SCO Springs a Prospective Buyer 89
clemenstimpler sends a link to Groklaw, which has been following the proceedings dealing with the conversion of SCO's bankruptcy to Chapter 7 (i.e., liquidating the company). SCO has announced a prospective buyer. "...SCO has suggested it has a buyer. That doesn't mean it will avoid Chapter 7 of course, nor does it mean that the bankruptcy court will OK the suggested sale. But it likely does mean more delay, which is what this is likely all about. SCO very much wants to wait until the appeals court rules in SCO v. Novell. ... Hearing set for July 16 with backup for July 27. SCO has already moved to make it July 27. combo hearing on convert and sale. Frankly, it would not totally amaze me if the three entities that filed motions to convert were to appeal this. If not, SCO got its desired delay."
For our Benefit (Score:5, Funny)
They're dragging it out so we can savor it.
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Sounds like an 11 hour art noir film. Those that made it might think so, the few still paying attention might think so but must people would like it to have ended five hours ago.
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Actually, if I had to guess they're probably dragging it out so Darl et al can continue to draw salaries.
Paging Buffy Summers... (Score:3, Interesting)
This article's title gave me the mental image of a decomposing zombie clawing its' way up out of the ground.
Hopefully as the article suggests, the sale will be forestalled, and some judge will finally put a stake in this monster once and for all. ;)
Re:Paging Buffy Summers... (Score:4, Funny)
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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
quiet you fool! you'll give some groklaw fanboy ideas...
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why cant we come up with the legal equivalent of a shotgun. shotguns ALWAYS work against zombies, or im i wrong?
Think Geek [thinkgeek.com] agrees.
That would be Glenn Reynolds (Score:2)
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Re:Paging Buffy Summers... (Score:5, Informative)
I doubt it. A bankruptcy judge's job is essentially to ensure that SCO's creditors get the maximum amount of money back under the law. From that perspective, liquidation tends to be a fairly lousy solution, particularly for companies deeply in debt. A buyer is, of course, the best solution: Somebody willing to assume that debt and, hopefully, turn the company around to making some money again. Then it can start to pay back its creditors and if it falls apart again, well, you're just right back at the liquidation stage -- little lost but time.
So unless the judge can determine this is nothing but a bullshit stalling tactic on the part of SCO--and I doubt any judge would do so without at least a hearing or two on the matter--they're almost certain to let it pass.
Re:Paging Buffy Summers... (Score:4, Informative)
Right now, realistically, the best the creditors can hope for is liquidation and for someone to buy up "substantially all the assets" of the company. That probably amounts to zero, but at least it allows them to finally write off the bad debt and be finished with the litigation. Zero all they can expect in any case, the only question is whether it is zero now or zero later.
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The only sure-fire way to "put a stake in it" is to aim straight for the heart: Darl McBride. Lock him up in a windowless cell with no Internet access, or better yet castrate him to make sure there will never be a Darl 2.0. Darl McBride is one of the true "useless eaters" that eugenicists were debating in the early part of last Century.
While I agree with what you said, not the image (Score:1, Interesting)
This image, http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/5233c6cac0.jpg [freeimagehosting.net] was a little un-called for.
Richard has done quite a good job, imo. I met him once at an "overnighter" kind of rally for political refugees when we both entered this country almost at the same time. I never could quite figure-out his political views beneath all the "free software" senses that he advertised using all his "free labor" methods of devoting all that time to such strategy. It appeared effective at a fiscal scale, but not at a fa
Wrong - just advertising on someone else's work (Score:3, Informative)
You have been conned by stupid MIT staffroom politics which has escaped onto the net. Linux is not a GNU project, the GNU operating system is called HURD. I think the whole gnu/linux thing and the LiGnuX thing before it was just a response to people asking RMS what he had done lately. He has done a lot of worthwhile things but linux was put together by others. The gnu tools are incredibly useful but make up only a small portion of most linux distributions and are not there at all in some of th
RMS wrote his licence but doesn't run things (Score:2)
However remember that RMS had nothing whatsoever to do with the development of linux apart from writing a licence that Linus liked. All the wailing about gcc by those that want to shove the gnu/linux label down people's throats is irrelevant since if gcc was not there another compiler would have been used. I was replying to the above bullshit that RMS owns linux, not about the other things you have there and although I cannot actually understand a
I get it (Score:5, Funny)
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Unless something funky happens with Kimball's ruling during appeal, Novell has that card.
