SCO, Groklaw and the Monterey mystery that never was

Bullets for SCO?

Damage done?

It's difficult to envisage Groklaw's conjecture swaying a court case, but it provides SCO with valuable public relations ammunition.

What's a little more surprising is how the series continued to gain traction on the internet despite the fact it was a deeply flawed. Commenters who pointed out the shortcomings of the argument were lost in the Groklaw noise.

See for example this one and this one. They're lost amidst comments such as "Absolutely fascinating", and "Doesn't this just about blow the whole of SCOG's case out of the water?"

The saga illustrates one of the perils of online forums, the "echo chamber" effect. Many participants join a forum to have beliefs re-affirmed, and context is often a casualty. It's also a characteristic of the "information age" that facts are often applauded regardless of whether they make sense in a particular context. It has been baffling to read of the "revelation" that Monterey would run on POWER, when it was well known to all from the outset. More facts don't make a better argument.

We understand that the stories have already been modified to reflect input from outside the Groklaw forum itself - some of the phrases we quote have already disappeared - and a further article explaining the saga will follow.

But self-correcting, these things ain't. ®

Related links

Groklaw:
More Discoveries about AIX on POWER & Project Monterey
More AIX/POWER/Project Monterey Evidence
What Really Happened to Project Monterey
More Evidence Project Monterey Partners Knew Linux Was the Future
More Monterey Proof and Caldera's Hopes for Linux & UnixWare

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