SCO Group sent Delisting Notice by NASDAQ

[tw]

Originally Posted by richlevy

TW, did you miss the part where Caldera, before they bought Unix from SCO, was a Linux distributor?

Yes, but how is that relevant? I don't know how much Caldera spent, but SCO certainly never received anywhere near what was spent to buy Unix from AT&T. (BTW, that hyperlink only goes to a search page). Did Caldera suddenly become profitable because they owned Unix? Of course not. It was bought in a fire sale - probably so that Unix licensees could still obtain support.

Also, it appears that SCO is reluctant to sow the code they allege is being infringed upon. How crazy is that for a lawsuit?

I never followed it that far. Early on, SCO was desperately making personal appeals to major Japanese UNIX users using code copies to prove 'piracy'. Whether their case had merit was being lost upon me in the apathetic response. At that point, SCO's future (to me) looked dim.

Again, it matters little whether SCO's case was winnable. I am most certainly not making that claim - as implied by the above citations. SCO was in an unenviable position where SCO management had no options. Notice: no where do I defend the merits of SCO's case. Never once did I even try. If their case had zero merit, then it would have been thrown out of court. If SCO's case had enough merit to file, then SCO management had no choice but to file. Any case with only enough to maybe save the company - then they were obligated to file suit - even if SCO management regarded that lawsuit as frivolous.

No one can fault management for doing what was required to meet a primary obligation - survive. I am not disputing that SCO could have won the case. That is completely irrelevant to everything I have posted. Notice what I keep saying: I have sympathy for SCO and their stockholders who were blindsided by a freight train that nobody could have seen coming. Management did what was necessary - and required - for interests of those that management works for - stockholders. If management had not done so, then management must be sued by the stockholders. And stockholders would have won.

Did Caldera suddenly become wealthy from owning Unix? No. Again, without a legal victory, SCO's Unix ownership had near zero value. The stockholder's money spent to buy Unix only had value if SCO could win a lawsuit. SCO couldn't. No one can blame them for trying to save the company. They were only doing what all management in that position is required to do. As bad as you might think their actions, one must also have sympathy for them. They had to file suit to survive - SCO management had no other option other than to lie down and be personally bankrupted by SCO stockholders.

As a guy named Tony once said, "Its only business".