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Scott Rosenberg on SCO’s absurd Linux suit

The incomparable Scott, responding to an idiotic claim by a Gartner analyst that the Linux community is ‘cavalier’ about intellectual property, writes a magisterial put-down. Quote:

“Cavalier,” dictionary.com says, is defined as “(1) showing arrogant or offhand disregard; dismissive… (2) Carefree and nonchalant; jaunty.”

I can’t think of a stupider statement on this subject. If you know anything at all about the history of Linux and the open source movement, you know that it is precisely the opposite of cavalier on this issue.

What we call Linux today is an assemblage of parts — including building-block components created by Richard Stallman and cohorts at the Free Software Foundation, and the kernel first written by Linus Torvalds — put together, with great care and effort, across nearly two decades of development. Each part has been written from the ground up and protected by open-source licensing.

The GPL (GNU Public License) has its devotees and its detractors — and there are competing models within the open-source world. But that just shows how much thought and, indeed, respect these programmers pay to thinking through the complex aspects of intellectual property as they relate to ownership of software code.

Linux’s architects have been the opposite of “dismissive” or “carefree” on these issues. Their whole project is a thoughtful, careful, “slow and steady wins the race” approach to creating a new model for the intellectual-property basis of software. To call this effort “cavalier” is just stunningly wrong.

Sure, that new model may not be to the liking of many in the commercial-software world. But it “respects” traditional notions of intellectual property even as it tries to reshape them — and that’s one reason it’s proven so enduring and effective, and why Linux will continue to prosper while SCO is likely to end up as a footnote.

More Segway stuff

I ought to have guessed. There are some serious Segway fanatics out there. And even the Wall Street Journal is in on the act. Clearly Niles Crane of Frasier is on to something. (And thanks to Andrew Arends for picking up my mistake of confusing Niles’s surname with his brother’s forename.)

Clear Channel Purchases the FCC

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced today that it has agreed to be acquired by Clear Channel Communications (CCU) of San Antonio, Texas.

In announcing the deal, FCC Chairman Michael Powell said “This transaction will greatly expedite the demise of the antiquated concept of local ownership of media outlets. Critics of deals such as this need to understand that Clear Channel embodies all that is good and decent in the broadcast industry, and anyone that believes otherwise clearly isn’t listening to the news.”

In a statement issued today, Clear Channel CEO Lowry Mays said “This acquisition is a perfect strategic fit for Clear Channel. The FCC has been a wonderful business partner for the past several years, and has carried out our directions with great enthusiasm. We are proud to welcome the FCC into the Clear Channel family of companies.”

Although terms of the deal were not immediately available, It is said that the acquisition will include all components, operating units and assets of the FCC, except for its soul, which was sold in a prior transaction to Satan, Inc. in 1996.

Clear Channel, which owns broadcast facilities, shopping malls, billboard advertising, and concert promotion units all across North America, has been on an acquisition binge for the past several years, and has recently broadened the scope of its acquisitions to include government entities. In a recent deal, CCU purchased a 50% interest in the U.S. Congress, and is reportedly close to striking a deal to purchase The White House. Clear Channel already has been integrally running the George Bush presidency. Clear Channel’s Stock stood at $42.09 at the close of Monday’s trading, up $1.39, or 3.42%

Satire? Only just. Thanks for Steve McGookin for the text.

At last it can, er, has been told: the True Story of the Segway

Many moons ago, my publisher rang me up with a strange tale. He had been invited to bid for the rights to a book on something called “Project Ginger” — code name for a product created by inventor Dean Kamen which (it was claimed) would transform the world. Nobody knew — least of all the hapless bidding publishers — what Ginger was, but it was revealed that John Doerr (the patron saint of venture capitalists) and Jeff Bezos (founder of Amazon) were fanatically keen on the idea. “So”, asked my publisher, “should I bid?” My friend Quentin and I did some digging into Mr Kamen’s patent holdings and concluded quickly (as did most geeks) that it must be some sort of personal transportation device. And so indeed it proved to be — the Segway scooter (yours from Amazon.com for $4,950). Now the book of the great adventure is out. The NYT review is surprisingly generous.

