to pay a $250,000 reward to anyone who helps authorities capture and prosecute the author of a fast-spreading computer virus... SCO offered up to $250,000 for information leading to the arrest ...

The Grinch Who Stole Linux: "SCO hated Linux! The GNU Linux season! Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason. It could be that their heads weren't screwed on quite right. It could be, perhaps, that their shoes were too tight. But I think that the most ...

Intel, IBM backing new fund to defend Linux users: The truth of SCO shows through when the mere forming of a legal defense fund to fight them off causes their shares to drop 9%. An industry group formed to promote Linux an operating system that provides an alternative to ...

The grumpy grandfather at the heart of the SCO-Linux mess: An interesting look at Ray Noorda, Novell, and how they play into the big debate. "It's a company that founder Ray Noorda wanted to take on Microsoft, while promoting open-source networks. So it's fitting that Novell, which kept for years ...

IBM makes play for Linux lead in new ad campaign: In the midst of the SCO brouhaha, IBM apparently feels comfortable enough to unleash a new round of Linux ads. "He's nine years old, bright-eyed and hungry to learn. ... Meet Linux, a human embodiment of the computer operating system, ...

2003-2004 MIT IDEAS Competition: Be a geek, win a contest, improve the world. IDEAS is a competition started in 2001 at MIT to promote student innovation and inventiveness for community needs. The IDEAS Competition provides an opportunity for members of the MIT community to develop their creative ideas for projects ...

Free Standards Group Announces General Availability Of Linux Standard Base 2.0: I believe that one of the true keys of Linux success is standardization between distributions. There was an attempt some time ago with United Linux to create a standard file system, but Red Hat never signed on so it ...

Brazil Leans Away From Microsoft: First China, then Korea and Boston, now Brazil. "We have some islands in the federal government using open-source, but we want to create a continent," said Amadeu, a former economics professor who gained fame before joining Silva's team by launching a network of free computer ...

2004: The Year Linux Grows Up (or Blows Up): Here's an enormously positive opinion piece about Linux in 2004. The author says that 2004 is the tipping point for the Penguin, and by the time I was done reading, I had a huge smile on my face. 2004 will be ...

Microsoft claims software like Linux violates its patents: I thought Microsoft was trying to bridge the gap to the open-source world lately? This is a really horrific idea. Did the SCO fiasco not warn them off a plan like this? [ ] there s a shadow hanging over Linux and other free ...

We unleashed our new search page over the weekend. To make it work correctly, we had to retroactively keyword all past entries (a endeavor about which I will write more later). but with that done, it seems to be working quite well. The engine returns terms in two groups ...

Open Source a No-Brainer for Developing World: This is something I believe in quite strongly. Open source is a nice alternative (even a novelty) for us in the first world, but for countries like sub-Saharan Africa, open source is the only game in town. They can't afford to feed the ...