SCO takes on the Feds

[Syini666]

The SCO Group, the company that's hoping to profit from its assertion that Linux violates its Unix intellectual property, has threatened legal action against two federal supercomputer users, letters released Thursday show.

SCO sent letters raising the prospect of legal action for using Linux to two Department of Energy facilities, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC).

The letter to NERSC director Horst Simon used strong language in its effort to convince the research facility to buy a license that will let it use Linux without fear of SCO legal action.

Full Article [ here ]

I don't really follow the whole SCO nonsense very closely, but this seems to be their dumbest move yet. Even Microsoft trys to stay in the good graces of the federal government, so what makes McBride and the rest of the SCO team think they can openly threaten them and actually get away with it? I guess the idea of getting a massive payout from the feds for all the various clusters they own was too good to pass up since it would further finance their waste of time against Linux and annoying/bullying everyone. Maybe thier next target will be NSA clusters used for whatever the NSA does in its basements?

[moxnix]

Now if they are really dumb, they will go after the IRS. I wonder how many time they would get audited for that.

[MrLinus]

You know, it's not even the fact that SCO sent them a letter (and evidentally someone's cap key was stuck) since they flooded a lot of people with those letters. It's this statement at the end of the article that made me go... A$$HOLES:

"Free or low-cost open-source software, full of proprietary code, is grabbing an increasing portion of the software market. Each open-source installation displaces or pre-empts a sale of proprietary, licensable and copyright-protected software," McBride said in a letter, republished by the Open Source and Industry Alliance. "This means fewer jobs, less software revenue and reduced incentives for software companies to innovate."

"We are firm in our belief that the unchecked spread of open-source software, under the GPL (the General Public License covers Linux and many other open-source programs), is a much more serious threat to our capitalist system than U.S. corporations realize," McBride said.

At the same time that SCO is attacking the U.S. government for its use of Linux supercomputers, it argues that those same types of machines can be used by military enemies.

"Open-source software--available widely through the Internet--has the potential to provide our nation's enemies or potential enemies with computing capabilities that are restricted by U.S. law," McBride said. "A computer expert in North Korea who has a number of personal computers can download the latest version of Linux...and in short order build a virtual supercomputer."

SCO sent the letter to every member of the Senate and House of Representatives, said Blake Stowell, a SCO spokesman.

Excuse me. So. Shall we just kill all innovation in favour of closed source applications? How will that help with jobs? Last time I checked there were quite a few jobs created because of open source and some pretty successful companies have done well because of it. Just ask Snort, TripWire, Redhat, Suse, MySQL, etc. (those are the ones that come to mind right away).

And it helps our enemies? So the fact that we send CNN crews with military to tell about where the units are isn't a threat?! What kind of backwards argument is this? Geez. This has to be the most moronic thing I've ever seen. The reality is that both open source and close source bring issues and risks with them. But they also bring the opportunity of development. And specifically, open source does this. Many times closed source won't take the risk unless there is an associated $$$ benefit. Someone in the open source environment sees that something needs to exist and thus creates it (SATAN is a good example). As the saying goes, Necessity is the mother of all invention. If many of the open source developers hadn't taken the risks, the advancements in computers and specifically, IMHO, security, wouldn't exist.


And the world would be in a far more dangerous situation than it is right now.

[rcgreen]

Each open-source installation displaces or pre-empts a sale of proprietary, licensable and copyright-protected software," McBride said in a letter, republished by the Open Source and Industry Alliance. "This means fewer jobs, less software revenue and reduced incentives for software companies to innovate.

gotta love it. By his logic then, the automobile industry should be dead. The internal
combustion engine is not under any patent, yet capitalistic businesses make
millions from building engines. Baking bread is not a proprietary technology,
but bakers still seem to make a profit.

The only time you have a right to own a proprietary product is if you
invented it. The last time I checked, SCO has invented nothing.

[alittlebitnumb]

SCO sucks balls.

[silver-bullets]

Nothing better than a smack to the face to make Uncle Sam happy? They purchased the license to sue, that was the only reason. They are going to screw themselves twice.

-Cheers-

[Lansing_Banda]

Hey guys I don't know if you have gotten this yet, but SCO just sent me a letter. Yeah I will just let you guys read it

Dear Mr. Banda,

Free or low-cost blinking, full of eye closing, is grabbing an increasing portion of the optical moistening market. Each unpaid blink displaces or pre-empts a sale of proprietary, licensable and copyright-protected blink. This means fewer jobs, less blink revenue and reduced incentives for companies who innovate with blinking.

We are firm in our belief that the unchecked spread of blinking, under the GBF (the General Body Functions covers blinking and many other bodily functions), is a much more serious threat to our capitalist system than U.S. corporations realize.

Free Blinking--available widely through the world--has the potential to provide our nation's enemies or potential enemies with blinking capabilities that are restricted by U.S. law. A blinking expert in North Korea who has a number of blinking variations can wink out the latest version of blinking...and in short order destroy the world as he sees fit like that girl from Wichhunter Robin.

In short, Mr. Banda, gives us money now or we are going to smash out the windows of your car. Thank you and have an awful day!

SCO

(Super Capitalist Orginization)

P.S. If you would like to address us in person, just come down to our headquarters, just be sure to bring money.

[hellforgedangel]

P.S. If you would like to address us in person, just come down to our headquarters, just be sure to bring money.

Ha ha! Lets all get baseball bats and go visit....then see what they do

[nihil]

SCO sucks balls.

Correct, but an inferior pair, not mine!

They have disclosed information about classified sites...........treason?, espionage?......

Over here they would be pissing in their pants................11 years in high security is the minimum,
and even my good friend Bubba has a positive security vetting

I would recommend either dump the stock right now, or wait for it to go into the "penny" listings?

Cheers

[slick8790]

Honestly, who the hell does SCO think they are? Buy a liscense to use free software, or we'll sue you. Isn't that called Racketeering? If the federal goverment is going to back down on this, then they might as well just declare open season on organized crime! Pay for something that is free....Hmmm....when did the U.S turn in to 1960's russia?


slick