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| SCO to Unix Developers: Never Mind. Come Back. Want a BMW? |
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Tuesday, June 20 2006 @ 09:53 PM EDT
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I am a bit speechless. SCO's conference today was to say Unix developers can make some money if only they'll develop for SCO again. If they pay you a $1000 then will you at least take a look? Will you code for them for a BMW? As for SCO's anti-Linux litigation scorched earth policy... well, it's never mind about all that. I have to ask, though. What happens if you look at their UNIX code? Does your brain belong to SCO forever more? What if you later wanted to contribute to GNU/Linux? Oh. I think I get it. It's really a nefarious plan to reduce the number of Linux developers. What a concept. Joke, joke. Here's SCO's press release, titled "SCO Plans Multi-Million Dollar Investment Into Mobile Application Development."
I'll let Charles Babcock tell you about it in his article on CRN, SCO To Unix Developers: We Want You Back": To draw Unix developers back into its embrace, SCO is offering cash incentives for developers to attend its upcoming user group conference in Las Vegas in August. Training in SCO's EdgeBuilder developer kit will be offered at the conference; attendees completing it will be given $1,000.
EdgeBuilder is a set of tools for building smart phone and other wireless applications that can tie into SCO's Me Inc. set of mobility services, such Shout, for broadcasting messages or customized marketing campaigns, and Vote, for launching opinion polls and other feedback mechanisms.
SCO is also offering a 10-cylinder BMW car or a $100,000 cash prize for the developers who use the toolkit to produce the best wireless applications. SCO calls it The Edgeclick Developer Challenge. ...McBride said the case against IBM "is scheduled to come to trial in early 2007. We continue to feel we have a strong case and we're looking forward to our day in court. But while the legal teams have been off litigating, the business team has been busy innovating." Which is why it needs you to write some code for it. It seems it is concentrating on ringtones and "on making mobile business transactions easier to implement". So, there's the offer. Does SCO get it, or what? Yup. Money has always inspired UNIX developers. Not. Reaping what you sow is sometimes very painful. It turns out kicking Penguins in the heart isn't a very good business plan. Go figure. Here's the press release:
**********************************
SCO Kicks Off New Investment Program With 'The EdgeClick Developer
Challenge' Emphasizing the Creation of Mobile Applications Using the New
EdgeBuilder SDK and Providing an Additional $1,000 to Each Developer Who
Attends SCO Forum
LINDON, Utah, June 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The SCO Group, Inc.
("SCO") (Nasdaq: SCOX) a leading provider of UNIX(R) software technology
for distributed, embedded and network-based systems, today announced a
significant new worldwide investment program that rewards developers for
creating innovative, new mobile applications for wireless handset devices
using the company's new EdgeBuilder software developer kit (SDK). To
kickoff this new program SCO has developed "The EdgeClick Developer
Challenge" where developers have the chance to win a grand prize of a new
V10, 507 horsepower BMW M5 or $100,000 USD in cash. There will also be 10
additional winners that receive a significant cash prize.
SCO, Windows and Java developers are invited to attend SCO's 20th
annual SCO Forum conference and participate in "The EdgeClick Developer
Challenge" to create the next "killer application" or mobile service. SCO
will further invest in developers who attend Forum with a $1,000 bonus
after completing their EdgeBuilder SDK training that will take place during
SCO Forum. To receive this bonus, developers must register for Forum by
July 15 as space is limited. For complete rules and qualifications for
participating in "The EdgeClick Developer Challenge" and to register for
SCO Forum, developers should visit http://www.edgeclickpark.com/challenge.
"During the last 25 years SCO has been committed to the UNIX platform
and continues to reaffirm its commitment to that platform. Thousands of
developers have created applications for the UNIX platform, and now we're
inviting them along with Windows and Java developers to take those legacy
applications and create new ones on our new EdgeClick platform," said Darl
McBride, president and CEO, The SCO Group Inc. "We have spent tremendous
amounts of time and resources developing and upgrading our technology and
have designed the developer investment program to make application
mobilization quick, easy and profitable for developers, partners and
customers."
