Leaked Memo Says Microsoft Raised $86 million for SCO

badzilla and numerous others wrote in with this: "Eric S. Raymond's Open Source site has a new Halloween memo. The Halloween X memo, which ESR says he received by email from an anonymous whistleblower inside SCO, appears to confirm Microsoft's alleged funding of SCO's anti-Linux initiative. And the actual dollar amounts are much larger than previously rumored!" The consultant is discussing his fee for bringing in this business, in the first few lines of the email.

Time to short sell !

[Anonymous Coward]

Short sell SCO and Microsoft !

The best part of waking up....

[existential goo]

Now THIS is a great way to start off my morning; I hop on slashdot, and this is what I see? And a clean slate to boot! Life is good today, the two companies I hate implicated and I see no postings yet...

I am a gud speller

[Liselle]

It's funny how the typos and bad grammar in the email lends credence to it. Looks like something I'd get from an exec at work! Well, minus the shady dealing with Microsoft, anyway. :P

Can't... type... reply...

[The I Shing]

Can't... type... reply... too... much... outrage... head... exploding...

Antitrust . . . Reloaded?

[$calar]

Do I smell another visit to the DoJ?

Accounting error

[Realistic_Dragon]

They have so much money that no one noticed the cheque for $8.6m was actually for $86m due to a missing decimal place.

The person responsible has been promoted to strategy and vision director.

Newsflash!

[Stiletto]

BREAKING NEWS!

Republicans raise money for George W. Bush!

EXCLUSIVE!!

Christians give lots of money to their church!

UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

People who have an interest in helping you give you money!!!! OMG I CANT BELIEVE IT WTF!11!!11!!1

Typos

[savagedome]

Looks like the MSWord spell checker was turned on when composing the mail ;)

Stop Using SCO as a weapon....

[AtariAmarok]

(big bad Microsoft, trying to kill off its competitors using SCO as a weapon)

Now I have that Pat Benetar song in my head all day. Thanks a lot. "Stop using SCO as a weapon. Stop using...."

Re:Antitrust . . . Reloaded?

[csnydermvpsoft]

Do I smell another visit to the DoJ?

That depends on the [s]election in November.

But hey...

[OwlWhacker]

We all know that Microsoft really welcomes competition from Linux... Unless Microsoft is lying...

Re:Can't... type... reply...

[HeridFel]

TETSUOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Jeeez!

[Ratface]

I thought *I* was having a terrible day! The SCO shill who wrote this must be crapping his pants!

Damn - I just remembered - I *AM* having a bad day. Back to being corporate whipping boy again :-(

The Wizard of SCOz

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

Darl McBride: What do you want, peon?
Linus Torvalds: Show me the disputed code!
McBride: You must pay me $699 if you want to see the code!
Torvalds: Yeah, right. Wait a second....

*He spots Bill Gates off to the side behind a curtain, controlling the giant flaming head of McBride*

Torvalds: Isn't that... I knew it!
McBride: Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!!!
Torvalds: The game's up, Billy Boy!

Who does this?

[Doesn't_Comment_Code]

"Well I've thoroughly enjoyed this clandestined discussion. I feel so devious and evil. But for my own records, could you write down everything we've just said (especially all the bad stuff we're doing) and distribute it to all the company employees? Make sure all the new guys get it too, especially the one in cubicle 4-B that doesn't like his job. Oh, and if this gets out it could ruin our public image, so try to keep it a secret, thank you." Microsoft VIP

Re:This could have been big!

[millahtime]

" If the discovery process yields the original email, Microsoft is fucked."

Talk about an alibi for loosing an email. They use M$ for the mail server.

So Bill Gates is the Mole?

[Perl-Pusher]

This is getting about as stupid as nightly television.

Re:Paging the DoJ...

[IWorkForMorons]

Let's draw attention to this smoking gun, shall we?

Great idea! I can't wait until the The Smoking Gun [thesmokinggun.com] gets a hold of Darl's mugshots. They did such a great job with the Enron [thesmokinggun.com] guy...

