Comments on: Unfairly indicting Sun for its SCO testimony?

Some are criticizing the company for standing by while Linux took unfair hits from the Unix rights holder. But isn't this what the law and corporate citizenship required of the company?

[M C]

Actually, if Sun could stand by and watch Linux be smeared (which, BTW, is not just a reputation hit to Linux; there are real costs) then Sun should have known there might be repercussions and be fully prepared to accept them.

And I think they did and were.

Life goes on.

[Rick S.]

Mr Schwartz was crowing about this new license (from Caldera/SCO/TSG/ME/WhateverTHey'reCalledTheseDays) "creating" the right to distribute SOURCE CODE from previously confidential Unix as part of OpenSolaris. In spite of the apparent fact that Caldera/etc/etc didn't have the right to give away Novell's property in this manner.

So there was effective "confidentiality clause". And since then, until 2007 Sun withheld this agreement from Novell until forced, by Court order, to provide it under force of subpeona.

The original subject behind all this stuff is the interview at which Mr. Phipps claims Sun "reformed" after 2002, and they manifestly didn't. Greed, built on contractual lies built by stealing Novell's property, and hiding the enabling agreement from the victim for years and years, is NOT a virtue. I think that talk about "...justified by preserving/enhancing Shareholder value" is a lot like testimony and out-of-court statements made by guilty Enron executives and their attourneys, just a variation of the "look at the Wookie!" defense.

[tuqui]

Then your saying that is UNFAIR to condemn past UNFAIR Sun inactions?.

[mwendy]

PJ does not exist a purported. Matt, you riff on only a whiff of grapeshot. And, I believe this does not reflect well on your "journalistic" credibility. Please, when you have coffee with her and confirm that "she" wrote what she did, give me a holler - I have a bridge I want to sell you.

Astroturf here. And laziness. "She" is spin, non-carnate. She is corporate.

[RamboTribble]

While I wouldn't denigrate Sun particularly for their actions, nor would I laud them. Troubling, however, is the nature of your defense of them. It is just a variation of the "I was only following orders," defense. Since at least 1945, that just plain hasn't washed.