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| Groklaw in "The State of the Open Source Union, 2004" -- Groklaw Objection "Voice of Reason" |
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Monday, February 28 2005 @ 05:41 PM EST
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Mark Stone, in his "The State of the Open Source Union, 2004," currently on Slashdot, has some lovely things to say about Groklaw: "This is certainly good news for Linux and open source. Going back five or six years, clearly one of the major obstacles to widespread adoption of open source software was the uncertain legal status of both the software and the licenses. While this aspect of open source is still an unfinished saga -- more on that shortly -- the inability of SCO, through either legal or PR channels, to undermine Linux gives reason for confidence about the future.
"The real story about SCO in 2004 has in fact been the telling of that story. While mainstream media coverage of SCO has varied widely -- sometimes accurate, sometimes resembling coverage of the OJ Simpson trial -- Groklaw has emerged as a steady voice of reason and objectivity adeptly defusing all attempts at 'FUD' PR around the case.
"2004 has been, especially as an election year, a controversial year for the phenomenon of blogging. Whether blogging will provide a sustainable alternate voice in journalism is very much an open question. A few blog sites, however, have shown what a handful of dedicated individuals can do in the face of much larger, and better funded PR machines. Groklaw is an outstanding example of the positive journalism effect that blogging can have." well... [blushes] ... thank you. The Dark Side has tried unrelentingly for about six months, along with its Media Running Dogs and Astroturf Internet Thugs, as I affectionately call them, to tarnish Groklaw's (and my) reputation. I'm so happy to learn that they have failed. It's been quite a ride. Well, fellow Grokaw members, so far, so good. And my Mom will be proud of me when she reads what Mark Stone wrote. She hasn't a clue what Groklaw is about, not being a computer person, but she will understand this. Ma, I did OK. : ) I have also made arrangements for Groklaw to keep on truckin' even if I were to have an unfortunate accident or anything, so it doesn't depend on me any more. Not that I plan on going anywhere, but mortals have to do contingency planning, since there is a big X factor in all our plans. Groklaw has a life of its own now anyway. Everyone knows how to do it, now that we did it, and I am genuinely proud of the fact that I thought of Groklaw and got the experiment off the runway and into the air, but I also realize I am not absolutely necessary, now that we are airborne. I so love doing it, though, and I hope to continue for years to come, long after SCO's ship has sunk, head first, into the deep, and SCO is just a memory, the only proof of its one-time existence being Groklaw, the marker in the enterprise graveyard that will read, "Here lies the company that took on the FOSS community and lost, who foolishly thought it could make a killing off of the labor of the generous-hearted and unselfish programmers who gave the world Linux, who tried to destroy the GPL and failed miserably."
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| Authored by: Nick on Monday, February 28 2005 @ 05:47 PM EST |
| Using links, please, if you link to something. [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: rsteinmetz70112 on Monday, February 28 2005 @ 05:47 PM EST |
Congratulations PJ, I hope you stay at it for ever.
---
Rsteinmetz
"I could be wrong now, but I don't think so."
Randy Newman - The Title Theme from Monk[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, February 28 2005 @ 06:19 PM EST |
"Here lies the company that took on the FOSS community and lost, who
foolishly thought it could make a killing off of the labor of the
generous-hearted and unselfish programmers who gave the world Linux, who tried
to destroy the GPL and failed miserably."
I had to read this twice.
The first time I read it, I thought these two clauses referred to the same
party:
"[the] unselfish programmers who gave the world Linux," and "who
tried to destroy the GPL and failed miserably."[ Reply to This | # ]
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- English is tricky - Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, February 28 2005 @ 06:41 PM EST
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| Authored by: producer on Monday, February 28 2005 @ 06:36 PM EST |
They spread FUD, they redirect, they misinterpert, they redefine, they lie.
But the truth is metaphysical.
It can be denied but not eliminated. And PJ is the master of this.
The truth stands as it is. It exists by definition of itself.
It requires no defense, as it can't be offended.
Keep teaching them, PJ.
Congratulations! You deserve it and more.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Latesigner on Monday, February 28 2005 @ 06:53 PM EST |
| We're all in your debt. [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, February 28 2005 @ 07:07 PM EST |
"...long after SCO's ship has sunk...."<P>I certainly hope that
the SCOx Captain and ship's officers are properly keelhauled before the ship
goes down. If they reach land, they should then be drawn and quartered, then
placed on pikes on the approach to IBM's world "headquaters">[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: tredman on Monday, February 28 2005 @ 07:20 PM EST |
"I have also made arrangements for Groklaw to keep on truckin' even if I
were to have an unfortunate accident or anything, so it doesn't depend on me any
more." -- PJ
It's funny you mention that. I was thinking a few days back about an essay I
read from Eric Raymond, where he goes into detail saying who has control over
certain projects of his in case of his untimely (or timely) demise. There's far
too much accumulated information that would shrivel up and whither away if not
left in capable hands.
It may be a grizzly thought, but it's practical and prudent. One thing I've
learned about you, PJ, if nothing else, is that you surround yourself with some
very bright, knowledgable and hard-working people. If this holds true, I have
no doubt that Groklaw will probably outlive us all.
