More Criticism of SCO's Claims To UNIX 400
inc_x writes "GROKLAW has a
compelling analysis that shows that SCO's claims that it owns the UNIX operating system are not very truthful. The Open Group confirms this position: "Statements that SCO "owns the UNIX operating system" or has "licensed UNIX to XYZ", are clearly inaccurate and misleading." It seems that SCO finds it increasingly difficult to distinguish facts from fiction. Last week SCO claimed 'This IP battle is only one part of SCO's business and is an add-on component. The core of SCO's business is profitable,' not bothered by the fact that they had claimed the opposite in their SEC filing: 'If we do not receive SCOsource licensing revenue in future quarters and our revenue from the sale of our operating system platform products and services continues to decline, we will need to further reduce operating expenses in order to maintain profitability or generate positive cash flow.'"
Rebranding Image??? (Score:2, Funny)
Make UNIX Open SCOurce! (Score:5, Funny)
We must encourage the grass-roots developers to add to the global intellectual property by releasing great variants of UNIX-based operating systems so that we can topple the dichotomy that Microsoft presents to computer science progress.
Only when we liberate the high memory block in the Expanded memory pool can we launch the necessary TSRs for MSCDEX support.
Which is nice.
Potential Revenue Source (Score:5, Funny)
Start by offering low-bandwidth real media clips of goings on, move up to high-bandwidth, premium, see-it-before-anyone-else scubscriptions. Maybe for extra cash, even be able to influence the plot or participate in being threatened interactively!
New exciting business investment! (Score:4, Funny)
I am Mr. Darl McBride currently serving as the president and chief executive officer of the SCO group, formerly known as caldera systems international, in Lindon, Utah, united states of America. I know this letter might surprise your because we have had no previous communications or business dealings before now. My associates have recently made claim to computer software worth an estimated $1 billion U.S. dollars.
I am writing to you in confidence because we urgently require your assistance to obtain these funds. In the early 1970s the American telephone and telegraph corporation developed at great expense the computer operating system software known as Unix. Unfortunately the laws of my country prohibited them from selling these softwares and so their valuable source codes remained privately held. Under a special arrangement some programmers from the California university of Berkeley did add more codes to this operating system, increasing its value, but not in any way to dilute or disparage our full and rightful ownership of these codes, despite any agreement between American telephone and telegraph and the California university of Berkeley, which agreement we deny and disavow. In the year 1984 a change of regime in my country allowed the American telephone and telegraph corporation to make profits from these softwares. In the year 1990 ownership of these softwares was transferred to the corporation Unix system laboratories. In the year 1993 this corporation was sold to the corporation Novell. In the year 1994 some employees of Novell formed the corporation caldera systems international, which began to distribute an upstart operating system known as Linux. In the year 1995 Novell sold the Unix software codes to SCO. In the year 2001 occurred a separation of SCO, and the SCO brand name and Unix codes were acquired by the caldera systems international, and in the following year the caldera systems international was renamed SCO group, of which i currently serve as chief executive officer. My associates and I of the SCO group are therefore the full and rightful owners of the operating system softwares known as Unix. Our engineers have discovered that no fewer than seventy (70) lines of our valuable and proprietary source codes have appeared in the upstart operating system Linux. As you can plainly see, this gives us a claim on the millions of lines of valuable software codes which comprise this Linux and which has been sold at great profit to very many business enterprises. Our legal experts have advised us that our contribution to these codes is worth an estimated one (1) billion u.s. dollars. Unfortunately we are having difficulty extracting our funds from these computer softwares. To this effect i have been given the mandate by my colleagues to contact you and ask for your assistance. We are prepared to sell you a share in this enterprise, which will soon be very profitable, that will grant you the rights to use these valuable softwares in your business enterprise. Unfortunately we are not able at this time to set a price on these rights. Therefore it is our respectful suggestion, that you may be immediately a party to this enterprise, before others accept these lucrative terms, that you send us the number of a banking account where we can withdraw funds of a suitable amount to guarantee your participation in this enterprise. As an alternative you may send us the number and expiration date of your major credit card, or you may send to us a signed check from your banking account payable to "SCO group" and with the amount left blank for us to conveniently supply. Kindly treat this request as very important and strictly confidential. I honestly assure you that this transaction is 100% legal and risk-free. SCO CEO McBride
You know what I would pay SCO for? (Score:5, Funny)
I mean, you just can't make this stuff up.
Well, unless you are SCO, I mean.
The karma gods will kill me for this one. (Score:5, Funny)
Darl here, and I'm afraid this is one shortcoming we've got to own up to. The explanation for our warped perception is pretty straightforward, however -- You see, we here at SCO have started reading Slashdot.
Re:MOD Parent Up! (Score:5, Funny)
SCO needs a new strategy. Claim that Linux contains child pornography, just like the recent tack of the RIAA WRT P2P. (Wow, sorry for the acronyms...)
