"We are informed that participants in the Linux industry have attempted to influence participants in the markets in which we sell our products to reduce or eliminate the amount of our products and services that they purchase. They have been somewhat successful in those efforts and will likely continue." -- SCO Amendment No. 2 to Form S-3, October 14, 2003

Actually, the SCO Group letter is a variation on the protection racket run by various criminal organizations:- pay us an "insurance" fee, and we'll make sure your business doesn't suffer damage. There are laws against this in the U.S.A. I suggest that a recipent of the letter file a complaint of attempted extortion, and see what SCO, and its board of directors think of their assurances. I also note that Scott McNealy has joined the racket, by saying that buying from Sun will provide you with that "insurance".

Go Phil! SCO's tactics are trashy to say the very least. I signed the online petition as well. They know how to reach me. Bring them on! BTW, I'm a two year subscriber to this magazine, keep up the great work.

Glen

Enough about the boneheads at SCO. The case won't even be heard until 2005 -- at the earliest. By the time the lawyers from both sides (IBM & SCO) file all their motions we will all long be retired and using Linux kernel version 98.9.0.

Tell us about Costa Rica. I here its beautiful there. Why did you pick Costa Rica? The coffee?

Absolutely right on! Thank you. I did the same on SCO's "contact us" web form, although I fear I wasn't quite so polite, and suggested that we might find a constructive and sanitary use for any papers they might serve on me in our SOHO restroom.

... but what if SCO wins the suite :-( doesn't that mean the end to the Linux community i guess these kind of letters can only be of some worth when you are sure SCO won't won but these days the situation ain't clear that much so we shud avoid writing these kind of letters so that we won't be ashamed in future!

my 2 cents!

Mr. Hughes:

I very much enjoyed your frank and intelligent letter. These days, one must speak truth to power. I have not subscribed to Linux Journal before, but my check was just sent.

Matt

Way to go..i will be extending my subscription by 2 more years .it expires in feb 04

Yesterday I read an interview with two people from SuSE, one of them being Holger Dryoff (sorry, misplaced the link.) One of the points that the SuSE people made was that because of the United Linux contract (where SCO is a partner), someone who buys SuSE's server product would have a license to any of the disputed code in question. They went on to admit that they didn't know what code that was either but, with the license, everyone should be ok.

So, if you are concerned about what SCO is saying, you can actually license a real Linux distribution with source code for, as I remember, about the same price as what SCO is asking for in their protection racket.

Phil Hughes, phil@ssc.com

My name is Matt, I'm writing this from Windows 98 at work. (before you say it, mister funnyman, I'm on lunch break, not slacking!)

I was just reading tech news looking for info on this sobig virus some of the guys here seem to have gotten, when I came across the SCO story. Well, four or five links later, I'm here.

I've decided. I'm downloading Knoppix Linux tonight to try out. Hopefully, after a bit of time and effort, I can get off Windows at home, then talk to the technical guys at work and see about getting off windows there. Looking at art.gnome.org, I see Linux is pretty much the same as Windows but with technical hassles instead of legal ones, which I'll choose any day. At least you learn how to support yourself from technical hassles, you only learn how corrupt the system is from legal hassles.

As a Windows user, I can honestly say I don't like Microsoft very much, and I don't like the way they do business. I'm 100% legitimate and licensed, and I'm still afraid of them. I don't know SCO, or what they sell, but I don't like them either after reading about them. The general consensus is that they're slimy and about to go under, and this is one last desperate attempt to hang on. They're pathetic and dishonorable. Impotent.

The next time I write to you, it will be from Linux. So some good is coming from this after all, and probably not what Microsoft envisioned when they started funding SCO's legal battles for them....

Would the open letter read the same if it were from an address in the United States? I'm not implying the reverse; just wondering about the relative "safety" of tilting at the windmill of SCO's lawyers.

And don't think SCO is unique in its royalty-collecting tactics; many other fine examples of Corporate America do this for a living. The little coffee shop at the end of my block has a thug-in-a-suit from ASCAP/BMI visit him every few months, threatening legal action unless he pays protection money. And they've been doing it for years, even though there is no music played in his coffee shop.

Excellent article, and nice tie. Perhaps the Yanagapa can be unleashed upon SCO?

Thank you for your efforts. I have just subscribed to Linux Journal. I can't wait for my first issue! Ahhhh...I hope you have an "SCO" section on the magazine.

Jos

Its all about SCO's share price.
See share price rise,
see execs selling stock,
see no one else noticing because of all the vitriol in the press.

Neat, I wish I had thought of it.

P

Way to go! I've let my subscription lapse for a couple of months after I changed locations. I figure now is as good of a time to restart it and share it with the geeks in the crew onboard.

RET2 Larsen
USNS RAPPAHANNOCK (TAO-204)
FPO AP 96677-4027