Red Hat sues SCO in Linux fight

Subject: [Vnbiz] Red Hat sues SCO in Linux fight
Date: 5 Aug 2003 15:39:24 -0000
From: "Nam Nguyen" <nam@microviet.com>
To: vnbiz@vietlinks.net

[ Vietnam Business Forum ]
Dear CACE,
FYI
Nam Nguyen

-------------------------------------
Posted on Tue, Aug. 05, 2003
Red Hat sues SCO in Linux fight
By Dean Takahashi
Mercury News

An industry dispute over the origins of the Linux operating system
escalated Monday as Red Hat Software sued SCO Group for making
allegedly untrue claims that Red Hat's version of Linux contains code
stolen from SCO.

SCO, based in Lindon, Utah, contends that IBM and others illegally
contributed SCO's copyrighted Unix code into Linux versions 2.4 and
2.5. It has filed a $3 billion lawsuit against IBM and on July 21
said it would require enterprise Linux users to pay license fees.

Red Hat, a major distributor of Linux software based in Raleigh,
N.C., sued SCO on Monday in federal district court in Delaware for
making ``unfair, untrue and deceptive'' claims about Linux.

``SCO has been making untrue statements,'' Matthew Szulik, Red Hat's
chief executive officer, said at a news conference in San Francisco,
where the LinuxWorld 2003 show started Monday at the Moscone
Convention Center. ``We brought this lawsuit to clear up the facts.''

Red Hat decided to jump into action July 21, when SCO officials
mentioned Red Hat during a conference call, said Szulik.

Red Hat also said it would contribute $1 million to a legal defense
fund that would protect Linux developers and non-profit development
groups from SCO's potential litigation. But Red Hat did not take on
the extra risk of indemnifying its customers from SCO litigation. Red
Hat said the Open Source Now Fund would protect developers if SCO
sues them.

Finnish programmer and Silicon Valley transplant Linus Torvalds and
others created Linux in 1991 as a clone of the Unix operating system.
SCO contends that Linux -- particularly new versions that feature
multiprocessing capability -- is an illegal derivative of Unix,
which, at least according to the Utah company, is owned by SCO.

Linux has evolved through contributions from open-source developers,
who contribute their changes to Linux for free -- in contrast to
proprietary software. SCO contends that contributions from IBM and
others used SCO's copyrighted code.

Blake Stowell, a spokesman for SCO Group, responded Monday in an e-
mail to the Mercury News: ``SCO has not been trying to spread fear,
uncertainty and doubt to end users. We have been educating end users
on the risks of running an operating system that is an unauthorized
derivative of Unix. Linux includes source code that is a verbatim
copy of Unix and carries with it no warranty or indemnification.
SCO's claims are true and we look forward to proving them in court.''

In a letter provided by Stowell, SCO Chief Executive Darl McBride
wrote to Red Hat that SCO's response would likely include
counterclaims of copyright infringement and conspiracy.

Szulik said there have been some customers who have canceled
purchases of Linux software because of the cloud raised by SCO over
Linux, but he said he could not put a monetary value on that.

In the lawsuit, Red Hat asked the court to declare that its software
is not in violation of any of SCO's trade secrets, copyrights or
intellectual-property rights. It also asked the court to declare that
the Linux kernel, the heart of the operating system, is in the public
domain and therefore cannot constitute a trade secret. The suit also
accused SCO of false advertising, deceptive trade practices, unfair
competition, libel, and interference with business.

SCO has shown developers, analysts and journalists examples of the
allegedly stolen code, but only under non-disclosure agreements with
restrictions that companies like Red Hat say they cannot agree to.

To facilitate co-ordination regarding the introduction of OSS SW in Vietnam

Subscribe to OSS:

Subscribe | Unsubscribe