How long can SCO last?

I was selling and supporting SCO back when it ran on 8086 hardware (now there's a treat!). One thing most of the younger generation fails to appreciate is just how many SCO boxes are still out there, which causes them to underestimate SCO's staying power.

On the other hand, the attrition rate is rapid, and it's being helped along by folks like me and many other former SCO resellers who started switching to Linux/BSD etc. quite a few years back. No doubt that trend has accelerated in recent years because of the lawsuit issues.

I was amused to get a bulk email from Blake Stowell (Sco's current PR director) that read:

Please excuse the impersonal e-mail, but I have been asked by
VARBusiness to inform you that they will be conducting phone surveys
early next week to SCO resellers in preparation for their Annual
Report Card study that is traditionally published in the October/November
time frame. They have not had very many SCO resellers participate
in this survey to this point and they would like to hear from more
of you. Please provide them with a few minutes of your time during
the coming week and share with them your opinions on doing business
with SCO, our products, our channel programs, our support, and
other areas of our business.
 

VARBusiness did call me last week, but I was too busy to talk with with them. If I could have spared the time, I imagine Blake would have preferred that I didn't. I don't have the religious hatred of SCO that some here may feel, but on strictly business grounds I can't see myself doing much SCO business in the years to come, and I expect a lot of what I do see will involve conversions and euthanasia.

Probably unlike some readers, I do view that as unfortunate. Any weakening of the Unix channel only strengthens Microsoft - undoubtedly more SCO boxes will transition to the Evil Empire than to Linux. SCO was probably doomed to extinction anyway - they've been on a downhill slide for many years; had they been able to release their new OpenServer 6 ten years ago they might have had a more rosy future, but right now it is way too little, way too late.

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