The EdgeBuilder SDK provides developers with many technologies and
tools for creating:
- mobile device clients
- application services that run on SCO's Edge Processor
- administration web pages for mobile applications
- connection agents for reaching into corporate data sources
In addition to gaining valuable training and education using SCO's
EdgeBuilder SDK, attendees of this year's SCO Forum will hear from leading
industry luminaries, analysts and thought leaders about the growing mobile
device market and the trends in developing mobile services and
applications.
SCO Forum will take place August 6-9, 2006 at the Mirage Hotel and
Convention Center in Las Vegas. This year's conference, sponsored by HP(R),
MySQL(R), and many other partners, will also focus on the company's many
UNIX-based solutions with SCO OpenServer(R) and UnixWare(R). The conference
is attended by hundreds of developers, resellers, industry hardware and
software partners, system integrators, distributors, customers, and members
of the media and analyst community.
Many breakout sessions and keynotes will focus on development platforms
and web services for designing and implementing mobile services, including
service-oriented architectures (SOA), Java, and many others. These
EdgeClick break out sessions will be particularly valuable to developers
with previous experience using .NET, C#, J2ME, SOAP, XML, SOA, SMS and
GPRS/EDGE technologies, protocols, and implementations.
"Developers are central to the success of any platform technology
company and this developer challenge is an investment by SCO in the
developer community and our research and development efforts," said Sandy
Gupta, chief technology officer and general manager for the platforms
division, The SCO Group, Inc. "By tapping into the talents and abilities of
developers around the world, SCO will create a marketplace and channel for
the creation, selling and distribution of mobile services and applications.
According to In-Stat, as the expected sales of wireless handsets increase
each year to exceed more than 1.9 billion units in 2011, customers will
embrace powerful new mobile solutions created by these developers. The
tools and training obtained at SCO Forum 2006 with the EdgeBuilder SDK will
empower developers to quickly create powerful mobile services and
applications."
In connection with today's announcement, the company will hold a
teleconference for developers, media and analysts on Tuesday, June 20, 2006
at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time. Darl McBride, president and CEO, and Sandy
Gupta, general manager and CTO, will provide further details and answer
questions on the call. Participants should dial toll free 1-800-289-0544 or
use the toll number +1-913-981-5533; and enter the confirmation code:
9023430. A webcast is also available at the following web site
http://ir.sco.com/events.cfm.
About SCO
The SCO Group (Nasdaq: SCOX) is a leading provider of UNIX software
technology for distributed, embedded and network-based systems, offering
SCO OpenServer for small to medium business, UnixWare for enterprise
applications, and Me Inc. for digital network services. SCO's highly
innovative and reliable solutions help millions of customers grow their
businesses everyday, from SCO OpenServer on main street to UnixWare on Wall
Street, and beyond. SCO owns the core UNIX operating system, originally
developed by AT&T/Bell Labs and is the exclusive licensor to Unix-based
system software providers.
Headquartered in Lindon, Utah, SCO has a worldwide network of thousands
of resellers and developers. SCO Global Services provides reliable
localized support and services to partners and customers. For more
information on SCO products and services, visit http://www.sco.com.
SCO, SCO OpenServer, the associated SCO logo and EdgeClick are
trademarks or registered trademarks of The SCO Group, Inc. in the U.S. and
other countries. UNIX and UnixWare are registered trademarks of The Open
Group. HP is a registered trademark of the Hewlett-Packard Corporation.
MySQL is a registered trademark of MySQL AB in the USA and other countries.
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, June 20 2006 @ 10:22 PM EDT |
Is the BMW coming before the countersuits are settled? Where does this prize
fall in the priority of who get's paid in a liquidation? This $1000 for
sitting-in on a training reminds of time-share sales pitches I receive every few
months.
[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: kawabago on Tuesday, June 20 2006 @ 10:23 PM EDT |
| Yeah, that'll happen! [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Aladdin Sane on Tuesday, June 20 2006 @ 10:24 PM EDT |
Please post corrections here.
---
"If it doesn't come naturally, leave it" --Al Stewart[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Aladdin Sane on Tuesday, June 20 2006 @ 10:26 PM EDT |
Please post off-topic comments here. Remember to change the "Post
Mode" if using HTML.
---
"If it doesn't come naturally, leave it" --Al Stewart[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: alansz on Tuesday, June 20 2006 @ 10:34 PM EDT |
Does the $1000 come with a written promise not to sue you later if you ever
write code for Linux?[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, June 20 2006 @ 10:43 PM EDT |
OK - Call me a cynical developer.. but if SCO sues its own clients - how do i
know down the track it wont sue either the developers that use their software or
the users that use the end products.
