How SCO's Threats Rallied Linux (Business Week) [LWN.net]

Business Week is running a column by Stuart Cohen (CEO of OSDL) on how the SCO Group has helped Linux. "The SCO litigation and surrounding media hoopla actually helped accelerate Linux's popularity -- and its legal foundation. SCO's legal offensive was effectively a wake-up call for a community, mobilizing and uniting a large but disparate group of customers and developers around a single cause. It spurred the Linux community to get its house in order. Its response revealed to the world how large that house had become and gave Linux newfound credibility."

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This sounds too much like curing a headache with a hammer...

Posted Feb 7, 2005 15:49 UTC (Mon) by leonbrooks (guest, #1494) [Link]

...or the Captain of the "B" ark becoming increasingly pleased by the
sound of the bagpipes because he knew there was less and less time before
they stopped.

This sounds too much like curing a headache with a hammer...

Posted Feb 7, 2005 16:50 UTC (Mon) by cpm (guest, #3554) [Link]

Well said.

There's a reason it's called Business Weak.

Worthwhile for the many unconverted

Posted Feb 7, 2005 17:06 UTC (Mon) by b7j0c (subscriber, #27559) [Link]

I agree with Cohen's premise and its presence in BW. Sooner or later linux was bound to encounter a non-market threat, since it is very difficult to compete with superior code that is open and free. Dealing with these legal issues now will create a friction-free environment for moving forward. As for the appearance of this article in BW...well, remember that a lot of non-technical types read this magazine and its important that they learn about linux and the value it adds.

How SCO's Threats Rallied Linux (Business Week)

Posted Feb 7, 2005 17:41 UTC (Mon) by stumbles (guest, #8796) [Link]

It's nice to the media finally "getting it" over this matter and letting those who have a
real clue have a say. It wasn't all that long ago if you had something positive to say
for IBM/Linux regarding this case you were drowned out by the talking heads that had
little to no clue what they were talking about.

Once this is over, SCOG will be known for pulling the largest boneheaded maneuver,
ever. Sad thing is, all they had to do was "show the code". Oh wait, they already did
that and it wasn't even theirs. Good thing they decided to remain in violation of two
court orders to show that.

How SCO's Threats Rallied Linux (Business Week)

Posted Feb 7, 2005 21:31 UTC (Mon) by error27 (subscriber, #8346) [Link]

Actually the stuff with SCO seems to be pretty smart depending on how you look at it. I think that Darl made a million dollars last year. If I recall correctly his brother made over half a million dollars.

Sure it looks stupid, but at least a few SCO executives and board members are laughing all the way to the bank.

How SCO's Threats Rallied Linux (Business Week)

Posted Feb 7, 2005 22:36 UTC (Mon) by stumbles (guest, #8796) [Link]

That's exactly what the Enron execs thought while they were laughing while headed
for the bank.