Code red for open source?
Lines from Unix's source code have been copied into the heart of Linux, sometimes exactly and sometimes in a modified form designed to disguise their origin, SCO Group Chief Executive Darl McBride said Thursday.
Update: Microsoft to license Unix code
Well If proven right, it shows that any time big corporations
Get involved 2 things happen.
Goodbye Idealism & public interest.
Hello greed& self interest.
Here zahid i have a flag for you nice one;
attached.
holy crap. that's big news. The implications for linux distros is enormous.
I'm not sure I would be against the "evil big company" on this one. If someone stole my company's source and distributed it freely I'd seek penalties too.
The flag's you posted seem to blow in the wind backwards. Strange. I think it would be cool if everyone had a nation flag next to their name (in addition to the avatar)
Great read thanks for the link, the ballmer article was also great.
Or......what if some coder from SCO ripped that code from Linux or other GPl'd software and put it into SCO UnixWare and didn't tell anyone???
good point. I'm sure they have source history though to get a timeline on the unix code. Only time will tell.
It'd be interesting to have an unbiased third party compare UnixWare (or any other Unix) code and Linux code and see if there's any Linux code in the proprietary code.
To me, this sounds like a dying Unix provider trying any way possible to get some sort of compensation.
If SCO's claims are upheld in court, this would be cataclysmic for Linux and free/open-source software in general. Free software licenses like the GNU GPL will be derided for their inability to protect proprietary code. Businesses that were considering moving to Linux and open source will fear the legal repercussions. Many programmers may feel wary about contributing to a project that may contain proprietary code and thus later cause the project to be cancelled.
I guess, if this lawsuit succeeds in killing Linux and free software, we can always go back to using whatever software the big software corporations put in the trough for us. They already think they know what's best for us; maybe they're right.
Thank you SAM for your interest. Later I will change my flag. It has a problem with accuracy of green.
If the courts ruled IBM guilty, IBM would have to pay for their misconduct, not Linux. All linux distrobutions would have to change to accomodate the missing code.
This code is probably not central to Linux, because it's been discovered just now, and it was written in by IBM. Replacement would be fairly easy, and it could be done quickly.
If someone stabs someone else with my knife, am I responsible?
Microsoft to license Unix code. May 18, 2003, 10:45 PM PT
hmm... What is the plan ?
I read that at the time and wondered why now?
MS is worried LINUX is growing (with the growing resentment to MS licensing 6 and its percieved monopoly) and wants to stop it any way it can. Threatening potential users that they may be liable for damages just for using LINUX is another method to coerce them into MS licences (and away from things like Star Office).
"Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith said acquiring the license from SCO "is representative of Microsoft's ongoing commitment to respecting intellectual property and the IT community's healthy exchange of IP through licensing."
LOL!
MS concerned with someone elses IP!
Just like they were with doublespace (Windows 3.xx), Netscape and Kodaks Image suit (XP)
No, they want OpenSource dead.
Now this seems like an Antitrust violation to me. This seems incredibly anticompetitive on the part of M$.
They probably both took the code from the open source BSD variants anyways.