It's been a month and a half since Darl McBride kicked the bucket (who?), and nary a mention in the press. But then, perhaps most Linux followers today where not alive or old enough to have experienced Mr. McBride's assault on Linux that could have very well ended it's life as Open Source. Of course I'm talking about way back in the Stone Age when SCO sued IBM, Red Hat, Novell, and others for ownership of the Linux kernel. Those of us who were around followed the now defuncted Groklaw for the latest dirt on this legal entanglement that is now for the most part forgotten.
From the wikipedia link:
McBride has been controversial in the information technology industry for his role as the CEO of SCO in asserting broad claims of intellectual property ownership of the various UNIX operating systems derivatives developed by IBM under a license originally granted by AT&T Corporation. Open source, free software and Linux developers and supporters, and the computer industry at large have been outspoken and highly critical and skeptical of McBride and SCO's claims in these areas.
Ty Mattingly, a former Novell Executive Vice President and co-worker of McBride was quoted as saying, "Congratulations. In a few short months you've dethroned Bill Gates as the most hated man in the industry."[6] McBride claimed he received death threats as a result of the SCO-IBM lawsuits, and had a package of worms mailed to his home, prompting him to carry a firearm and to employ multiple bodyguards.[4] During an interview, when asked about the popularity of the lawsuit against IBM, McBride answered: "We're either right or we're not. If we're wrong, we deserve people throwing rocks at us."[7]
Under McBride's leadership, SCO saw a surge in stock price from under $2 in March 2003 to over $20 just six months later. Following several adverse rulings issued by the United States District Court in Utah, SCO's stock value dropped to under $1. On April 27, 2007, NASDAQ served notice that the company would be delisted if SCO's stock price did not increase above $1 for a minimum of 10 consecutive days over the course of 180 business days, ending October 22, 2007.[8]
(Score: 4, Flamebait) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Saturday November 02 2024, @07:24AM (6 children)
I have no fond memory of SCO's shenanigans under McBride's "leadership". But in fairness, the entire thing was completely ridiculous and really did nothing more than waste a lot of people's time. McBride never was a true threat to anybody, unlike Bill Gates or Steve Ballmer for example, who did real, proper damage for decades.
When Bill Gates or Steve Ballmer finally kick the bucket, I'll be throwing one hell of a party - and if the opportunity arises, I will defecate on their graves. But Darl McBride? Yeah he was a dick. I don't really care because I never really hated him: he was inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. I guess my thoughts go to his family more than anything else, like any dude I've heard about who's died.
(Score: 5, Informative) by c0lo on Saturday November 02 2024, @09:27AM (2 children)
A true believer, wasn't he? [wikipedia.org]
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Saturday November 02 2024, @10:52AM (1 child)
.... and some people's money.
[nostyle RIP 06 May 2025]
(Score: 2) by stormreaver on Saturday November 02 2024, @11:22PM
McBride's lawsuit was entirely funded by Novell's money, which SCO failed to turn over on a regular basis. When Novell won, SCO then declared that they had spent all of Novell's money on the lawsuit, and didn't have any left to pay them. And shockingly, the judge agreed that SCO didn't have to pay anything to Novell!
(Score: 3, Funny) by SomeGuy on Saturday November 02 2024, @02:06PM
There will be musical chair throwing.
We may still have to wait for Steve Jobs to die a few more times, at least according to this poll: https://soylentnews.org/pollBooth.pl?qid=189&aid=-1 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Frosty Piss on Saturday November 02 2024, @04:27PM (1 child)
Not so. There are plenty of judges in Texas that would have loved to give SCO what they wanted.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday November 04 2024, @05:55PM
I agree with that. The SCOsource licensing program for the Linux kernel was a threat simply because it got lots of managers to pay SCO for licenses to use Linux. At $1399 per CPU, but because SCO are such nice guys it was only $699 per CPU. And they never did end the introductory price.
I daily followed the SCO saga for years until long after Groklaw sadly closed up. Until sometime in the pandemic when the one last gathering place following this mess got paywalled. But by that point we were mostly just some old farts exchanging stories.
I have to say that McBride, Ballmer, Gates and Jobs deserve a special place in the infernal nether regions.
The server will be down for replacement of vacuum tubes, belts, worn parts and lubrication of gears and bearings.
(Score: 5, Funny) by Nuke on Saturday November 02 2024, @10:04AM (1 child)
So to whom do I pay my $114 monthly Linux subscription now?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 02 2024, @02:26PM
Your licensing fee should be paid to this address:
SCO$1399FeeTroll
1 Microsoft Way
Redmond, Washington 98052, United States
For everyone else, here's a friendly reminder...
Don't forget to pay your $1399 licensing fee you cock-smoking teabaggers.
- SCO$699FeeTroll [slashdot.org] d.b.a. SCO$1399FeeTroll [slashdot.org]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by FuzzyTheBear on Saturday November 02 2024, @03:45PM (1 child)
He won't be missed.
(Score: 2) by Frosty Piss on Saturday November 02 2024, @08:18PM
Obviously.