Merkey's emails were spoofed? [LWN.net]

Merkey's emails were spoofed?

Posted Nov 10, 2004 0:55 UTC (Wed) by ggoebel (guest, #4487)
Parent article: Buying the kernel

I raised an eyebrow the first time I saw the emails that were purported to originate with Jeff Merkey. The guy has a more than healthy ego and a set of perogatives that have often been in less than harmony with the majority of the linux kernel mailing list. But he's not an idiot.

In this light, it bears mentioning that Jeff Merkey has disavowed the emails that have gotten everyone all riled up. I.e., he says he didn't write them. You can read all about it in Kernel Traffic #283, A Little bit of SCO Status. I'm surprised LWN.net wasn't aware of it. I hope they bother to update the main story to reflect the fact that the claims they are making are disputed.

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Merkey's emails were spoofed?

Posted Nov 10, 2004 1:06 UTC (Wed) by corbet (editor, #1) [Link]

I saw the message quoted in KT; elected to leave it out because there had been too much Merkey stuff in LWN already.

But where, exactly, does he disavow his previous messages? I've seen nothing to that effect, and the message quoted in KT does not say that. He does complain about things which appeared on Groklaw; I've seen claims that people were posting false comments there in his name (but have not seen them myself). That doesn't extend to his linux-kernel postings, however, which, as far as I can tell, were real.

Merkey's emails were spoofed?

Posted Nov 10, 2004 11:20 UTC (Wed) by ggoebel (guest, #4487) [Link]

How about the 3rd paragraph:

Linus Torvalds (and myself) are entitled to apolgies
from GrokLaw, and SCO regarding their false and misleading
claims Linus missappropriated trade secrets or infringed
their copyrights and that I was involved in a scheme with
SCO to further their false, misleading, and libelous
allegations. Groklaw has also posted numerous emails and
comments attributed to me which I did not author which
libel Linus and myself, and were designed to create and
perpetuate animosity in the Linux Community.

Perhaps I'm misreading it. After all he's not rejecting the emails which were posted to the kernel mailing list...

Merkey is a contentious and provoking person. He'd be an interesting interview candidate. Though giving his swollen ego a chance to step up on a soap box in front of a large crowd would probably be a disservice to those people working hard in the trenches who go unnoticed.