Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

News for nerds, stuff that matters

SCO Wanted To Gag Torvalds, Moglen

Posted by kdawson on Tue May 01, 2007 01:14 AM
from the can't-say-that dept.
An anonymous reader passes on word of court documents filed by IBM on Friday. The documents contain a copy of a letter, dated 2004, from SCO to IBM's lawyers stating that they tried to keep Linus Torvalds from making disparaging public statements about SCO, speculating erroneously that IBM was the principal funder of OSDL, where Torvalds worked at the time. Quoting: "The company also tried to silence Eben Moglen, the Columbia University professor who, until this month, was a director of the Free Software Foundation, and Eric Raymond, a controversial open-source advocate, saying they claimed to be IBM consultants."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

SCO Wanted To Gag Torvalds, Moglen 50 Comments More | Login /

 Full
 Abbreviated
 Hidden
More | Login
Keybindings Beta
Q W E
A S D
Loading ... Please wait.
  • Coincidence? (Score:5, Funny)

    by plover (150551) * on Tuesday May 01 2007, @01:15AM (#18937587) Homepage Journal
    So Darl wanted to silence Eric Raymond?

    Just goes to prove that nobody is 100% evil.

    • Re:Coincidence? (Score:4, Funny)

      by davmoo (63521) on Tuesday May 01 2007, @01:20AM (#18937611)
      Trying to silence ESR? Isn't that like the proverbial unstopable rock hitting the unmoveable object? Silencing ESR would require the violation of at least 7 laws of physics :-)
      [ Parent ]
      • Re:Coincidence? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by mpe (36238) on Tuesday May 01 2007, @02:30AM (#18937893)
        Trying to silence ESR? Isn't that like the proverbial unstopable rock hitting the unmoveable object? Silencing ESR would require the violation of at least 7 laws of physics :-)

        A pity SCO can't manage to gag themselves. That would keep just about everyone happy!
        [ Parent ]
    • Re: (Score:2)

      Oh dear God no. Seeing how he's responded to something as simple as a request for an interview [ibiblio.org] I think his ego is going to respond to this news by imploding under its own mass.
    • Just read this [catb.org] if you were in any doubt about what a fscking idiot the man is.
  • The SCO drama continues... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Perhaps some bigwig company is trying to make sure SCO stays at center stage.
  • As if (Score:4, Interesting)

    by phalse phace (454635) on Tuesday May 01 2007, @01:26AM (#18937631)
    silencing them would make people hate/dislike SCO any less.
    • Re:As if (Score:5, Funny)

      by networkBoy (774728) on Tuesday May 01 2007, @01:39AM (#18937665) Homepage
      Well, to be fair, if SCO could get ESR and RMS to sit quietly in a room together for any real length of time I would hate them a little less...
      [ Parent ]
      • Re: (Score:2)

        Well, to be fair, if SCO could get ESR and RMS to sit quietly in a room together for any real length of time I would hate them a little less...
        Although I don't particularly agree with ESR I do respect his work; that being said, I nearly fell out of my seat laughing when I read this!
        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          What work's that then ?

          Some deprecated pop3 retriever and a book.

              • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

                Would you explain copy_instance() to me? I have a little bit of developer credibility, and *I* can't figure it out:
                http://www.python.org/about/success/esr/ [python.org]

                Of course since ESR is such a crappy coder compared to you, UNDOUBTEDLY you understand the code at f
                  • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

                    I have no idea, I'm not a developer.


                    Thanks for admitting it. So you really don't have a clue about Eric's mad skilz as a developer, do you? The previous time I saw him was at FISL in '05, in Porto Alegre Brazil. He was all happy because he was south of
      • Re: (Score:2)

        I don't understand.

        they're good friends [catb.org]

        Maybe you shouldn't pay so much attention to the show they put on for the geeks.
  • Alternate link to the same story (Score:5, Informative)

    by psaunders (1069392) on Tuesday May 01 2007, @01:46AM (#18937693)
    Here [zdnet.co.uk].
    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      The parent link directly above is much better, although it contains the same text as TFA, much of it is anchored links to supporting information.
  • No mention of PJ??? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by rm69990 (885744) on Tuesday May 01 2007, @01:53AM (#18937717)
    Why is there no mention of them trying to gag PJ and Groklaw, considering she has covered the SCO case more than the other 3 combined and then multiplied by 100?