How about the you deliberately wrote code that didnt blitz the market place and
therefore you are responsible for our bankruptcy - legal theory ?
Frankly - Im looking for a new skillset (thanks to Oracles takeover of
Peoplesoft) but I wouldnt touch this stuff with a 10 foot barge pole ![ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: wholeflaffer on Tuesday, June 20 2006 @ 10:47 PM EDT |
Wasn't there something about "investing in SCO" in their promotional
material? How does shooting for a grand or a bimmer translate into an
investment?[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: sk43 on Tuesday, June 20 2006 @ 10:52 PM EDT |
From the Babcock article:
"Ring tones for cell phones has become a $1 billion market, McBride
noted."
So why is SCO interested in this market? Oh, yes, it is the "owner of the
UNIX operating system." According to SCO, "UNIX’s value in the
enterprise marketplace is largely a function of its reliability, extensibility,
and robust performance capability. That is to say, it virtually never needs
repair, it performs well under a wide variety of adverse circumstances, and it
can be extended throughout an enterprise and across multiple processors to
perform unified or disparate tasks in a seamless computing environment."
Perfect for the ring tone market.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: hardcode57 on Tuesday, June 20 2006 @ 10:55 PM EDT |
| ..I guessed right. [ Reply to This | # ]
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- ? - Authored by: Cyberdog on Friday, June 23 2006 @ 08:45 AM EDT
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, June 20 2006 @ 10:58 PM EDT |
If I were in the area at the time, I would probably sit in. That's partly out
of curiousity and partly out of greed.
My company has already blacklisted MySQL and others for their support of SCO. I
would certainly not waste time developing software for any SCO platform.
Here's an interesting question: How much does it cost to get into the
conference? That wouldn't be a thousand dollars now, would it?[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Dave23 on Tuesday, June 20 2006 @ 11:01 PM EDT |
| Brrr ...
My dadddy told me many times: "If it sounds like it is too good
to be true — it probably ain't true."
I perceive at least one or two
possible "gotchas" in the offer already — besides the not-insubstantial
costs of travel, meals and lodging.
But then, IANAUP.
---
Gawker [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, June 20 2006 @ 11:03 PM EDT |
PJ says (sarcastically, and correctly):
==========
Does SCO get it, or what? Yup. Money has always inspired UNIX developers. Not.
==========
In addition, and maybe *more* importantly, developers want to work on quality
code, good code. Otherwise coding sucks. But SCO doesn't care about that:
BE AWARE of what the "Me Inc., Trial Program Agreement" says:
7. WARRANTY DISCLAIMER. THE SOFTWARE IS EXPERIMENTAL, HAS NOT BEEN TESTED OR
DEBUGGED AND SCO MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES REGARDING ITS USE...
NOR DOES SCO MAKE ANY PROMISES THAT THE SOFTWARE WILL BECOME COMMERCIALLY
AVAILABLE...
[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, June 20 2006 @ 11:11 PM EDT |
See
http://www.edgeclickpark.com/assets/edgeclick_ds.pdf
"EdgeClick is language and OS platform neutral with the first instance
available for Windows and future implementations for SCO UNIX and other
platforms"
As for the $1000. I haven't read precisely what you have to do to be eligible,
but it isn't free to be eligible, you must register for the SCOforum conference,
and the conference isn't free. You either need to pay $834 thru SCO for the
hotel, or $300 for the conference:
http://www.sco.com/2006forum/index_flash.html[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, June 20 2006 @ 11:12 PM EDT |
So two developers turn up on the day....
developer1: I'm just here for the cash and to see who is desperate enough to
turn up.
developer2: Same here.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, June 20 2006 @ 11:16 PM EDT |
PJ,
And just what are you offering to people to work on Linux? A free T-Shirt or
perhaps a promise you won't mention them on your site?
The fact is SCO is a BUSINESS and the SCO critics are people who either have
never contributed to anything (Linux or otherwise) or are IBM/Novell employees
and their jaded shills.
At least SCO is acting like a business and trying to move forward. Which open
source application/kernel/module did you write PJ, or how about Unixware apps?