My publisher, incidentally, decided not to bid. Smart lad. Interesting to note also that the only time I have seen a Segway on the mass media was when Niles Crane (Frasier’s infinitely precious brother) had one. Perfect casting, I thought.

Top Ten President Bush Excuses For Not Finding Weapons of Mass Destruction

10. “We’ve only looked through 99% of the country”
9. “We spent the entire budget making those playing cards”
8. “Containers are labeled in some crazy language”
7. “They must have been stolen by some of them evil X-Men mutants”
6. “Did I say Iraq has weapons of mass destruction? I meant they have goats”
5. “How are we supposed to find weapons of mass destruction when we can’t even find Cheney?”
4. “Still screwed up because of Daylight Savings Time”
3. “When you’re trying to find something, it’s always in the last place you look, am I right, people?”
2. “Let’s face it — I ain’t exactly a genius”
1. “Geraldo took them”

From Thursday night’s David Letterman. Thanks to Karlin for the link.

What happens to Netscape now? (And, more important, Mozilla.)

The AOL Time Warner deal with Microsoft, says the NYT, ” also puts the final nail in the Netscape coffin.

AOL has been keeping Netscape alive, despite its tiny market share, largely as a bargaining chip with Microsoft. After Netscape’s latest release this summer, AOL is likely to cut even further the small group of people who remain devoted to Netscape’s software.

Even Netscape’s Web site, once the centerpiece of the effort to connect the online versions of all of AOL Time Warner’s media properties, is now being de-emphasized. The Web sites of its magazines, including Time and Fortune, are no longer presented under the Netscape banner. Rather, those magazines are increasingly being used to bolster the flagging fortunes of America Online’s main service.”

AOL clearly has no further need for Netscape. What does this mean for Mozilla, the open source project spun out from Netscape?

Calendar ambushes

Keeping a diary gives the calendar a special hold on one. This morning I looked at the date on this weblog and was suddenly ambushed by grief. I was transported back to June 1 last year. It was a beautiful English summer day. Sue and I took our daughter to a Guides Summer Camp in the morning, and after watching the (hilarious) process of tent construction etc. for a while, departed. Our other children were elsewhere, so — unusually — we had the day to ourselves. She was in terrific form and looked wonderful in a pearl necklace I’d bought for her birthday a few weeks earlier. In the car she observed ironically that if she hadn’t known she was dying she would have said she was fine. We went out to lunch at a good restaurant and had a lovely time, enjoying one another’s company and the incomparable lushness of England in early summer. When we got home, I asked if I could photograph her. “If you must”, she said, smiling. So I did.

This photograph is the most important one I’ve ever taken, because it turned out that June 1 was the last day when Sue felt really OK.

Definition of a Weblog

From Dave Winer:”A weblog is a hierarchy of text, images, media objects and data, arranged chronologically, that can be viewed in an HTML browser.”

He continues: “Key point: On my weblog no one can change what I wrote. In contrast, having written for professional publications, pros have to prepare for their writing being interfered with. Sometimes you submit right at the copy-edit deadline. Or you write exactly the required number of words so nothing can be cut. But in the end, the words that appear are an amalgam of what your organization thought should be said on the subject you’re addressing.”

Weblogs are unique in that only a weblog gives you a publication where your ideas can stand alone without interference. It gives the public writer a kind of relaxation not available in other forms. That might mean that in some sense the “quality” of the writing is different, but I would not say lower, assuming the purpose of writing is to inform, not to impress. I would choose a few spelling or grammatical errors over factual errors.”

Half of all email is now Spam, according to one survey

BBC Online story: “More than half of the total number of e-mails sent in May were unsolicited messages, according to net filtering firm MessageLabs. It found that that 55% of e-mails it scanned in May were spam, up from just under 40% in April.”