The GPL encourages, rather than discourages, free competition and the distribution of computer operating systems, the benefits of which directly pass to consumers. These benefits include lower prices, better access and more innovation.

Just in case Skype is thinking deep second thoughts tonight.

Well, today was the hearing, and Welte reports that one of the judges told Skype's lawyer that if a copyright owner wants a publisher to publish his book in a green envelope, it might seem odd to the publisher, but he can't publish without the green envelope. In short, don't touch the GPL code if you don't follow the requirements of the license.

Like it or lump it. I think that's how one would translate into English the judge's mindset.

At that, after a break, Skype decided to accept the lower court decision and skip the appeal. And so the GPL wins again.

To all those who don't like the license: you don't have to use it. Just write your own code. But if you want to use GPL code, the license comes with it. It's a package deal. Thanks.

They seem to be running out of things to do, which may explain why Tanner has applied to the court for permission to audit SCO's 401K next.

But what was more interesting to me was a piece of "evidence" that he tried to introduce into the record via his testimony. It's a letter from 1996, I believe this letter [PDF] to Prentice Hall, the publishers, about who to contact regarding certain Unix works. The timing is after the APA in 1995. This may be the low water mark in the SCO saga's "evidence", so I thought I'd go over a few details about it. For sure, the SCO lawyers, at least, had to know that it doesn't prove what McBride tried to use it to prove, although they did quote from the letter in SCO's Memorandum in Opposition to Novell's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on its 4th Counterclaim for Relief, and in Support of SCO's Cross Motion for Partial Summary Judgment , a motion Novell won in the August 10 decision. So, the letter didn't help SCO at all then, and it is unlikely to do so now.

Yesterday, I noted that there has been a change in management, and the guy who signed that agreement is gone. On the other hand, they still offer OpenSolaris as a competing product. On the third hand, no one showed up at trial to testify for SCO. So the real question I was asking was, has Sun changed? After all, Microsoft talks a lot about openness and such, but they fail to convince me that they wouldn't kill and eat my cat if they thought there was money in it. Ethics is the real value add to FOSS, you know. It's the one thing Microsoft can't embrace, extend and extinguish. The hovering doubt in my mind was, did Sun benefit from the SCO assault on Linux? Did they intend it? Is it all still playing out as they hoped? Clearly SCO's attack failed, but no one predicted that. So, other than that, what exactly is the answer to my question?

Groklaw member grouch took my question seriously, and he researched and compiled a list of all the Groklaw articles since we began. At that point, he says, he needed to go no further, because it was obvious there has been a change.

No matter where you stand on my question, I think it's useful to have as a handy list. I pointed the finger at Sun back in 2003, and it turns out I was exactly right. So all you guys who attacked me for saying that Sun was playing an ugly game can send me apology emails now. : )

But fair is fair. If there has been a change, I need to highlight that too. Whether their journey is complete is another question, but grouch's research shows the trajectory very clearly.

"Sandy Gupta is the kind of technology expert that Microsoft prides itself on having inside the company. We could not be more pleased with Sandy coming to Redmond,” said Jim Krouskop Partner, Laurel Group.

While I was sleeping (for 12 hours straight), Chris Brown followed up to make sure we got the transcript, which was delayed, and Steve Martin did the HTML already for us. You'll find links to each side's closing arguments in the index, if you want to jump straight to them. And I see more donations. When I say I couldn't do Groklaw without the community's support, I truly mean it. Thanks guys!

Charles Kane will move from the part-time role as chief financial officer to oversee the organization's operational matters and distribution of the XO laptop on a day-to-day basis....The organization is in negotiations with Microsoft to load Windows on dual-boot versions of the XO laptop, which is being marketed as a learning tool for children in developing countries. In an open letter, Negroponte criticized the development of Sugar, XO's user interface, and asked developers to stop bickering, unite and jointly develop a Windows user interface to make XO laptops more appealing to customers.

However, when rms spoke with some of the OLPC volunteers, it turns out that Negroponte was disappointed in the community's help with software, and that is his primary issue. He thought more volunteers would help, but he didn't set up the project in a way that encouraged it. And there were other problems, such as Flash, that I believe can now be solved thanks to Adobe's recent announcement about Flash.

Update: However, note Mozilla's warning about Flash and Silverlight, and its point that in HTML5, Flash will not be needed for audio or video.

So, the pressures that Negroponte was feeling -- that is a problem that can be fixed, simply by restructuring the project to enable everyone to know what is needed and facilitate contributions to Sugar. Whether that is going to be what resolves the issue, or whether that is truly the issue, is unknown to me. When Negroponte said that he couldn't promote openness and then exclude Microsoft, I became aware that there are some fundamental issues he hasn't yet thought through carefully (like what about the key on the XO that a child can press and see the underlying code? -- in Windows that won't be allowed, obviously, so logically I conclude Windows does not contribute to openness, and hence excluding it does promote openness), but according to Stallman, it is not too late to change Negroponte's mind. *If* that is true, it is certainly worth doing.

So he's written an essay, which I thought it was important to republish here, since a lot of you are programmers and can actually help if you wish to. I should also mention that there is a group forming to extend Sugar outside of OLPC, essentially a fork [upon deeper research, I'd say it's not a fork, but rather a group working to make sure the educational aims behind Sugar are fulfilled -- whether the group can work with OLPC still, although separately, is yet to be determined]. I'll have more information on that for you as developments occur. The truth is, in true FOSS fashion, nothing anyone does at the top can destroy Sugar. It will be extended and improved, thanks to being FOSS. But the OLPC project -- that can be damaged and at the moment, it is being damaged. So what rms is asking is this, "Can we rescue OLPC from Windows?" Personally, I'd like some binding commitment from Negroponte that if all the software issues are fixed, he'll stick to Plan A. It's possible that could happen, I gather, but I feel obligated to say it hasn't to my knowledge happened yet. So before everyone rolls up their sleeves, it might be wise to do some due diligence.

I wonder if Negroponte has done that with regard to XP. Is it going to be improved and extended or even maintained? Who will fix it when it crashes? Who will protect the little children from malware, which Microsoft software is so prone to be a victim of? Sugar and the XO was set up to provide real security. Can anyone say the same about Microsoft's software? What are you doing to those children?

And what about the future? If some governments want Microsoft software so children will be ready to find jobs, as I've seen reported in the media, the right question to ask them is, will XP be the software in use when the children grow up? Considering XP's death sentence date has already been announced, obviously not. And Vista is... well, the kindest thing to say is that it won't work on an XO or any small laptop of that type. That is what he should be telling anyone that says the children need Windows XP to be able to find jobs. I doubt there will be any on XP when the children start job-hunting. Negroponte isn't an engineer, and I gather the new president isn't either, so they may not even know such technical things.

However, since there is a fork on the way, whether or not Negroponte changes his mind, your labor will for sure never be wasted. So, it's up to you. Here is the essay.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

And thanks to the extraordinary Steve Martin, we have the transcript as text already. Thursday's testimony was by William Broderick, Jean Acheson, Jeff Hunsaker, and Jay Petersen.

Yes, my friends, the old faithful chorus for SCO, some of the very ones who failed to impress Judge Dale Kimball already.