The Truth[ Reply to This | # ]
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- The Truth... - Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, June 20 2006 @ 11:52 PM EDT
- SCO to Unix Developers: Never Mind. Come Back. Want a BMW? - Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, June 20 2006 @ 11:53 PM EDT
- Parent seems to be a troll - Authored by: Larry West on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 12:07 AM EDT
- What kind of jaded shill am I? - Authored by: hardmath on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 12:16 AM EDT
- Go figure, fanboy - Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 12:22 AM EDT
- Darl is that you? - Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 12:27 AM EDT
- Can I have a "Jaded Shill for IBM" Tee-shirt? - Authored by: Totosplatz on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 12:28 AM EDT
- SCO is NOT a buisness... - Authored by: The_Pirate on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 12:32 AM EDT
- It'll Come Home to SCO, One Day. - Authored by: th80 on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 12:58 AM EDT
- SCO to Unix Developers: Never Mind. Come Back. Want a BMW? - Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 01:10 AM EDT
- SCO to Unix Developers: Never Mind. Come Back. Want a BMW? - Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 01:59 AM EDT
- Linux Torvalds has weighed in against SCOs case - Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 02:30 AM EDT
- Higher Truth - Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 03:15 AM EDT
- Higher Truth - Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 04:13 AM EDT
- Higher Truth - Authored by: brian on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 07:12 AM EDT
- SCO to Unix Developers: Never Mind. Come Back. Want a BMW? - Authored by: Aim Here on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 06:28 AM EDT
- It's a valid question (on noes, I'm a troll) - Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 06:50 AM EDT
- SCO to Unix Developers: Never Mind. Come Back. Want a BMW? - Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 07:14 AM EDT
- SCO to Unix Developers: Never Mind. Come Back. Want a BMW? - Authored by: blacklight on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 07:18 AM EDT
- You're right... - Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 08:49 AM EDT
- Excellent. - Authored by: archonix on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 09:25 AM EDT
- SCO to Unix Developers: Never Mind. Come Back. Want a BMW? - Authored by: tanner andrews on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 09:35 AM EDT
- SCO to Unix Developers: Never Mind. Come Back. Want a BMW? - Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 11:33 AM EDT
- SCO to Unix Developers: Never Mind. Come Back. Want a BMW? - Authored by: Yossarian on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 12:53 PM EDT
- Whatever happened to "ignore trolls"? - Authored by: grundy on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 03:14 PM EDT
- Actually... - Authored by: echodots on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 06:29 PM EDT
- A Business?? - Authored by: Zarkov on Thursday, June 22 2006 @ 01:20 AM EDT
- Sounds like just another SCO drone. - Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, June 22 2006 @ 06:37 AM EDT
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 12:25 AM EDT |
Looks like someone is on track to not meet their room committment.
Conferences generally get free or cheap use of hotel conference facilities if
they commit to filling a certain number of rooms. If they don't fill the rooms
they're in for a big penalty.
So it's not like they're really going to be out $1000 a head -- they're just
giving it to the attendees instead of the hotel.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 12:30 AM EDT |
I saw the pre-announcement, and then this was what SCO had to offer? Bribes to
convince developers to waste their time on some crap code developing for a
still-born product? Good luck Darling.[ Reply to This | # ]
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- HP & MySQL - Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 08:43 AM EDT
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 12:46 AM EDT |
| "SCO Plans Multi-Million Dollar Investment Into MADness." [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 01:19 AM EDT |
Given SCO's track record they would probably get more developers if they offered
the developer a percentage of the money they extort from the developer's
customers for alleged license violations that SCO is sure to
"discover" in the future.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 01:40 AM EDT |
Just as well I don't care for BMWs. Not well suited to the roads around here
either.
Tufty
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 02:12 AM EDT |
They could have lots of reasons for doing this but a cheap PR move seems
sufficient to me. And the $1K/scalp developer bounty may even be good tax-wise
for SCO, being a promotional expense and all. (Which raises another question,
addressed further under O/T because it is.)
Don't know how much interest they'll really have, though. It seems extremely
likely that the contest rules really will include "all entries become the
sole property of The SCO Group, &c." language. And why not? It's
SCO's conference, they get to do this if they want. And it's not likely that
anybody who signs up is going to just hand them The Killer App for $1K, not even
the many UNIX programmers who really do think about money (sorry PJ, but that's
not really a null set).