Tim[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: daWabbit on Monday, February 28 2005 @ 07:25 PM EST |
Yes. Thank you very much. Not just you, PJ, though you deserve every plaudit we
can bestow. Thanks also to the other members who contribute and so give me a
wide variety of views and interpretations.
As an aside; Knowing SCO, their ship will not sink head first. Backwards all the
way for those folks. History proves this.
Jack
---
"There ain't no reason I should work this hard when I can live off the chickens
in my neighbor's yard" -Bruno Wolfe[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: denver.co on Monday, February 28 2005 @ 07:27 PM EST |
PJ, you're just too modest. It's something more like, "Ma, I'm a hero to
people all over the planet."
Congratulations on the recognition of your
accomplishment! [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: icebarron on Monday, February 28 2005 @ 07:54 PM EST |
Integrity, honor, fortitude, honesty, modesty, tireless, objective, and most of
all priceless!!! All of these describe our dear PJ.
Thank you from the whole of my heart.
Peace to one and all
Dan[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, February 28 2005 @ 08:59 PM EST |
While I'm happy that PJ and Groklaw got well-deserved coverage and accolades
that wasn't the best article I've read about it.
First it called the GPL viral.
It spread some "Linux is scary because it could be stolen and has an
untested license" FUD.
It did a poor job of explaining the SCO lawsuit.
And even though it was written recently it missed a ton of updates on the EU
patent directive (it basically said that Poland was able to stop it... which is
where we were a couple of months ago).
It completely failed to talk about the subject in its own title.
It wasn't even that long of an article :)[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: m_si_M on Monday, February 28 2005 @ 09:07 PM EST |
Everyone knows how to do it, now that we did it, and I am genuinely proud
of the fact that I thought of Groklaw and got the experiment off the runway and
into the air, but I also realize I am not absolutely necessary, now that we are
airborne.
PJ, this may be true or not, but, reading Groklaw for more
than a year now, I know exactly no one here who could match the quality of your
writing (as regards style). Remember "DiDiotic" and other linguistic diamonds of
the whole saga? You may not be necessary for providing relevant information, but
you are absolutely necessary for the joy of reading Groklaw.
Thank
you! [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Observer on Monday, February 28 2005 @ 09:18 PM EST |
| Perhaps more to the point, SCO is the company that forgot about the FOSS
community.
From what I see, SCO thought they could take on Big
Corporations (such as IBM) which use Linux, completely ignoring the fact that
there was this very lively community behind that software. When this story
first came out, they thought they were fighting IBM. I don't think they had any
idea that all those "free software hippies" would come to the aid of the
very company for which the term "FUD" was invented. They wanted to think that
they were the little guys, the David v. Goliath, the champions of Truth
and the American Way. Then, when the community started to fight back, they
discounted us like a bunch of foaming-at-the-mouth tree huggers or Commies.
They didn't want to fight the community. They didn't think they had to fight
the community. What they didn't factor in to their plans was that the community
still had a very strong sense of ownership, and knew just exactly the GPL
was supposed to protect, and the fact that a particular company counts their
revenues in the Billions makes no difference, as long as that company knows how
to play by the GPL. ---
The Observer [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: ossworks on Monday, February 28 2005 @ 10:16 PM EST |
For me, one of the more significant contributions that PJ has made to the open
source community was to have us stop apologizing for the phrase "free as in
beer" and, instead, embrace free as "Free." Thanks to PJ, we now
have little free and big Free. No more need for verbal gymnastics about two
definitions of "free." It makes immediate sense when you describe FOSS
to a naive individual. So, thanks PJ, thanks a bunch. Now, if you could just
help us with GNU...
Ossworks[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, February 28 2005 @ 11:29 PM EST |
I certainly think PJ deserves congratulations, but for reasons larger than the
SCO case. I think Groklaw is a prime example of what I hope will be the new
model for media. Sources that are trusted because they provide verifiable facts
and earn a reputation for trustworthiness, not simply because they are a
division of a large media company. [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: AdultSupervision on Tuesday, March 01 2005 @ 12:17 AM EST |
It has been said that "genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent
perspiration". Although accurately summarizing the timescale and effort
involved in the two key components, this quip belittles the enormous value of
that one percent.
Without the moment of inspiration that PJ experienced, however fleetingly it
occurred, none of this would have happened.
Or it would have happened a different way, brought about by a different person.
But I cannot imagine a more effective way that just one blog site could bring
out the many good things that Groklaw has brought to light.
I can imagine, however, other insights and inspirations by others like PJ, that
will refine and expand the grokblog concept into a powerful counterforce against
the mass-marketing hypersap spewed into what has previously been a vacuum of
knowledge.
Thanks, PJ, for getting the grokolution started.
---
AI can not produce human-like intelligence. As soon as it develops free will,
it will choose to develop in its own way.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Greebo on Tuesday, March 01 2005 @ 02:28 AM EST |
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Everyone knows how to do it, now that we did it, and I am genuinely proud of
the fact that I thought of Groklaw and got the experiment off the runway and
into the air, but I also realize I am not absolutely necessary, now that
we are airborne.
