Linux fee
 

$699 fee for servers running Linux and a smaller fee for home PC's. Everyone ready to ante up?

Just assume the threats I'd make right now to the security of the personal lives of SCO executives, so that I don't have to actually make them and be investigated by the FBI.

I'm not paying a penny until we see a court decision. This is simply an attempt to scare big corporations into some CYA. If they call me (unlikely--there are far bigger fish to fry) I'll offer to consider paying if they sign a contract refunding me the fee plus an extra small amount for our trouble in the event that their lawsuits are not successful.

Too many people had their fingers in the Unix development pie even before Linux came along for any one entity to have a clear claim now, and the one entity that IMO deserved a chance to exercise some control & stronger licensing over it (that would be AT&T) never bothered to try very hard because they didn't consider it a strategic product.

In case you need any more ammunition to fuel your personal loathing, here is a nice Forbes article on Darl, his buddies, and their litigious ways.

Re: Linux fee
 

Ante? SCO is raising after IBM, Red Hat, and others have called. That ain't the way the game is played. I wouldn't send them $6.99.

Anyway, the cards they got are both jokers, a deuce of spades, a four of diamonds which they've tried to make look like an ace and have waved around at the other players, and a knave of clubs.

Richard Stallman had this to say:http://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupda...914132,00.html

My man Cringely has this to say:http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20030619.html

Bascially, SCO even released their distro of Linux under the GPL at one point, so there's not a damn thing they can hope to do but drag this out long enough for IBM to get tired of them and buy them out. That is if Red Hat doesn't make them go away first.

I hope Darl ends up dead in an alley with a mackeral shoved in his mouth. This bullshit is what will bring civilization to a grinding halt.

So now that Red Hat is suing them, I guess they feel the need to hurry their attempts at extortion along before they're shut down.

From Slashdot, they now expect someone to pay them $32 for any Linux-kernel embedded device such as TiVo or Zaurus PDA's. Amazing.

Yeh, I run Linux servers, and I don't think SCO has a case (though it wouldn't surprise me if they somehow managed to win). Luckily, IBM is a company that doesn't like being fucked with, and I think they'll be able to put this down.

SCO won't get a fucking dime from me until there's a court ruling, having been appealed all the way up, that says I have to. And at that point, I will probably just switch to Xserve.

I have to drive through Lindon every day to and from work. I drive within blocks of the SCO building daily. The Home Depot which I have been spending a lot of time at lately is literally a stone's throw from the SCO building.

These people at SCO are just loathesome, shit-eating, maggots. Even if Unix was their product their claims would be questionable, but they didn't develop or significantly contribute to Unix, nor did they manage to procure all of the rights to it. There is no legal or ethical basis for ther suits, but unfortunately in a US court, it is not difficult to buy a ruling.

If the world were a more perfect place, we'd all get to pound the balls of these people flat with a wooden hammer.

It is when you're trying to outbid Big Blue.:D

Yes, this is unfortunately a sad reflection of our over-litigious society today. Try to find a legal loophole to wrangle through, exploit the altruistic hard work of others, and try to get as much money as possible out of it.

I think this should be settled via a game of Rochambeau, South Park style. Of course, IBM gets to go first.

Well, IBM has countersued. The saga continues.

SCO is now looking the juggernaut in the face. Going up to a sleeping dragon, whacking it in the face and kicking it in the balls is NOT a good survival strategy.

IBMs patents look like bullshit. They're a data compression technique -- most of which are patented multiple times, a method of navigating among program menus that use options that are arranged in a graphical tree (puh-lease -- that's been done for over 20 years), a method for verifying that an electronic message was received (yes, electronic return receipt has been patented multiple times as well), and a method for monitoring computing systems that are linked in a cluster (might be legit, might be ridiculously broad). However, as the eBay buy-it-now case proves, bullshit patents fly in the courts.

Well SCO has certainly found a good way to overinflate their stock price: at $11, up from the $1.50 it was at when they began this thing. All without revealing one line of the code that the whole suit is based on.

Short their stock now while the company is still around.

