On the Web - FUD vs. Freedom

September 1st, 2003 by LJ Staff in

Watch our Web site for facts on the SCO case. Garrick, this time, On the Web will have no photo or author blurb.

If you typed “Linux” into Google News or any other news aggregator site recently, you probably got a bunch of links to the SCO vs. IBM lawsuit, the information technology industry's most bizarre legal battle. Because the case is moving way too fast to keep up with in a monthly publication, we're running our articles about the facts of the case on our Web site.

We're not writing down merely the latest “Fear Uncertainty and Doubt” (FUD) that SCO execs Darl McBride and Chris Sontag are giving the mainstream media. You know us better than that. We've got articles that bring a little more insight to the case.

In August 2002, our correspondent Jeff Gerhardt published the first hint of SCO's search for money in the dusty file cabinets of UNIX licenses, and he quoted McBride as saying, “obviously Linux owes its heritage to UNIX, but not its code. We would not, nor will not, make such a claim” (www.linuxjournal.com/article/6293).

A lot has changed since then, and Doc Searls covered the initial complaint in March 2003, when Sontag said, “I have to say that this is not an issue regarding the Linux community. This is an issue between SCO and IBM.”

Later, SCO pulled its own Linux distribution, and Sontag claimed that there is “significant copyrighted and trade secret code within Linux”.

Our May 15 story was the first public mention of SCO's offer to let independent experts review the allegedly copied code under a nondisclosure agreement (NDA), available at www.linuxjournal.com/article/6877.

Later, we published the full text of the NDA and decided it was too legally risky to accept it ourselves (www.linuxjournal.com/article/6923).

But, Ian Lance Taylor, the mastermind behind Taylor UUCP, came to the rescue, signed it and walked into SCO's office. His essay on the journey revealed tantalizing facts about an 80-line function that is in fact the same in SCO UnixWare and Linux—but also found elsewhere (www.linuxjournal.com/article/6956). He wrote:

The similar portions of the code were some 80 lines or so. Looking around the Net, I found close variants of the code, with the same comments and variable names, in sources other than Linux distributions. The code is not in a central part of the Linux kernel. The code does not appear to have been contributed to Linux by SCO or Caldera. The code exists in current versions of the Linux kernel.

What's next? By the time this issue goes to press, anything could happen, so watch our Web site for the facts. After all, you can get FUD anywhere.

__________________________

Special Magazine Offer -- 2 Free Trial Issues!
Receive 2 free trial issues of Linux Journal as well as instant online access to current and past issues. There's NO RISK and NO OBLIGATION to buy. CLICK HERE for offer

Linux Journal: delivering readers the advice and inspiration they need to get the most out of their Linux systems since 1994.

Sorry, offer available in the US only. International orders, click here.

Featured Videos

Linux HOWTO: Video Editing Magic with ffmpeg

Non-linear video editing tools are great, but they're not always the best tool for the job. This is where a powerful tool like ffmpeg becomes useful. This tutorial by Elliot Isaacson covers the basics of transcoding video, as well as more advanced tricks like creating animations, screen captures, and slow motion effects.

Review: HP 2133 Mini-Note

Shawn Powers reviews the HP Mini-Note portable computer.

Thanks to our sponsor: Silicon Mechanics

Silicon Mechanics is a leading manufacturer of rackmount servers, storage, and high performance computing hardware. The best warranty offerings available are backed by experts dedicated to customer satisfaction.

more

From the Magazine

August 2008, #172

There's nuttin like a Cool Project to give you some relief from the summer heat, so get out your parka cuz we got a bunch of em. First up is the BUG, not a bug, The BUG. It's got a GPS, camera and more, in a hand-sized package that's user programmable. The BUG does everything. It's both a floor wax and a dessert topping. Get one now. Need a software version of a Swiss Army knife? Take a look at Billix, and don't leave home without it. Then, chew on this one, an X server on a Gumstix device driving an E-Ink display. Need more storage? How about 16 Terabytes? Can do.

And, of course, we have the usual cast of characters: Marcel, Reuven, Dave, Kyle, Doc, plus the new kid on the block Shawn Powers. But it doesn't stop there: build a MythTV box on a budget, build your own GIS system, set up the tools to monitor your enterprise and more. Finally, remember The War of the Worlds? Now you can play too.

Read this issue