Lest we forget

Sometimes it is easy to forget that there are people behind the stories.

I'm going to take SCO as a good example. It is all too easy to vilify the people involved based on the media reports. We'll take Darl McBride as a prime example of this.

I'm not going to claim that he's an angel. Far from it. Is he misguided? Sure. Stubborn? Definitely. The living embodiment of all evil and the father of lies? Probably not.

Regardless of what he has said over the years as the mouthpiece of SCO, there is a real person there. What has brought this to mind is a Groklaw article written about the first day bankruptcy hearing. Seven Groklawyers were in attendance, and after the mornings hearing managed to speak with Novell's lawyers, and then snatched a few words with Darl himself:

"After the hearing I introduced myself to Darl McBride. I told him I was one of those Groklaw people. He smiled and told me he admired our passion. There is a time and place to ask a CEO questions and a courthouse hallway is not the place to ask tough questions. I asked Mr. McBride how he was holding up through this ordeal. He told me that he knew it would be tough. He said that what he had not expected was the toll it has taken on his family. When he said that I was looking him in the eye and there was a brief sadness in his eyes and a quiet voice that surprised me. I wished him and his family well. As a human being, he seemed to be a nice guy. If only he had chosen a different path ....."

I'm certain that over the coming weeks, if not months, there will be things said that will really rile us about this whole sordid affair, but it is worth taking pause that there are real people (some of whom are likely to loose their livelihoods) behind these headlines.

More from SCOland

The SCO saga has finally reached the interesting stage. Let's have a recap of the last couple of days worth of news.

Friday: SCO files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Share prices drop to 0.38 (down 43%).

Sunday: Half of SCOs accountants resign or are fired.

Monday: SCO requests permission with the Bankruptcy court to hire temporary accounting staff. SCO file a notice of late filing with the SEC about their missing 10Q. Apparently now that they've lost most of their accounting staff they're having difficulty keeping up. Share price drops a further 40% finishing at 0.22 (as the days range was from 0.15 - 0.31 the price could drop further today).

So what is the plan for today? Well the bankruptcy hearing is set for 8.30am, with Novell making a showing with their lawyers too.

Even if the courts accept SCOs request for Chapter 11 protection, there is still a real chance that Novell will get its money back BEFORE the creditors get a chance to pick over the carcass. Depending on what is said, SCO could still end up going into Chapter 7 - which would mean that the company would be liquidated to pay its debts.

My personal opinion is that at the point where the SCO management changes (and there is a real possibility that the bankruptcy court may insist on that) then it will be Game Over for SCO.

I'll update this post later on today rather than posting hundreds of SCO related posts.

Update 1 (13:10): SCO's 10Q has now been filed.

Update 2 (22:40): Well, that's it for the day. SCO survived the first Bankruptcy hearing. Novell asked for their money to be placed in a trust, which the Judge denied. Novell are to request a lift on the stay of the Utah trial (the one where just how much SCO owes will be decided). The next bankruptcy hearing is set for October 5, to give everyone who SCO owes money to chance to have their say. Shares finished at 0.16 (down 28%).