Groklaw in "The State of the Open Source Union, 2004" -- Groklaw Objection "Voice of Reason"

Groklaw in "The State of the Open Source Union, 2004" -- Groklaw Objection "Voice of Reason"

by Pamela Jones
Groklaw

February 28 2005

Mark Stone, in his "The State of the Open Source Union, 2004," [ http://features.slashdot.org/features/05/02/28/1848252.shtml?tid=90&tid=117&tid=109&tid=155&tid=102&tid=123&tid=9&tid=106 ] currently on Slashdot, has some lovely things to say about Groklaw:

"This is certainly good news for Linux and open source. Going back five or six years, clearly one of the major obstacles to widespread adoption of open source software was the uncertain legal status of both the software and the licenses. While this aspect of open source is still an unfinished saga -- more on that shortly -- the inability of SCO, through either legal or PR channels, to undermine Linux gives reason for confidence about the future.
"The real story about SCO in 2004 has in fact been the telling of that story. While mainstream media coverage of SCO has varied widely -- sometimes accurate, sometimes resembling coverage of the OJ Simpson trial -- Groklaw has emerged as a steady voice of reason and objectivity adeptly defusing all attempts at 'FUD' PR around the case.

"2004 has been, especially as an election year, a controversial year for the phenomenon of blogging. Whether blogging will provide a sustainable alternate voice in journalism is very much an open question. A few blog sites, however, have shown what a handful of dedicated individuals can do in the face of much larger, and better funded PR machines. Groklaw is an outstanding example of the positive journalism effect that blogging can have."

well... [blushes] ... thank you.

The Dark Side has tried unrelentingly for about six months, along with its Media Running Dogs and Astroturf Internet Thugs, as I affectionately call them, to tarnish Groklaw's (and my) reputation. I'm so happy to learn that they have failed. It's been quite a ride.

Well, fellow Grokaw members, so far, so good. And my Mom will be proud of me when she reads what Mark Stone wrote. She hasn't a clue what Groklaw is about, not being a computer person, but she will understand this. Ma, I did OK.

: )

I have also made arrangements for Groklaw to keep on truckin' even if I were to have an unfortunate accident or anything, so it doesn't depend on me any more. Not that I plan on going anywhere, but mortals have to do contingency planning, since there is a big X factor in all our plans. Groklaw has a life of its own now anyway. Everyone knows how to do it, now that we did it, and I am genuinely proud of the fact that I thought of Groklaw and got the experiment off the runway and into the air, but I also realize I am not absolutely necessary, now that we are airborne.

I so love doing it, though, and I hope to continue for years to come, long after SCO's ship has sunk, head first, into the deep, and SCO is just a memory, the only proof of its one-time existence being Groklaw, the marker in the enterprise graveyard that will read, "Here lies the company that took on the FOSS community and lost, who foolishly thought it could make a killing off of the labor of the generous-hearted and unselfish programmers who gave the world Linux, who tried to destroy the GPL and failed miserably."

05:41 PM EST