ShadowRAM: December 1, 2003

The startup provides a point-and-click method for midsize businesses to assemble composite applications. Sippl said he's looking for solution providers with vertical domain expertise to build "knowledge packs," which help non-programmers assemble composite apps. Above All Software will pay a royalty for every knowledge pack VARs and integrators build.

IBM's Frank Vitagliano bears an awesome burden. We're not talking about his new role as the worldwide executive working with IBM's global PC distributors. No, Frank's new cross to bear is golf. Vitagliano played his first round at a recent Ingram Micro event. Eyewitnesses said he hit the ball as well as his beloved Boston Red Sox performed in their recent short-lived playoff run,about every sixth shot was a good one.

A little birdie tells me that Microsoft Business Solutions is hard at work on yet another attempt to kill off Intuit QuickBooks. This time, it's a product code-named Magellan.

Conspiracy theories about SCO's legal battle are multiplying. Published reports have speculated that Microsoft,or an unnamed holding company backed by Microsoft investments,has some stake in BayStar Capital, which handed over $50 million to SCO in October. SCO CEO Darl McBride and a BayStar spokesman insist Microsoft has nothing to do with the investment, which gave Larkspur, Calif.-based BayStar and the Royal Bank of Canada an 18 percent stake in SCO. However, that BayStar spokesman, Robert McGrath, got testy when pressed by CRN to reveal the full roster of investors, citing privacy issues.

IBM, meanwhile, seems intent on making those names public. It has issued subpoenas to BayStar and Deutsche Bank Securities, among others, seeking to air any information related to SCO's litigation.

All eyes are watching for BayStar's next move. One managing partner, Lawrence Goldfarb, told Forbes he is confident SCO will be able to drive company growth by forcing Linux customers to pay Unix licensing fees for every Linux server they have. However, anti-SCO forces say SCO, BayStar and others that are profiting from the Linux lawsuit against IBM could face charges and fines if the court dismisses the lawsuit or can prove that SCO knew its claims against IBM were contrived to boost the company's stock price.

SCO has claimed it will file suit against a large customer soon, and some speculate it'll be a big Hollywood Linux user.

But as of press time, it was pretty quiet. Still, IBM and SCO are set to square off in a Utah court on Dec. 5.