SCO Wanted To Gag Torvalds, Moglen

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."

Coincidence?

[plover]

So Darl wanted to silence Eric Raymond?

Just goes to prove that nobody is 100% evil.

Re:Coincidence?

[davmoo]

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 :-)

Re:Coincidence?

[mpe]

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!

Re:Coincidence?

[It doesn't come easy]

On the contrary, SCO has been IBM's best witness...

Re:

[Forge]

It would however cause a drop in the price of regular toilet paper. Supply and demand.

Re:

[Mukunda_NZ]

Haha indeed... But they hardly need worry about Eric Raymond... They could just let him talk, after a few minutes no-one want to hear anymore from him.

I can just imagine ESR now... "SCO are the enemy of.... Islamofascist SCO! Screw you and the camel you rode in on SCO!.... Hey why isn't anyone listening to me?"

Re:

[tdvaughan]

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.

Re:

[MysteriousPreacher]

Seems like a fair response given their total lack of research.

Re:

[MysteriousPreacher]

The point is, Microsoft trying to hire him would be like the police trying to hire Charles Manson without being aware of his history. Whether Eric would be a decent engineer to have on their project is debatable but his very well publicised political views certainly make him a bad choice.

Unfortunately I don't get to shoot very often since I'm in Europe but as soon as I can get over to the US, I will almost certainly become a gun nut. Not so sure about the self-importance. I know an ad hominem when I see one

Re:

[myowntrueself]

Unfortunately I don't get to shoot very often since I'm in Europe but as soon as I can get over to the US, I will almost certainly become a gun nut. Not so sure about the self-importance. I know an ad hominem when I see one.

For the sake of your future US neighbors and passers-by, I hope you know a *deer* when you see one...

Re:

[MysteriousPreacher]

I expect that when you're asked to define a 'normal person', it will bear more than a passing resemblance to you. My definition of a normal person tends to be a bit like me. What you described isn't the normal reaction, it's how you'd respond.

He despises Microsoft so he's going to yank their chain a bit. I hate my local cable company so when they kept sending me postage paid envelopes inviting me to join them, despite me asking them repeatedly to stop doing it, I'll post them whatever I happen to have lying

Re:

[pohl]

Seems to me like he answered arrogance with arrogance.

Re:

[pohl]

You only see in arrogance in the Microsoft email because you want to.

You're only saying that because you're biased. I see arrogance in their email because I know the historical context.

Exactly - I'd pay $699 for that.

[aurelian]

Just read this [catb.org] if you were in any doubt about what a fscking idiot the man is.

Re:

[Skjellifetti]

I didn't really have an opinion one way or the other, so I followed the link. After reading his Anti-Idiotarian Manifesto, I came away impressed and in near 100% agreement with his ideas. Then I read his Armed and Dangerous weblog which is full of some of the stupidest rants I've ever read. End result is that I am sure that ESR knows he is a brilliant writer who should be taken out back and shot twice just to make sure he doesn't ever have to listen to himself again.

Re:

[tji]

Yes, but it's also a large tactical error. If he was trying to discredit the other side's point of view, nothing could do that like Eric Raymond. He should have been encouraging Raymond to speak at length about his views on the subject. Enough lazy reporters would have quoted him and his batshit ideas to completely discredit the Linux world.

The SCO drama continues...

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps some bigwig company is trying to make sure SCO stays at center stage.

As if

[phalse phace]

silencing them would make people hate/dislike SCO any less.

Re:As if

[networkBoy]

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...

Re:

[Gazzonyx]

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:

[DrSkwid]

What work's that then ?

Some deprecated pop3 retriever and a book.

Re:

[Gazzonyx]

Yeah - I think he has 3 books or so, though. That is to say, I appreciate his research on software.

I'm reading this over and over and I don't think I'm making sense. I need coffee with my RockStar... I'll get back to it this afternoon when I'm awake and on the clock.

ESR work

[Per Abrahamsen]

I won't cheat by looking it up, but I have seen a younger ESR as a contributor to both Emacs and nethack. He is no RMS (Emacs, gcc, and gdb), but his developer credibility is still way higher than all the ESR detractors on /. combined. (I know, damnation with faint praise).

Re:

[Russ Nelson]

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 first glance.

Oh, and by the way, RMS has borrowed a few things for the GNU project. That's one of the reasons why Linus doesn't cooperate with the FSF.

Re:

[nomadic]

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]

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

Of course since ESR is such a crappy coder compared to you, UNDOUBTEDLY you understand the code at first glance.

See above.

Oh, and by the way, RMS has borrowed a few things for the GNU project. That's one of the reasons why Linus doesn't cooperate with the FSF.

