SCO's still kicking?

I see that most Linux folks are very surprised by the announcement that Stephen Norris Capital Partners plans to pump money into the dying patient in the hope of resuscitation. Actually, I'm not surprised: SCO's assets do have value and if handled correctly they still could have a place at the table.

It's a long shot though, and the chances of a company that hasn't made many intelligent decisions ever suddenly turning around seem small. This is a company that has been tripping over its own feet for decades, blissfully unaware of the opportunities the marketplace offered them and in fact seemingly working hard to destroy those opportunities.

Of course there's a Newsgroup thread about this where the few remaining SCO supporters see this announcement as hopeful and both the SCO haters and the realists see it for what it probably is: somebody throwing away perfectly good money.

I'm actually on neither side. It won't upset me if SCO goes belly up and I won't be joyful if they rise from the ashes. I still have a few (very few) SCO clients and it would be nice for them if SCO can hang in a bit longer, but even if they do I'll still advise anyone who asks to move off this OS as quickly as you possibly can. The future may not be as I see it, but it's pretty unlikely that SCO will be any important part of it - from my perspective, they lack the vision and the intelligence to survive no matter how much money is pumped into their veins.

But hey, maybe Stephen Norris Capital Partners has a bunch of really bright people who not only are aware of what SCO has to offer but are savvy enough to bring something sharp to marketing it. I doubt it, but it's certainly possible.

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Wed Feb 20 19:28:24 2008: Subject:   drag


It could also be that the capitol group has no intention of turning around the company and figured that the hundred million dollars is a good price to pay to get access to their copyrights/other IP, buildings, land, material, and any other assets that SCO may retain. And the press releases about new products and that sort of thing is just mostly BS, maybe to make it seem like the company has some extra value that they can profit off of as they divide up the carcass. It's likely that even if SCO had zero customers there are still left overs to make money off of. The stock price could be so depressed that other investors aren't taking that stuff into account.

I have no idea how much a defunct corporation costs nowadays, but it seems that this move is like a mechanic buying a automobile with a blown motor. The car is still worth more then the scrap metal.. it may have decent tires, body panels may be in good shape and other bits and pieces can be sold to other people.



Sun Mar 2 02:37:34 2008: Subject: SNCP jackals   DickGingras


SNCP is not "investing" in SCO - they're a lender of last resort that is charging an effective rate of 22% for the money (see http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080225231536791).

The current company called SCO (formerly Caldera) doesn't own the Unix copyrights, patents or trademarks and they lease all their office space. They may have copyrights on code that they have added to OpenServer and UnixWare, but that's all intertwined with copyrights owned by many others, including Novell.

The bankruptcy judge has ruled that the SCO Group/Novell suit can continue in Utah Federal Court, now scheduled for April 29th. In that Court, Judge Kimball has already ruled that SCO Group has "converted" (legalese for stolen) the royalties that SCO Group received from Microsoft and Sun (around $30 million) and he needs to determine how much of that money must be returned to Novell, along with five years of interest. Novell is countersuing for special and actual damages, also to be determined by Judge Kimball. It's possible that Novell will rescind the asset purchase agreement with SCO Group for non-performance, further reducing SCO's already meager income.

If that doesn't kill SCO Group, IBM will pound the stake into this vampire's heart when their turn comes around. As far as can be determined from the outside looking in, SCO Group can't survive, so there won't be much meat, if any, left on the bones for SNCP to feed on, not even close to $100 million worth. Looks like SNCP is just another high-interest lender that preys on the down but not quite out.




Sun Mar 2 02:40:26 2008: Subject:   TonyLawrence


So SNCP isn't a bunch of crazy folk after all... :-)



Sun Mar 2 16:25:22 2008: Subject:   BigDumbDInosaur
http://bcstechnology.net

22 percent interest. Ouch! Sounds like a mafia loan shark with baseball bat in hand.



Sat Apr 5 12:18:10 2008: Subject:   TonyLawrence


Looks like the end is near again: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/SCOs-Plan-to-Rise-From-the-Ashes-Flickers-Out-62460.html?welcome=1207397687

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