For those you who haven't heard, SCO has filed a $1-billion suit against IBM, alleging misappropriation of UNIX technology owned by SCO. Whether this is just an interesting news story, or has the potential to affect all of us, SCO has certainly raised the stakes by sending out a letter today to all of its Linux customers explaining their position and suggesting that actual Linux customers may have some liability if the suit succeeds. Although most Linux observers would probably consider that (i.e. customer liability) an extremely remote possibility, here are a few links to bring anyone who is just now becoming concerned up to speed:

SCO's letter to LINUX customers (dated May 12):
http://www.sco.com/scosource/letter_to_linux_customers.html

The actual complaint:
http://www.sco.com/scosource/complaint3.06.03.html

You can find countless links to commentary on the suit through any search engine, but here is a place you might want to start:

Linux analysts, users offer varied predictions on suit:
http://searchenterpriselinux.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid39_gci885002,00.html

For what it's worth, the complaint seems to focus on enterprise-level technology, which for the most part, isn't necessary or applicable to typical A-Shell sites. My advice is to pay attention to the suit to the extent that you are interested, or if you are a reseller, to the extent that your customers are concerned, but to not let it affect your development plans or choice of platforms. In the time it takes for this suit to work its way through the legal process, it is likely that it will be eclipsed by other evolutionary changes in the marketplace. And in any case, the whole point of A-Shell is to allow you platform independence. So if it ever becomes necessary or desirable to switch platforms for this or any other reason, you will be in an excellent position to do so painlessly.

Not surprisingly, the SCO vs. IBM/Linux saga appears to be going badly for SCO. Now we have Novell publicly contradicting SCO's claims as to ownership of the UNIX intellectual property. As bad as this appears for SCO, they have not given up and are now claiming that they are enforcing their contract rights, not their copyrights.

For those of you using Linux who were worried about the suit possibly affecting you, I would stop worrying. But for those of you just interested, here are few updated links with news and commentary (thanks to Steve Ash):

SCO vs. Linux Story: http://perens.com/Articles/SCO/

Cute tv-storyboard synopsis of the saga:
http://www.arie.org/doh/

More story links, including comments on possible IBM buyout of SCO (thanks to John Pruitt for this one):
http://www.computerworld.com/news/special/pages/0,10911,2046,00.html

Here's a completely different take on the saga by John Dvorak of PC Magazine (June 2, 2003) (link thanks to Denis Giroux and Steve Shatz) that plays up the possibility of the Linux community being in real danger: "Killing Linux" -
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1115156,00.asp

Although I'm no legal expert, have no insider information, and can afford to be sanguine about the whole comedy (since I am officially "platform agnostic" and A-Shell can run on whatever platform eventually survives), my thinking is that before either of Versions A, B, or C played out, IBM would simply purchase SCO. The cost of this transaction would hardly merit a footnote on IBM's financials. (Even with the recent 600+% run-up in SCO stock, the market cap is only about $80M.) There might be some political or antitrust obstacles to overcome, but surely Congress would find a way to overcome them if there was real danger of Linux dying. (The cost to the US Government alone to replace all of its Linux systems would require rescinding the latest tax cut!)

A more realistic worst-case scenario for Linux, in my opinion, would be for the case to drag on endlessly, with a subtle but steadily increasing pall being cast over the whole Linux community, such that the trend shifts slowly back in Microsoft's favor. Perhaps that is the outcome Microsoft is looking for with their recent mysterious investment in SCO, but since this outcome would be equally harmful to both parties in the suit, it would take some incredible thick-headedness for them not to find a way to extricate themselves from it.

Looking at Microsoft's modus operandi, it smells pretty bad... After giving a poisoned apple to Apple , putting Corel's linux developments on Corel Center's ice , leaving no escape to Netscape , now SCO is in direct Microsoft's shooting range even though IBM is in close proximity :rolleyes: . You know, they have great experience in that line of business; there's a saying, "You keep your friends close to you, but you keep your enemies even closer". Let's hope that it comes down to a quick conclusion so that the Linux community don't suffer too much

Is the Gartner Group a pawn of Microsoft? (Or was this all brilliantly orchestrated by IBM to scare Linux users back to AIX?)

