On Tue, 2003-06-10 at 13:48, Stephen Kuhn wrote: > ==== 1. Commentary: The SCO UNIX Lawsuit--Will It Affect Your > Business? > by Paul Thurrott, News Editor, [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Most Windows-based enterprises are likely well versed(not likely in the Linux > debate in which Linux supporters argue that their favorite OS is more > secure and less expensive than Windows because it's created largely by > volunteers, is developed in the open and available for source-code > examination, and is free to license. But many companies I've spoken to > are less susceptible to the religious dogma behind Linux and take a > more practical approach to implementing the open-source solution, as > they do with any other technology.(once a micro$loth whore alwas a whore That is, > most mid- and large-sized > businesses are heterogeneous, implementing technology where it makes > the most sense, which today, often means small and midsized Web sites, > file servers, and in some cases even 3-D graphics-rendering farms. > Linux has proven to be a fairly versatile and inexpensive alternative > to Windows server products, even when you factor in the cost of > supporting a UNIX-like environment. Over the years, I've found the > steady improvements to Linux to be somewhat hard to swallow. > Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks that way. UNIX patent, > copyright, and intellectual property owner SCO Group recently sued > IBM, the largest Linux licensee, for $1 billion, charging the computer > giant with stealing copyrighted UNIX code and using it in Linux. > Furthermore, SCO charges that any company using Linux faces legal > action over intellectual property rights because of the fact that > crackers have stolen entire sections of UNIX code and placed that code > in Linux. The legal battle, which Linux backers initially greeted with > somewhat childish dissent,(icall the lawsuit childish) is starting to heat up. And > if IBM doesn't > respond adequately this week, SCO says it will cancel IBM's UNIX > license, a legal bomb that could force IBM to stop selling its > UNIX-based AIX software. > SCO's claims aren't without merit. After a weak rebuttal over the > status of UNIX's copyrights from former UNIX owner Novell earlier this > month, SCO produced documents that prove SCO has "all rights to UNIX > ... technology, including the copyrights," an assertion Novell > ultimately supported. However, Novell still maintains it owns certain > patents related to UNIX, a fact that's unlikely to inhibit SCO from > suing every Linux-using company on the planet(So sue me). The problem, of course, > comes down to the source code. > According to SCO, you can compare the UNIX System V and Linux > source code to see where Linux is stealing wholeheartedly from UNIX. > To make this comparison, however, you have to sign an egregious > nondisclosure agreement (NDA), which prevents you from discussing > details of the charges. This NDA is causing many members of the press > to decline the invitation. Laura Dido of the Yankee Group signed the > NDA, and she says the evidence is damning, with entire sections of > source code, including original developer documentary notes, lifted > wholesale from the UNIX System V source code. Based on this evidence, > she recommended that companies with AIX contracts contact IBM > immediately for advice. A wider concern is whether this development > will forever taint or curtail adoption of the open-source phenomenon. > As with Microsoft's sudden domination of the Web browser market, > critics have looked at Linux's sharp adoption and technical > improvement rates with some distrust. How can an OS without any true > central management or development strategy so quickly grow to rival > and even eclipse the decades-old UNIX? Well, theft is one obvious way. > As a hypothetical argument, let's say Linux's original threading code > prevented it from scaling past a certain point. One way to improve > that limitation would be to steal code from a similar OS--UNIX--that > had already solved the scaling problem. But the question remains: Who > stole the UNIX code? > This question might ultimately be answered in court, and although > SCO has been silent about various details surrounding its claims, the > company has said that it doesn't believe IBM is directly responsible > for the theft. But what was once a curious, if nervously humorous > lawsuit, is suddenly gaining steam. If SCO can revoke IBM's AIX > license and prove that IBM used UNIX code in Linux, a wholesale attack > on Linux companies could be next. And few of these companies are > backed by the kind of legal resources IBM commands. If IBM falls, > these other companies are in trouble. > The situation also has a couple of wild cards, as you might expect. > The first is Microsoft, which recently made a huge media event out of > licensing the UNIX code from SCO and recommending that other companies > do the same. At the time, Microsoft said it was licensing the source > code to provide better interoperability between UNIX and its products > (notably Windows Services for UNIX--SFU). But where Microsoft goes, > charges of fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) follow. The Linux > community immediately cried foul at the Microsoft media event, > charging that the software giant was trying to throw another wrench > into the cogs of Linux's progress. Microsoft, however, said that > although Linux is indeed a threat, it has yet to feel the pinch from > Linux, which the company says has stolen market share from UNIX not > Windows. > Second, SCO is clearly using litigation as a revenue stream. The > company doesn't have a balanced portfolio of products and services, > and it doesn't take a financial genius to realize that someone at the > company eventually decided that its only valuable asset was its > ownership of the slowly fading UNIX. If SCO's suit against IBM is > successful--meaning, the company makes oodles of money in an > out-of-court settlement or by ultimately winning the case--we can > expect SCO to move on down the UNIX and Linux food chains, suing > companies that work on or use these technologies. The ramifications > are staggering. > Is this legal threat something companies implementing AIX or Linux > need to worry about, or will the SCO lawsuit disappear behind smoke > and mirrors? Let me know what you think, and whether you believe your > company--or the wider AIX and Linux communities--have anything to fear > from SCO. > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > ...ya reckon the writer is a bit slanted? He's afraid that M$ won't give him free software anymore -- Aron Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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