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IBM The Courts Unix

SCO Is Undeniably, Reliably Dead (fossforce.com) 172

Posted by timothy from the oh-just-you-wait dept.
An anonymous reader writes: On Friday, IBM and SCO filed an agreement with the US district court in Utah to accept a ruling of dismissal of the last remaining claims by SCO against IBM. Says the linked article, in line with our most recent other mentions of the long-due death spiral: This agreement wasn't unexpected, and in fact, came down right on deadline. On February 10, I reported that Judge David Nuffer with the U.S. District Court in Utah had ruled to dismiss a couple of interference claims SCO had filed against IBM, and had ordered both parties to reach an agreement on whether to accept the dismissal by February 26, which was Friday. In all likelihood this is the last we'll ever hear from SCO as its current owner, the California based software company Xinuos which now owns and markets many of SCO's old products, will probably remove what's left of SCO from life support.
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SCO Is Undeniably, Reliably Dead More

SCO Is Undeniably, Reliably Dead

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  • They are? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Revek ( 133289 ) on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @10:46AM (#51615191)

    In that case I make claim to all of linux.

    • Too late - I already made claim to C/C++, and everyone (including Mssrs. Kernighan and Ritchie) owes me a frigload of money. Pay up, suckas.

    • Re:They are? (Score:4, Funny)

      by halivar ( 535827 ) <bfelger@gmai l . com> on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @11:06AM (#51615407)

      So you're to blame for systemd. Damn you, Revek, damn you!

      And will you please, for the love of God, fix the video drivers?

    • I fear for the future of Linux. (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      I'm getting quite worried about the future of Linux. We're seeing numerous factors converging, and it's not looking good for Linux.

      The first problem is that Linux is making no inroads into the desktop/workstation market. Desktop environments like GNOME 3 and Unity are widely disliked. Systemd has caused stability issues for many. There's no compelling open source applications, and the ones that might be candidates, like Firefox or GIMP, pale in comparison to their main competitors.

      Worse, Linux is becoming q

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by tatman ( 1076111 )
        All good points. To me, it's nothing new. Linux has "always been that way", so to speak. Die hard Linux users and admins will continue to admire, exclaim its superiority, and use it for their main OS. Business will swap directions as the winds blow. Hobbyists will continue to use with passive interest. This has been par for the course for as long as I can remember (for point of reference I started in Unix (ok technically not linux) on the now defunct unix SVR 5). I feel what it means is linux it w

      • Linux is fine (Score:4, Insightful)

        by sjbe ( 173966 ) on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @01:19PM (#51616537)

        The first problem is that Linux is making no inroads into the desktop/workstation market.

        Nothing new there. It's going to be virtually impossible to push Windows out of this desktop market. It's simple network effects [wikipedia.org]. Linux would have to offer something that isn't available on Windows that people care strongly about for people to switch. Unlikely that is going to happen. The only thing that linux has that Windows doesn't is that it is available for free. But until the applications they use are also available on linux AND it is installed from day 1 they aren't going to switch en-mass.

        Worse, Linux is becoming questioned as a server OS.

        Not really. Yes it has problems but that's nothing new and none of them are so awful that it's going to change the landscape. People that use Windows servers will mostly continue to do so and people that use linux servers will mostly continue to do so. There really aren't any other serious options for most use cases. BSD isn't really terribly different (porting software between them is trivial) and OS X isn't really used for servers.

        While the Linux kernel does see widespread use in mobile devices through Android, it's critical to note that it's well hidden, with little use made of GNU or other open source software.

        So what? That's nothing new either. Whether or not people are aware they are using linux is mostly not very important. Most people don't care so long as it does what they want. Whether or not they know it is open source is similarly immaterial. It's important that it be open source but awareness of it is a peripheral concern.

        • Linux would have to offer something that isn't available on Windows that people care strongly about for people to switch.

          Like a decent UI or privacy?

          • Like a decent UI or privacy?

            I'll presume you are being serious. Most people are familiar enough with Windows that anything other than a completely revolutionary gotta-have-it huge improvement isn't going to matter. If they haven't done it in 20 years I don't think we should reasonably expect it any time soon. Furthermore any such improvement could likely be easily copied by Microsoft in short order.

            As for privacy, people clearly aren't too concerned with that. If you need evidence I refer you to Facebook as exhibit A. A few peop

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Kjella ( 173770 )

          Nothing new there. It's going to be virtually impossible to push Windows out of this desktop market. It's simple network effects. Linux would have to offer something that isn't available on Windows that people care strongly about for people to switch. Unlikely that is going to happen. The only thing that linux has that Windows doesn't is that it is available for free. But until the applications they use are also available on linux AND it is installed from day 1 they aren't going to switch en-mass.