Today the story finally hit the LA Times (Business Section), which reported, among other things, that the Gartner Group is warning large clients to avoid Linux for mission-critical apps until this clears up (which may be never, if Microsoft's dreams are realized.) So the worst case scenario described in my previous post is actually well under way.

For those sticking with Linux, Gartner recommends securing "comprehensive" support contracts with the big guys (IBM, Dell, HP, etc) and throwing piles of money at lawyers. ( http://www.idg.net/idgns/2003/05/23/UPDATE1GartnerToUsersDontTakeSCO.shtml )

Although there may be nothing new in Gartner recommendations to rely on the biggest vendors (which are coincidentally the biggest Gartner customer/supporters), including IBM in this list makes me wonder whether it might have been IBM's plan all along.

Think about it. The introduction of fear and uncertainty into the enterprise Linux market, makes it much more likely that big customers will do one of the following:

A. Rely on a big partner, one with lots of lawyers and deep pockets (sound like IBM?) to protect them from the dangers of the Linux jungle (nicely reinforcing IBM's strategy of making money on Linux-related services.) Or...

B. Avoid Linux, in which case they are likely to go back to proprietary operating systems. Of course Microsoft would like that to be Windows, but IBM can offer a wide range of mainframe options, AS400, but for those inclined to like Linux/UNIX, what better choice than AIX?

This would explain why IBM hasn't been very vocal in its own defense, and hasn't offered to purchase SCO to make the "problem" go away.

If true, this would rank as one of the most brilliant strategies in the history of IT. Instead of trying to fight Linux (like Microsoft), they befriend it, then set themselves up as the victim of a vicious proprietary attack. By feigning weakness, they lure Microsoft into piling on with the attackers, thinking this is their chance to sink the Linux juggernaut. But what really happens is that the world comes to appreciate the awesome power and value of Linux, while simultaneously coming to believe that IT is not for do-it-yourselfers, and is best left to the big experts (i.e IBM).

As a nice finishing touch to the Sting, by "losing" the suit, they will create the necessary cover to purchase UNIX with minimal governmental or public sector scrutiny, thereby cementing their position as the undisputed masters of both the proprietary and open source legs of the UNIX/Linux world, and possibly even creating IBM Brand Linux in the process.

Perhaps we should all be buying IBM stock...

Here's an interesting piece describing Steve Balmer's take on Linux:

http://money.cnn.com/2003/06/04/technology/microsoft_linux.reut/

While the SCO suit might lead some large companies to migrate to IBM operating systems, I think Microsoft still has the greatest potential and incentive to hurt the Linux community and keep its user base small. And they can do this without any lawsuits, "simply" by continuing to improve the features, flexibility, and reliability of Windows, which as per the above article, seems to be their plan. Let's face it, XP made it more attractive for businesses and individuals to stick with Windows. Why shouldn't we expect future versions to continue the trend?

On the flip side of the coin, I haven't heard about any exciting new developments in the Linux world that would cause a mass migration to that OS. Has anyone heard otherwise?

Personally, I like and use both Windows and Linux and hope that someday these OS's account for equal and large shares of the computing market. But for now, maybe we should all be buying Microsoft stock.

