Rockin' on without Microsoft

C/Net ^ | 8/20/2003 | David Becker

[HiTech RedNeck]

IMO professional opinion, his whole operation is a joke.

Well, he is the one who's laughing now. Penguins forever.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Yes, your game. Toodle-oo.

[Bush2000]

Well, he is the one who's laughing now.

LMFAO! Yeahhhhhhh ... after $90,000 in fines, he's wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy ahead of the curve...

[Golden Eagle]

Well, he is the one who's laughing now.

Well he's probably being laughed at a lot more. He has no pride to go worldwide with his pitiful explanations. If he now gets stuck with a SCO fee he will have double payed and still be running second rate freeware.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Almost certainly, the court will force SCO to mitigate and Linux will be able to remove or replace any violating code. That is, if IBM doesn't bankrupt it with perpetual litigation first.

[HiTech RedNeck]

He saved an offsetting $80,000 right off the bat and will never need to worry about Micro$haft or its licen$extortion again.

[Golden Eagle]

Yeahhhhhhh ... after $90,000 in fines, he's wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy ahead of the curve...

A shining example for what NOT to do with your IT department. Get drilled with fines, then set yourself up for more right away now being at the top of SCO's list.

[HiTech RedNeck]

He has no pride to go worldwide with his pitiful explanations.

It is, literally, the "kind of thing that could happen to anyone." A piece of engineering software stays on a recycled machine. For some people, irritated enough with Micro$haft already, it will be the straw that breaks the back of Micro$haft's stranglehold on their operation.

[Golden Eagle]

He saved an offsetting $80,000 right

He didn't save a dime. He blew it on fines he knew better than contest instead of buying something of value.

If had half a brain he should have at least chose some freeware that was in the clear, not one smack dab in the middle of more lawsuits.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Your "confidence" in SCO is vastly misplaced.

[justlurking]

The real motivation came when his company was busted in 2000 by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) for running pirated copies of software from Adobe Systems, Autodesk, FileMaker and Microsoft.

Interesting. I'm glad you found it, because it provides some additional information about the infringing applications:

• Adobe Systems: must be Acrobat writer, used to generate PDFs. They were probably using it to generate manuals that could be distributed electronically. The clerical staff might have a use for it, depending on who actually generates the files. It's too bad, because one can get an open-source PDF generator with most of the functionality of Adobe Writer.

• Autodesk: they make a lot of different software, but their flagship seems to be AutoCAD. That's definitely an engineer's application.

• FileMaker: this appears to be a type of database management system for arbitrary data. Engineering or clerical? Can't be sure, as we don't know how they are using it.

• Microsoft: We don't know what software was infringing, but I still wouldn't expect it to be the things that are installed by OEM's, as there would be no reason to duplicate it.

And, it also sets the record straight about the infringement: it was 8% of the applications, not the desktops.

Thanks for the information! It clarified a few things for me, and at least partionally reinforces the owner's claim that the infringement was not willful.

I wonder if they are still using Autodesk and Filemaker products? There's no reason to use Adobe products, since Ghostscript/Ghostview will provide the basic functionality.

[Bush2000]

He saved an offsetting $80,000 right off the bat and will never need to worry about Micro$haft or its licen$extortion again.

Yeahhhhhh, that's his story but considering the fact that (a) he's trying to save face, and (b) Windows costs about $90 and Office $270 with a new machine, he's full of sh*t. The guy only had 72 desktops. Even if he bumped that up to 100 desktops, his numbers simply don't add up.

[HiTech RedNeck]

This happened well before the SCO flap. Read the article. I will assume, like I did (unjustifiably) for the other smartass, that you are interested in the truth, and will not quote.

[Golden Eagle]

Your "confidence" in SCO is vastly misplaced.

I'm just pointing out the risks that he ignored, originally with his configuration, then again with his "solution".

I would suggest you keep an open mind how a Utah judge and a simple majority of their citizens might rule.

[Bush2000]

Your "confidence" in SCO is vastly misplaced.

So is your confidence in Perens et al.

[Bush2000]

Adobe Systems: must be Acrobat writer...

Do you make this crap up as you go?

It clarified a few things for me

That's good, considering the fact that only a few minutes ago, your complaints were solely targeted at Microsoft.

... and at least partionally reinforces the owner's claim that the infringement was not willful.

Put down the straw man. We're not talking about criminal offenses here.

[Golden Eagle]

This happened well before the SCO flap.

Why was it just posted today then? Seems like poor advice in the current environment.

[Golden Eagle]

at least partionally reinforces the owner's claim that the infringement was not willful.

So what? $35,000 in lawyers still left him with a $65,000 dollar fine.

[justlurking]

I forgot that I wanted to add something else that I found in the article you referenced:

Ernie Ball ended up settling with the BSA over claims related to use of unlicensed software to the tune of $90,000. Ball said, however, that he emerged from the ordeal critical of the way the problem is approached. The audit was prompted by an anonymous call to the BSA's antipiracy hotline by a disgruntled ex-employee, and concluded when armed U.S. Marshals shut down his IT system during a raid of the company's offices, he said.

Does anyone else find this alarming? Combined with the owner's comment in the other article, they went streight from an anonymous tip to armed US Marshals showing up on his doorstep.

There was no "compelling evidence". Had someone simply notified him of the allegation, he would have probably conducted an audit of his own, cleared up any problems, and then invited them in for an independent office to verify that he was in compliance.

[HiTech RedNeck]

He's in California. By proactively suing SCO, probably as a joint action, California firms can force the battle into their own state (like RedHat did in Delaware).