Guest #1 March 12, 2004 A story in the Business section of this morning's Seattle Post-Intelligencer links $50M in funding by Microsoft to SCO that was steered and handled by an investment firm in California. SCO says this infusion of cash resulted in their showing profitability for the first time EVER, in addition to funding their lawsuit warchest. According to regulators, it's not illegal, but one Linux advocate and columnist says "It's just another matchstick on the fire for those who are fed up with Microsoft." "Whether one likes this kind of behavior is a different question, but I don't think there's any type of regulation or law that they're breaking," said Mark Anderson, publisher of Friday Harbor-based Strategic News Service, a newsletter about computing and communications. "It's really just a matter of style, and this is the old Microsoft style." The Short Version: M$FT used BayStar as a proxy for funding the bogus lawsuits against Linux. Not illegal, but still playing dirty. M$FT didn't get where it is by playing nice. DYOC mh ."The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest #2 March 12, 2004 Here is The Register's take on the situation... Microsoft encouraged anti-Linux investment - shock! By Andrew Orlowski in San Francisco Posted: 11/03/2004 at 20:41 GMT In a revelation that may damage Microsoft's impeccable open source credentials, Business Week has revealed that Microsoft staff encouraged a San Francisco-area investment company to invest in the SCO Group. The SCO Group is embroiled in a lawsuit against IBM and two companies who use Linux software, claiming that they all owe SCO money. Long-term Redmond watchers will be shocked and dismayed by the news. Previously Microsoft has been a staunch supporter of open source, praising it as a "cancer", a "virus" and a threat to the capitalist economy. BayStar's Lawrence Goldfarb confirmed that Microsoft executives had contacted his firm two months before it made its decision to invest $50m in the SCO Group, but didn't provide any of the money. Last week Eric Raymond published a memo which he said proved that the SCO Group was Redmond's "puppet" and that Microsoft had provided $100m in funding for SCO's anti-Linux IP collection. Rather than seeing a confluence of interests, he insists that the entire operation is funded and masterminded from Redmond. The desire to see an all-powerful and purposive designer has historically proved very useful to humans, so we musn't be too harsh. Here at The Register we're still weighing the authenticity of documents disclosed to us which purport to show the Pope taking "Mass". Even worse, more undisclosed footage shows North American bears not using the toilet facilities provided by park rangers. But we think that's enough shocking revelations for one day. ® ************ mh ."The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest #3 March 12, 2004 Bump to add -- The backlash against SCO's ham-fisted tactics (last week they actually compared themselves to RIAA!) is expanding, this time to Australia. An open-source concern called CyberKnights has filed a complaint with Australia's consumer protection department, complaining that SCO's shakedown is hurting its business. SCO still hasn't squatted and produced the so-called "IP violation" source code, despite a Federal court judge's order in Utah to do so. Right now, SCO's stock continues to plummet, even after it targeted other major US firms just last week for daring to run Linux without SCO's "permission" in the form of licensing. There is now an anonymous consortium / initiative for companies that are considering Open Source to consult with each other by means of a secure, encrypted VPN. This has the double benefit of keeping both M$FT and SCO off their f*in' backs while they consider the pros and cons of Open Source. This is especially important after M$FT's UK boss mau-mau'd in public recently that companies had better not use "We're considering Open Source" in an effort to leverage Microsoft into granting deep cuts in licensing fees, etc., as a borough in London recently did. More from The Register: ***** All of the major Unix makers appear to have willingly handed Red Hat and Novell the Linux market. The two companies are poised to cash in from a Windows exodus and customers turning in their Unix gear for cheaper kit. This is a business model and not an experiment in litigation for profit. Yes, Novell may have benefitted from irrational short-term enthusiasm as much as SCO, but you want to bet on the long term. The market is starting to show which way it leans in this debate. And this is bad news for the investors banking on SCO's gamble. ® ******* mh .."The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest #4 March 12, 2004 Bump to add -- The snake eats its own tail - it just gets weirder and weirder. According to this link, SCO filed its suit last week against AutoZone by using the Nevada Court's own web system, which is running - you guessed it - LINUX. mh ps - Why is all this important to you? Because pretty soon you'll be seeing prices for Windows XP drop like a stone as the unstoppable Open Source tidal wave continues to build into an economic tsunami that will CAUSE AS BIG A SHIFT IN HOME COMPUTING as the introduction of Windows did back in the day. In other words, if you're reading this, you're using a computer, and it's going to affect you. In just five years, the major Linux distributions (Sue, Red hat, Mandrake, et al) have gone through five evolutions of significant improvement (from version 4 to version 9), and are now poised to move to the home-computing desktop. Microsoft's lawsuit against Lindows is nothing more than pissing on a forest fire, and they know it. ."The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Remster 30 #5 March 12, 2004 Tell us Mark, how do you feel about MS... and dont hold back.. lmaoRemster Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest #6 March 12, 2004 QuoteTell us Mark, how do you feel about MS... and dont hold back.. lmao Now, now...I'm merely passing on news and comment. You won't see any "I HATE MICROSOFT!" or, "DIE, BILL GATES, DIE!" diatribes... But the truth is that an econimic earthquake is coming which will be felt all over the world, as Open Source takes the field in earnest. I know that sounds like evangelism, but I, along with a lot of people in IT, have been looking for the "NEXT WAVE" - here it comes... mh ."The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
indyz 1 #7 March 12, 2004 QuoteIn just five years, the major Linux distributions (Sue, Red hat, Mandrake, et al) have gone through five evolutions of significant improvement (from version 4 to version 9), and are now poised to move to the home-computing desktop. I like Linux. It's my primary OS at home, and I'm the Linux admin where I work. But people have been saying that Linux has been "poised to move to the home-computing desktop" since before I had even installed RedHat 4 for the first time. It just ain't gonna happen in the foreseeable future. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChasingBlueSky 0 #8 March 12, 2004 QuoteQuoteIn just five years, the major Linux distributions (Sue, Red hat, Mandrake, et al) have gone through five evolutions of significant improvement (from version 4 to version 9), and are now poised to move to the home-computing desktop. I like Linux. It's my primary OS at home, and I'm the Linux admin where I work. But people have been saying that Linux has been "poised to move to the home-computing desktop" since before I had even installed RedHat 4 for the first time. It just ain't gonna happen in the foreseeable future. I agree, and I like Unix. I was working for a Fortune 500 company when RH v4 hit the market - and we were in the middle of a data center migration. We did a study if RH would be a good idea to install and replace some of our systems (AS/400, OS390, AIX, CA products and NT4.0)...we found the initial cost was low, but the long term TCO was cost prohibitive due to training costs and support. There were no turn key solutions available at the time (more costs) and we already had significant trouble with people using the client side (idiots) on Windows (more training costs). Linux will need to be packaged better with more support than it currently has to be a viable option (which will piss off the purists). The turn key solutions are getting better every year, but compatibility is still a major issue. It will happen, just not as soon as all of the Linux fans hope for._________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
