Earlier today when I read about Microsoft entering into a licensing agreement with SCO Unix I didn’t know what to make of it. While their claim was that they were doing so in order to be able to work on interoperation with Unix systems without the fear of violationg SCO’s IP that didn’t quite wash with me. The timing of this just seemed too coincidental with SCO’s warning letters to industry over the use of Linux and their lawsuit with IBM.
This afternoon I came across this article by Bruce Perens that made me slap my forehead and say, “Of course.” SCO Group is a failing company who is being used by Microsoft to push their message of Open Source being a threat to IP rights. I don’t know that SCO is being paid off by Microsoft to do what they are doing but I’m sure Microsoft is using this licensing agreement more as a way of promoting their message than they are seeing it as something necessary to provide interoperability.
I really get tired of all this drama in the industry at times. I don’t mind a company keeping their source closed and requiring restrictive licensing to use it I just wish they would accept that other companies and individuals have the right to license their works in what way they see best suits them. I also get tired of hearing the Open Source crowd bash Microsoft. Maybe one of these days a company can be judged just by the software it delivers and not on their gamesmanship.
About Larry D. Burton
I'm a 55 year old controls engineer who just likes tinkering with stuff.
Finished high school at a local institute of learning. Decided it wasn't a good time to be a healthy, physically fit 18 year old with no college experience. Entered college and started working toward a degree in animal husbandry.
1975-1976
Discoverd that I was not going to be a very good husband of animals so I left school to figure out what I might be good at. A local beverage company took pity on me and paid me to go from place to place making sure their on tap beverages were maintaining their high quality.
1976-1979
Got out of quality control and into vending. Learned about control systems and refrigeration also learned that vending machines are heavy and vending doesn't pay all that well.
In 1977 I found myself married
1979-1981
Dedicated myself to installing and maintaining commercial refrigeration equipment. Found myself on the roof of a local grocery store one night in the middle of an ice storm replacing a compressor and figured it was time to get back into school.
1981-1986
Got my but back into school at night and changed jobs to keep the mechanical and electrical systems of a local coporate hospital in working order. The job expanded to unstopping drains and burning lab samples and amputated body parts.
1986-now
Finished school and took on a job designing, installing and maintaining industrial control systems. Along the way I picked up a bunch of computer skills that became very useful connecting various industrial controllers to one another and moving the data into coporate databases. I now operate Dallas Bay Technologies, a one man shop specializing in technology solutions for industrial problems.
