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| And They Say You Can't Change the World |
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Wednesday, October 15 2003 @ 09:03 AM EDT
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The Register is reporting that Israel has just acknowledged that Microsoft Israel is a monopoly, and that legal ruling means no upgrades of MS products through all of next year. They are looking into OpenOffice instead: "The Israeli Ministry of Commerce has suspended all governmental contracts with Microsoft, and indicated that the ban will last throughout 2004. The de facto suspension means no upgrades for the duration, at a time when Microsoft is looking to roll out its Office 2003 upgrade; and the Ministry is said to be examining OpenOffice as an alternative.
"It's a consequence of a much-anticipated legal verdict: Israeli Antitrust Authority director general Dror Strum has finally acknowledged that Microsoft is a monopoly. Register readers play no small part in this remarkable story. . . . Several groups have lobbied for Microsoft to be subjected to Israel's strict antitrust legislation. But the issue was forced by the Online Freedom Foundation lobby group, whose head Oded Lavi has fought the legal battle that brings to light a hitherto unpublished agreement between Microsoft and Israel's former Antitrust Authority director David Tadmor, signed in 1999.
"The agreement specified that any restrictions imposed as a consequence of the US Department of Justice's antitrust action against Microsoft would be applied in Israel. They weren't enforced, until now. " It all began as a dispute over Microsoft's refusal to provide Hebrew support in its Macintosh Internet Explorer browser or Office suite, thus effectively freezing Apple Computer out of the Israeli market. Register readers began writing effective letters, some examples of which are included in the story, and the rest, as they say, is history. And people say you can't change the world.
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, October 15 2003 @ 10:06 AM EDT |
I am glad that Israel made this decision. The reasoning behind the lack
of Hebrew support is one of the lamest excuses I have ever heard. They
blamed it on the difficulty of implementing the left-to-right writing of
Hebrew. Hogwash! They support Arabic in IE in other Middle Eastern
countries and that language is written left-to-right. It was purely
monopolistic laziness.
On another note, I am not trying to support any conspiracy theories here
but MS has never fixed a somewhat anti-Semitic "coincidence". You
can
still type NYC in your editor and if you change the font to Wingdings, it
displays a symbolic gesture that surely is anti-Semitic. I know this is an
old thing but it is still there.
You go Israel. Hand MS's balls back to them in a bag.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: belzecue on Wednesday, October 15 2003 @ 10:15 AM EDT |
http://tinyurl.com/r0o4
Deutsche Securities 'to buy' rating, say will go to $45; SCOX shoots north, up
almost 30% already!!!
... they said 'give us a show' so SCO gave em a show. Unbelievable.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, October 15 2003 @ 10:24 AM EDT |
SCO, Altiris, MyFamily (all listed on Canopy web site). New SCO quotes
(Stowell).
http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Oct/10152003/business/102008.asp
Not sure who the other Utah companies are.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: maehara on Wednesday, October 15 2003 @ 11:00 AM EDT |
Interesting little article up at The Inquirer about the
possibility of IBM dumping Windows in favour of an "unnamed, but we'll leave you
to guess" operating system. Wonder if this was spurred by any recent
events...! [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: mdchaney on Wednesday, October 15 2003 @ 11:56 AM EDT |
Israel relies on the US for aid that is equivalent to $500-$1000 per person per
year. Given that the US has pressured countries like Peru who want to get away
from Windows, and over whom we have little sway, what do you think is going to
happen in this case?
I hate to say it, but I doubt this story is over. I hope they stick to their
guns on this one, though.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, October 15 2003 @ 12:27 PM EDT |
IMPORTANT NOTES
===============
There is absolutely no proof of wrong-doing in the above or the following.
While the timeline and links are believed to be accurate. You should not draw
interference that the events are necessarily connected. I have just listed them
in (approximate) chronological order.
Kevin Quick's quote from September 1998 is perhaps the most interesting part -
at least to me. (although rather different from his 20 September 2001 quote)
Of course more info is needed/appreciated!
