Unix code in Linux kernel a 'no-brainer'

There could not be a more straightforward case, says SCO chief

Peter Williams, vnunet.com 26 Jun 2003

SCO has given further details of the software code which it claims has been taken from its Unix System V operating system and added to Linux without consent.

In an exclusive interview with vnunet.com, SCO chief executive Darl McBride declared that it is "a no-brainer" that the code was in Linux.

"When you look inside in the code base and you see line-by-line copy of [SCO's Unix] System V code, not just the code itself but comments to the code, titles that were in the comments and humour elements that were in the comments, you see that everything is taken straight across," he explained.

McBride claimed that everything was exactly the same, except that the copyright notices had been stripped out. "There could not be a more straightforward case on the Linux side," he said.

The SCO chief added that there had been a couple of dozen viewings of the "offending code" showing up inside Linux, and that attitudes were changing as a result of SCO's evidence.

"[When] people who have legitimate businesses and legitimate intellectual property which they want to protect see our code [they] shake their heads and say 'We can't believe IBM is doing this'. So we are already seeing the public opinion start to turn," he said.

When asked whether SCO had plans to sue any other company in the near future, McBride said: "Right now we are very focused on IBM.

"It's not that there is a shortage of companies that are in violation, but we are not trying to announce a litigation path. For now we are trying to get things resolved with IBM."

IBM declined vnunet.com's offer to comment on the issues raised in the interview.

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