[CLUE-Talk] HP to Protect Customers from Linux Claims

[Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier]

On Thu, 2003-09-25 at 08:54, Kirk Rafferty wrote:
> On Wed, Sep 24, 2003 at 10:04:39PM -0600, Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier wrote:
> > On Wed, 2003-09-24 at 16:47, Kirk Rafferty wrote:
> > > (Please don't take this argument to it's ridiculous extremes...I realize
> > > that even thought the market seems to demand Britney Spears and InSync,
> > > nobody should have ever actually stepped in to fill that demand.)
> > 
> > Ah, but it has already been taken to a ridiculous extreme by suggesting
> > that a demand created by SCO's FUD be treated as valid. 
> 
> It may very well be ridiculous.  But if enough people want it, then it
> becomes a legitimate demand that needs to be filled. 

No, it remains a ridiculous demand that a lot of people ask for. There's
a difference. The actual request is still silly -- someone else posted
Perens response about indemnification, which puts it pretty well. The
problem here is education, and the answer is not to give the PHBs what
they've been told they want by the SCO mouthpieces at the various
analyst firms. 

>  My example was a
> silly one (and indicitave that I have a teen and a pre-teen), but think
> of all the ridiculous things out there that get provided simply because
> people want it.  Reality shows anyone?

Actually, reality shows and bad pop are quite different from this -- as
much as I despise reality shows, apparently some people have a taste for
them. Network executives didn't deploy analysts to convice the public
that they liked reality shows -- they trotted out a product that
appealed to the public, as sad as that is. 

SCO and friends went on a misinformation campaign to convince businesses
that IBM should do something stupid which would also work to SCO's
advantage. Big difference here. 

> I do think, however, that indemnification is good posturing against SCO.
> And even though SCO try to twist indemnification as proof that there's a
> problem with Linux, I think most people will see it as just rantings from
> the SCO Information Minister.

If they see it as "just rantings" then why the hell are people asking
for indemnification in the first place? That doesn't follow --
obviously, some people have bought into this. HP's legitimizing the
request in any way is not going to knock confidence in SCO's rantings.
The same people will now take SCO's spin on the matter and decide that
they were right. HP would have done us all a favor to just say the suit
is a bunch of manure and that they're not going to shape company policy
based on FUD. 

Zonker
-- 
Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier
jzb at dissociatedpress.net
Aim: zonkerjoe
http://www.dissociatedpress.net