INTRODUCTION
============
Old SCO, possibly Caldera, were involved in the development of the UDI spec and
reference (BSD licensed). Possibly involved in a major way
The intent of the project appears to be to include allowing the development of
drivers once which could then be used in multiple operating systems including
Linux and closed source UNIX operating systems (both were explicitly named).
Additionally, according to a project member Kevin Quick was ""The
advantage of releasing to the Linux community is that their work will give Unix
OS vendors a basis to work from,"
However UDI drivers developed specifically for Linux and licensed under the GPL,
would not be legally usable with closed source UNIX operating systems according
to various Linux advocates including Alan Cox, Richard Stallman, LWN, and
others.
Thus you have a potential issue here. Old SCO and perhaps Caldera helped
developed UDI's spec, but yet, according to Linux advocates, can not legally
use some UDI drivers. I imagine this would be annoying for them! Especially in
the light of Kevin Quick's September 1998 comments to ZDNet, which assert
"The advantage of releasing to the Linux community is that their work will
give Unix OS vendors a basis to work from,"
Jump forward to the 2nd half of 2002, and we see major changes in device support
in UnixWare and SCO OpenServer. USB devices are supported by UDI. In the case of
SCO OpenServer, the old USB drivers appear to have been thrown away.
Additionally, SCO/Caldera encourages the use of Linux UDI drivers with Unixware
(details under "UNKNOWN DATES / BACKGROUND FACTS"). If such a Linux
UDI driver were licensed under the GPL, and only under the GPL, I think that
according to Alan Cox/Richard Stallman/etc's interpretation, this would
constitute a violation of the GPL. IANAL, but I think in this case, SCO/Caldera
would not be violating the GPL themselves, but rather encouraging others to do
so (would this be contributory infringement?)
A BRIEF SUMMARY
===============
1998-2001 Old SCO, IBM, HP, Sun, Intel and others develop a UDI reference code,
BSD licensed. The idea is that drivers can be developed once against this UDI
model, and used on many operating systems. Both closed source operating systems
and Linux are in the plans from the very start (the UDI site, which appears to
be last updated in 2001 is "Hosted by Caldera")
1998 Sep - Kevin Quick of Project UDI states: "The advantage of releasing
to the Linux community is that their work will give Unix OS vendors a basis to
work from,"
2001 Feb - UnixWare adds supplement to support UDI drivers
2001 May - UDI reference work open sourced (BSD license)
2001 Sep - Alan Cox says on Linux Kernel Mailing List, that closed source
operating systems (HPUX and Solaris are mentioned) can not simply take the
particular implementations of Linux UDI drivers as they are GPLed.
2002 Aug - SCO announces dramatically enhanced hardware support will appear in
forthcoming Unixware 7.1.3 and OpenServer 5.0.7 releases
2002 Oct (? approx) - SCO releases Unixware 7.1.3. New USB features supported
using UDI
2002 Dec (? approx) - SCO releases Open Server 5.0.7. New USB features
supporting using UDI. Open Server 5.0.6 used a different method to implement UDI
"Universal Serial Bus (USB) features of SCO OpenServer Release 5.0.6 have
been replaced with a UDI-based implementation"
2003 Feb - Sun licenses drivers from SCO. We don't know which drivers, or
whether they are UDI drivers.
Evolution of Unixware drivers / UDI
===================================
** 1998 (this would be original SCO)
http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9809.2/0330.html
SCO TEAMS WITH INTEL TO ACCELERATE UNIX SYSTEM GROWTH AND ADOPTION
Companies Use Uniform Driver Interface to Deliver Common Device Support
Across Multiple UNIX Operating Systems
INTEL DEVELOPER FORUM, Palm Springs, CA (September 16, 1998) - In a move
aimed at accelerating the growth of UNIX systems on Intel processor-based
servers, SCO (NASDAQ:SCOC) today announced its support of Intel
Corporation's adoption of the Uniform Driver Interface (UDI) as a standard
device interface. In addition, Intel will work with SCO and Project UDI, to
port UDI to the Linux operating system and distribute as freeware.
