Sunday, 17 August, 2003
SCO versus Linux
I've avoided mentioning the SCO versus Linux thing here, but several people have asked what I think. I'll repeat here what I said in an email at the end of May:
I read that SCO/Linux thing with humor. From where I sit it looks like the last gasp of a dying company, wasting its last few dollars on the futile hope of extorting some cash from IBM. I suspect that they first tried to strong-arm IBM into settling, and then weren't smart enough to back down when IBM said no. I don't have any evidence to back it up—just experience in seeing how these types of things have played out before. I won't be at all surprised if SCO/Caldera/whatever (hasn't the company had a half dozen names in as many years?) ceases to exist in less than 12 months.
Since then, I've read nothing that makes me question that opinion. To the contrary, the recent news that SCO's executives have been dumping their stock makes me start to wonder if this move was calculated to bring about a short-term increase in the stock price. Whatever the case, it's been an entertaining sideshow.