          If Google didn't have Chromebooks I think they'd have crawled into Microsoft's "convertible" space with Android by now but to Google's business model a cloud-oriented laptop is much better than Linux. The smartphone/tablet market has been dealing Windows the death of a thousand pin pricks, sure there are a few professional applications with no real match but more and more the "light" mobile versions are good enough. What's really missing is someone to do the platform push, people aren't going to look for IS

          • Chromebooks run Linux. So do Android phones. Linux is alive and well as an end user OS in those forms. It's just the typical GNU/Linux desktop that has failed to break out of the enthusiast niche.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by KGIII ( 973947 )

          Meh, I can say this to you without you getting irate or thinking that I'm attempting to do something other than what I am claiming to do...

          It is "en masse." I usually type it en masse but I made a mistake not long ago. Nobody picked up on it but then, just a few hours later, I noticed someone got dinged for it. That's when I thought about it and realized that I'd typed the same thing. I slunk (is that past-tense for slink?) off and was never discovered!

          'Masse' is French for mass. It's also in pool as the "m

      • Linux is becoming questioned as a server OS.

        I hope you are not suggesting that Windows is a viable alternative. You might need to read up on Windows 10.

        I think the future for Linux could be great if the Unity/Systemd lessons are learned. (Not holding my breath. )

        • Have you and many of the haters researched SystemD at all?

          Youtube (sorry it is blocked at work) had a great video on how a hater turned into a proponent and showed started ngnix as an example. In SystemD you create a Unit file with \\pathtodaemon startup type:x and that is it. No complicating scripting with evil nasty bash scripts if/fi statements all over.SystemD also is event driven so when one thing happens it can trigger something else if you set it up that way.

      • Re:I fear for the future of Linux. (Score:5, Insightful)

        by KGIII ( 973947 ) <uninvolved@outlook.com> on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @02:50PM (#51617239) Journal

        > Serious developers prefer to use C# and .NET instead of the more amateurish PHP platform that's so common on Linux.

        First, let me say that your post reeks of "concern trolling." The quoted part is a good example. So, if they aren't using C# and .NET they're not serious developers? Not only is that childish, it's wrong. I know this and I'm not even a developer - but I do know many, many developers. I know developers who, not out of idealism, use the tools they feel do the best. If you think serious development is limited to just C# and .NET then you're sorely mistaken.

        I could go on and dissect the rest of your post but that's all I need to point out for others to go back and reread your post in a new light. Your post is full of non-sequitur and assuming facts not in evidence. It's not even original and the only reason I'm bothering to reply is I've seen this same damned post a half dozen times in the past two weeks. Normally, it's moderated down - as it should be. Unfortunately, you've probably found a non-developer who decided that your post looked right so they voted it up.

        No, no I am *not* a developer (and neither are you). I do, on the other hand, know developers from all across the globe. Some of them are Windows users and develop on and for Windows. You might even say that they're in the majority. However, that number hasn't changed in the direction you seem to think it has changed, never mind not changing to the degree that you think it has changed.

        Other than a few rabid folks, nobody's switching from Linux to BSD over systemd and no major install bases are converting their servers to either BSD or to Windows. And lest you think I'm some sort of fanboy, I think it'd be prudent for me to point out that I was an MS MVP (multiple categories, multiple awards) for 6 or 7 years, have purchased more Apple devices than anyone on this site, love GhostBSD, and use Linux ever day while having a Windows phone. I really don't *care* what OS you use, be it libre or proprietary. I'd just prefer we base our arguments on things like facts, reason, and actual evidence.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by tibit ( 1762298 )

        The OpenSSL and Bash security woes have not helped.

        I think it's an issue of marketing. When you're on Windows 10, you'll get a nice "Windows cumulative upgrade blah blah". When you're on Linux, you get updates to all the packages, with nice informative change summaries that include security bugs fixed etc.

        The truth is, all mainstream platforms equally suffer from security bugs. Linux is no better and no worse here, I think.

    • In that case I make claim to all of linux.

      I will claim SVR5 & Unixware and rebrand it as SVRV. And then put it under GPLv3.

      But seriously, SCO's product is still available - from Xinuos. They have made a product based on FreeBSD - a big departure from SCO, which was System V based.

    • Righrt so now SCO is gone who get's to pull the plug on Yahoo?
      • Yahoo is unlikely to close. It will just muddle along, becoming increasingly irrelevant. After all, Lycos (remember them?) still exists.
  • Here we thought unicode support was just broken in comments and discussion, apparently it doesn't work anywhere here...

