[NEWS] - SCO self-immolates

[CougTek]

SCO Group today announced that it is suspending Linux sales.

SCO Suspends Sales of Linux, Alerts Customers That Linux Is an Unauthorized Derivative of UNIX and That Legal Liability May Extend to Commercial Users

The Inquirer points out:

SCO has distributed their own version of Linux. And Linux is licensed under the GNU General Public License. And, according to the GPL, SCO has therefore granted full rights to all source code -- including all intellectual property that they might hold rights to under a different license (such as AT&T System V) -- to all users who received their Linux distribution. In other words, by having distributed Linux, SCO gave up any claim of infringement by any code appearing in Linux.

It's not that easy for a company to make Rambus Corp look good in comparison, but SCO seems intent on giving it their best shot.

Submitted by time

 

[Mercutio]

Funny thing. The first IBM clone I ever used ran Xenix (Microsoft/SCO UNIX).

SCO at this point exists only to litigate. The company that was SCO had its operating system technologies (Xenix, OpenServer, Unixware) purchased, while its only really interesting software (the Tarantella application server) shot off into its own company, managed by the people who ran SCO.

Who bought SCO? Caldera.
What is Caldera? The most clueless Linux company in the world. Some of their more hilarious schemes: Charging a per-seat license for their RedHat derived Linux. Offering "Linux" with a UnixWare kernel (Linux of course refers to the kernel of an operating system based almost as much on various tools from GNU and xfree86), and of course this present tactic of scaring Linux companies and their customers into giving SCO money.

Of course, some of the speculation I've read suggests that the reason for this was probably that SCO was trying to get bought out by IBM. IBM didn't bite, and now SCO has to move forward with these lawsuits or risk being dismantled by the judicial system here in the US.

In short, this is a company in its death thoes, run by profoundly ignorant people, and it deserves what's coming.

 

[Fushigi]

Well, it's got Microsoft interested in the issue: http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/05/19/HNmssco_1.html

- Fushigi

 

[Howell]

On the face of it, we see MS giving money to a company who is harassing MS's chief competitor.

I'm no conspiracy theorist but the first day this broke I thought it would be interesting if MS was puppeteering. The next time I checked the news, MS had given SCO money. Sorta smells.