August 05, 2003
SCO starts waving red cape around excited bulls
SCO is offering a great deal to license Linux for commercial usage (one CPU) for only $699.
Do I need to point you to the Slashdot discussion?
The problem with SCO's claims is that the company refuses to publically state which parts of the Linux kernel are proprietary, and they just tell people to wait until the court date with IBM to see. This approach is flawed, since it's apparently doing a good job of scaring off corporate users. In addition, if/when the offending code is ever publicized, then the kernel maintainers would go ahead and remove the code and replace it with something else, which would then --ta da-- put a tiny dent into SCO's licensing scheme.
Didn't read the slashdot thread, but a friend of mine mentioned this to me earlier and how it had evolved out of a SCO plan to get IBM to buy them out.
In a world where Microsoft is trying hard to be on every PC, server, mobile device, and entertainment device, and to manage property rights, track movements and usage, etc., the last thing we need is stunts like this to discourage competition.
Posted by: Nurse Ratched at August 6, 2003 11:30 AM