Re:Not an open source

[dylan_-]

Only people who don't understand the concept of the same word having two completely different meanings...

Re:An order of magnitude?

[BerntB]

Round 7.8 to 8.

It's an order of magnitude since humanity's natural number base is octal.

No, it's not 10. Look at your hand -- the thumb is there for carry-bits when adding.

(Old PDP10 joke from before my time.)

Re:This is a forgery.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah. and this is where you hold up a neuralizer and flash me and......

*PHWOOOOMPFH* ....uhh where am I? soviet russia? first post. windows sucks. help!

Re:Wow

[Anonymous Coward]

Mary (mother of Jesus) told me in a vision that SCO will prevail, linux will be defeated, and slashdot will pay royalty and licensing fees on each of its linux installs.

Go long on SCOX if you are not stupid.

Gos, hao deciferable - more plaugerists?

[Grummet]

Phew! Thank god we had the people at OpenSource to add all of those pretty green comments because otherwise I would have no idea what the hell he was talking about.

Lons? WTF, considering what a bitch they are to payback usually I fig-red just about everyone new how to spell the freakin' word.

If you think I am being a Spealot (spelling+zealot) then RTFA. It was horrible.

Right up there with the CEO ov EV1[L] hosting.

Course, this time round we don't know if anyone just made this up or not... but it seems like par for the course.

I think the general public might actually be tiring of SCO - my Grandfather (who does not even own a computer) said they remind him of his neighbors "yip" dog.

Yip yip yip all day long, bites you hard if you get too close but its basically just f******g anoying and you avoid it most of the time.
Gramps is usually talking about poisoning it...

Anyway, the whole point of this article "86 million!!!" is not surprising.
In fact... I think I might start a company with the sole intent of bashing on Windows opponents in the media....good revenue stream...

Ahh, but maybe that would be plaugerism.

Re:This is a forgery.

[orthogonal]

I work inside SCO. Mike Anderer hasn't had anything to do with the company since June 2003. This is a clear and simple forgery. I lend it no credence. I'd suggest ignoring it.

Yeess, Darl. When you wave your hands like that I realize these are not the droids I'm looking for.

Re:I am a gud speller

[cybermace5]

Yeah, and remember, this guy has already succeeded in making around $5,000,000 for himself in about a year...in spite of poor spelling, poor judgement, etc. I'm so in the wrong business.

MAKE MONEY FAST

[illuminatedwax]

Want $86 million dollars fast? Well, we now know not one, but TWO ways to make it!

1) Make an unjustified attack on Linux
2) Make an unjustified attack on Iraq

--Stephen

Re:The Wizard of SCOz

[EvilTwinSkippy]

And at the end, Linus wakes up and is surrounded by Dennis Ritchie, Ken Thompson, Richard Stallman.

Linus: Uncle Ken, Uncle Ken, there's no place like /home!

Microsoft will drop them

[Wolfier]

Why? Because SCO did not use Word to type that email, if they did, they would have the nipped the spelling errors...

They know no shame

[krygny]

I'd be ashamed to send an email that was that poorly written to a business associate at any level. And I'd have less regard for anyone who wood. :-)

Re:They can afford training on it, then.

[jlechem]

Yes but you're assuming the exec knows how to turn it on. Most of them probably just know enough to send and read email. I've known a few that barely even managed to do that on a regular basis.

I want that on a teeshirt...

[Anonymous Coward]

SCOsource Business Model:
- Sue Your Customers
- Shill for Microsoft
- Kite Your Stock
- Pray You Stay Out of Jail

Re:Microsoft is clearly feeling the Linux heat

[Anonymous Coward]

but what happens when in 2 years...

Didn't someone post this before? Like 2 years ago?

Re:This is a forgery.

[Otter]

Never! I'm placing my full trust in the first anonymous source, unless this anonymous source can convince me otherwise.

Scooped Groklaw!

[nameer]

Slashdot beat Groklaw to a SCO headline? The end is nigh!

Coming this summer !!!

[AftanGustur]

... to a cinema near you:

Bruce Willis as 'Eric S. Raymond' in ...

