Unixed |As IBM's legal battle over Linux intensifies, other firms hope to benefit
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Business | IBM and Linux
Unixed
As IBM's legal battle over Linux intensifies, other firms hope to benefit
Jun 19th 2003 | san francisco
IS THE escalating legal dispute between IBM and SCO Group, an obscure Utah software company, more than a storm in a teacup? It is hard to say. The case hinges on both legal contracts and programming codes, neither of them simple. At issue is the tangled heritage of the Unix operating system, and its relationship to Linux, a free operating system (with a penguin mascot) built by programmers collaborating via the internet.
Unix was originally created at AT&T in the 1970s, before splintering into multiple versions. IBM licensed Unix from AT&T in the 1980s, and then modified it to create its own version, called AIX. After several changes of ownership, the rights to Unix ended up in the hands of SCO. Meanwhile, enthusiasts independently developed an entirely new version of Unix, called Linux, which is becoming increasingly popular, thanks in part to strong support from IBM.
Battle commenced in March, when SCO accused IBM of illegally copying code from Unix into Linux, and claimed $1 billion in damages. In May, SCO wrote to 1,500 large firms, claiming that because Linux contained code stolen from Unix they could face legal action for using it. On June 16th, SCO revoked IBM's original contract with AT&T, filed for an injunction requiring IBM to recall and destroy all copies of AIX and raised its damages claim to $3 billion.
IBM denies any wrongdoing. It insists that its contract with AT&T is “irrevocable, perpetual and fully paid up”, and that its customers have nothing to worry about. Whether there is any merit in SCO's claims will become clear only when the matter comes to court. But SCO is widely assumed to be gold-digging. By casting doubt on the legality of Linux, and suing a deep-pocketed company that has championed its use, SCO seems to be trying to get IBM to buy it off. That IBM has not done so suggests that it is confident of being in the clear.
Other firms have sought to capitalise on the confusion. In May, Microsoft signed a licensing deal with SCO, indirectly supporting its attack on Linux and other open-source software, which poses a long-term threat to Microsoft's proprietary kind. Then Novell, a software company that briefly owned the rights to Unix, entered the fray by criticising SCO. This was clever, as Novell is rebuilding its product line on a Linux foundation, and its attack on SCO played well among Linux supporters.
This week it was the turn of Sun Microsystems, a computer maker that sells Solaris, its own version of Unix. Sun is mounting an advertising campaign to encourage IBM customers to switch to Solaris from AIX. Its boss, Scott McNealy, boasted that Solaris is “free and clear, with no legal or intellectual cloud hanging over it”, a claim endorsed by SCO. So far, however, SCO's lawsuit seems to have done little to harm IBM or hamper the adoption of Linux by large firms. Indeed, the attention the case is now receiving is a vivid illustration of how important Linux has become.
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline "Unixed"