** 1998 Sep 17
Article appears in ZDNet about UDI
This link broken:
http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/1998/37/ns-5501.html
But can be seen thru archive.org:
http://web.archive.org/web/19990117013715/http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/1998/37/ns
-5501.html
== START QUOTE ==
Kevin Quick (more from him below) says the purpose of the project includes:
However, writing new drivers for the thousands of peripherals on the market is a
daunting task. Hence, Project UDI is hoping the Linux community will help. Linux
will be, said Quick, key to the adoption of the UDI initiative. A reference
platform will be distibributed as freeware for Linux, and the Project UDI
members will be counting on the Linux community to work on device drivers.
"We have talked to Linus Torvalds (the creator of Linux) and he was very
interested in the idea," Intel's Demshki said.
"The advantage of releasing to the Linux community is that their work will
give Unix OS vendors a basis to work from," Quick added, though he
stressed that the specification will still be tightly controlled and standards
based.
== END QUOTE ==
** 1998 Sep 18
On Linux Kernel Mailing list more criticism of UDI's intent
http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9809.2/0313.html
Quote:
I raised this question in the first discussion of UDI on this
mailing list. There is no way that UDI drivers which are
GNU GPL'ed can be used in Commercial UNIX distributions unless the
original authors release the source code under two very different
software licenses. Given the responses I received from the original
discussion this seems extremely remote.
** 1998 Sep 24
LWN criticizes UDI
http://old.lwn.net/1998/0924/
And warns:
Under what conditions can GPL'd Linux drivers be incorporated into a
proprietary, binary-only Unix system? Conflicts over proper use of GPL code seem
almost certain.
** 1998 Oct - "UDI and Free Software by Richard Stallman"
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=1998-10-05-002-05-OP
Richard Stallman expresses concerns about UDI plans, both for Linux, and the
potential for misappropriation of code from Linux:
It can also be a violation of the GNU GPL to link the drivers into a proprietary
kernel. To increase the temptation to do so is asking for trouble.
** April 1999
Uniform Driver Interface: Official Specification Documents
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=1999-04-07-007-05-NW
** Sep 1999
Uniform Device Driver Specification Ready for Implementation
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=1999-09-01-019-04-PR
** 2000 Sep 12 - AIX 5L to include UDI support
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-11-502876.html
Most interesting has been Monterey's evolution away from a project that was
supposed to bring together the best of all vendors. While Monterey was
originally hyped as a merged product, UnixWare administrators looking to migrate
to AIX L are in for a surprise, while existing AIX installations won't have
much of a problem at all. Monterey has appeared to become simply the next
release of IBM's Unix, with an IA-64 port, some Linux capabilities, enhanced
multi-processing and multi-platform UDI driver technology.
** Feb 2001 SCO released Unixware supplement for UDI
From:
http://www.projectudi.org/press_releases.html
(see 5 Feb 2001 press release that says SCO released Unixware supplement for
UDI).
Also note latest press release is Sep 2001
and from news page - latest is Feb 2001 http://www.projectudi.org/f-news.html
** 2001 Feb - UDI and FreeBSD
http://daily.daemonnews.org/view_story.php3?story_id=1594
** May 2001 UDI Reference implementation Open Sourced
http://www.stg.com/press_releases/udi_opensource_internetwire.jpg
** 2001 May 15 - Caldera newsletter touts UDI
http://www.caldera.com/partners/estreet/newsletter.html?ID=2001-07-15#openserver
** Sep 2001 - Alan Cox says closed source UNIX can not use Linux UDI drivers
http://www.geocrawler.com/mail/msg.php3?msg_id=257907&list=35
Interesting comment by Alan Cox over whether HP-UX, Solaris etc., can use Linux
versions of UDI drivers
** 2001 Sep 20 - LWN says UDI faded away
http://lwn.net/2001/0920/history.php3
Quote:
The Linux community showed little enthusiasm for the idea of providing device
drivers for the convenience of proprietary Unix vendors, and UDI faded away.
