PSALM 23
IBM is My Shepherd


IBM is My Shepherd

AT&T labs had been freely distributing Unix, while retaining ownership. In a bankruptcy proceeding, the Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) claimed to have acquired the "intellectual property" of AT&T, and hence of Unix. They then proceeded to sue major corporations, demanding exorbitant licensing fees or that the use of Unix be stopped immediately. Their arrogance was unbounded. They even threatened Linux, which had been developed independently of Unix, specifically because the developers saw that someday Unix would become too valuable to be free. Then IBM, which had a substantial investment in Linux systems, stepped in with a countersuit...

IBM is my shepherd; I shall not want.

IBM maketh me to lie down in green tinted monitors:
IBM leadeth me beside the still line printers.

IBM restoreth my deleted files:
IBM leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for the heck of it.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of SCO,
I will fear no eavil: for IBM art with me;
their rod and their staff and their lawyers, they comfort me.

Thou preparest a legal brief before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my code with gdb; my buffer does not runneth over.

Surely goodess and mercy shall follow me all the days I code:
and I will dwell in the house of Stallman forever.


Last revised on 30 May 2007.