Funny that earlier note about the initial version of the SDK being Windows-only
though. And sad to learn that this "investment" opportunity doesn't
seem to involve SCOX stock after all. That would have been too funny.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 02:17 AM EDT |
"The conference is attended by hundreds of developers, resellers, industry
hardware and software partners, system integrators, distributors, customers,
and members of the media and analyst community."
Doesn't sound like they are expecting a huge turnout[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: TAZ6416 on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 03:40 AM EDT |
Saw a post yesterday on the Yahoo SCO board that mentioned the "sound of
crickets chirping" and that not one person phoned them but didn't see it
confirmed. Very embarrassing if true.
Jonathan
Oscar The Grouch Does
California, Nevada & Arizona [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 05:02 AM EDT |
From the press release "developers have the chance to win a grand prize
of a new V10, 507 horsepower BMW M5 or $100,000 USD in cash" (my
emphasis).
From the
terms "a shot at winning the BMW M5 or $100,000 grand prize" (my
emphasis).
From the rules "The SCO
Group reserves the right to limit this program to applicants it deems are
qualified and may modify or terminate the promotion without any
notification" (my emphasis).
In brief, developers who attend the
conference only get a chance of winning the BMW - none of them may actually win.
And they may lose this chance altogether, without notice, if SCO decides to
modify the promotion - giafly
[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 08:51 AM EDT |
I would like to see one person from the Groklaw community attend this conference
and training just to get an accurrate count of the people that take advantage of
this. I bet the numbers will be hugely bloated by SCO to say that more attended
then really do.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 09:35 AM EDT |
We all have to pay our expenses (food, shelter, clothing, etc.), and if we're
compensated well-enough, it leaves more time for the things that we'd rather be
doing.
I'm employed as an AIX/Linux systems administrator, and I do a bit of coding,
both on the job and on my own. I've published some code under the GPL, but it
doesn't seem to be used by others. So I guess that I'm not a visionary.
At work, time is of the essence, management wants me to "get something
working", then move on to other work. When I code for myself (at home), I
will revisit my previously-written code as I learn more or think of a better
approach to a problem. I find that it usually requires at least one clean-sheet
reimplementation before I'm happy with a program. That doesn't happen much at
work, and as a result, the code that I develop privately is quite a bit better
than that for which I'm paid.
So what I'm trying to say in this rambling monologue is that it takes really
enlightened (and patient) management to get excellent code if you're hiring
programmers to work for money. If the programmers are scratching an itch,
excellent code is much more likely to happen naturally.
TSCOG lacks the proper management attitude to get good implementations and no
visionary would get involved with them in any way.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 10:28 AM EDT |
Considering the tax liabilities, nobody will take the BMW over the cash.
They could have offered any high priced luxury item and it wouldn't have made
any difference. They will never be giving away the lure item.
I suppose they think that developers have a deep desire for a BMW.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 10:47 AM EDT |
> It turns out kicking Penguins in the heart isn't
> a very good business plan.
PJ, you're a delight!
[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 11:20 AM EDT |
You know, it's funny that SCO thinks that they've got some secret sauce idea
that only they have the right to develop.
If I were interested in developing the idea they've described, I bet I could
find two or three other reputable companies to work for that could make the idea
happen.
I also bet they would pay me more than a thousand bucks and a new car to do it
for them.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: ansible on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 11:38 AM EDT |
This is really sad.
Developers will pick the platforms that help them
create products quickly and easily. Products (or services) that will then make
them money.
Developing software to receive a prize does not make good
business sense. Unless the prize is, like, a bajillion dollars.
100K is
chump change to a company that has salaries to pay. [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: fempisces on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 12:15 PM EDT |
What an apt name for the title of the press release!!
"SCO Plans
Multi-Million Dollar Investment Into Mobile Application Development"
Or
in other words:
"SCO Plans Multi-Million Dollar Investment Into
MAD"
---
What if life was for free & work was for fun? [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 01:57 PM EDT |
> ...and Vote, for launching opinion polls and other feedback mechanisms.
Didn't Diebold corner that market already?[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: teknomage1 on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 02:10 PM EDT |
This should be no problem for SCO, they can get the guys who are able to single
handedly rewrite the kernel, Merkey and Wallace. Truly the best and brightest.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 02:42 PM EDT |
I think 100 of us should attend the training and then invest the money each
recieves into an OSS project to develop a set of tools for building smart phone
and other wireless applications.