** 2001 Sep 20 - Kevin Quick, Project UDI Editor, writes to LWN
http://lwn.net/2001/0927/letters.php3
In brief, he says "The news of Project UDI's demise is greatly
exaggerated!"
Also comments on the relationship between UDI and Linux, including:
The conversation from which the quote was generated was a
discussion of the relationship between the Linux community and Project UDI
in which I was attempting to invite the Linux community to solve one of
their recurring issues (the availability of good device drivers for
whatever Linux kernel version was interesting to the sysadmin) by writing
UDI drivers, which would also provide Project UDI with a broader base of
existing drivers. This was not an attempt to co-opt Linux developers to
provide device support for proprietary Unix solutions, but rather an
invitation for many of the developers to exhibit their proclaimed skills in
this area
** 26 Aug 2002
http://www.infoworld.com/article/02/08/26/020826hnscoupdate_1.html
SCO's OS upgrades include SCO OpenServer 5.0.7, which will feature the latest
hardware drivers and USB support to boost connectivity to peripherals, according
to the company. Also to be featured are updated development tools for easier
integration and an updated version of Merge 5.3, which allows customers to use
Windows 98 and Windows Me client emulation on SCO OpenServer and SCO UnixWare.
Version 5.0.7 is due to ship in the first quarter of 2003.
The new version of SCO UnixWare, Version 7.1.3, also will provide updated USB
support as well as improved networking performance and driver upgrades. New
network applications and development tools for the release also are planned. The
OS is expected to be available by December.
** 26 Aug 2002
http://www.eweek.com/print_article/0,3668,a=30443,00.asp
SCO OpenServer 5.0.7, expected to be available the first quarter of 2003, will
provide software updates to include the latest hardware drivers and USB support
to offer easier connectivity to next generation peripheral devices.
The next-version product will have updated development tools for easier
integration with applications and an updated version of Merge 5.3 that allows
customers to use Windows 98 and Windows Me client emulation with both SCO
OpenServer and SCO UnixWare.
SCO UnixWare 7.1.3—the successor release to Open UNIX
8.0—should be available by December and will provide updated USB
support, improved networking performance as well as upgrades to hardware
drivers. The product will also include new and updated network applications and
development tools.
** Approx Oct 2002 - Unixware 7.1.3 update
http://www.caldera.com/support/docs/unixware/uw713en/relnotes.html#bore_newfeats
Release 7.1.3 is compliant with Version 2.0 of the USB Specification and
supports the device types listed below; note that the current USB implementation
does not support USB printers and modems. The USB interface is implemented via
the Uniform Driver Interface (UDI).
** Approx Dec 2002 - in Open Server 5.0.7 update
They threw out their old implementation of USB drivers completely, and switched
to a UDI model.
http://docsrv.sco.com:507/en/GetStart/OSRnewHrdwre.html
The Universal Serial Bus (USB) features of SCO OpenServer Release 5.0.6 have
been replaced with a UDI-based implementation that includes:
USB 2.0 support for EHCI Host Controllers
USB 1.1 support for OHCI and UHCI Host Controllers
Bootable USB CD-ROM support
Support for the following USB devices: keyboards, mice and other pointing
devices, CD-ROM drives, floppy and LS-120/LS-240 drives, mass storage devices,
and hubs. (Note that this USB implementation does not support USB printers and
modems.)
** Oct to Dec 2003 (documented in post dated 1 April 2003)
http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?forum_id=265404
"UnixWare 7.1.3" ... "This new version started
shipping in December or so and contains numerous enhancements
and conformance to the UDI implementation, all of which have
been contributed back to the public reference port my team."
"SCO OpenServer 5.0.7"
"UDI has been available for 5.0.6 for about two years in the form
of an installable supplement, but the integration was, uuuh,
suboptimal. (Hey, I *can* be a marketing guy...) For 5.0.7, we
did an extensive overhaul of UDI, updating it to the generation
of code found in the UnixWare 7.1.3 product, and integrating it
into the core OS. It now features a UDI runtime implementation
as part of the shipping media."
