On Fri, 3 Oct 2003, [EMAIL PROTECTED] said: <snip> > I have found it quite interesting to read through this document. I can > see why SCO would go after IBM. It makes sense, give the agreement that > IBM and SCO had. But, I think that it is ludicrous to come after > everyone else, who has NOT given out trade secrets. I never made any > kind of deal with SCO. This breach of contract that SCO is taking IBM to > court over didn't happen until May 2001 (Or there about). Linux, if I > remember correctly, was doing quite well at that time. Anything that was > written up to that point should be free and clear of anything that SCO > can claim. And everything after that, doesn't necessarily mean that it > was used from the code the IBM gave out.
SCO's whole case is based on a number of false pretences. One of these is that IBM's (and SGI's, and...) contributions to Linux were trade secrets that are tied to the original System V code base. SCO pretty much claims that anything built to run in Unix is protected as strongly as their original code. In reading through the contracts and side letters (don't forget Amendment X), it's pretty obvious that this is not the case. It's clear that a "product" (such as AIX) built from the original code would be protected, but it's difficult to see how IBM contributing their own code hurts SCO and breaks their contract. SCO also seems to believe that they can revoke IBM's contract as a result of their claims. It's clear that IBM's contract is perpetual, and even if it were possible to revoke, Novell retained the right to overrule SCO, which they have done. SCO claims that because Linux has their Intellectual Property (a nebulous claim at best), everyone running Linux should pay them. It's a ridiculous concept that holds no water. The legal threats against Linux users is little more than a scare tactic designed to solicit money out of companies that don't want to get sued (they got money from Sun and from MS). They'll never send out bills because they know that they have no basis for doing so (see RedHat's suit). They plan to keep fishing (threatening companies) around until someone buys them out. That's not going to happen any more, because they're tainted now. They've destroyed themselves, and nobody could buy them. IBM's countersuit would still go on, so why buy a lawsuit. > In section 98 of the lawsuit, SCO is complaining about IBM's statement > about LINUX saying "Linux will be on par with UNIX in no time" Since > when is it illegal to have a product compete with another? Oh no, > X-windows will be just as good and windows XP in no time. Maybe > Microsoft should sue! Looks like to me that SCO is mad because IBM had a > good idea, to make money, first. SCO is mad because they are irrelevant. They aren't getting any money out of the old unix code, and they wish to hijack Linux for their own profit. In the end, it will backfire. Instead of pushing people to license their cruddy OS, people (IBM) will pour money and resources into Linux to make it better. The end result will be that eventually IBM servers will run Linux not AIX, and nobody will need the old OS code. SCO is doing it to themselves. What SCO refuses to understand is actually the basis for the entire Free/Open Source Software movement. Everyone is Free to use the IP that is released to the rest of the world. People are creating IP and freely contributing it to the benefit of everyone else. Darl said "We don't understand the whole 'Free Lunch' thing". What he doesn't understand is that the lunch isn't free (lots of people are working on it), but that you're Free to eat a liverwurst and pickle sandwich on toasted rye, with watery orange juice and lemon-asparagus pie, if you so choose. (Not recommended, by the way!) Frank --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frank Sorenson - KD7TZK CSR Computer Science Department Brigham Young University [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________ BYU Unix Users Group http://uug.byu.edu/ ___________________________________________________________________ List Info: http://uug.byu.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uug-list
