On Fri, 16 May 2003 21:06:45 -0600
Hans Forbrich
Based on the very elementary 'mistakes' being made all over the place, one might get the impression they are deliberately setting up to fail.
I think that they miscalculated. They own the Unix source code, which
includes kernel, libraries and tools and utilities. All Unix vendors,
even those using OSF have some code from the original AT&T base. I can
personally verify that from my work on Digital Unix/Tru64 Unix. IBM
contributed the utilities for OSF. I don't know what the licensing
issues are in the Unix space. Since Linux contains components from many
different sources it would be hard to determine what any single user has
in the way of proprietary code. Some distros could have some AT&T code
in their kernel and some not. Most of the tools and utilities are
probably on the clean side. It's my thought that either SCO is looking
for an infusion of cash (eg a settlement or outright purchase of their
Unix code, patents and copyrights), or they want to alter the market to
improve the market for their Unix products by targeting Linux (or at
least the perception that Linux is in some sort of violation).
--
Jerry Feldman