Bonum Certa Men Certa

What Was Microsoft's “Big Bet” Post Novell-SCO (2002)?

Cryptic reference to Novell-SCO from Microsoft General Manager months before the lawsuits began

THE other day in the IRC channel, we discussed what had come from this antitrust exhibit. What did Microsoft's General Manager in India mean by "big bet plan in India (post Novell - Sco and Trishul)"? That was a very private/confidential E-mail. We did some searching to find out what Trishul was about (partial IRC log at the bottom), but we were unable to see what SCO and Novell had to do with this.



That was less than 6 months before SCO launched its assault on Linux, using intellectual property that belonged to Novell.

_____





neighborleeschestowitz, Rajeev Kaul comment about post novel-sco is weirdJan 15 17:06
schestowitzI missed that. where?Jan 15 17:06
schestowitzin response to it?Jan 15 17:07
schestowitzwe need contextJan 15 17:07
neighborleeGiven the impact of Education market in India globally for us and the threats from Linux and piracy, I want to make this a big bet plan in India (post Novell - Sco and Trishul).  < thisJan 15 17:08
schestowitzAny close links b/w them prior to 2003?Jan 15 17:08
neighborleeodd phrasing there 'big bet plan' but whatever ;)Jan 15 17:08
schestowitznovell= netware; sco=unixJan 15 17:09
moogstrapsorry. phonecall. I was going to say that, as a seaman, I have actually been chased by pirates. they weren't offering copyrighted materials.Jan 15 17:09
*schestowitz on phoneJan 15 17:10
schestowitzBig betJan 15 17:11
schestowitzbetting on replacing unix?Jan 15 17:11
schestowitzBaystar?Jan 15 17:11
schestowitzWhere's Trishul?Jan 15 17:12
schestowitzOr who is it?Jan 15 17:12
schestowitzWorth googling.Jan 15 17:12
neighborleeschestowitz, joseX well said last few posts..very nice. http://boycottnovell.com/2009/01/11/ms-mai...Jan 15 17:18
neighborleeschestowitz, I feel  exactly the same.Jan 15 17:19
moogstrapthat API patent really takes the pissJan 15 17:21
neighborleeyupJan 15 17:22
moogstrapan optimistic view: http://www.sdtimes.com/FROM_THE_EDITORS_M...Jan 15 17:24
schestowitzShould i post something about that SCO-NOVELL thing in isolation?Jan 15 17:24
moogstrapyou mean from the email quote?Jan 15 17:26
schestowitzIntel is corrupting the term "open source" now (just spotted in the news): http://www.brandrepublic.asia/Media/Advertisingarti...Jan 15 17:26
schestowitzmoogstrap: yes.Jan 15 17:26
schestowitzIt could be worth bearing in mind.Jan 15 17:27
schestowitzSCO and India are not so isolatedJan 15 17:27
schestowitzThey had SandiJan 15 17:27
schestowitzThey also had some deals there and deploymentsJan 15 17:27
moogstrapI don't really knowJan 15 17:31
moogstrapI mean, is that the only reference?Jan 15 17:33
moogstrapstill it's omninousJan 15 17:35
schestowitzYes, only this reference.Jan 15 17:37
schestowitzWhere's Trishul? Let's google it.. :-)Jan 15 17:37
schestowitzhttp://www.google.com/search?sourceid=mozcli...Jan 15 17:37
schestowitzBN at top spotJan 15 17:37
schestowitzhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TrishulJan 15 17:38
schestowitzTrishul may refer to:Jan 15 17:38
schestowitz    * Trishul (weapon), a type of traditional trident from IndiaJan 15 17:38
schestowitz    * Trishul (missile), a surface-to-air missile under development in IndiaJan 15 17:38
schestowitz    * Trishul (film), a 1978 Hindi filmJan 15 17:38
schestowitz    * INS Trishul, an Indian guided missile frigate bought from RussiaJan 15 17:38
schestowitz    * Trishul or Trisul, the name of a Himalayan mountain peak.Jan 15 17:38
schestowitzAre they trying to torpedo Linux with Novell/SCO? ;-)Jan 15 17:38
moogstrapor Trishul ApartmentsJan 15 17:39
schestowitzPJ might know..Jan 15 17:39
moogstraphttp://www.microsoft.com/india/me...Jan 15 17:42
moogstrap"Contributed to conceiving and developing “Trishul” plan as a core member with Sanjay Mirchandani, Rajiv Kaul and Tarun Gulati"Jan 15 17:42
schestowitzAhhhhhhh.Jan 15 17:43
schestowitzGood find.Jan 15 17:43
schestowitzSo how does this related to "Novell - Sco"?Jan 15 17:43
moogstrapmeh. All I can find are articles about missilesJan 15 17:48
moogstrapand some Java thing for mobilesJan 15 17:48
moogstrapuh, cellphonesJan 15 17:49
*karabas has quit (Remote closed the connection)Jan 15 17:49
schestowitzAt least we know, thanks to you, that it's a projectJan 15 17:49
schestowitzLike Sco -Novell maybe?Jan 15 17:49
schestowitzI don't know the chronicles of this too welll...Jan 15 17:49
schestowitzPJ has historical summaries...Jan 15 17:49
moogstrapdoubtful: http://www.few.vu.nl/~srijith/masters/t...Jan 15 17:50
schestowitzSo I don't know how SCO related to Novell before litigationJan 15 17:50
schestowitzGrokDoc/GrokLine with timelines and all might helpJan 15 17:50
schestowitzSCO did some mobile stuff recently (failed of course)Jan 15 17:50
schestowitzSigned some deals in India IIRCJan 15 17:50
schestowitzNow it sells the assetsJan 15 17:50
moogstrapgoogle has forsaken me. sorry dudeJan 15 18:03
moogstrapA patent invented by a guy called Trishul, owned by Microsoft: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-85342158.htmlJan 15 18:13
schestowitzHeh :-)Jan 15 18:15
schestowitzThanks for looking.Jan 15 18:15


