Linux development process comes under scrutiny
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Analyst finds areas of Linux operating system that were 'copied' from Unix.
16 June 2003 As SCO Group prepares its next move in an extraordinary $1 billion intellectual property fight with IBM, an analyst given access to the source code of both the Unix and Linux operating systems says there are signs that some parts of Unix have found their way into the open source platform. However, he says the level of copying may be not enough to justify SCO's legal claims.
Aberdeen Group's Bill Claybrook, one of three analysts shown source code that SCO claims was copied directly from Unix System V into Linux, says that he found "about 80 lines" that appeared to be identical in both operating systems.
But Claybrook was given scant opportunity to analyse the code in detail, he says, adding that he had not been persuaded of IBM's guilt by SCO's supervised presentation.
"In Aberdeen's view, if SCO wins its lawsuit against IBM (or settles out of court), then this is not a knockout punch for Linux," wrote Claybrook in a report entitled 'SCO-IBM lawsuit: Time for some changes?' "Instead, the lawsuit is a signal that some changes may need to occur in the way Linux is developed."
SCO alleges that IBM allowed the transfer of large sections of its version of Unix, AIX, into Linux, the open-source operating system, thereby infringing its licensing agreement with SCO, the owner of Unix System V. By the end of today (June 16), SCO says it will decide whether to push ahead with its move to revoke IBM's Unix licence, making it technically illegal for AIX users to run the code.
SCO, which filed a lawsuit against IBM in March 2003, gave IBM 100 days to settle the case, a deadline that expired on Friday (June 13). As that date passed, IBM said it would not be pressurised into a quick settlement with SCO.
Meanwhile, ahead of its next move, SCO executives gave fresh indications of their desire to widen the legal battle and go after an unnamed hardware manufacturer and Linux distribution suppliers Red Hat and SuSE.
It is still unclear if SCO also wants to pursue Linux licensees. Last month, it sent letters to 1,500 companies warning that they may be violating its intellectual property rights by running Linux on their enterprise systems.
