Jeff V. Merkey

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Jeff Vernon Merkey is an American computer scientist and entrepreneur. After working as chief scientist for Novell,[1] Merkey left to create his own company, Wolf Mountain Group, to develop a set of clustering technologies.[2] Later renamed Timpanogas Research Group (or simply TRG),[3] Merkey and his company were sued by Novell, alleging misappropriation of trade secrets.[1] When the legal battle with Novell ended, TRG announced its intention to develop an open source, NetWare-compatible operating system.[4]

After a brief spat with Microsoft over the NTFS source code TRG licensed from the company in 2000,[5] Merkey would once again go on to develop slightly different projects. Much like before, he set out to develop an open source, Netware-compatible operating system, only this time it would run the Linux kernel atop a Netware microkernel, called GaDuGi.[6] According to at least one report, Merkey became a controversial figure on LKML, the Linux kernel mailing list, for announcing that he would purchase a version of the Linux kernel without the GPL license, among other things.[7][8] Wolf Mountain Group would later announce plans for a new file system for Linux and Windows, called the Wolf Mountain File System.[9]

Contents

1995-1997: Branch off from Novell

A chief scientist for Novell and an architect for its Wolf Mountain project since 1995, Merkey was helping the company develop clustering technologies and a new operating system, Wolf Mountain Operating System, to further its reach in the server market.[10][2] These clustering technologies would enable Novell's software the ability to have several computers with different operating systems be able to run as a single machine.[11] Merkey left Novell in March 1997 with his coworker Darren Major, a senior research scientist at Novell, to create a new company called the Wolf Mountain Group to work on similar technologies.[11]

Immediately after its creation, Wolf Mountain Group became a Microsoft Independent Software Developer, and in an interview Merkey suggested he left Novell because it didn't go far enough with its Windows NT support. He, at the time, claimed that he would have clustering technology out on Windows NT before Netware or Unix. The company's website takes a starker tone, stating that the rift happened because Novell "shelved and canabalized [sic]" the Wolf Mountain project.[2][11][10]

Two months after Wolf Mountain Group was founded, Novell filed suit against the company, claiming the two founders had breached their employment contract, misappropriated trade secrets, and infringed on the Wolf Mountain project's [12] trademark name.[11] Possibly due to a restraining order issued from the case that prevented Wolf Mountain Group from using its name, the company was later renamed to Timpanogas Research Group.[3]

1998-2000: Venturing into open source

Timpanogas Research Group (or TRG) eventually settled out of court with Novell in August 1998, and according to Novell, the result of the settlement was that all claims were dismissed. According to one media report, the legal fees from the case cost TRG US$4 million, and the company was forced to abandon its product, in which it had invested US$2.2 million.[4] With the suit over with, the company headed in a new direction. In August 2000, TRG announced it was developing an open source, Netware-compatible operating system, again with clustering technology. The new operating system was scheduled to include features from other prominent operating systems, such as the ability to load the Windows 2000 dynamic library and portable executable formats.[4][2][13]

The company was also working on various NTFS-related projects for Linux, to which it had a brief tiff with Microsoft over in the fall of 2000. In September, TRG announced it gave up its license for the NTFS source code after receiving "threatening messages" from Microsoft, suggesting a possible lawsuit over intellectual property rights (similar to the earlier Novell suit). However, this was short lived, as weeks after Merkey's claim a Microsoft lawyer apologized and stated there was no lawsuit, and Microsoft itself denies ever having threatened TRG with a lawsuit.[5]

