Robert Lemos

SCO’s in the news again: The would-be licensor of Linux is apparently subpoenaing Pamela Jones of Groklaw to reveal who she is. Coincidentally, Jones said she is taking a break from blogging due to health reasons on Saturday, yet someone else is still maintaining Groklaw posts. SCO contention is that Groklaw is a front for IBM-affiliated lawyers.

You can find the article here.

As background, freelancer and editor Maureen O’Gara had her contract terminated by SysCon after writing a hit piece about her attempts to identify Jones. Pro-Linux bloggers attacked O’Gara online and the editors of LinuxWorld resigned en mass to show support for Jones and decry the tactics used by O’Gara, which included listing the apparent addresses of Jones’ apartment and her mother’s house and some fairly loaded language.

Here is the only part of the article that I have found online. InformationWeek reviewed the piece, concluding that O’Gara’s main sin was not truly finding out anything.

In my opinion, O’Gara’s main sin was lack of professionalism. Listing anyone’s address is not necessary and could be considered threatening in many instances. Snarky remarks–such as “Oh yeah? Wonder what cold crème she uses.” and referring to her as an “elusive harridan”–don’t instill a sense of integrity. Her writing gives the impression of a 1920s hard-boiled detective novel, not good journalism.

However, I would disagree that Jones deserves absolute privacy. If you forcibly inject yourself into events that could affect a significant segment of the information-technology industry, I think your readers deserve to know who you are. However, while I think Jones, considering her reach and popularity in the Linux community, should expect to be identified, O’Gara’s piece didn’t even rise to the level of tabloid writing.

Would I want an O’Gara coming after me? Certainly not. However, I accept that it could be a possibility, and I try to be as open as possible with anything that could impact my writing.

For those conspiracy theorists out there, I’m actually someone who uses Linux extensively. I have it on at least three computers in my home. (I’m not sure if my router and firewall run on some flavor of embedded Linux.) I also use Windows and a Mac. I try to look at the flaws and strengths of each system from an analytical viewpoint.

One last thought: While I have no idea if Jones is really a 61-year-old spinster living alone (as O’Gara describes her) or a team of corporate lawyers, I would point out that “a 61-year-old woman” and “Linux enthusiast” are two sets that I would have imagined to have a really small intersection, if any at all.

Added Feb. 19, 2007:
I’ve lightly edited the first paragraph for clarity and flow.

I’ve also saw that Linux-Watch’s Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols has said he has met Pamela Jones several times and considers her a friend. Again, that does not dismiss the validity of any investigation into any relationship between her and IBM.

As an example, I would point to Jeff Jones of Microsoft and his blog. Jones writes some interesting articles about data points in the security world that–seem to–invariably favor Microsoft. If he had not identified himself as a Microsoft employee, would an article attempting to find a reason for his bias be a valid journalistic pursuit? I would say, yes.

Jones is also starting a blog up for CSO soon, which blurs the line even further. Is he a journalist that happens to be working for Microsoft, a researcher that has some interesting opinions, or an employee using his work as a marketing vehicle? Readers need to know as much information as possible before they form an opinion.