Mondo Rescue shut down by legal hassles [LWN.net]

Mondo Rescue is a well-regarded, GPL-licensed "disaster recovery" tool for both Linux and Windows. The project's web page currently reads: "Due to legal actions brought about by FastServers.net against one of our developers, Mondo as of now is terminated." The details of these actions are hard to come by; bits of information can be found in the Mondo Rescue forum, and, for the other side, in this mondo-devel posting. The end result, however, is that Mondo Rescue seems to have been shut down - for now. (Thanks to Rick Moen).

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Mondo Rescue shut down by legal hassles

Posted Nov 2, 2004 18:34 UTC (Tue) by glennc99 (subscriber, #6993) [Link]

Hum... Chasing links from the mondo-devel mailing list lead here:

http://www.microwerks.net/~hugo/

Which looks like a perfectly good project home page to me. (Might be slightly out of date, newest 'News' is August 20th, but that's not unusual in a project like this...)

Mondo Rescue shut down by legal hassles

Posted Nov 2, 2004 19:00 UTC (Tue) by LinuxLobbyist (guest, #6541) [Link]

Continuing to the download link, I found that mondo-2.10.tgz was still there, but mindi-1.10.tgz returned a 404. I suspect if this isn't resolved quickly, mondo source will disappear as well.

Sad, really. If the post to mondo-devel is to be believed, it sounds as if the former FastServers.net employee is trying to extort more money out of them. I'll reserve judgement, but regardless of what his side of this story is (like how he might have been treated there, disagreements with management), if he did do what Travis said he did, he was wrong to go that far.

There's always this for those looking for the latest versions of both mondo and mindi.

Mondo Rescue shut down by legal hassles

Posted Nov 2, 2004 19:07 UTC (Tue) by LinuxLobbyist (guest, #6541) [Link]

Hold the presses! Dang it. I knew I should have RTFA. From Ray's side, it truly appears that it will have to be worked between attorneys. Ray's story sounds believeable, too.

the moral to this story

Posted Nov 2, 2004 18:43 UTC (Tue) by ccyoung (guest, #16340) [Link]

not taking sides or making judgments, but the following truisms are worth review:

communication with a client during the course of a project is critical - even if only bad news to report, report it.

it's really bad form to hit up a client in the middle of a project for more money. communication - document changes in scope, or whatever, and then bill on that basis. (many large (and in my view unethical) companies make their living by underbidding on huge contracts and then charging for change-orders - ugh!)

in dealing with finance (and other clueless) managers, always make them feel they are in control of projects - many times this comes in the form of asking advice: should we do these modifications, which will cost $$, and will cost $$$ to fix later, or should we go on with the current plan?

lastly, if underbid (which we all do some of the time), suck it up, get on with life, and hope for some modifications, referrals, or other good karma later.

Mondo Rescue shut down by legal hassles

Posted Nov 2, 2004 19:33 UTC (Tue) by thompsot (guest, #12368) [Link]

Based on Travis's response, assuming it's accurate, it appears that the
Mondo developers need to grow up and take some clue courses such as
Business Etiquette 101, General Business 101, and Employee Responsibility
101. If you don't want your employer asking you for updates and
information, then become self-employed and try to make a living without
an employer (then you can work 80 hours a week and pay for your own
benefits). Otherwise, grow up. The working world is for adults, not
children. If Travis's response is spin, then Ray and Hugo should post
some anti-spin to prove it.

Mondo Rescue shut down by legal hassles

Posted Nov 2, 2004 19:57 UTC (Tue) by melauer (guest, #2438) [Link]

> Based on Travis's response, assuming it's accurate, it appears that the
> Mondo developers need to grow up and take some clue courses such as
> Business Etiquette 101, General Business 101, and Employee Responsibility
> 101.

But of course, you can't assume that Mr. Schaffner's response is accurate. Unless you have some information which we don't, there isn't enough info here to be certain of who is right. That's why two links were posted in the article -- both sides of the story are still necessary here.

I have to agree with LinuxLobbyist... both sides have a plausible story. More facts are needed first.

Mondo Rescue shut down by legal hassles

Posted Nov 9, 2004 20:32 UTC (Tue) by nkr1ptd (guest, #25946) [Link]

This is very true...more times than not there are three versions to each issue...and only the one is the truth, which most likely is somewhere in the middle. We will have to wait and see. Hopefully it will all be resolved without attorneys and worked out fairly and honestly for both parties.

Do they need a mediator?

Posted Nov 2, 2004 19:57 UTC (Tue) by BrucePerens (subscriber, #2510) [Link]

I don't know the folks on this project. But please tell them that I will play the role of mediator if (and for as long as) that's acceptable to both parties. I am not an attorney. But I have a thorough understanding of the issues on both sides of this sort of situation. And I have contributed software to the project, as creator of Busybox.

Sure, they can do this between attorneys, but that's probably taking an over-the-top situation further over the top.

Bruce

Do they need a mediator?

Posted Nov 2, 2004 20:12 UTC (Tue) by thompsot (guest, #12368) [Link]

Go Bruce. I have been involved in legal snafus, and it is a nightmare.
I hope they take you up on your offer.

Do they need a mediator?

Posted Nov 24, 2004 19:28 UTC (Wed) by nicku (subscriber, #777) [Link]

Oh, yes please, even though it would probably be painful to you, I would be so happy to see this resolved to the point where Mondo can continue. As with many other system administators, Mondo is critical to me. Mondo's home page reminds me of a young child complaining about his teacher to his mother, omitting the other side of the story. Perhaps you could be Ray Sanders' mum and dad for a short while?

Mondo Rescue shut down by legal hassles

Posted Nov 29, 2004 18:35 UTC (Mon) by tcorcoran (guest, #26317) [Link]

This is going to hurt. As a key component to our company, Mondo made Linux a viable production ready environment. I could rebuild... quickly.

However, airing dirty laundary and creating bad press for any individual or company is just as bad. A developer is having a dispute with a previous employer. He says one thing, they say something else. Let them hash it out. They're relaying facts completely true from each of their perspectives. The real truth is somewhere in between.

I haven't seen anything, even remotely, saying that the company in question is going after Mondorescue. They appear to want the intellectual product produced over the 2(?) months of the project. If they are attempting to ursurp Mondorescue's GPL'd position, we'll all sharpen our pitchforks and go hunting. Only, until then, leave Mr. Sanders and Fastservers alone. Or better yet, let them prove that they want to work it out and take Bruce up on his offer to mediate.