[oclug] Such an opportunity... missed.

[Rod Giffin]

I just finished reading an article
(http://yahoo.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2005/tc2005033_4497_tc119.htm)
about SCO's current state of affairs.  In the article, it mentions (among
listing SCO's many woes) that sales of Linux servers grew 51% in 2004, to
$4.9 billion.  I couldn't help but wonder where it would be had SCO
focused their energy on helping that, rather than trying to kill it.

Their performance numbers are pitiful.  They show the depth of greed that
grips the executives of SCO.  In exchange for $13 million, they sold their
souls.  I have no pity for them.

Let's say, just for arguments sake, that SCO hadn't tried this, and that
they could have lent their expertise to the development of Linux rather
than trying to do the reverse.  And by doing so, SCO wormed their way into
a *10% market share of the Linux server market.  Hm.  That's $500 million
dollars, way more than 10 times their current earnings.  It will never be
now.  Even if they win any part of their law suit, nobody but lawyers want
to do business with them any more, for a variety of reasons.  Apparently
not even NASDAQ.

* 10% is a common business plan market share target.  Given SCO's
experience in Unix engineering, they COULD have achieve that.

Rod.