** 2003 August (SCOforum) - presentation by Jay Petersen
http://www.caldera.com/2003forum/breakouts/peterson.final.ppt
SCO Unix 9 "Leverages the Universal Driver Interface (UDI) for device
support"
*************************************************************
RELATED OR NOT?
===============
There is no proof of any connection here.
** Feb 2003 (documented in article dated 11 July 2003)
http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopics/os/unix/story/0,10801,82967,00.html
Sun's license is one of several it has signed since 1994 with the various
owners of the Unix System V source code, of which SCO is the latest, said John
Loiacono, the vice president of Sun's Operating Platforms group. The most
recent license, signed in February, "licensed several hundred drivers to
connect, essentially, peripheral devices to the operating system," he
said.
*************************************************************
UNKNOWN DATES / BACKGROUND FACTS
================================
** Linux UDI drivers work with Unixware 7
http://www.caldera.com/products/lkp/faq.html
How can I get Linux drivers working underUnixWare 7?
UDI drivers will work directly in binary form in both the Linux and UNIX
environment of UnixWare 7. If you have a UDI driver for Linux, you can install
it under UnixWare 7 in both environments. Older, non-UDI Linux drivers need to
be ported to UDI or directly to UnixWare 7 before they are available to UnixWare
7
** SCO/Caldera sponsoring UDI work
http://www.sco.com/developers/udi/
In fact check this is out
http://www.projectudi.org/specs.html
"Hosted by Caldera" - but seems not to have
On the Products and Source code page
"Open source project and BSD-licensed source code. Includes
highly-portable source code for several operating system environments, as well
several 100%-portable UDI sample drivers. Find it at
http://projectudi.sourceforge.net."
BSD license is confirmed, here (question 4)
http://projectudi.sourceforge.net/faq.php
Another interesting fact, is both IBM and SCO (and Sun, HP, Intel, Compaq
others) are listed as participants in the UDI project
http://www.projectudi.org/f-participants.html
[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: fava on Wednesday, October 15 2003 @ 12:36 PM EDT |
SCO has filed for another delay in the IBM case.
According to http://www.utd.uscourts.gov/documents/ibm_hist.html SCO has filed a
"Motion by SCO Grp to extend time to respond to IBM's Amended
Counterclaims Against SCO" on the 10th.
Additionally there is "Certificate of service by Intl Bus Mach Inc re:
first supplemental responses and objections to SCO's first set of
interrogatories" filed on the same day.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, October 15 2003 @ 12:47 PM EDT |
In the link
http://www.elmundo.es/navegante/2003/10/15/softlibre/1066213640.html
you would find a comment (bodily lifted off CNET, methinks) in
Spanish, whose title is
"Las maniobras de SCO no asustan a las empresas que quieren cambiar a
Linux".
That is: "SCO's manouvres do not scare off companys moving
over to Linux".
Please note that this is the tech section of the online version of one of the
most widely read Spanish newspapers, "El Mundo".
Although it occasionally looks that way, this whole story is not just about the
US (which is why the reactions to the Forbes article look rather arcane from a
foreign point of view...)
All the best,
ile
[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, October 15 2003 @ 01:07 PM EDT |
DeutscheBank appears in Red Hat's suit, and IBM's countersuit against SCO
There is also a press reports from around the time a meeting betwen DeustcheBank
and SCO took place.
I can not remember exactly off the top of my head, but I think it was June or
July.
I wonder if the report is based in whole or part from that meeting.
A lot has happened since.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: geoff lane on Wednesday, October 15 2003 @ 01:38 PM EDT |
I may be paranoid, but if someone has a lots of scox shares and wants to get rid
of them in a hurry because they _do_ understand the technical and legal
situation, what better way that to get some foolish tipster to talk up the
stock? It's one hell of a deal for the cost of a lunch...
