On Sat, Mar 26, 2005 at 10:44:37AM -0800, Bryan J. Smith wrote:
<snip>
> Everyone keeps missing my point. It's not to "excuse" SCO, but it _is_
> to show how IBM _did_ screw-over SCO. There is a very, very, _very_
> important lesson in this lawsuit that 99% of Linux people are missing
> (at least not Linus, ESR and many others thank God).
>
I don't really care about your point, and you're missing mine. For the
sake of this thread, I couldn't care less who did what to whom or who
was at fault. _My_ point is that this is another instance where you make
broad, sweeping statements that don't square with what I've heard/read,
and _seem_ to rely on some sort of private knowledge. I'm not saying
you're making things up. I'm merely saying that if you're going to make
statements like this, you really should provide more verifiable
background information to support your statements. Otherwise, it's
another, "Oh no, Bryan's gone off again. Who knows where he comes up
with this stuff?" Don't assume everyone's read all the filings or all
the tech journals. In addition, you frequently make the statement that
the press gets things way wrong. I'll grant that the press is wrong a
lot, but _that_ wrong and _that_ often? After a while, I wonder who's
really wrong: the journalists or you.
It's kind of like when Jack Horner comes out and says, "Well of course,
all dinosaurs were warm blooded." And the whole rest of the
paleontologists in the world are very clear about the fact that they
were strictly cold blooded, just like the birds and reptiles with whom
they share an overwhelming number of other characteristics. It doesn't
take long to wonder what Jack's smoking on those long digs in Montana
and the Gobi.
More on-topic, I'm not sure who actually believes IBM is this benign
benefactor for the Linux movement. It should have been clear to everyone
from day one that IBM operates in IBM's best interests, like any other
company. If that happens to coincide with Linux for a while, so much the
better for us. But when the day comes that they feel that using our OS
isn't in their best interests, they'll drop us like a hot rock. Maybe
the press thinks IBM is the demi-god of Linux, but I don't think anyone
else does.
Unless I miss something, IBM's agenda is fairly transparent.
1. They've been operating under the onus of Microsoft for a long time.
They'd like a way to be free of this burden.
2. Linux is the first OS that runs on virtually all their platforms, and
they didn't have to spend a dime to reap that benefit. They can sell it
to customers as a bottom-up, turnkey solution.
3. Linux people are in positions of influence in many many companies
around the world. Not as CIOs, but as lower level people who move Linux
in through the back door and eventually usher it in through the front.
It's wise to make nice with us, since IBM hardware and consulting
services could escort Linux in.
4. IBM exists to sell hardware and consulting services and make googobs
of money, as well as maintain their stock price. Whatever assists that
is a good idea. Software is secondary to IBM. They sell hardware and
consulting. They could _give_ the software away and still make money.
5. IBM has more patents than anyone else in the world, and can afford
the most expensive (and best) lawyers in the world, anywhere in the
world. Translation = they have about the biggest sticks you can find.
And they have no compunction about using them against perceived
roadblocks.
Given all this, who in their right mind wouldn't believe that IBM's
current love affair with Linux is anything more than a temporary fling?
And who wouldn't believe that under different circumstances, IBM
wouldn't hesitate to crush the whole Open Source movement? It's not
rocket science, just common sense.
SCO? Their case was never very good, and they've badly mishandled it.
They'll be lucky if they survive financially long enough to see this
case through to the end. And they violated some golden rules of
business: never put all your eggs in one basket, and never trust someone
who's got the wherewithall to eat you for breakfast; always have a
backup plan and an exit strategy-- gold plated and ironclad.
And of course, they screwed with the wrong community. ;-}
Paul
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