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Prove it.
Idle speculation... (Score:2)
...would that suitor be based in Redmond, WA?
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Microsoft, duh... (Score:3, Interesting)
Anyway, the suitor has been announced: Gulf Capital Partners [h-online.com]. Which raises the question: is there a Microsoft connection to these guys? The only company with any discernible reason to keep Sweet Zombie SCO alive is Microsoft.
I have answered my question: yes there is a definite MS connection [boycottnovell.com]. "The issue is not if you're paranoid, it's if you are paranoid enough." -- Max, "Strange Days"
How many hops to M$ ? (Score:3, Insightful)
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uh, one hop? (hey - this is slashdot :))
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One (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.infoworld.com/t/platforms/sco-strikes-gold-verizon-just-strikes-728 [infoworld.com]
Microsoft bought $6 million of "licenses" to SCO in 2003.
Justice (Score:1, Funny)
No appeal of the delay (Score:5, Interesting)
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That's not how an appeal works (Score:4, Insightful)
There is no indication that the decision of the appeals court will occur in the next six weeks. SCO is stalling because that is the tactic they've adopted from the very first "suitcase of proof" and "millions of lines of code" and "MIT deep-divers."
FUD works when it lasts for a very long time, not when it's immediately dispelled.
E
Hiding the money (Score:5, Insightful)
So this is an attempt to get the remaining cash and Unix assets out of reach of Novell, and leave the shell of SCO (plus some mobile products that most likely have no value) to continue the lawsuit, with no money left over for Novell and IBM when they eventually run out of appeals.
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I'm really looking forward to the trial of IBM's counterclaims [wikipedia.org],
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Sounds bout right. As long as Darl gets paid, who really cares?
in this day and age? (Score:3, Informative)
in this day and age...after the credit implosion and GM's bankruptcy..after Madoff....there's someone still stupid^H^H^H^H^H^Hbold enough to buy SCO?
Man....can someone get me his number? I've got a few dozen bridges and landmarks to sell him, not to mention a few automobiles.
Re:in this day and age? (Score:5, Insightful)
in this day and age...after the credit implosion and GM's bankruptcy..after Madoff....there's someone still stupid^H^H^H^H^H^Hbold enough to buy SCO? Man....can someone get me his number? I've got a few dozen bridges and landmarks to sell him, not to mention a few automobiles.
Yes sure, he's the guy that's managing your retirement account.
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wait...I'm the one managing/using up my retirement account....this is the first I'm hearing that I'm buying SCO
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I would buy SCO if I had the money. Not because I think it is a gold mine or anything but because of all the people claiming rights to Unix, SCO is the only company trying to claim Linux is a derivative and do something about it.
If a few geeks, maybe backed by Novel, IMB, or some other companies using linux in their products purchased SCO at the liquidated price, they could operate their own distro, are large enough to demand Unix drivers and could open enough specs to allow OSS drivers, and put an end to t
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1. The cash would go directly into Darl's pocket. Yeah, we might be finally rid of him, but still...
2. The company would get stuck with all the debt from the lawsuit & such, with no income being generated. Remember, SCO is running on fumes, and what little comes in goes right back out to Darl & the lawyers.
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The answer to 1 is simply, don't care. Money going to Daryl on his terms is bad, on your terms is not, especially when you get what you want. Plus we would have the books and could look at Daryl's practices then report any illegal activity to the feds for prosecution. I think Giving him money to end his idiocy as well as having a chance at seeing him locked up is more then acceptable.
