Alejandro Nova
Life with Mono - Mononono
They sold us it was free >From someone else's claims The code began to show And no one spoke at all But when I asked to Novell, If I'm protected... Ingenue
Ingenue I just don't know what to do
GNOME-sized avenues Brought us a perfect doom F-Spot, Banshee and a paint Made us target for threats But if you still trust MS Then you are a complete...
Ingenue
Ingenue I just don't know what to do
Ingenue I just don't know what to do
What did Microsoft know about SCO's plan to attack Linux, and when did it know it? And was it a force behind it?
[...]
But now, thanks to a volunteer working on doing the exhibits in the Comes v. Microsoft antitrust litigation as text, we find an email thread in Exhibit 8953 [PDF] where Microsoft employees, including the managing director of Microsoft in India at the time, mention SCO in a discussion about heading off the Linux threat in India. The emails are dated September 11, 2002. Given the date, I believe this opens up the question of Microsoft's involvement once again. At a minimum, it needs clarification. If it doesn't demonstrate Microsoft knowing about SCO's plans before they unfurled, what does it mean? I'd like Microsoft to tell us. Because I have a lot of questions about the email thread.
[...]
If you recall, EDGI was about pushing Microsoft in India so as to head off Linux and StarOffice use there in government and education. This email says Bill Gates thought they should just give away their software in India and wherever necessary to head off the threat, and that is part of what is being discussed, because some disagreed about giving it away for free. But EDGI was not restricted to India; it could be implemented wherever needed.
I believe this exhibit may be a smoking gun. At a minimum, it calls for clarification, and if and when SCO v. IBM starts up again, I believe it could provide a basis for limited discovery on this very topic or if Michael Anderer is put on the stand, it opens up a fruitful thread. Regulatory bodies are also completely free to investigate whether it was indeed Microsoft using SCO as an anti-competitive weapon against Linux in violation of antitrust law.
The email mentions Novell, SCO and Trishul, and I thought it might be referring to an inside name for the strategy, since that is the name of a Trident air defense missile ("The Trishul air-defense missile is intended to counter a low level attack with a very quick reaction time and has an all weather capability."), but it is also possible it's referring to a Microsoft employee who heads up the Runtime Analysis & Design research group, so I've written to him asking him which it might be or if he can clarify the email. Meanwhile, take a look. The reference to Novell is more puzzling, but it is certainly possible, given the evidence that SCO thought Novell would join them, that Microsoft back then thought so too.