    http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=200704281 9571717 [groklaw.net]
    • Re:No mention of PJ??? (Score:4, Informative)

      by only_human (761334) * on Tuesday May 01 2007, @01:58AM (#18937749)
      It is mentioned in the linked article:

      SCO also sought to silence Groklaw, a website that follows cases involving open-source software.
      [ Parent ]
      • Re:No mention of PJ??? (Score:4, Funny)

        by rm69990 (885744) on Tuesday May 01 2007, @02:07AM (#18937793)
        Great, so the fraction of a percent of Slashdot readers who actually RTFA will know about it! :-P At least if it was in the summary the 3 or 4% of Slashdot readers who RTFS would know about it.
        [ Parent ]
          • Re: (Score:2)

            I was joking....hence the ridiculous percentages. You may relax and take your meds now :-)
  • Only 2 days late (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 01 2007, @01:53AM (#18937723)
  • SCO wanted to gag Groklaw too (Score:5, Interesting)

    by only_human (761334) * on Tuesday May 01 2007, @01:53AM (#18937729)
  • Beating a Dead Horse (Score:4, Insightful)

    by AchiIIe (974900) on Tuesday May 01 2007, @01:59AM (#18937755)
    Not sure what to tag this, maybe "beatingadeadhorse". How many more stories of SCO being {evil|stupid|malicious} do we need. The company is almost dead now, let them die alright. It'll be a history lesson for future companies.
    • And surely the best way to make sure that other companies LEARN that lesson is to never talk about it publicly again because you find it boring!
    • Re:Beating a Dead Horse (Score:5, Interesting)

      by 0x0000 (140863) <zerohexNO@SPAMzerohex.com> on Tuesday May 01 2007, @02:14AM (#18937837) Homepage

      The company is almost dead now, let them die alright.

      Many of us have thought SCO was dead before - they aren't just Evil, they're The Undead. Regardless of what their losses are, and how many times they are rebuffed by the courts, Microsoft could still dump another couple hundred thousand on them to keep them walking - that's pocket change for Microsoft, and they may well do it just on the outside chance that they will cost someone one or two more Linux jobs.

      For my part, I won't be satisfied until the story says that the papers dissolving the corporation have been filed. Fwiw.

      [ Parent ]
      • Re:Beating a Dead Horse (Score:5, Funny)

        by mpe (36238) on Tuesday May 01 2007, @02:23AM (#18937873)
        Many of us have thought SCO was dead before - they aren't just Evil, they're The Undead.

        Presumably there is a headline somewhere along the lines of "SCO attemps to silence Buffy Summers"...
        [ Parent ]
      • Re: (Score:2)

        It's worse. They're the Evil Dead. Someone call Bruce Campbell!
        • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

          Someone call Bruce Campbell!


          I can only imagine how that will go...

          Ash: Ok you Primitive SCOheads, listen up! You see this? This... is my boomstick! The 12-gauge double-barreled Remington. S-Mart's top of the line. You can find this in the sporting goods de
      • Re: (Score:2)

        Many of us have thought SCO was dead before - they aren't just Evil, they're The Undead.

        Does that make them some sort of vampire or zombie or something?

        Perhaps we should destroy Darl's brain then bury him at a crossroads with a stake through his heart. M
      • Many of us have thought SCO was dead before - they aren't just Evil, they're The Undead.

        So that's why they went after the big brains? Seems like DiDio was - afterall - a victim.
    • Re:Beating a Dead Horse (Score:5, Insightful)

      by gbobeck (926553) on Tuesday May 01 2007, @03:35AM (#18938145) Homepage Journal

      How many more stories of SCO being {evil|stupid|malicious} do we need.

      You must be new here.

      Ok, more seriously... IMHO, the real reason why SCO stories are covered so often here on /. is because SCO decided to mess with Linux and the GPL, thus pissing off a very large set of communities (including, but by no means limited to the Linux community, Open Source Developers...). Now, since there is a large number of people who care about the SCO case, there is a demand for articles concerning the case as well as anything related to it. Therefore, SCO stuff gets on the front page.