As for 2:The company would get stuck with all the debt from the lawsuit & such, with no income being generated. Remember,
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it would definitely have to be renamed to avoid the pitchforks and torches, especially of those who went into hiding due to the economy imploding (that and H1N1)
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I wouldn't be surprised if they received their share of the economic stimulus package.
I mean, look at all the people they keep working. Lawyers, grocklaw, shashdot posters, Microsoft's anti-linux commissions, Novell, IBM, ...
Sure, they produce nothing useful, beyond the entertainment value, but don't you want to "save" all those jobs?
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Sure - his number is 202-456-1414.
The REAL reason (Score:3, Funny)
I understand they just need a bit more time to conclude their purchase of the Duke Nukem Forever codebase and issue a call for investors to fund completion of this vital work.
Oh, there won't be a game coming out of all this - SCO will have a pile of algorithms and methods specific to the gaming world stretching back as far as the first annoucement of DNF and so they can then start to examine games produced since that date from all the big players to see if they have 'pinched' anything.
3. Profit
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"I understand they just need a bit more time to conclude their purchase of the Duke Nukem Forever codebase and issue a call for investors to fund completion of this vital work."
Based on previous experience I suspect they would be more likely to buy that codebase, then claim others had stolen that code in their own FPS games and offer to allow end users to license to use a product for a small fee. Then sue EA, pump shares, dump shares, lose and then file for bankruptcy.
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Good plan. We oughta patent it as a business method.
Oh, wait...
What if it is Microsoft?! (Score:2)
What if the prospective buyer is Microsoft?! Who could object to that, and on what grounds?!
Scary.
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We don't want Microsoft owning Linux, and every Unix out there. Then they will own all the OS's that have a marketshare that can be represented with up to 2 decimal points.
Rest of the deal (Score:1)
zzzz (Score:2)
I'm not dead! I feel fine! I think I'll go for a walk! I'm getting better! ..
Honestly, its like the monster that will not die, nothing works - garlic, holy water, silver bullets, stake, decapitation, fire and even the BFG9000 could not finish it.
Just stay down, everybody will be much happier and we are all waiting for the party.
Potential buyer (Score:5, Funny)
"Potential" is the key word here (Score:4, Informative)
Why won't they die?????? (Score:1)
Erm....guys? (Score:3, Insightful)
Hang on.
So they lied about linux containing unix code.
Then they lied about owning full unix rights.
Then they lied constantly about their ability to handle it in court.
Then they lied to the court by using stalling tactics pretending they needed information.
Maybe they're lying? You know, flat-out, bald faced shameless lying? They're already so badly in trouble in the courts, what's one more lie if it helps stave off death a bit longer?
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/leaves to wash self with lye and a wire brush
buyer: the Devil. consolidating his assets. (Score:2)
your next general release of SCO Unix will run on the Mattel Aquarius and Coleco Adam only. please to transfer your databases to cassette tape.
Just another case of msft backed corruption? (Score:2)
This is 4th "prospective buyer" in 19 months
Whenever scox's bankruptcy comes to trial, scox tells the judge about some mysterious prospective buyer, and scox gets another delay. Scox has been playing this game for nearly two years, and there is no end in sight. Of course, the dubious buyouts never materializes.
Either the judge falls for the same trick every time, or there is corruption involved. Considering that msft has been behind the scox-scam every step of the way since the beginning of the scam (over s
Just another case of msft backed corruption? (Score:2)
Just another case of msft backed corruption?
This is 4th "prospective buyer" in 19 months
Whenever scox's bankruptcy comes to trial, scox tells the judge about some mysterious prospective buyer, and scox gets another delay. Scox has been playing this game for nearly two years, and there is no end in sight. Of course, the dubious buyouts never materializes.
Either the judge falls for the same trick every time, or there is corruption involved. Considering that msft has been behind the scox-scam every step of the
Did this prospective buyer KNOW of SCO? (Score:2)
Maybe its like those crappy telephone "bait and switch" scams and somebody just thought they were just buying "Naughty Nurses" porn.
Suddenly instead of a DVD of said "Naughty Nurses" they suddenly open a box full of SCO stock.