[wellylug] Great Linux FUD

Wed Mar 5 11:05:45 NZDT 2003

Here is the artical that I recieved about Linux . I have not modified it in
any way so you take from it what you will. 

=================================================================

A big test for Linux 

Will the licensing efforts of a key patent holder derail Linux's corporate
growth?
January 28, 2003: 4:11 PM EST 
By Eric Hellweg, CNN/Money Contributing Columnist

SAN FRANCISCO (CNN/Money) - Every so often in the tech world, an
intellectual-property lawsuit comes along that gets the coders clucking,
predicting that it's the end of the digital world as we know it. 

A year ago, it was British Telecom's attempt to collect royalties on
hyperlinks. And Amazon now and then comes under fire for some of its
business-process patents. 

The Linux community, due in part to its freewheeling nature and in part to
its public licensing schema, largely has avoided the litigious fray. Until
now. 

On Jan. 22, open-source software provider SCO Group (formerly Caldera)
announced its plans to form a licensing division and hire über-lawyer David
Boies "for research and protection of SCO's patents, copyrights and other
intellectual property." 

The move has met with serious consternation among the Linux and open-source
communities. "Does anyone else see this as the end of SCO (Caldera) like I
do?" asked one poster on Slashdot, a community website that focuses on the
latest news and gossip in tech. "I certainly will never use anything from
them ever again." 

More than bluster

This kind of typical Slashdot vitriol aside, many open-source observers view
this as a turning point in the history of Linux adoption and use. 

At issue are the numerous Unix patents owned by SCO. The company sits on
some of the patents from the original Unix strains, created in AT
<http://cgi.cnnfn.com/mgi/mgi_search?QUERY=T> &T ( T
<http://gw.cnnfn.com/search/GW?symbol=T> : Research
<http://cnnfn.multexinvestor.com/TickerSearch.asp?ticker=T> , Estimates
<http://cgi.cnnfn.com/firstcall/fc?ticker=T> )'s Bell Labs from 1969 through
the 1980s. Linux is similar in structure to Unix, and it's not uncommon for
various Linux strains to borrow a program from here, co-opt some code from
there, and so on. 

Recently in Tech Investor 

graphic

 <http://money.cnn.com/2003/01/15/technology/techinvestor/hellweg/index.htm>
Sweeps week for tech 

 <http://money.cnn.com/2003/01/14/technology/techinvestor/hellweg/index.htm>
On-demand computing's first customer 

 <http://money.cnn.com/2003/01/07/technology/techinvestor/hellweg/index.htm>
For tech, Bush's plan is no help 

Most Linux coders wouldn't knowingly build a copyrighted program into their
code, but some are unaware -- or choose to be unaware -- of a code's legal
lineage. SCO wants to find out who is using its intellectual property in
their products and charge them a $149-per-CPU licensing fee, with volume
discounts available for large installations. 

"People have assumed a lot of this stuff is free," says Chris Sontag, a
senior vice president at SCO. "In order to get compatibility with Unix
systems on Linux, people grab our [technology] and haven't realized this
wasn't appropriate." 

Sounds pretty straightforward, but the repercussions from the action could
determine the speed with which recent open-source converts such as Dell
<http://cgi.cnnfn.com/mgi/mgi_search?QUERY=DELL>  ( DELL
<http://gw.cnnfn.com/search/GW?symbol=DELL> : Research
<http://cnnfn.multexinvestor.com/TickerSearch.asp?ticker=DELL> , Estimates
<http://cgi.cnnfn.com/firstcall/fc?ticker=DELL> ), Hewlett-Packard
<http://cgi.cnnfn.com/mgi/mgi_search?QUERY=HPQ>  ( HPQ
<http://gw.cnnfn.com/search/GW?symbol=HPQ> : Research
<http://cnnfn.multexinvestor.com/TickerSearch.asp?ticker=HPQ> , Estimates
<http://cgi.cnnfn.com/firstcall/fc?ticker=HPQ> ), and IBM
<http://cgi.cnnfn.com/mgi/mgi_search?QUERY=IBM>  ( IBM
<http://gw.cnnfn.com/search/GW?symbol=IBM> : Research
<http://cnnfn.multexinvestor.com/TickerSearch.asp?ticker=IBM> , Estimates
<http://cgi.cnnfn.com/firstcall/fc?ticker=IBM> ) continue developing
products for Linux. 

Since Linux is developed and shaped by many hands, "there is no assurance --
if it infringes on copyrights -- that it's been cleared and clean-roomed,"
says Rob Enderle, an analyst with Giga Information Group. "There's a risk
that the vetting doesn't get done, because the controls are so loose by
nature. SCO's actions could really change things significantly," primarily
the confidence large companies feel in offering Linux products. 

While it's doubtful that a large company such as HP or Oracle
<http://cgi.cnnfn.com/mgi/mgi_search?QUERY=ORCL>  ( ORCL
<http://gw.cnnfn.com/search/GW?symbol=ORCL> : Research
<http://cnnfn.multexinvestor.com/TickerSearch.asp?ticker=ORCL> , Estimates
<http://cgi.cnnfn.com/firstcall/fc?ticker=ORCL> ) would allow copyrighted
code to ship without obtaining the proper licenses, this kind of test never
before has been performed in the open-source arena. And the question of what
does and does not constitute illegal usage of intellectual property is
inherently murky. 

Typically, when open-source coders encounter a copyrighted program, they'll
reverse-engineer it and rewrite the program so as not to use the original
code. But in the highly competitive world of intellectual property --
especially under the eagle eye of David Boies -- that might not be
sufficient to avoid license payments or litigation. 

For SCO, this could be a bet-the-company move. The firm has struggled for
the last few years and, with its revenue base shrinking, desperately needs
to mine for income every resource in its possession. But many aren't bullish
on the move. "SCO didn't have much name-brand recognition as it was," says
Dan Kusnetzky, a vice president at IDC. "This will hurt it." 

For open-source, this is an even bigger battle. Microsoft could use the
copyright confusion to its advantage in its anti-Linux campaign. And
companies could decide that it's not worth the potential legal headache to
go open-source. Of course, if SCO's efforts are unsuccessful, "it may
validate the [Linux] platform as well," Enderle says. "This is the first
challenge to Linux, but it won't be the last." 

  _____  

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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