But RMS a) has a huge body of his own code

Re:

[Russ Nelson]

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 the equator, and could finally test (in person) some code in gpsd related to negative latitudes. He's at a conference and ... he's coding. So, yeah, the people who diss Eric's coding say more about their ignorance than they do about Eric's coding.

As for

Re:

[nomadic]

Thanks for admitting it. So you really don't have a clue about Eric's mad skilz as a developer, do you?

Oh please. If his coding "skilz" are so superior, how come the stuff he's written is either shoddy or non-useful? Why is fetchmail He was all happy because he was south of the equator, and could finally test (in person) some code in gpsd related to negative latitudes. He's at a conference and ... he's coding.

Non sequitur. You're saying he a) he enjoyed coding something, so b) he's a good coder.

Re:

[Russ Nelson]

You've embarrassed yourself well enough that I'm just going to deconstruct your last sentence. You have to say 'weird libertarian racist dogma' because libertarians are neither weird, nor racist, nor dogmatic.

Re:

[nomadic]

You've embarrassed yourself well enough that I'm just going to deconstruct your last sentence.

Ahh, Victory through Declaration of Victory. Nicely played.

You have to say 'weird libertarian racist dogma' because libertarians are neither weird, nor racist, nor dogmatic.

Uhhhh...yes? Libertarianism isn't inherently racist, in fact most brands of libertarianism are quite admirable in their views on race. Libertarians are not typically weird, though a lot of them are. Many are dogmatic, but not all.

Re:

[Outland Traveller]

ESR's copy_instance defines a class instance's variables/functions based on set of key-value pairs passed in at runtime, where the key is the name of the class function or class variable, and the value is the thing to set it to. You can think of it as a generic, fancy initializer that can define the behavior of class functions/methods as well as typical variables.

This kind of fast-and-loose object manipulation is easy in python. It's built into the language.

But don't feel too bad, the example might not have

Re:

[DrSkwid]

this bit is particularly nasty

class_sig = toclass.__dict__.keys(); class_sig.sort()
dict_keys = fromdict.keys(); dict_keys.sort()

More bad practice here

if tuple(class_sig) != tuple(dict_keys):
print "Conformability error"
# print "Class signature: " + `class_sig`
# print "Dictionary keys: " + `dict_keys`
print "Not matched in class signature: " + `setdiff(class

Re:

[Miseph]

Microsoft and Apple seem to think so, I don't see why ESR shouldn't be able to do the same.

Re:

[QuantumG]

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.

Re:

[Aladrin]

I think the problem is not getting them in the room together, but rather the 'quiet' portion of his statement. Both are known for talking and strong opinions.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:

[Mr2cents]

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...

It should be easy to organize. I'm sure SCO is willing to host it in their cellars somewhere, after improving the locks. Steve Balmer can throw in a few chairs.

Re:How do gag orders work and is it Constitutional

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a court order. Just as a judge can order you to appear before a court, a judge can order you not to say things relevant to a case if he or she thinks that you could be disruptive to the case. Violation of a gag order would be considered non-protected speech because gag orders are only used for things like ensuring that a trial is fair (so there has to be something important at stake) and they are only temporary when they are used.

If a judge made an obviously bad gag order you would have a chance to def

Alternate link to the same story

[psaunders]

Here [zdnet.co.uk].

Re:

[only_human]

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???

[rm69990]

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???

[only_human]

It is mentioned in the linked article:

SCO also sought to silence Groklaw, a website that follows cases involving open-source software.

Re:No mention of PJ???

[rm69990]

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.

Re:

[only_human]

I'm sure that many of the readers follow the ongoing SCOundrelrama so it wouldn't go long without being mentioned; as it didn't

Re:

[rm69990]

I was joking....hence the ridiculous percentages. You may relax and take your meds now :-)

Re:

[bladesjester]

The percentages seemed pretty accurate to me...

Re:

[mrhartwig]

...hence the ridiculous percentages....

You didn't have enough space to put in the appropriate number of zeros after the decimal, before you started with the non-zero number(s)?

Re:

[rm69990]

Didn't want to wear out the 0 key on my keyboard :-P

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Only 2 days late

[Anonymous Coward]

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070429-sco- wanted-gag-order-for-linus-torvalds-groklaw-in-200 4.html [arstechnica.com]

SCO wanted to gag Groklaw too

[only_human]

SCO Tried to Gag Groklaw in 2004 [groklaw.net]

Beating a Dead Horse

[AchiIIe]

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.

