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NewsMost loved programming language Rust sparks privacy concerns Pin
Kent Sharkey4-Apr-21 5:31
staffKent Sharkey4-Apr-21 5:31 
GeneralRe: Most loved programming language Rust sparks privacy concerns Pin
Dan Neely5-Apr-21 2:34
Dan Neely5-Apr-21 2:34 
NewsGitHub Actions being actively abused to mine cryptocurrency on GitHub servers Pin
Kent Sharkey4-Apr-21 5:31
staffKent Sharkey4-Apr-21 5:31 
NewsPersonal data for 533 million Facebook users leaks on the web Pin
Kent Sharkey4-Apr-21 5:31
staffKent Sharkey4-Apr-21 5:31 
NewsXinuous—owners of what used to be SCO—file suit against Red Hat and IBM Pin
Kent Sharkey1-Apr-21 12:01
staffKent Sharkey1-Apr-21 12:01 
GeneralRe: Xinuous—owners of what used to be SCO—file suit against Red Hat and IBM Pin
Dan Neely1-Apr-21 13:50
Dan Neely1-Apr-21 13:50 
GeneralRe: Xinuous—owners of what used to be SCO—file suit against Red Hat and IBM Pin
markrlondon1-Apr-21 21:56
markrlondon1-Apr-21 21:56 
GeneralRe: Xinuous—owners of what used to be SCO—file suit against Red Hat and IBM Pin
markrlondon1-Apr-21 22:11
markrlondon1-Apr-21 22:11 
markrlondon wrote:
An April Fool joke, surely...?

Well, apparently it's not -- at least not as far as I can tell. But this passage from the complaint genuinely reads like a joke:
Quote:
As a result of these activities, Xinuos has been excluded from key opportunities in the market. For example, despite Xinuos offering a FreeBSD-based operating system with substantial commercial value for enterprise users, Xinuos was unable to garner as much financial support or customer interest in OpenServer 10 as it could and should have due to the market conditions. Indeed, the market is so distorted that Xinuos has determined that over 70% fewer of its customers are in a position to license its new operating system than would be available in a functioning market. The foreclosing effect on Xinuos is felt by all competitors as well.

Er... surely the key problem is that they were charging money for a general purpose operating system based on FreeBSD when general purpose FreeBSD itself is free.

It is crystal clear that Xinuos's only viable market is (and always has been since they purchased the rights to develop, support and market UnixWare and OpenServer) maintenance and support of existing customer installations of their historical operating system products which have not (yet!) upgraded to Linux or BSD.

As for OpenServer 10 (their FreeBSD-based operating system), they'd have to add something really, really useful to FreeBSD to make it worth paying money for it and it's not clear to me that they ever really did so. No new user would want to pay for FreeBSD if they can get it for free. And existing users of earlier versions of Xinuos's OpenServer would surely want to upgrade to Linux or actual FreeBSD if and when they decided to upgrade.

Indeed, Xinuos is in a difficult position with its small stable of proprietary Unix operating systems. In fact it's the very same situation that IBM is in with AIX. That is to say, closed code development of proprietary Unix is no longer a profitable business compared to open source development of Linux or BSD. Suing IBM and Red Hat won't change that.

modified 2-Apr-21 4:32am.

NewsNew research shows that near-term quantum computers can learn to reason Pin
Kent Sharkey1-Apr-21 10:31
staffKent Sharkey1-Apr-21 10:31 
GeneralRe: New research shows that near-term quantum computers can learn to reason Pin
markrlondon1-Apr-21 23:51
markrlondon1-Apr-21 23:51 
NewsMicrosoft shuts down Cortana on iOS and Android Pin
Kent Sharkey1-Apr-21 10:16
staffKent Sharkey1-Apr-21 10:16 
NewsDatabase-related bottlenecks are holding businesses back Pin
Kent Sharkey1-Apr-21 10:01
staffKent Sharkey1-Apr-21 10:01 
NewsNew Open Source Index: VS Code is no. 1 code editor Pin
Kent Sharkey1-Apr-21 7:46
staffKent Sharkey1-Apr-21 7:46 
NewsCanonical releases Ubuntu on Windows Preview with early builds, new tools for the brave Pin
Kent Sharkey1-Apr-21 7:46
staffKent Sharkey1-Apr-21 7:46 
NewsMicrosoft Technical Fellow Don Box has left the building Pin
Kent Sharkey1-Apr-21 7:46
staffKent Sharkey1-Apr-21 7:46 
GeneralRe: Microsoft Technical Fellow Don Box has left the building Pin
abmv1-Apr-21 9:39
professionalabmv1-Apr-21 9:39 
GeneralRe: Microsoft Technical Fellow Don Box has left the building Pin
Chris Maunder2-Apr-21 2:52
cofounderChris Maunder2-Apr-21 2:52 
NewsScientists implant and then reverse false memories in people Pin
Kent Sharkey31-Mar-21 10:16
staffKent Sharkey31-Mar-21 10:16 
GeneralRe: Scientists implant and then reverse false memories in people Pin
Nelek31-Mar-21 10:30
protectorNelek31-Mar-21 10:30 
GeneralRe: Scientists implant and then reverse false memories in people Pin
markrlondon31-Mar-21 18:07
markrlondon31-Mar-21 18:07 
GeneralRe: Scientists implant and then reverse false memories in people Pin
#realJSOP31-Mar-21 23:40
mve#realJSOP31-Mar-21 23:40 
GeneralRe: Scientists implant and then reverse false memories in people Pin
Daniel Pfeffer1-Apr-21 9:58
professionalDaniel Pfeffer1-Apr-21 9:58 
GeneralRe: Scientists implant and then reverse false memories in people Pin
Marc Clifton1-Apr-21 13:46
mvaMarc Clifton1-Apr-21 13:46 
NewsPeople affected by COVID-19 show more goodwill to computers, scientists say Pin
Kent Sharkey31-Mar-21 10:01
staffKent Sharkey31-Mar-21 10:01 
GeneralRe: People affected by COVID-19 show more goodwill to computers, scientists say Pin
Nelek31-Mar-21 10:31
protectorNelek31-Mar-21 10:31 

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