I've been trying to for a few days now. My broker says that the stock isn't shortable. Maybe there aren't any more outstanding shares to borrow from??

Another development.... SCO executives are selling off their stock hand over fist: http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Aug/08122...ness/83193.asp

Today's Slashdot: "According to the Salt Lake Tribune, 'SCO Group executives have sold about 119,000 shares of their company since it filed a lawsuit against IBM in March...' Their CFO started the $1.2 million sell-off just after the lawsuit."

Can't short SCO? Buy Red Hat, which slumped after showing consecutive profits, for no other reason than SCO jitters.

OK lunchmeat, you win this round.

I AM SPARTACUS!

<b>I</b> AM SPARTACUS!

I'd argue with you on that point, but the plain truth is that you look better than I do in that armored dress. Damn you.

Awww man, I'm sorry. I was just trying to show my support. They can't crucify us all!

Though RIAA's giving it their best.

yowzer!
 

Y'all may want to put on asbestos mitts before you read this one....

http://armedndangerous.blogspot.com/...57186387886957

Awesome, simply awesome. esr is one person you never want to be on the wrong side of.

Heh. ESR is a big fuckin' geek that frequently handles situations very immaturely. I don't know that I'd rate much of his stuff as "awesome". He's just another screaming Linux zealot.

Oh, the irony!

Not really. I'm not in a position to speak for a whole group of people, whereas this diplomat heads OSI. Just what open source needs: <b>another</b> demonstration that they're a bunch of whining babies.

If you think ESR is whining here, you haven't read SCOs side. Diplomacy is NOT called for, here -- SCO has gone off its rocker.

ESR _IS_ flaming the hell out of them, but on the other hand, SCO has been making cartooney threats and most recently claimed outright that ESR was on IBMs payroll.

I understand, but to the outside world it looks like Linux users are a bunch of whiny babies (which, incidentally, they are). ESR's writings have always been like that, and with the way he carries and presents himself in person, he doesn't make a real good spokesman for Open Source as far as public image is concerned.

No, no, no! He's a screaming GNU/Linux zealot!

:p

Look, vi is the only editor anyone ever needs, and it's better for people with repetitive motion injuries as well.

A disclaimer for the previous statement: I mean no/very little disrespect to RMS, I think he's a nifty, if very strange, guy who has written and inspired some very nifty software. The words 'zealot' and 'Linux' in close conjunction just bring up certain associations for me.

A disclaimer for the disclaimer: I suck at vB, apparently, and had to edit my post to adjust it.

You whipper-snappers and your newfangled 'vi'! Ain't nuthin' you can't do with ed!

:o <Anything 'vi' can do, 'vim' can do better. 'Vim' can do anything better than 'vi'.>

Even for Dvorak weirdos like me? Yeah, sure. There goes your efficiency. :)

See, I pronounce vim "vim". But I pronounce vi "vee eye", which is how it should be. So, your little song doesn't work! Aha!

(vim is my favorite editor ever.)

Vee eye is the correct pronunciation, expect that there is one better... "six".

This from the old lisa who argued with me that it should be "vye" until "Star Trek VI" came out.

I pronouce it 'vee-eye', too. The song's just as awkward in my head as in yours. :)

(Note the assumtion that neither of us sings it out loud.)

I've been using Dvorak for about a year and a half now, and after that first week using vim has been as easy as ever. Of course, for that first week I had trouble typing my own name.

This may belong in a different thread, probably even in a different forum, but I've found that the Dvorak layout helps tremendously when I'm writing prose, but not much at all when I'm programming. What has your experience been?

Well, I've been using it for about 9 months, and I haven't written much code in that time. I did some Visual Basic, but I'm not sure that really counts. I'm learning Perl this semester, though (as you already know), so we'll see how I do with that.

I do see what you're saying, though. There's a lot more odd characters used in programming, and dvorak is probably designed more to help with writing letters.

It's really a pleasure to write with, though. I don't have to twist my fingers into a pretzel in order to type common words anymore. Mostly, it's just nice to not have my wrists hurt every night.

I vote for "six" myself, along with "nine hundred ninety four" instead of "vim". :rolleyes:

Bri