They can also claim that it will curve your spine, give you hairy palms, and that its powered by the slaughter of cute puppies and/or baby harp seals.
And also mention that the GPL, played backwards, sounds a lot like Satan. (What exactly does Satan sound like?)
And of course, as always, provide absolutely no proof...
Re:In tomorrow's /. news... (Score:3, Funny)
Hey now, let's not be so cynical there. This Slashdot article contains some very insightful editorial commentary, such as "It seems that SCO finds it increasingly difficult to distinguish facts from fiction."
It's not that easy (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Make UNIX Open SCOurce! (Score:5, Funny)
Wrong answer McFly!
Haven't you seen SCO's new television commercials to be aired soon?
Well, the commercial has this kid in a large white room....
Well, you'll just have to wait and see it. But the commercial is awesome. It ends with the words...
and then fades to the word...
Re:Oh for chrissake (Score:5, Funny)
Well, DON'T CLICK IT ON SCO STORIES IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ THEM!
Thank you.
Acronym (Score:2, Funny)
Kind of like how SCO execs claim they have taken advantage of the penis upgrade, but wont let anyone see the source unless they sign an NDA.
And now for something completely silly (Score:2, Funny)
Y A SCO Headline... (Score:5, Funny)
SCO to Sue God
Darl McBride Caught in Bizarre Love Triangle With Bill Gates, Penguin
Darl McBride to Rename Self Darth McBride, Builds Death Star
SCO Accidentally Sues Self For 10 Billion
Local Man Wonders What Is This SCO Shit
SCO Enters Partnership With Gorzo the Mighty (subtitle: New Corporate Motto: "Seize Him!")
Infinite Number of Monkeys Write UNIX, Sued by SCO
CEO of Novell said it best (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Potential Revenue Source (Score:5, Funny)
Unlike a mime, however, SCO just won't shut the fuck up.
I don't understand these IP lawsuits (Score:5, Funny)
Re:New exciting business investment!-even better (Score:5, Funny)
SCO GROUP INC
355 South 520 West, Suite 100
Lindon, UT 84042
My Dear Friend,
I hope this letter finds you in good health. This is the letter of the Unix past. It will bring you great fortune. All you have to do is pay the party mentioned above, a small sum ff $699. Then immediately send this letter to six other friends. If you do so, you will have great luck.
Mr. Scott McNealy of Santa Clara, CA immediately paid the above mentioned money and sent the letter to his friends. Great luck came to him. The sun will always shine in his little kingdom
William Gates of Redmond, WA paid the sum immediately. All his legal troubles melted away. He became extremely rich and powerful.
Samuel Palmisano of Armonk, NY ignored this letter. Great ill luck be fell him. His rights were aixed. The great plague of Boise swooped down on him. He lost everything.
So please don't ignore this letter. Immediately do as directed and have the Lady Luck of Unix smile upon you.
Ob. quote (Score:5, Funny)
[ McClane [imdb.com] and Zeus [imdb.com] are speeding through Central Park]
Zeus: Are you aiming for these people?
John McClane: No.
[Pauses]
John McClane: Well, maybe that mime.
Re:Make UNIX Open SCOurce! (Score:3, Funny)
Well, as Henry Spencer put it: "those who fail to understand Unix are destined to reimplement it -- poorly."
Which probably also explains why Microsoft is doing such a lousy job of it.
Re:Oh for chrissake (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Who buys the stocks anyways? (Score:4, Funny)
Melinda French Gates
Dontcha mean Melinda Freedom Gates?
Re:It doesn't matter (Score:3, Funny)
If religion did come into this (and I don't think it will), I think it would work against SCO big time. Why? Because the trial will certainly expose the jurors to all of SCO's myriad lies and self contradictions, and the notion that this is an elaborate pump-n-dump scheme will have to come up as well. If the jurors are LDS (keep in mind that if they're drawn from Salt Lake City, only about 30% of the population is LDS, and less than that are "active") and if they find out that McBride and the other SCO execs are LDS, they'll be even more intolerant of all of these shenanigans. Mormons are generally prepared to grant non-Mormons a fair amount of moral "latitude", but tend to get very angry in the face of blatant hypocrisy committed by one of their own.
Admiral Kirk: I think he did a little too much LDS.
Re:May be over soon (Score:3, Funny)
It's a little bit scary. I saw Al Gore debate GWB in 2000. Even though Gore didn't sound so brilliant, he didn't sound like he had his head up his ass. GWB was clearly giving his speeches from the inner sanctum of his rectum.
I draw a parallel there with the SCO case. No matter how shitty their argument smells, if a small amount of the population and a few judges enjoy the scent, we could all be fucked.
-1, slashdotism (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Who buys the stocks anyways? (Score:3, Funny)
Just because she married Bill doesn't immediately make this a freakin' conspiracy.
Ha ha ha. Was she invited onto Duke's board of Trustees before or after marrying billg?