    I know this came up in the discussion back on February 2 [slashdot.org] after someone accidentally bought slashdot, but apparently it still isn't that important a month later...

  • In other news, UTF8 still alive and going strong (Score:5, Insightful)

    by lorinc ( 2470890 ) on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @10:48AM (#51615207) Homepage Journal

    March 2016, still UTF8 errors on /.

    • March 2016, still UTF8 errors on /.

      You may not believe it, but /. supported Unicode for probably over 15 years now.

      Its just early abuse by posters destined to misuse it forced the implementation of a whitelist of acceptable UTF-8 characters, which basically are all the printables between 32 through 127. Everything else is effectively stripped. Since UTF-8 uses the high-bit to indicate that the codepoint consists of additional bytes,

      (The Unicode support came as part of Slashdot.jp way back when.).

      If you google for erocS or even 5:erocS, you can try to guess what the Unicode "fun" posters and trolls did that forced the implementation of the whitelist.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by KGIII ( 973947 )

        €‘’öóíúüëéåäáßðfghïøñb®©£½¼¾÷¦”“ÖÓÍÚÜËÉÅÄÁÐFGHÏ‘B®ÆÆ

        Then there are HTML entities like < ± — – and even & are in there.

        If you're (or anyone else) curious as to how to input them, then hit reply and quote parent. Then you should see what goes into it. The fi

  • Oh shit. (Score:5, Funny)

    by grub ( 11606 ) <slashdot@grub.net> on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @10:48AM (#51615209) Homepage Journal

    Where do I send my $99 licensing fee?

  • Copyrights did this (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @10:51AM (#51615235)

    And we owe this 30 year court battle over Linux to... copyright law! I'm sure we all feel glad our work is protected by such an efficient and fair system!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by bws111 ( 1216812 )

      First of all, it was a 12 year battle, not 30, and second, how do you intend to enforce whatever FOSS license you like without copyright law? Suppose the case was the FSF suing IBM for putting GPL Linux code into their proprietary AIX product, would you still be complaining about copyright law?

      And, no, we don't owe this battle to copyright law, we owe it to a corrupt company attempting to pull a scam using copyright law. WTF is wrong with the mods?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by HiThere ( 15173 )

        AND to a corrupt legal system that doesn't rate justice very highly in it's decisions. The case should properly have ended early in January of the second year.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by KGIII ( 973947 )

      I should point out that Linux is protected because of copyright and that this case is one where it turned out right in the end. Unfortunately, there are no repercussions for the losing party - other than they lost some money. However, they're well and truly dead, as they should be.

      Point is, copyright is not bad (in and of itself - as a concept) but the current process and regulations could sure use some adjustments.

  • still? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I can't believe this went on for so long. What is it, 14 years?

    Anybody remember that 'We own all your code' picture?

    • Re:still? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Penguinisto ( 415985 ) on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @11:05AM (#51615385) Journal

      Started in mid-2003, so not quite 13.

      While not successful in its original goal (that is, to destroy Linux) it did last long enough to serve Microsoft's purpose (to at least keep Linux off the mainstream user's desktop and blunt server adoption).

      • The Linux desktop developers did a better job than SCO ever could have.

      • > On March 6, 2003, the SCO Group (formerly known as Caldera International and Caldera Systems) filed a $1 billion lawsuit in the United States against IBM for allegedly “devaluing” its version of the UNIX operating system.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCO_Group,_Inc._v._International_Business_Machines_Corp.

    • I can't believe this went on for so long. What is it, 14 years?

      Oh, now, you're making me feel old! I remember getting an email from the Chief Counsel from IBM, instructing me that I would have to give a sworn deposition concerning this case. This was because I had access to the AIX source code, and also did some work for the the IBM Linux Technology Center. CSI: Austin, Texas!

      The lawyer assigned to me had a Park Avenue address in New York City. I'm normally not the best friend of lawyers, but this guy was really good. I explained to him that I did some work with

    • Anybody remember that 'We own all your code' picture?

      For those who don't, you can see it here. [theinquirer.net]

  • I made a killing shorting their stock about 10 years ago when they first sued IBM. Too bad they aren't still around to do more stupid things I could make money from.

  • Not until... (Score:5, Funny)

    by frank_adrian314159 ( 469671 ) on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @10:55AM (#51615279) Homepage

    Has Netcraft confirmed it?

  • Where's the SCO is for Cows comments?!? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by GerardAtJob ( 1245980 ) on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @10:59AM (#51615319)

    I was wondering what's happening with the "XXX is for cows" comments... the only time it could be insightful the anonymous coward isn't making it...

  • Why? If it's even vaguely profitable, what's the reason for not selling it anymore?

  • Generallisimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

  • Red Hat's suit? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Burdell ( 228580 ) on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @11:02AM (#51615357)

    Red Hat sued SCO in 2003 for false advertising, and that case was stayed pending resolution of the IBM case. Is that still pending (and can Red Hat try to get damages)?

    • Red Hat sued SCO in 2003 for false advertising, and that case was stayed pending resolution of the IBM case. Is that still pending (and can Red Hat try to get damages)?

      SCO has no money. Trying to revive that suit would only be a waste of legal fees.

  • Pining (Score:5, Funny)

    by OzPeter ( 195038 ) on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @11:04AM (#51615375)

    Sure its not just pining for the fjords? Or maybe just stunned?

  • (adopt high-pitched voice) ...and SCO's not only merely dead,
    it's really most sincerely dead!

  • Unicode vs SCO - Why is SCO winning? (Score:3)

    by mykepredko ( 40154 ) on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @11:08AM (#51615427) Homepage

    The SCO lawsuit started in 2003 and, in comparison, Unicode version 1.0 was released in 1992. So, it's not like this is a new standard, preceding the lawsuit by ten years. Unicode support in Linux seems to be around 1999.

    I guess somebody at /. (or, more likely submitters) are getting a perverse kick out of copy and pasting unicode characters on the SCO article and I'm trying to figure out why. Maybe /. article editor tools make the unicode characters invisible to them but this has been going on long enough.

    Timothy, et al, could you take this back to your new masters and get it fixed - one way or another? I, like probably a lot of people who come to this site, when we see the acronym "SCO" immediately look to see how many unicode characters are embedded in the summary.

  • Guess my Unixware and Openserver Master Ace is worthless now?

  • ... and they escape (Score:4, Insightful)

    by charlieo88 ( 658362 ) on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @11:16AM (#51615495)
    How do all the bad actors in this case just get to walk away?
  • As Coroner I must aver, I thoroughly examined her. And she's not only merely dead, she's really most sincerely dead

  • Man it took him a long time to die.

  • Great summary to show off a couple of slashdot's worst issues: no unicode support for things as simple as quotes and useless "editing" that doesn't even correct the aforementioned obvious problem with the summary.
    So, new /. overlords, are you "on it" as you claimed or not?

  • Actually not quite over (Score:5, Informative)

    by Mostly a lurker ( 634878 ) on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @11:36AM (#51615663)

    What SCO agreed to is dismissing remaining motions for summary judgment . This is more IBM agreeing there is no point delaying SCO's option of appealing the motions that went against them. It is still possible that SCO might try one last gasp effort in the appeals court. I am not sure how long they have before they must file such an appeal.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by amiga3D ( 567632 )

      How the hell are they paying their lawyers?

  • Get an axe.

  • You deserve it!

  • I have thoroughly examined them,
    And they are not just merely dead,
    They are really quite sincerely dead.

  • Darl McBride (Score:3)

    by GPLDAN ( 732269 ) on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:00PM (#51617707)
    History should record that the whole SCO fiasco was the brain child of this scam artist: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] It was a patent submarine attack and one of history's ugliest. The guy is now the CEO of some company he made up in his garage. Check out this garbageL https://www.crowdfunder.com/sh... [crowdfunder.com] What a joke. He got what he deserved.

  • That's great that Caldera, later rebranded as SCO, is dead. Now what about the actual perpetrators of that Linux debacle, Darl McBride and Chris Sonntag?

  • Did someone drive a stake through the body? Then burn it. Then drive a stake through the ashes and bury them. And then drive a stake through the ground where they were buried?
  • What a huge waste... IBM's startup disks used to be Linux based. Boot, configure RAID, etc was all Linux. Now it's some stripped down Windows device code that takes 10 times longer to load, has less features and is less user friendly.
    Micro$soft must have had a huge bounty up to get big blue to switch... all rendering this case rather ... pointless....

  • Sep 14, 2007
    http://www.unixresources.net/linux/clf/linuxtalk/archive/00/00/65/85/658554.html
    "Stick a fork in SCO. They're done."

    Nov 24, 2008
    http://www.cnet.com/news/ding-dong-sco-is-dead/
    "Ding, dong SCO is dead"

    Apr 14, 2011
    http://www.zdnet.com/article/sco-is-dead-sco-unix-lives-on/
    "SCO is dead ..."

    Aug 13, 2011
    http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/SCO-vs-Linux-it-s-over-1333900.html
    "SCO vs Linux: it's over"

    Aug 8, 2012
    http://www.zdnet.com/article/sco-is-finally-dead-parrot-dead/
    "SCO is finally 'Dead Parrot'

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