RE: Linux users' expectations of online help

[Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>]

Quoting John Posada <JPosada -at- book -dot- com>:

> 
> Sean...nothing personal, but this Linux/SCO/everyone else has put a real wet
> blanket on the Linux efforts around here.

Why? The case may take years to settle, and I've yet to hear of anyone familiar 
with the history of UNIX who believes that SCO will be successful.

For those who aren't familiar with the case, SCO (formerly Caldera) is claiming 
that it owns the System V UNIX code outright, and that hundreds of thousands of 
lines of its code were illegally added to the Linux 2.4 kernel. It's suing IBM 
for releasing the code.

SCO has to establish that:

1.) It owns the UNIX code it claims to own.

2.) Its rights in the code take precedence over any rights granted to companies 
such as IBM.

3.) The code comes from a source that it owns, rather than a common ancestor.

4.) The code has never been publicly released by its legitimate owner, whoever 
that may be.

5.) Assuming that it does own the code, that the code hasn't become public 
through a lack of any attempt by SCO or previous owners of the code to defend 
their intellectual property.

6.) If the code was illegally released, which company was responsible.

The case is still in its early days, but, so far:

1.) The two samples that SCO claimed were proof were publicly and legally 
released.

2.) IBM's counter-claim denies every part of SCO's claim, paragraph by 
paragraph. (As a side note, IBM is fighting the case every step of the way; 
aside from the case itself, IBM takes any questioning of its good name very 
seriously)

3.) SCO was fined in Germany because it refused to substantiate its claims on 
the subject.

This is a very brief summary of an already very complicated case. However, 
given the difficulties in SCO's case, and the company's extreme evasiveness, 
how can anyone imagine that it could be successful?

-- 
Bruce Byfield bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604-421.7177

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