-- Steven --

What follows FYI is the 06/16/03 letter from IBM containing a brief background of the SCO lawsuit and IBM's response to it:

Questions and Answers Regarding The SCO Group Lawsuit
What is The SCO Group (formerly known as Caldera International, Inc.) alleging in the
lawsuit?
• The SCO Group alleges that IBM misappropriated UNIX software licensed to IBM by its
contributions to, and support for, Linux.
What steps has The SCO Group taken since filing the suit?
• The SCO Group has not supported its allegations with any specific facts showing
misappropriation of UNIX technology by IBM.
• The SCO Group withdrew its Linux distribution.
• The SCO Group sent letters to 1,500 companies warning that Linux infringes The SCO
Group’s intellectual property rights.
• The SCO Group sent IBM a letter purporting to “terminate” IBM’s license to UNIX System
V software as of June 13, 2003.
What is IBM’s response to the The SCO Group allegations?
• Lawsuits are not uncommon in the software industry. As with all lawsuits, IBM is taking
this complaint seriously, and is defending itself vigorously.
• The UNIX System V contract that The SCO Group stated it would “terminate” on June 13,
2003, says IBM's UNIX license is irrevocable and perpetual. IBM will continue to ship,
support and develop AIX.
• No specific information detailing any alleged improper use of any of The SCO Group’s
intellectual property has yet been provided or disclosed so that the Linux community can
address it.
How will The SCO Group's allegations impact IBM’s support of AIX/UNIX and Linux?
• IBM is extremely committed to AIX and to the thousands of AIX customers worldwide.
• For IBM, AIX represents years of innovation, hundreds of millions of dollars in investment
and many key IBM patents.
• IBM intends to continue to accelerate the rapid growth of AIX, the fastest growing UNIX
operating system in the industry.
• IBM remains steadfast in its support of Linux, and we see growing evidence that the
market agrees.
What are key players in the industry saying about The SCO Group’s allegations?
• Giga report says, “IBM's UNIX license is irrevocable and perpetual so it is nonsense to
say there is a risk of IBM's AIX license being revoked within the next 100 days. There is
no immediate risk to customers, and we recommend users continue to deploy Linux and
AIX," by Stacey Quandt.
• Meta Group produced a brief Client Advisor expressing its opinion that users should
continue with Linux implementation plans because Linux market momentum will continue
to grow.

SCO has raised the value of it's lawsuit against IBM to 3 Billion dollars.

The movie "Dumb and Dumberer" was also released.

My guess is that SCO will end up paying IBM more money than "Dumb and Dumberer" grosses, even if it is discovered that Unix code is in the Linux kernel.

After all, the Unix source code is not much of a trade secret, being published in Lion's infamous book and also in "The Magic Garden Explained". I own the latter book, and I signed no license with AT&T to read it.

How about this for a historical precedent:

When AT&T decided to commercialize UNIX, they sued the University of California over alleged unlicensed technology transfer from AT&T UNIX to BSD UNIX. The suit eventually failed, with the judge deciding, among other things, that the predominate direction of technology transfer was in the opposite direction.

Here are two more interesting links (from today's Ziff Davis newsletter) pertaining to the SCO lawsuit:

Torvalds: SCO Is Full Of It: http://eletters.wnn.ziffdavis.com/zd/cts?d=75-25-1-1-301592-913-1

SCO Targets Linux special report: http://eletters.wnn.ziffdavis.com/zd/cts?d=75-25-1-1-301592-916-1

And here's another from the Linux Journal newsletter:

My Visit to SCO:
-- Ian Lance Taylor signed SCO's NDA and made the trip to Linden, Utah, to see if there's any substance to SCO's UNIX claims. Here's what he learned:

http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6956

More on SCO:

From ZDNet:
Sun Expands Unix Deal with SCO

Sun has been secretly upping its licenses with SCO according to recent SCO SEC filings. In exchange Sun has options to buy 210,000 shares of SCO for $1.83

And from Forbes:
What SCO Wants, SCO Gets

Discusses SCO CEO McBride and SCO's major investors and various lawsuits and stock trading they have been involved in over the last few years.

Another from ZDNet on SCO execs selling stock:

SCO Execs Cash In On Suit Spotlight

From ZDNet - Red Hat sues SCO...

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/linuxunix/0,39020390,39115476,00.htm

And from InternetNews - IBM sues SCO...

http://www.internetnews.com/ent-news/article.php/2245961