Circuit Rider - Version 5.1

by Jim Scheef

Good News – I Think

Did you see the news item in last Saturday’s New York Times (August 11th)? You had to look below the fold on the business section so you might have missed it. The SCO saga has taken a turn and possibly for the better, but I’m not quite convinced yet. The decision by Federal District Court Judge Dale A. Kimball says, in 102 pages, that Novell, not the SCO Group, is the rightful owner of the UNIX copyrights. Basically this cuts SCO off at the knees. The ruling even stipulates that Novell can force SCO to drop its claims against IBM. The Times article goes on to say that this decision removes the cloud hanging over the Linux community based on SCO’s claims of copyright infringement.

Why am I not convinced that this is all wonderful and the battle is over? Because Microsoft is on both sides of this case. Remember how Microsoft helped “fund” SCO about two years ago when SCO was about the go under? And more recently there is the “interoperability agreement” between Novell and Microsoft from late last year. Is Microsoft playing both sides against the middle? Quite possibly. If Microsoft can find a way to hobble the Linux movement, they will. Linux is currently the biggest single threat to Windows and this case is but one poke at Linux. Also looming is the FUD about how Linux infringes on more than 200 Microsoft patents.

The only sure bet in all of this is that SCO will appeal and that the fat lady has yet to sing in this courtroom battle.

New on my summer reading list is a 2001 book by Ken Auletta, World War 3.0, Microsoft and its Enemies. It chronicles the battle between the U.S. Department of Justice and Microsoft. Right now I’m only in the second chapter, but the author is good and the book is extremely well researched. I’ll have a review in a few months.



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