Print
Discuss
Send to friend
RSS feedsUsers of Linux have found themselves embroiled in a legal claim being mounted by Unix owner SCO, which last week warned that firms using Linux may face action for infringing its copyrights.
SCO sent about 1,500 letters of warning to some of the world's largest firms and stopped sales of its own Linux product, in a move that effectively leaves Red Hat and Suse as the only major options left in Linux.
SCO said Linux is an unauthorised derivative of Unix, to which it owns the rights. The company is already suing IBM for $1bn over the alleged misuse of Unix code in Linux and is poised to target rival distributions including Red Hat and Suse. In the letters, SCO chief executive Darl McBride warned that "legal liability may also rest with the end user".
SCO senior vice president Chris Sontag said: "When SCO's own Unix software code is being illegally copied into Linux, we believe we have an obligation to educate commercial users of the potential liability that could rest with them for using such software to run their business."
The broader effect may be to hurt Linux's credibility in the enterprise.
Last June SCO, Suse, Conectiva and Turbolinux formed an alliance called UnitedLinux to develop a common base distribution of Linux and avoid the fragmentation that held back Unix. That alliance now looks under threat as SCO prepares to extend its intellectual property suit to other members.
However, some observers played down the threats. Dan Kusnetsky, vice president of analyst firm IDC, said: "These are acts of desperation by a company whose revenue stream doesn't satisfy [its board] and it is casting around for money - any money." Kusnetsky said firms are starting to see Linux as a mainstream choice. "This would put a chill on that. It won't stop [installations] but it will lengthen the decision cycle," he said.
Martin Armitage, senior vice president of Unilever's global information organisation said: "SCO will simply be excommunicated from the open source community."
In online discussions last week open source advocate Bruce Perens wrote: "Under the GPL [GNU General Public Licence] terms, if you distribute your patented [code] in GPL software, you must grant a licence to everyone to make use of that patent." He said this had led SCO to accuse IBM of breaching non-disclosure agreements, which are not covered by the GPL.
Linux founder Linus Torvalds wrote: "As long as they distribute Linux, they are bound by the GPL."
Have your say: reply to IT Week
See also:
As vendors sue each other - and threaten users - how can IT managers protect their companies against legal entanglement? 27 Jun 2003
Few believe SCO can win its battle with IBM over Linux and Unix - but Microsoft clearly stands to gain from the wrangle, says Martin Banks 28 May 2003All Operating Systems
del.icio.us
Digg this
reddit!
