Open-Source Guru Fingers New Linux Foes, Aug 07, 2003

"SCO is nothing beside the threat that open source developers face from software patents, a fight that we are losing badly," Perens said. He cites pending legislation in the European Parliament to allow software patents in the European Union (news - web sites) for the first time. The U.S. has permitted software patents since the 1980s.

In a 45-page document that it filed late Wednesday, IBM argues that because SCO distributed a version of Linux under the open-source General Public License (GPL), it can't claim that Linux software is proprietary. IBM also argues that SCO software violates four IBM patents and that the company interfered with IBM's business by saying it had terminated IBM's right to ship a Unix product, AIX.

Linux Weekly News has published the text of SCO's "Linux License". Some interesting commentary follows.

A day after networking-software maker Novell announced that it had bought Ximian, a firm that helps businesses adopt Linux on the desktop, Novell executives said it's likely that their company's own NetWare operating system will go fallow in favor of Linux.

Organizers of the Open Source And Industry Alliance (OSAIA) dropped by the LinuxWorld conference on Tuesday, appealing to attendees to join and contribute to the group, which is designed to fight efforts by proprietary software makers to quash open-source products.

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The European Commission went on the offensive today in its antitrust case against Microsoft, saying in a preliminary ruling that the company continues to abuse its dominance in operating systems.

A company that specializes in running Linux on Macs said Wednesday that it has landed a deal to supply the U.S. Navy with 260 Apple Xserve servers.

Terra Soft Solutions said the machines will be used as part of a sonar imaging system that defense contractor Lockheed Martin is building for the Navy. Rather than using the Mac OS, the Apple servers will run Terra Soft's Yellow Dog Linux operating system. Terra Soft is one of a handful of Linux companies that is authorized to sell Apple gear.

The legal challenge the SCO Group has mounted against Linux eventually will become a forgotten chapter in the operating system's history, an IBM executive told attendees of a Linux trade show on Wednesday.

Seattle-based RealNetworks on Wednesday announced a new project to develop software for playing audio and video over the Internet for computers that run on open-source software.

No one doubts Stallman's integrity, or his ability to write original code: he wrote the GNU C compiler, debugger and Emacs editor, and created the GPL (General Public License) under which Linus Torvalds released his Linux kernel. However, it could be hard to verify the integrity or even the identity of all who have contributed since.

The SCO Group said Tuesday (August 5) it wants $32 for each embedded system using Linux. That request stems from the Lindon, Utah company's claim that Linux versions 2.4 and above contains code that infringes on its Unix software.

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