SCO's pregnant cow

Thu Aug 14 22:10:46 GMT 2003 SCO's pregnant cow

I've been saying right along that all this noise about the GPL and SCO having nullified its rights because of it is, well, just noise. I am, of course, always ready to eat my words. I'd prefer my words with steak and potato, of course. Which might have been a segue to the pregnant cow, but wasn't.

I was beginning to think there might be something to this GPL business when I read that SCO thinks that the GPL is invalid. Quite incredibly, they are arguing that copyright law makes the GPL invalid!. I do feel like I'm reading Lewis Carroll. Are these guys serious? Or is it just an un-birthday?

SCO isn't hanging all their hopes on that. Nope, they also have brought that cow into the picture just in case the GPL is valid: http://news.com.com/2100-1016-1016020.html. That's more in line with my expectations, but none of this is going to end up in the List of Great Moments in Computer History. I agree with the dissenting judge on the cow, by the way, but it makes my head hurt trying to figure out what this has to do with SCO and the GPL. Lawyers, the only people who make less sense than politicians. But, as I keep saying, none of this has to make sense, and probably won't. I suspect more heads than mine will be hurting before this is over.

What does strike me more than anything else is the amount of unreasoned and quite venomous hatred this has generated. Gosh, we really don't know all the facts yet, do we? Sure, SCO management might be a slimy bunch of crumby s.o.b's. On the other hand, they may have a legitimate gripe here. Or they might be completely wrong, but acting in good faith, thinking that they have been ripped off. All of that may forever be in the realm of opinion, but certainly until all the cards are face up on the table nobody should be reaching for their derringers.

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