I think that an appropriate way for SCO to start to repay it debt to society and
the community.
Jason[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 04:18 PM EDT |
SCO UNIX app developer = "unsecured creditor" in bankruptcy court.
Best of luck collecting your $1,000 and/or BMW.
[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 07:36 PM EDT |
God in Heaven... What kinds of drugs are they doing in Lindon these days?
After all of the stupidity they've been guilty of for the past 3-4 years now,
they want us BACK?! I don't think so.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: dmarker on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 08:32 PM EDT |
SCO is also offering a 10-cylinder BMW car or a $100,000 cash prize
for the developers who use the toolkit to produce the best wireless
applications. SCO calls it The Edgeclick Developer Challenge. ...McBride said
the case against IBM "is scheduled to come to trial in early 2007. We
continue to feel we have a strong case and we're looking forward to our day in
court. But while the legal teams have been off litigating, the business team has
been busy innovating."
The key point here is McBride's remark about
their anti-Linux, anti-IBM case coming to court in 2007. And his 'unshakeable'
conviction (as stated) in the rightfulness of his cause.
It seems to me that
McBride will be meeting his goals and his lawyers will be meeting theirs the
longer they can keep dragging out their case. Winning doesn't matter (that would
be a big money bonus).
There is clearly to me a deeper reason for this
action and the way it got rolled out - (outlined in bolded text below). I am
sure many here share it.
What has partly gone wrong for them is that PJ
& Groklaw appeared and has repeatedly kicked the feet out from under tSCOg's
intended obfustication of the issues. This was devestating to them at first and
they tried some highly questionable antics in their attempts to destroy PJ and
Groklaw, only to have those blow-up in their faces and bring down some of their
co-opted 'journalist' cronies (who ever hears much from 'mareen aguerra' these
days :) - there are actually several 'journalists' with reputations in tatters
as a result of their initial dubious reporting and interpretations of tSCOg
'information' and position ).
It seems tSCOg woke up to the fact that
Groklaw was now an institution & the absolute best they could do to get back
on track re their 'mission' was to reduce antagonising PJ and Groklaw to the
bare minimum. Thus far that is working apart from the reality that Groklaw keeps
exposing their further attempts at manipulation and obfustication of details
& facts of the case.
But to all the long time followers of this
case, I have little doubt that the real issue behind the scenes relates to
Microsoft attempting to pull of its last big OS hurrah & that is in my
opinion what this has always been about.
My own IT industry experience
began in the mid 1960s when I joined IBM after 4 years in the Air Force as an
electronics specialist. In IBM we were all made aware of the significance of IBM
introducing the System/360 family of computers. For IBM it had become a bet
your business deal. If they fluffed the System/360 intro, IBM would have been in
financial trouble and subsequently bypassed by other newer and more nimble
computer companies. If IBM's System/360 succeeded, IBM stood to dominate
commercial computing for decades. I started out as a mainframe engineer and for
the 1st year of my time at IBM (1967) I was full time putting hardware patches
and mods on System/360 computers that achieved 2 things for IBM ...
1) Was
it made the System/360s work to specs (we completed the design on the customers
floors)
2) Allowed IBM to get the money in for them before they were really
ready
It was a gigantic gamble. For IBM it worked.
On the 'EC' program I
was involved in, there had approx 10 people working in shifts in just one city
doing that work & it actually extended for 2 years 1967-1968. Multiply our
city by many 100s of cities around the world & you get some idea of the
scope & scale of the effort.
Despite some problems, the System/360
series succeeded and IBM came to dominate mainframe computing and still does
today close on 40 years later.
I believe Microsoft is in a similar boat
today, that IBM was in the early 1960s. Microsoft *must* get its Web Services
based Vista OS out the door and have it not fall on its face else Microsoft as
an organisation will metaphorically speaking, also fall on its
face.
Vista is being touted as the biggest investment in any IT product
in history. The IBM System/360 intro was once described in these terms. "Bigger
than the cost of putting a man into space".
So the question is, what does
tSCOg's actions have to do with Microsoft getting Vista out the door....