Re:

[ZombieRoboNinja]

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:

[Russ Nelson]

Yes, it would have been much cheaper for IBM to simply buy SCO. Turn their bastard hell stock into IBM shares which the SCO folks could sell off completely without trashing IBM's price. Cash out! IBM didn't want every bitch coming to them for salvation, though, so they're making an example of SCO.

Re:Beating a Dead Horse

[0x0000]

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.

Re:Beating a Dead Horse

[mpe]

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"...

Re:

[dbIII]

I think it's more of an Amityville Horror moment considering at least one of the unprincipled people involved.

Re:

[Fordiman]

It's worse. They're the Evil Dead. Someone call Bruce Campbell!

Re:

[gbobeck]

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 department. That's right, this sweet baby was made in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Retails for about $109.95. It's got a walnut stock, cobalt blue steel, and a hair trigger. That's right. Shop smart. Shop S-Mart. You got that?

Re:

[jimicus]

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. Maybe toss a bit of garlic in there as well.

what to do with Darl

[falconwolf]

Perhaps we should destroy Darl's brain then bury him at a crossroads with a stake through his heart. Maybe toss a bit of garlic in there as well.

That might be a good start with Darl but more needs to be done.

Falcon

Scombies, in your neighborhood.

[DMNT]

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:

[digitig]

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

Even that wouldn't be enough, because their supposed IPR would be sold to the highest bidder and the whole thing could continue. Although with any luck their price would be so low by then that we could just pass the hat around on slashdot...

Re:

[Lockejaw]

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

While Darl et al. get off scot free?

Re:Beating a Dead Horse

[gbobeck]

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...

Re:

[MikeBabcock]

To be fair to Slashdot's editors, very few of the events in SCO's existence have been covered here. I know its hard to believe for some, but there are a lot more ramblings going on than just the ones you read on Slashdot. Go give Groklaw [groklaw.net] a read to see just how many stupidities happen on a monthly basis with this company.

IBM's no saint in the computer world, but this is just crazy -- please remember people, SCO hasn't even established ownership of the Copyrights they claim were broken in the first place.

Re:

[Thuktun]

They aren't dead yet. Although, the dead collector will be around on Thursday...

SCO: I'm getting better!
IBM: You're not, you'll be stone dead in a moment.
CART DRIVER: I can't take him like this. It's against regulations.
SCO: I don't want to go on the cart.
IBM: Don't be such a baby.
CART DRIVER: I can't take him.
SCO: I feel fine.
IBM: Do us a favor.
CART DRIVER: I can't.
IBM: Well, can you hang around a couple of minutes? He won't be long.
CART DRIVER: I've got to go round to the Robinson's, they've lost nine today.
IBM: When's your next round?
CART DRIVER: Thursday.
SCO: I thin

Re:

[jmv]

The company is almost dead now, let them die alright. It'll be a history lesson for future companies.

Actually, it's much more effective if we keep reminding people that they're dying. Sort of like the middle ages practice of leaving the body of executed convicts rot on a public place -- just to maximise the impact.

Re:

[permaculture]

AchiIIe said: "The company is almost dead now, let them die alright. It'll be a history lesson for future companies."

Not if we cease discussing this object lesson. Forget your history and be doomed to repeat it.
Let us continue to beat this dead horse, lest other horses decide to emulate it.

Re:

[roystgnr]

The company is almost dead now, let them die alright. It'll be a history lesson for future companies.

Companies are legal fictions that cannot learn from history. Company decisions are amde by their managers. And unfortunately, the lesson we're teaching future managers is "If you make false accusations and wild threats in order to pump and dump your stock, you can make millions of dollars from an otherwise failed company but suffer no legal repercussions."

Re:

[falconwolf]

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.

That's why you want to keep beating it, so other companies don't get the same idea in their heads.

Falcon

for a GNU dawn! for freedom!

[elmartinos]

What about Richard Stallman? According to this trustworthy news source [xkcd.com] he was attacked first.

Wait..

[SQLz]

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..

[goldstein]

This is a serious insult. I'm sure that the former Iraqi Minister of Information will greatly resent being associated with SCO.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Texas Law in Utah?

[FFFish]

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.

"He Needed Killin'".

[abb3w]

Doesn't Texas Law ("Sir, he was too dumb to let live.") apply in Utah?

I thought it was from one of the upper midwest states originally. The way I heard it, one of the State's senators shot and killed a man; he was brought up on charges, resigned, and conducted a pro se defense, arguing "He needed killin'." Successfully.

I thought it was Minnesota, but I may be getting that mixed up with the cheerful anecdote about the First National Bank in Northfield, where Jesse James lost most of his gang to civil

Gag away

[niceone]

Gagging is ancient history. It's people duct taping my typing fingers I worry about.

In other news...

