Unix Archives - FOSS Force

SCO, the Not-Walking Dead, Returns

By Christine Hall on October 30, 2017 |

Business and Copyright

It appears that the once cancelled SCO Show has again been rebooted after a federal judge okays an appeal.

SCO. There’s a name I’ll bet you thought you’d never hear again. Guess what? It’s back.

Wasn’t there a Bond film called “Live to Die Another Day.” Even if there wasn’t, that applies here.

Christine Hall

Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux

FOSSForce.com

SCO Is Undeniably and Reliably Dead

By Christine Hall on February 29, 2016 |

Business, Copyright and Operating Systems

On Friday, IBM and SCO filed an agreement with the US District Court in Utah to accept a ruling of dismissal of the last remaining claims by SCO against IBM.

It appears as if SCO’s case against IBM, which began as a blustering tornado back in 2003, finally died with a whimper last week. The death notice came in the form of what is essentially a one page agreement between SCO and IBM which calls “for certification of the entry of final judgment on the Court’s orders concerning all of SCO’s claims….”

The agreement goes on to state: “There is no just reason for delaying SCO’s appeal from such Orders, as the final resolution of SCO’s claims may make it unnecessary, as a practical matter, for the Court to decide the several pending motions concerning IBM’s counterclaims, given SCO’s bankruptcy and its explanation that it has de minimis financial resources beyond the value of the claims on which the Court has granted summary judgment for IBM.”

In other words, there’s no reason to continue since SCO is bankrupt and the only assets it has left are its claims against IBM, which have already been pretty much ruled as off the table.

Christine Hall

FOSSForce.com

SCO v. IBM: Judge Rules for IBM in Interferance Claims

By Christine Hall on February 10, 2016 |

Business and News

Judge grants IBM’s request for summary judgement and orders parties to reach dismissal agreement by February 26.

Two SCO stories in a week? As Yogi Berra would say, it’s 2003 all over again. But this time with a big difference. It’s almost over.

I told you on Monday that Judge David Nuffer with the US District Court in Utah had shot down SCO’s attempts to bring an action for Unfair Competition against IBM because the issue is already covered by another breach of contract claim by SCO. On Tuesday, Judge Nuffer issued a ruling on a pair of interference claims which effectively takes whatever winds were left out of SCO’s sails.

Bankrupt SCO, of course, lost their big $1 billion case against IBM long ago when Novell, in a separate case, proved that it, and not SCO, owned the copyrights that SCO was suing over. But SCO’s been struggling to stay alive, hoping to at least win a few bucks from IBM as compensation for all it went through.

Christine Hall

FOSSForce.com

Setting Up Shop With KDE’s Plasma

Setting Up Shop With KDE’s Plasma

By Don Parris on July 21, 2015 |

Desktops, Operating Systems and Tutorial

We’ve all seen those “screenshot tours” of FOSS desktops, but how about a real, guided tour of the Plasma (KDE) desktop? There are still a great many people who simply are not familiar with Plasma’s features. A large number of people never had any computer training, and when they find themselves in such an advanced environment, they feel completely lost. Many people can barely find their way around a single desktop; the concept of multiple virtual desktops is completely lost on them — never mind Plasma’s activities. So let’s take a little time and make some very basic changes to our desktop theme, and then organize our work. After all, that’s what activities are all about.

Some of my favorite features of Plasma are:

Customizability: we can change just about anything I want
Activities: allow us to organize our tasks into related groups
Virtual Desktops (workspaces in some environments): standard fare in FOSS desktops
Application Set: Kontact, Digikam, Kate, K3B and Amarok — the apps by which I live and die

Don Parris

Don Parris wears a Facility Services cape by day, and transforms into LibreMan at night. He has written numerous articles about free tech, and hangs out with the Cha-Ha crowd, learning about computer security. He also enjoys making ceviche with his wife, and writing about his travels in Perú.

When SCO Was Cool

By Larry Cafiero on March 25, 2015 |

Business and Operating Systems

The headline sounds like heresy, I know, but put down those pitchforks and torches and hear me out. By now, you’ve probably all heard the news that the zombie lawsuit brought about by SCO against IBM has reared its ugly head and has started bellowing “braaaaaaains” once again.

But the fact of the matter is this: At one time, SCO was cool.

SCO started out here in my neighborhood, essentially, in Santa Cruz, California. It was called The Santa Cruz Operation (hence, SCO). That manifestation of SCO was founded in 1979 by Larry and Doug Michels, a father and son, as a Unix porting and consulting company which, over time, developed its own brand of Unix. In his book “The Art of Unix Programming,” Eric Raymond calls SCO the “first Unix company.”

Larry Cafiero

Larry Cafiero, a.k.a. Larry the Free Software Guy, is a journalist and a Free/Open Source Software advocate. He is involved in several FOSS projects and serves as the publicity chair for the Southern California Linux Expo. Follow him on Twitter: @lcafiero

What Operating Systems Do You Use?

What Operating Systems Do You Use?

By Christine Hall on March 13, 2014 |

Operating Systems

There was a time, back before smartphones and tablets, when most of us used, at most, only three operating systems. Indeed, for the average computer user there was only one operating system that mattered and that was Windows, which held a 95% market share. Even those of us who used Linux or Apple at home usually had to use a Windows computer at work–which remains true today.

However, today’s computer users daily come into contact with many other operating systems than merely Linux, OS X and Windows. Smartphone and tablet users boot into Android and iOS, with some even using the more open Firefox OS and Sailfish OS. To traditional consumer computers we can now add Chrome OS for those who don’t mind doing most of their work in the cloud.

Christine Hall

FOSSForce.com

Posts tagged as “Unix”

SCO, the Not-Walking Dead, Returns

It appears that the once cancelled SCO Show has again been rebooted after a federal judge okays an appeal.

SCO Is Undeniably and Reliably Dead

On Friday, IBM and SCO filed an agreement with the US District Court in Utah to accept a ruling of dismissal of the last remaining claims by SCO against IBM.

SCO v. IBM: Judge Rules for IBM in Interferance Claims

Judge grants IBM’s request for summary judgement and orders parties to reach dismissal agreement by February 26.

Setting Up Shop With KDE’s Plasma

When SCO Was Cool

What Operating Systems Do You Use?