2001-2006: GaDuGi and the Linux kernel

Merkey's idea of having a Netware-compatible operating system eventually turned into what he called GaDuGi, from the Cherokee word gadugi. Unlike previous incarnations, and to avoid legal troubles encountered previously with Novell, GaDuGi was to be merged with the Linux kernel atop its rewritten Netware microkernel.[14] On October 4, 2004, Merkey offered US$50,000 on LKML, the Linux kernel mailing list, to anyone able to provide him a version of the Linux kernel that was not licensed under the GPL for his project. However, some Linux developers quickly rejected the offer, and in an interview Richard Stallman was quoted as saying "It would be foolish for people to accept. Why let him provide Linux to users without respecting their freedom? If I had contributed to Linux, I would say no to him, and insist that he must respect the users' freedom." [15][7] Merkey ran into similar issues when he proposed to give the copyright of his project to the Cherokee Nation, to be released under a "Cherokee Nation open source" license.[14]

On June 21, 2005 Merkey filed a lawsuit against several people and organizations such as Slashdot and Bruce Perens, and 200 John Does. The suit includes various charges concerning harrassment by the defendants.[16][17][18] The number of defendants named in the case was eventually reduced to four entities and 20 John Does after two amendments to the original complaint. Merkey dropped the case in August 2005, although he subsequently filed a motion to reopen the case against one of the defendants, Al Petrofsky.[18]

References

  1. ^ a b Essex, David (2000-08-30). Protect yourself against an inevitable-disclosure lawsuit. ITworld.com. Retrieved on 2006-05-25.
  2. ^ a b c d CNET News.com Staff (1997-04-29). Confusion reigns on Wolf Mountain. CNET News.com. Retrieved on 2006-05-23.
  3. ^ a b CNET News.com Staff (1997-05-13). Short Take: Wolf Mountain Group now Timpanogas Research Group. CNET News.com. Retrieved on 2006-05-23.
  4. ^ a b c Geralds, John (2000-08-22). Open source NetWare compatible OS unveiled. vnunet.com. Retrieved on 2006-05-24.
  5. ^ a b Thurrott, Paul (February 2001). NTFS Licensee Reports Microsoft Threat, Apology. Windows IT Pro. Retrieved on 2006-05-25.
  6. ^ O'Gara, Maureen (2005-01-17). GaDuGi To Rewrite its Linux Side, Says Merkey. Enterprise Open Source Magazine. Retrieved on 2006-05-25.
  7. ^ a b Barr, Joe (2005-01-18). GaDuGi and free software share one fire. NewsForge. Retrieved on 2006-05-26.
  8. ^ Linus tells Merkey, "Cry me a river". NewsForge (2005-12-30). Retrieved on 2006-05-28.
  9. ^ Wolf Mountain Group L.L.C. Announces Wolf Mountain File System for Windows and Linux. Wolf Mountain Group (2006-04-13). Retrieved on 2006-05-25.
  10. ^ a b About Us. Wolf Mountain Group. Retrieved on 2006-05-25.
  11. ^ a b c d CNET News.com Staff (1997-05-01). Novell sues ex-employees. CNET News.com. Retrieved on 2006-05-23.
  12. ^ Wolf Mountain project was the project Merkey was working on at Novell, while Wolf Maintain Group was the company he subsequently founded.
  13. ^ Novell (1998-08-28). Timpanogas Research Group Agrees to Permanent Injunction and Payment to End Trade Secret Litigation with Novell. Novell Press Release. Retrieved on 2006-05-23.
  14. ^ a b Maureen O'Gara (2005-01-10). Cherokee Indians To Encircle Open Source?. Enterprise Open Source Magazine. Retrieved on 2006-05-25.
  15. ^ Biancuzzi, Federico (2004-12-22). Freedom, Innovation, and Convenience: The RMS Interview. Linux DevCenter. Retrieved on 2005-05-26.
  16. ^ Bloor, Robin (2005-06-28). CardSystems – A Breach Too Far, Wrong Information?, The GPL and the Litigious Cherokee. IT-Director.com. Retrieved on 2006-05-26.
  17. ^ Jeffrey V. Merkey v. The Internet et al. ip-wars.net. Retrieved on 2006-05-26.
  18. ^ a b Al Petrofsky's page on the Merkey lawsuit. scofacts.org. Retrieved on 2006-05-29.

External links

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