Recent Techrights' Posts

The Old Days
In the early days of this site (2006) it was mostly just a couple of people, plus comments
Links 28/03/2026: Microsoft's LinkedIn a National Security Risk, Microsoft's Slop "Ambitions Face Investor Scrutiny Amid Soaring Costs"
Links for the day
 
Links 29/03/2026: Water Shortages and No Kings Rallies
Links for the day
Gemini Links 29/03/2026: Return to Gopherspace, "Zen of Marking Playing Cards"
Links for the day
The Real XBox is Dead, So Microsoft is Calling Everything "XBox" Now
It even wanted to run a campaign to convince everybody that XBox is not actually a console
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 28, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, March 28, 2026
Open Web Destroyed by Centibillionaires, Says Anil Dash of Blogging Fame
Blogging was going through its 'prime years' about 20 years ago
"Linux" Slop Going Away, Microsoft et al Pay 'Linux' Foundation to Promote Slop
It's a timely reminder that the Linux Foundation exists to promote whoever pays the Linux Foundation, even pedophiles and companies that attack the GPL
Gemini Links 28/03/2026: "Finding My Base Tone", "Astrobotany", and BugoutBack/OFFLFIRSOCH
Links for the day
Links 28/03/2026: More Worldwide Bans on Social Control Media (Harms to Adolescents), Protests in US Against Dictatorship
Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 26 Out of 200: Asking for Documents and Information You Already Have, Even Letters and E-mails That You Yourself Sent!
barristers are expensive
Gemini Links 28/03/2026: Echo Delay and 0x0.st
Links for the day
Rumours of More IBM Mass Layoffs at Beginning of April
IBM is not doing well
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, March 27, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, March 27, 2026
"Headcount" as Distraction From Mass Layoffs and Salary Reductions
Things aren't looking well when one considers revenue is acquired, not earned
"Linux" Slop Turning Rarer, New York Times Nowadays Contaminated With LLM Slop
Another day has passed without much slop about "linux"
Links 27/03/2026: Studying Whale Births, Apple is Cancelling Products, Cambodia Arrests Journalists Over Photographs
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/03/2026: GTD, Gopher Catchup, Gemini Crawlers, and "Slop Everywhere"
Links for the day
Mozilla Was Ruined Like Sirius Open Source Was Ruined - From the Top Down
Mozilla will never return to its Free software roots
Nokia Could Never Recover From Microsoft
It's very important to remember what really happened
Why Techrights and Many Other Sites Stopped Doing April Fools’ Day Articles
Well before slop (made by LLMs) it was "bad optics" to have satire or humour in a site, irrespective of the day of the year
President Not-Cocaine Campinos Notified of Historic EPO Strikes (Thousands of Workers Not Coming Back to the Office)
Please do pay attention to how the media treats these strikes in Europe's second-largest institution
Slides From the Presentation Discussing EPO Strikes Until End of June or Until End of 2026 (Maybe Next Year Too)
More to come soon (later today)
IBM Cuts Are Everywhere (Global), the Aim is to Lower the Pay
Because the revenues keep falling (IBM buys other companies' revenues using borrowed money)
Perpetual Strikes to Begin at European Patent Office (EPO), Large Majority Votes for Strikes Any Day of the Week
Approved industrial actions [...] Notice how none of the media or even so-called 'IP' blogs write about it
Mozilla is Not a Privacy Company, Mozilla is Run by GAFAM Executives and Managers Who Came From American Surveillance Companies
Would you trust a VPN they claim to be "free"?
SLAPP Censorship - Part 25 Out of 200: That Time Matthew J. Garrett Got Temporarily Banned/Suspended From Twitter
That he gets banned from large social control media platform is hardly surprising given his combative communications
Ubuntu Started as Free With ShipIt, Now It Becomes Payware That Exploits Debian Volunteers (Slaves)
"Ubuntu" the distro now replaces the GNU components inherited from Debian with a bunch of Microsoft GitHub (proprietary) things that reject reciprocal licences
Last Night The Register MS Published a Fake Article. It Mentioned "AI" 27 Times.
Paid-for nonsense! [...] What's left of once-respectable news sites actively harms society
Links 27/03/2026: Google Executive (GAFAM, US, Surveillance) "Named the New BBC Head", Prominent Climate Scientist Resigns From NASA
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/03/2026: "Being Busy" and "Posting Again"
Links for the day
GNOME Has No "Real" Executive Director, Only an IBM (Perma)'Interim' One With No Openings in Sight
GNOME is having financial problems
Microsoft Experiencing "Leadership Exodus"
Microsoft's current position is no better than Meta's (Facebook)
GNU/Linux Distros Should Reject "Age Verification" and Uphold Software Freedom for Users
It's not about protecting children
Slop Plunge
we can already "smell the blood" of the so-called 'AI industry'
IBM Media Puff Pieces While Layoffs Go On and On
Has the PR industry absorbed the press?
Media Says Microsoft Hiring Freezes, But There Are Already Microsoft Layoffs
They want the public to talk about Microsoft as if it's just not hiring when it is actually firing
Richard Stallman lynchings: Sruthi Chandran splitting Debian
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, March 26, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, March 26, 2026