      The company is almost dead now, let them die alright

      (As of May 1, 2007) They aren't dead yet. Although, the dead collector will be around on Thursday...
      [ Parent ]
  • for a GNU dawn! for freedom! (Score:5, Funny)

    by elmartinos (228710) on Tuesday May 01 2007, @02:11AM (#18937811) Homepage
    What about Richard Stallman? According to this trustworthy news source [xkcd.com] he was attacked first.
  • Wait.. (Score:4, Funny)

    by SQLz (564901) on Tuesday May 01 2007, @02:14AM (#18937835) Homepage Journal
    SCO is accusing Linus of stealing all of their code, making crazy Iraqi information minister like comments to the press, and they tried to gag the people they are accusing from responding? SCO, please just crawl under a rock and die already.
    • Re:Wait.. (Score:5, Funny)

      by goldstein (705041) on Tuesday May 01 2007, @05:50AM (#18938595)
      This is a serious insult. I'm sure that the former Iraqi Minister of Information will greatly resent being associated with SCO.

      [ Parent ]
  • They must be smoking crack
  • Texas Law in Utah? (Score:4, Funny)

    by FFFish (7567) on Tuesday May 01 2007, @02:51AM (#18937975) Homepage
    Doesn't Texas Law ("Sir, he was too dumb to let live.") apply in Utah? It really shouldn't be so difficult to get rid of the SCO dipshits, ferchrissake.
  • Gag away (Score:3, Funny)

    by niceone (992278) * on Tuesday May 01 2007, @03:26AM (#18938105) Journal
    Gagging is ancient history. It's people duct taping my typing fingers I worry about.
  • SCO thinks your mom is fat, ugly and stupid.
    Also, it just kicked your dog, got your teenage daughter pregnant, and dumped its leaves in your yard.
    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      I don't have a dog, and if I had a daughter, SCO wouldn't be able to impregnate her without a turkey baster and a fresh sample from Sperms-R-Us.

      I mean, they can't get anything to stand up in court, what makes you think they can get anything to stand up a

  • by NetRanger (5584) * on Tuesday May 01 2007, @05:52AM (#18938599) Homepage
    Apparently IBM employs half the world of Linux advocates and code writers, according to McBride. They're all out to get him.

    SCO should be suing for the IP rights to the tinfoil hat.
  • Everyone is just copying from Groklaw (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 01 2007, @06:01AM (#18938637)
    Groklaw "broke" the news April 28 http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=200704281 9571717 [groklaw.net]

    Since then all these "anonymous sources" just cite from PJ, without properly giving credit. The second paragraph in the groklaw article reads:

          It also wanted Linus Torvalds, Eben Moglen, and Eric Raymond to be prevented from commenting publicly about the litigation.
  • Linus should be suing SCO (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Fujisawa Sensei (207127) on Tuesday May 01 2007, @09:42AM (#18940717)

    Linus should be suing SCO for defamation of character because with they're lawsuits they're saying that's he's not competent to write a kernel, and accusing him plagiarizing of their code.

  • Consistent with everything else (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Random BedHead Ed (602081) on Tuesday May 01 2007, @11:09AM (#18942141) Homepage Journal

    It's clear that they didn't bother to find the facts before filing these gag requests. That's entirely consistent with everything we've come to expect from SCO from the very earliest days of the IBM suit. There is no reasoning behind the things that SCO says and does, only gut reaction, and it's amazing how many pundits and lawyers they duped into helping them tilt at their windmills. They were losing market share, and therefore money, to a free OS, and 'felt' cheated, 'felt' that Linux was an illegal derivative of UNIX. So they assumed their 'feelings' would eventually hold up in court. They haven't, and they won't. They 'felt' people were conspiring against them - Groklaw, Linus, the FSF - but this was all a paranoid delusion, just like the delusions upon which the original lawsuit was based. There has been no reason, no research, and no reality to anything that they've alleged. They show woeful ignorance of how copyright licensing works, about how their opponents operate, and even about the contents of their own contracts (like the Novell asset purchase agreement that could blow up in their faces any day now).

    I remember when the original suit was filed and first made news, knowing nothing about how SCO operated and guessing that IBM was in big trouble, and Linux users (myself included) would end up having to fork from a pre-tainted version of the kernel, or do some other such drastic thing. I wanted details - the whole OS, or just the kernel? Or another part? Which code was stolen? Then the interviews came, and Darl showed that he didn't even understand the difference between Linux (the kernel) and 'Linux' (the GNU-based OS). This is a company that has a keen sense of smell for money, but not much sense for anything else.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      its not that splits don't count its that the split/dump/resplit/redump cycle will most likely cause thier stock to break one of the other trigger values so even if they do a 10-1 reverse split if the stock then dumps 90% of value (currently trapped investo