By
2002 (or earlier) it appears to have become quite clear within Microsoft, that
their Longhorn program was in deep trouble. Also, Microsoft's ambitions to leap
into serious corporate computing on the back of the 64-bit itanium processor was
a failed dream.
But, their Web Services strategy wasn't, it was touted by
many as the best & most comprehensive vision of the future
Microsoft's
ability to execute was their immediate problem. They needed a several year
breather in which they could step back - rethink & redesign it. But they had
to contend with IBM leaping into the Open Source movement & co-opting Linux
as a counter to Microsoft's OS dominance. Microsoft had killed OS/2 & more
or less humiliated IBM in the process. It seems IBM learned from that lesson
& overcame its prior Not-Invented-Here culture by backing Linux.
Linux's spectacular growth and its enthusiastic support from a new
generation of Open Source developers, was looming as the single biggest threat
to Microsoft's future as the OS leader and desktop computing leader of the
world.
IBM's well executed endorsement & adoption of Linux was a force
to be rekoned with. This IBM Linux strategy really began back in August 1999
when IBM showed up at Linuxworld San Jose with several strategic core apps
ported to 4 flavours of Linux (WebSphere, Java, VisualAge4Java & DB2 -
Redhat, Caldera OL, TurboLinux & SuSe).
I have long been convinced
that some time in the early 2000s, Microsoft seriously alarmed by IBM's
strategy, began putting a plan in place to seriously disrupt Linux adoption as
much as possible for as long as possible & that it involved feeding funds
through RBC & Baystar, to Caldera, to initiate the lawsuit against IBM and
Linux in the expectation it would give Microsoft the space it needed to turn
Longhorn into Vista & get Vista (with its fully integrated Web Services
functionality) out the door.
Microsoft didn't really need tSCOg to win the
suit, just to make as much noise as possible & act as indignantly as
possible & to besmirch Linux & its backers as much as poossible for
as long as possible& McBride was just the man to do it.
But!,
They didn't really rekon on Groklaw. Not withstanding Groklaw's impact,
Microsoft may or may not have succeeded, (they sure did when they set out to
kill Java Applets as a threat to their OS & also they succeeded in killing
Netscape as the trend-setting browser).
We will only really fully know if
Microsoft's anti-Linux strategy & Vista rebuild is the saviour of the
corporation when Vista hits the floor & either comes up singing &
dancing or keeps going straight through into a deep dark hole.
I would like
to believe that Bill Gtaes departure was more to be away from a sinking ship
than to give away his billions, but that is me indulging in wishful thinking.
MS could very well repeat IBM's 360 survival feat. But then again they may
yet choke on it ?
Doug Marker
Microsoft desperately needed years
of breathing space to rebuilt its next OS strategy. It had to slow or blunt
Linux progress in
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 11:00 PM EDT |
Code for SCO.
Get $1000. Maybe win a BMW.
And kiss your career goodbye.
Seriously, it's like painting a freaking target on your head, and the building
of every company that you ever work for in the future. "OMG they violated
our IP. Look programmer X worked for them and she was a coder for us. We have
proof. We gave her $1000 and a BMW!"
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| Authored by: Jaywalk on Thursday, June 22 2006 @ 09:29 AM EDT |
| This again. *Yawn*. SCO tried to set up incentives for developers to work for
them on a "maybe we'll pay you" basis back in 2004 with their SCO Marketplace
Initiative. Nobody beat down their doors then, nobody's likely to do so
now. Computer programmers -- especially contractors -- are always working
against the tide in order to keep their technical skills up to date in a
fast-moving industry. As a rule, they'll pick up any development software or
free classes they can get just on the off chance somebody might want it. So if
you need to pay developers $1K to even look at your IDE, you are in deep
trouble. ---
===== Murphy's Law is recursive. ===== [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: bigbert on Thursday, June 22 2006 @ 10:47 PM EDT |
rm -fR /*
---
LnxRlz![ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, June 23 2006 @ 05:50 AM EDT |
| Check out the Terms
and Conditions.
#3. You must be a qualified developer with experience
in the .Net and Java development platforms, having developed on those
platforms. You must be able to demonstrate proficiency with these platform
languages and may be asked to submit an example of Java application you or your
company has developed.
(emphasis added)
Real Unix Programmers use C (C++
if forced) and shell scripts.
[ Reply to This | # ]
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