"Legal Weapon IV"

rated NC17 for strong language and gore.

Re:Paging the DoJ...

[Otter]

What does John Kerry thinks of anti-trust investigations against american corporations on times of economic downturns?

He's for them. And against them. Oh, and he served in Vietnam.

If life were fair

[October_30th]

If you're an asshole now, as a person or a corporation, it will come back to get you one way or another.

"I used to think that life was unfair. Then I thought, wouldn't it be much worse, if life were fair, and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them? So, now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe." (Marcus on B5)

So, go Microsoft! Your unethical practises are making me feel warm inside.

Re:The document is a troll?

[leerpm]

I think you have to spend more time in the business world. I often find the quality of a person's intra-office email is inversely related to their salary/rank.

Re:Too good to be true

[grub]

I smell a setup.

I was thinking the same thing. They admit way too much in that mail
Imagine the FBI finding this in 1963:

From: Lee Harvey Oswald

To:Marina Oswald
Subject: Shooting Kennedy

Hi Honey,
I'll be shooting President Kennedy tommorrow morning then I'll take in a movie. Don't bother with dinner.

Love,
Lee.

Re:This is a forgery.

[eggoeater]

WHA?!? You think you're some kind of Jedi???

Search Results on MSN

[H8X55]

I wonder what search criteria XFree86million would return from msn.com? A message indicating i have entered a search term that is likely to return unethical content?

Re:He's as good as fired.

[Unique2]

A misplaced period or a switched adjective would be more effective... of course I read too much Tom Clany! :)

All this time I thought it was "Clancy" - they've been tracking me - wheres my hat!

$86mill

[Anonymous Coward]

Any coincidence between the $86-million and Microsoft's anti XFree86 search practices? that 86 seems like an interesting number.

Re:Wow

[cosmo7]

From a business standpoint it makes sense.

From a business standpoint the Mafia makes sense.

Making the World Safe for Democracy

[The Angry Mick]

Ashcroft hasn't exactly pursued a full court press on the MSFT antitrust stuff, either.

Remember, we are talking about a man who is sexually intimidated [bbc.co.uk] by cement. He's probably been busy with the thousands of other statues that need clothing.

Re:Why not buy SCO then?

[antiMStroll]

86 million buys lunch at Microsoft. it's a very, very wealthy company.

Re:Wow

[Anonymous Coward]

Without your $200 a year, they're sure to go under.

Good job.

Re:Coming this summer !!!

[drinkypoo]

As long as it's not for nudity and sexual situations...

Re:I wouldn't fire him...

[phosphorous]

Yeah, he's probably got some SCO code in his DNA or something :)

Re:Fake!

[EmagGeek]

"Now if it was a leaked powerpoint slideshow I might believe it."

Especially if it were all in Greek font...

Motley Fool's take on this is brilliant...

[d00ber]

Motley Fool - an cool investment column - has this [fool.com] to say about the wisdom of SCOs antics. I especially like the part about the return on investment of $20,000 being what an enterprising kid mowing lawns could make in a summer. This for an investment of $3.4 million in the first quarter.

SCOX has been shedding a lot lately too - $6 since January.

Re:Wow

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm working on getting my MBA

There ! There ! I spotted one ! Quick, quick, bring up the tar and the feathers !

Shocking

[smchris]

Shocking. Positively shocking! To imagine that Microsoft would hire a front company to attack a competitor with FUD and legal tricks.

When did they get so lazy they had to hire out?

All their bases??

[danielsfca2]

> big well funded companies like that tend to cover all their bases.

SCO, Microsoft to Linux users: "All your base are belong to us!"

Come on, somebody had to say it.

Re:Wow

[Greyfox]

Big business should be honourable. And that honour should be enforced by Samauari Code. Also, corporate takeovers should involve sword battles between the upper management of two companies. With decaptiations. And be televised. It might not be better business but it'd be a lot more interesting...

MBA's aren't evil....

[Dunark]

...they just show incredible ethical and moral flexibility WRT anything that increases the "bottom line".

