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Linux Pipeline Newsletter www.LinuxPipeline.com Tuesday, April 05, 2005 In This Issue: - Firefox Tests Beefed-Up Popup Blocker - Microsoft Takes Python Scripting Language To .Net - JBoss Boosts Legal Coverage For Customers - More News... - Greasemonkey: Have The Web Your Way - Commentary: Monkey Business - Linux Workstation Backups -- Without Tears - More Picks... This issue sponsored by MobilizedSoftware.com Offline Operations * Intelligent Roaming Security * Power Management Download Intel's architecture guide for better mobile software http://www.techweb.com/cha/mobsw_intel ----------------------------------------- Editor's Note: SCO: Dead By December? Sometimes a news story gives you everything you need to understand a particular issue. Other times, you have to go hunting for context if you want to find the heart of the matter. One of our stories this week is a classic example: The report that SCO has resubmitted the SEC documents over which Nasdaq had threatened to delist the company's stock. SCO Refiles Financial Paperwork With SEC This isn't about the quality of the coverage; TechWeb correspondent Alexander Wolfe did a fine job, as usual, with the story. In fact, a reporter wouldn't last long if he or she adorned a news item with the sort of commentary on this topic one finds in abundance over at Groklaw. Once you've got the facts, though, I suggest heading over to Groklaw to get the rest of this story. Pamela Jones isn't a lawyer, but she beats the pants off most legal weasels with her ability to cut through piles of obscurantist mumbo-jumbo and to find the things that matter. She does just that with SCO's belated regulatory filings, digging up more than one nugget that I'm sure SCO would rather leave buried. There's plenty of grist here for PJ's analytical mill, but most of it raises the same question: Who in their right mind would buy enterprise software from this walking corpse of a corporation? Most firms count on five to seven years of support when they buy software, and I imagine the average support window is even longer with a high-availability Unix deployment. Based on the information PJ extracts from the SCO documents, the company's ability to continue operating depends largely upon a legal victory against IBM. Yet if there's a mentally competent adult who doesn't work for SCO, knows something about its case against IBM, and still believes it has a snowball's chance in Cancun of winning, I haven't run into them. In addition, there's a Groklaw forum post from a person who pulled together financial data scattered throughout the SCO documents; he then used the data to run a cash -flow analysis on the company. If his numbers hold up (and based on the checking around I've done so far, they will), SCO may not have enough cash even to make its last pre-arranged payment to its law firm in December, much less continue operating. This puts SCO's claims about its "cash flow positive" Unix business into perspective. Why use this term, as opposed to the more succinct "profitable?" Because SCO's Unix business cash flow is only "positive" when it excludes G&A--that is, its overhead costs. Include them, and SCO seems to be in a financial hole that no amount of cost-cutting will ever fill. If this analysis is correct, SCO is losing enough money on its "cash flow positive" Unix business to make it tough to survive this year, much less long enough to see its way through a trial against IBM. Even if SCO's situation isn't quite as grim as the analysis described above suggests--or if the company is somehow able to raise money from an outside source--it still appears unlikely that the company can survive a trial and appeals process that could easily take two or three years. At this point, then, SCO isn't even capable of arguing that it's protecting its long-term business interests by litigating against Linux. In fact, the company's tactics now represent nothing more than pointless, purely vindictive economic vandalism. That's a lovely legacy SCO's management is preparing to leave behind.
Matthew McKenzie
Don't let future editions of Linux Pipeline Newsletter go missing. Take a moment to add the newsletter's address to your anti-spam whitelist: linuxed@techwire.com If you're not sure how to do that, ask your administrator or ISP. Or check your anti-spam utility's documentation. Thanks. Top Linux News Firefox Tests Beefed-Up Popup Blocker The Mozilla Foundation is testing a patch to its Firefox browser that puts the kibosh on popup ads, including Java- and Flash-based popups which slip through the current blocker.
Microsoft Takes Python Scripting Language To .Net
JBoss Boosts Legal Coverage For Customers
Firefox Runs Away With Tech-Savvy Users
Linux Versus Windows: It's The Services, Stupid
Sun Names OpenSolaris Advisory Board
SCO Refiles Financial Paperwork With SEC
Firefox, Mozilla Bug May Expose Data
Online Tracking Tool: Consumer Service Or Cookie Monster?
SourceLabs Hits The Road With 'Amp'
HP Confirms NCR's Hurd Will Replace Fiorina
InterMute Delivers Linux Anti-Spyware SDK
Check's In The Mail For Mozilla Bug-Hunter
Leader Of EU Anti-Software Patent Group Bows Out Editor's Picks Greasemonkey: Have The Web Your Way Can one simple Firefox extension bend millions of Web sites to meet your individual preferences and needs? You'd better believe it--we'll show you how Greasemonkey works and why you're likely to have your own copy before long.
Commentary: Monkey Business
Linux Workstation Backups -- Without Tears
Python: Get A Grip On Linux
Open-Source Startups: Diversify And Conquer
The Future Of Linux: A Virtual Success
Your Take On Windows-Linux Security Study: Yuck
From Security Pipeline: The Dumbest Technology Of 2005 Cast Your Vote Now! A few weeks ago, I wrote about some of the concerns I had about the direction OpenOffice.org is taking with some of its key marketing and development efforts. This week, it's your turn: Is OpenOffice.org a real alternative to Microsoft Office, or is it a poor imitation of the real thing? We'll tally up the votes for next week's newsletter. Now quit wasting your time doing real work, get over to Linux Pipeline, and vote! As for the previous poll, asking where you like to get your IT news: We're waiting to hear from a few more Pipeline sites to total the votes. You're dying of suspense, aren't you? Get More Out Of Linux PipelineTry Linux Pipeline's RSS Feed Linux Pipeline's content is available via RSS feed: Get RSS link. The feed is also auto-discoverable to many RSS readers from the Linux Pipeline home page. Note: RSS feeds are not viewable in most Web browsers. You need an RSS reader, Web-based service, or plug-in to view RSS. Find out which RSS readers the Pipeline editors recommend.
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This issue sponsored by MobilizedSoftware.com Offline Operations * Intelligent Roaming Security * Power Management Download Intel's architecture guide for better mobile software http://www.techweb.com/cha/mobsw_intel ----------------------------------------- Manage Your Newsletter Subscription We take your privacy very seriously. Please review our Privacy Policy.
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