[Snarkhunter]

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:

[Bearpaw]

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 anywhere else?

Re:

[rbanffy]

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.

+1 disturbing

Almost right.

[frogstar_robot]

It kicked the daughter and impregnated the dog........

SCO is from Utah

[SmallFurryCreature]

SCO just got its teenage daughter pregnant. There corrected it for you.

Wrong IP Claims, All Along...

[NetRanger]

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

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Re:

[Aim Here]

The PACER system was the first place on the net to 'break' this news. Groklaw wasn't even second, in that at least one, and probably more, anti-SCO sites had the filing up on the net before Groklaw.

And I think you're taking the demand for credit a bit too far, eh? It's not as if it's a verbatim quote, or a sizeable paraphrase, or strictly speaking, even a paraphrase at all of the Groklaw sentence. How many ways are there of saying 'SCO tried to make ESR, Eben and Linus STFU' in a neutral and unbiased journa

Re:

[Eggplant62]

The PACER system was the first place on the net to 'break' this news. Groklaw wasn't even second, in that at least one, and probably more, anti-SCO sites had the filing up on the net before Groklaw.

Cite please. Name these anti-SCO sources of which you have so much confidence that they scooped Groklaw.

Re:

[Aim Here]

The site I'm thinking of was Zen's Den [zensden.net], which announced [yahoo.com] the documents at 10:30pm, ET on the 27th of April. Groklaw's article on the same documents were at 07:57 PM EDT on April 28th. There's at most a 1 hour difference between ET and EDT, so that's a considerable time difference. I actually thought the difference was much less meself, but there you go.

Tuxrocks [tuxrocks.com] and Scofacts [scofacts.org] often beat Groklaw to the punch too. Groklaw isn't usually the first site to carry the SCO documents; it does, however, have the most

McBride had second thoughts...

[scharkalvin]

He wasn't worried about Eric's mouth, his GUN was the problem.

SCO stock delisting?

[Secrity]

I noticed that SCOX opened this morning at .94 and it has dropped to .86; about an 8% drop. SCO has until October 22 to get its stock price above $1 for 10 consecutive days or it will be delisted. Stock splits won't count.

Re:

[KokorHekkus]

Stock splits do count.

Does NASDAQ accept reverse stock splits as a method to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement?
Yes. NASDAQ views reverse stock splits as an acceptable method to regain compliance.

Source:http://www.nasdaq.com/about/FAQsContinued.s tm [nasdaq.com]

Re:

[RobertLTux]

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 investors bailing out) SCOX will ram into the "market cap" triggerwall.

of course then we have the problem that there are a few different PSJs that will cause massive damage to the cases if they go the not TSCOG way.

scox == microsoft == information control

[walterbyrd]

Microsoft arranged funding the scox-scox. We are learning - 3 years later - that msft was not successful in this particular censorship endeavor, but how many times has msft been sucessful in controlling information which might not be beneficial to msft?

Also, remember: before the scam, scox was a linux company. Why would scox mind if ibm were improving linux? The company that funded the scam - the puppet-master - however, has a big problem with ibm, or anybody, improving linux.

Linus should be suing SCO

[Fujisawa Sensei]

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.

That's ironic because...

[merc]

SCO always succeeds in making me gag.

Consistent with everything else

[Random BedHead Ed]

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.

Interesting Open Source tactic?

[tacokill]

You know, as I was reading this, I can't help but wonder if the "divided we stand" strategy is much better for open source, in general. We all know a legal storm can come at anytime and from any direction - even without evidence or cause. As they say, "money talks" and the SCO case illustrates that.

If all of the open source advocates (ESR, RS, BP, etc) frequently worked *together*, they would present a pretty easy legal target for more SCO's out there. By staying fractured, open source is better able

Re:

[QuantumG]

Oh my God, maybe they got to him!

Re:

[Adhemar]

Eben gagged himself, in a way, by retiring from his work on the GPL3

Oh, come on. Eben Moglen's stepping down from the board of directors of the Free Software Foundation [slashdot.org]. That's nothing near "gagging himself". He's still a professor of law and history of law at Columbia University. He's still the Chairman of Software Freedom Law Center. He's still allowed, able, capable, and free to make as much comments on SCO as he wants.

He specifically stated in his blog post announcing his stepping down from the FSF [columbia.edu] t

Re:

[Fordiman]

Heh. Ok, the license fee is, what, one share of SCO stock? I think I've got that rattling around in my pocket.

Re:In case ol' boy doesn't show up

[gbobeck]

Heh. Ok, the license fee is, what, one share of SCO stock?

Hey, if you wait long enough you may get the entire company as an added bonus after purchasing one license.