My friends are convinced that SCO's drawn-out patent lawsuit against IBM was funded by Microsoft as part of Microsoft's campaign to discredit Linux — "if you can't beat them, smear them." Steve Ballmer, head of Microsoft, hasn't abandoned that campaign; Microsoft's recent deal with Novell gave Ballmer another opportunity to insinuate that Linux violates Microsoft's patents. Classical FUD from the masters of FUD at Microsoft, and a measure of Microsoft's continued desperation as it tries to prevent continued disaggregation and stifle further innovation in the computer industry.
But it seems that SCO's lawsuit, and SCO itself, may be drawing to a close. Novell's filings against SCO claim that much of SCO's income is actually money that belongs to Novell, and
For SCO, bankruptcy is inevitable; it characterizes its assets as merely those "remaining" and does not rebut Novell's arguments that its bankruptcy is imminent.As Groklaw states, the key words are "Imminent. Inevitable. Bankruptcy."
One of the lessons here is Microsoft's apparent treachery. Microsoft infused cash into SCO, which used that cash to fund a lawsuit against IBM and Linux. Now Microsoft is funding Novell in a different anti-Linux tactic while Novell attacks SCO. Will Novell fare any better when it suits Microsoft's fancy to try a different attack against Linux?
Topics: · business · ethics · intellectual+property
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