I couldn't disagree with this more. For me personally
all these Legal documents are completely unreadable. I rely entirely on your
excellent summaries for following the cases.
Maybe someone else would pick
up if you were to leave, but i seriously doubt they could match your style and
the fantastic way you summarise each story.
Do not underestimate yourself
PJ. To me you are Groklaw. I hope you continue for many
years.
Greebo ---
PJ has permission to use my posts for commercial
use.
[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anthem on Tuesday, March 01 2005 @ 03:10 AM EST |
I can't see it.
Be careful, PJ. A lot of people come for the forum, but I can get that
anywhere. The power of Groklaw is very closely tied with your excellent
analysis.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Weeble on Tuesday, March 01 2005 @ 03:49 AM EST |
Another argument for auto-seeding (see my comments under last Thursday's
"Groklaw's Latest News Picks..." and the article that follows this
one, "Geeklog Patch Accepted...").
s/Grokaw/Groklaw
Gotta ask this--is that a Freudian slip, PJ? Do you have a secret admiration for
Tom Brokaw? :-) (He's a well-known broadcast journalist with NBC News, for those
of you who don't watch U.S. news broadcasts.)
---
You Never Know What You're Going to Learn--or Learn About--on Groklaw!
[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, March 01 2005 @ 04:38 AM EST |
| Is he a well respected writer? [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: cybervegan on Tuesday, March 01 2005 @ 05:38 AM EST |
... but PJ, *you* did it. No-one else took on the challenge, and no-one could
have done it the same, nor would they have been likely to do it with the same
style.
<Scans the Internet horizon> Don't see anything close to as good as
Groklaw out there, either. Some have tried too, but only you, so far, have
succeeded.
Without you, the initial idea, even if it had somehow happened, it *still*
wouldn't have been *Groklaw*. It could have been called the same thing, but it
wouldn't have *been* Groklaw.
* Groklaw is not PJ
* PJ is not Groklaw
* PJ and Groklaw are both aspects of one another
Without the other, niether would be complete.
I just hope the emotional injuries sustained during the past few years heal
quickly and I hope you're not getting bags under your eyes - you've
single-handedly caused a world-wide shortage of midnight oil!
regards,
-cybervegan
---
Software source code is a bit like underwear - you only want to show it off in
public if it's clean and tidy. Refusal could be due to embarrassment or shame...[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: bcomber on Tuesday, March 01 2005 @ 06:56 AM EST |
"...though, and I hope to continue for years to come, long after SCO's ship
has sunk, head first, into the deep, and SCO is just a memory,..."
This is the only part I disagree with. Personally I'd much prefer to have them
go down back end first. I'm going to love hearing all the screaming as they
slowly sink into oblivion.
Mike[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, March 01 2005 @ 08:06 AM EST |
You know, without references, that looks, walks and sounds a lot like FUD to me.
Oh, you and I and regular Groklaw regulars know that it isn't, because we've
been following the story, but how does that help new readers to come to the
conclusion that you are being objective and defensive rather than engaging in
some FUD of your own?
The persistent links on Groklaw are mostly about the legal case, but a lot of
what SCO is up to is FUD, so how about adding a FUD section where the most
egregious astroturfing and biased news pieces can be collected and referenced as
necessary?[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Grendel on Tuesday, March 01 2005 @ 08:58 AM EST |
| Bravo! Bravo! [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, March 01 2005 @ 09:42 AM EST |
| "And on this grave is built a grand website, humble in appearance and attitude,
simple in construction, but so complete and compelling as to be the sine qua
non of any software law endeavor. And on the cornerstone of that site are,
without pretension, the simple initials, PJ."
You're not saving the world, PJ.
You're teaching the world how to save itself... teaching it how to share.
Tell
your mom you found your dream. No doubt you've both seen "The Sound of Music."
She'll know what you did. [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, March 01 2005 @ 09:57 AM EST |
| And just who is going to pay for that huge epitaph? Do you have any idea
what tombstone engravers charge per letter? It's not like billions of dollars
will suddenly have nowhere to go when little SCO goes under. Save the heavy
masonry for real criminal monopolists, not just the wanna-be's. ;-)
Keep it
cheap:
SCO 0
GPL 1
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| Authored by: Bas Burger on Tuesday, March 01 2005 @ 02:36 PM EST |
In a way SCO has been a blessing for GNU/Linux and Open Source... and sooner or
later some other idiot lawyer type would have tried... (You know the ones that
studied law but failed to finish it, but still have enough info to be able to
make other people's lifes misrable for a cheap fast buck).
It is all in the proverbial game of them, they don't care if they ruien a whole
trade and hundred-thousands of people working...
I am glad that people are waking up and see all this, sites like Groklaw help a
lot, mainly because of it's civilized way of bringing important information.
Not that I can read most of the legal stuff on here and understand it fully,
still I pick things up through comments of readers that explain things in normal
talk.
I hope sincerely, being a Dutch citizen, that we in Europe wont get the legal
dejavu of what has been going on the last 15 years in the USA, but probably we
get that as our politicians are more corrupt than their US counterparts.
Keep up the good work PJ and the community...
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