Have Mark Heise and David Boies been kidnapped? Heise has said nothing in
public since Aug 20; Boise made one brief appearence and obviously decided to be
elsewhere when the sh*t hits the fan.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: mikebmw on Wednesday, October 15 2003 @ 01:53 PM EDT |
| A great quote from Infoworld, Software Patents Set Sail.
"There is also
a team of unpaid researchers that is more dedicated and has better resources
than the best paraleagels at the biggest law firms: the open source community.
Given enough time and bandwidth, they could dig up prior art on da Vinci's
entire portfolio."
Keep up the good work you're making a difference.
[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: J on Wednesday, October 15 2003 @ 03:05 PM EDT |
A great time does not make it right to do so. I, for one, will not profit
from this Pump'N'Dump scam.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: beast on Wednesday, October 15 2003 @ 06:33 PM EDT |
SCO Achieves 5,978 Percent Revenue Growth
Over the Past Five Years
Choice quote:
"Attracting enough customers
to maintain four digit growth over five years makes a strong statement about the
quality of a company's product and its leadership," said Mark Evans, national
managing partner of Deloitte's Technology, Media & Telecommunications
Group.
No matter how cynical you get, it's impossible to keep up - Lily
Tomlin
[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: AdamBaker on Wednesday, October 15 2003 @ 07:26 PM EDT |
I've been noticing lately how the same individuals keep getting quoted in media
reports on SCO.
Today it was Brian Skiba of Deutsche Bank who was the same DB person as went to
the code viewing and commented that most of the 300 license calls were probably
complaints.
Yesterday I was lookiing at lawyers commenting on the case and noticed that John
Ferrell's name crops up very frequently.
It might not mean anything but I thought it was at least worth pointing out.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, October 15 2003 @ 08:04 PM EDT |
"SCO backs of Linux invoice plan" is the headline for
this
article by news.com. Also, they are postponing the doubling of the license
fee.
The article also includes fellatial comments from Gartner's George
Weiss: "carefully planned and staged scenario" yada yada. I wonder what his
relationship is to McBride et al? [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, October 15 2003 @ 08:58 PM EDT |
What happened with IRIX?
Isn't it supposed to be dead (according to SCO) or something as of 14 October?
[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, October 16 2003 @ 01:25 AM EDT |
Interesting fact-ette
Blake Stowell worked at Lineo
And possibly Microsoft (Lineo said he was leaving for Microsoft - see below, but
the Linux Journal article seems to suggest he went to Caldera)
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6956
Incidentally, Blake Stowell worked at Lineo and joined Caldera in 2001. He
agreed that the company had radically changed since that time.
http://www.sdtimes.com/news/025/emb1.htm
According to Blake Stowell, Lineo’s director of public relations, the
company was looking for a way to expand into the low end of the market.
http://news.com.com/2100-1001_3-270251.html
"Also leaving the communications staff is Blake Stowell, who has taken a
job at rival Microsoft coordinating Windows XP public relations, Ball said. [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: leguirerj on Thursday, October 16 2003 @ 02:39 AM EDT |
The millions of lines of code that SCO is showing to anyone who signs a
NDA must be IBM and SGI's copyrighted code that was contributed to the
Linux kernel., since that code is what made the Linux kernel Enterprise
ready. My questions are:
How did IBM's and SGI's copyrighted code get back into SCO's Unix source
code? Or does it have to be in their kernel to be a derivative work.
Was that part of the deal to have a Unix licence was that any contributions
a licencee made to the unix kernel gets rolled back into the Unix kernel.
Was it done during the Project Monterey days with the owners agreement?
Did SCO mis-appropriate IBM's and SGI code into their own kernel? [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, October 16 2003 @ 03:20 AM EDT |
Well, well, SCO is not sending out licenses-
http://newsvac.newsforge.com/newsvac/03/10/16/0520210.shtml?tid=17
Yeah. Should we all hold out breaths until the next threatened :License Send
Day," which SCO says is 31 October?[ Reply to This | # ]
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