Didn't Anyone Tell SCO Executives That David Vs. Goliath Outcomes Are Rare?
But the one thing I learned by the time I reached high school was that you don't pick a fight with someone twice your size, never mind someone who is a giant in stature.
The same holds true in business. You can almost pinpoint the date of the beginning of the end for Netscape to the day that the company declared it viewed its browser technology as an eventual replacement to the operating system.
That statement quickly mobilized Microsoft,which was already concerned about Netscape,in such a way that Netscape was unable to deal with the size and might of its enemy.
Don't get me wrong. I'm a big believer that in business everyone needs to have an enemy who rallies them and focuses direction. I just don't believe you should pick on someone who has so much might, size, money and resources that your odds of winning are so slim you are virtually destined to fail.
That's why you have to ask yourself what SCO Group executives were thinking when they decided to file a suit against IBM over Linux code infringement. Not surprisingly, SCO's move to pick a fight with IBM has sparked a countersuit by IBM against SCO for patent infringement.
Let's face it, IBM probably has more lawyers on the payroll than SCO has employees. It probably spends more in legal fees on outside lawyers each year than SCO has in sales.
And let's not forget,while money can't buy happiness, it absolutely can buy you really good lawyers.
Really good lawyers, of course, can make life miserable in our legal system. And IBM is not the only company chasing SCO with lawsuits. Red Hat, the Linux distributor, has also slapped the company with a suit demanding that it prove which Linux source violates SCO's Unix license.
I believe this is just the beginning.
It seems to me that if SCO continues down this course, it just may find itself spending more money and, more importantly, executive time on legal issues than it can tolerate. There is obviously an opportunity cost every time an executive spends time on legal issues rather than on sales and management strategy.
To make matters more complex, SCO has not laid its cards completely on the table by specifically pointing out where the violations are occurring. That has most people speculating that the lawsuit may just be a huge bluff by SCO in order to garner some sort of a payoff. It's likely, because once SCO discloses which code is in violation, that code can be replaced and its claim will become moot. In addition, SCO's case probably has been weakened by the fact that it has been part of the General Public License for Linux.
Even as the legal battle rages, there doesn't seem to be any hard evidence that Linux adoption is slowing down.
IBM's countersuit against SCO will be viewed as a positive action on the part of Linux users and potential customers.
This entire mess is going to get a lot uglier. There will be more suits and countersuits filed, and more companies will either be dragged into the fray or will jump in willingly in order to help settle the issue in favor of Linux.
SCO has taken the wrong path on this matter, and in the end it is going to see very little or no return, in my opinion.
In the meantime, I'm going to take a walk downtown later today and find the biggest, toughest-looking guy I can. Then I'll consider what kind of shape I would be in five minutes after I sucker-punched him.
Make something happen. I can be reached at (516) 562-7812 or via e-mail at [email protected].