Re:Wow

[BigBlockMopar]

Great...what a wonderfull place to be huh? A bit ironic isn't it? Being here on slashdot, if you're not part of the geek culture exclusively you get ostracized, at least lately it seems that way to me.

Dude... I know your pain. I *hate* anime (what's with the stupid monolithic teeth?), I haven't seen LOTR because it's all about hobbits and wizards and crap, and I've rebuilt the big-block V8 in my 27 year old pickup truck.

This is just payback for all the beatings most computer geeks took on the playground.

Be strong, my friend. :)

Re:All their bases??

[Hinesy]

Someone set them up the bomb

Re:Wow

[AstroDrabb]

SFU actaully has GPLed code in it. You will see the GPL license when you install it. As for SFU having any SCO "IP", that has not been proven at all.

Heh.

[Gannoc]

If someone wanted to give me $86 million dollars, i'd sue my freaking grandmother if I had to.

Re:Wow

[110010001000]

People who intend to profit are inherently evil. That is why we don't like MBA's. We prefer those who produce for love and ideals like cooperation and the good of the community, not purely profit.

Re:Wow

[outrage98]

They give your money to try and prevent you from using anything else than Windows.

That should be "anything else then Windows." Remember where you're posting.

Re:Wow

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey, that is cheap but I can't afford it, I have been outsourced.

You could always sell

some of those excess

carriage returns

Re:Wow

[Delphiki]

I would suggest this be moderated down but fuck it. Trying to make reasonable comments seems pointless sometimes. Instead I'll just say hey yall, how about all us good ol' engineerin boys hop in our trucks and get us some rope and we can lynch us some MBAs. Yeeha.

Re:Wow

[IdleTime]

I think the FedEx commercial shows a true MBA best.
"I don't do shipping, I have an MBA..."

Re:Any more blanket generalities?

[dubl-u]

The fact that this is tolerated and actually modded insightful is stunning. Substitute any other group of people and people would condemn statements like that.

You mean like lawyers, politicians, salespeople, telemarketers, and spammers?

Re:Also Remember

[strike2867]

Well the MS business plan seems to be doing pretty well. I say we should adopt it. We need to find some insane company to say they own the source code to Windows. Think of the headlines:

After Windows source code compromised, Microsoft sued for copyright violation.

Windows now illegal to use. Switch to Linux the free, more secure, faster... Huh!!! WTF!!! Why are we using Windows to begin with?

Re:The bigger question is...

[wintermute740]

"Everyone's discussing it as if it's automatically true."

You mean someone may have posted something to the internet that wasn't true?! Say it isn't so! (it's been a day from hell in tech support. Sorry for the sarcasm.)

Fah-nix?

[21chrisp]

After reading this document, it is apparent that hooked-on-phonics most definitely does NOT work for SCO employees.

Yosemite Eric

[embill]

Is it just me, or does anyone else picture ESR dressed up as Yosemite Sam, jumping up and down in his backyard firing his pistols into the air after receiving one of these leaked memos?

Re:Wow

[ozbird]

Race To The Bottom

Mmmm.... Curry....

Email Mike - tell him what you think...

[BigBadBri]

Michael Anderer [mailto]

My mail to him:

Well, Mike -

I bet you feel like a total prat, having your sloppy spelling and indiscreet observations splashed all over the Web all of a sudden.

I sure hope that the impression given by your email won't adversely impact on your obviously worthwhile IP harvesting activities - hell, if I had an idea and needed finance, I'd come beating down your door asking for the help of such a painstakingly accurate and diligent person as yourself.

Don't let Blake Stowell's dismissal of your memo put you off - your obvious merits will shine through, despite the impression given by your memo.

Keep a good head, and always carry a lightbulb,
Brian.

99% of the MBAs...

[freeBill]

...make the rest look bad.

Misunderstanding

[Phrite]

No, you dont understand. When the Windows 2000 source code leaked, SCO allegedly found thier IP in it, and the $86 million is SCO licencing fees. Get the facts straight ;)

Re:Wow

[qbwiz]

You just need to wait untill the pit starts to fill up.