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Indemnity Protection for Linux?
spookymonster asks: "I'm a mainframe sysadmin for a Fortune 50 company. I'm also a Linux hobbyist. About 18 months ago, my request for a proof-of-concept z/Series testbed was granted, and the results have been encouraging. Despite this, senior management keeps saying that Linux isn't ready for prime time. Today, I was finally able to corner one of them and ask him what exactly his issue was with Linux. His answer: Indemnity. All our other software vendors provide protection against someone suing us for using their product. Who protects us if a third party sues us, claiming Linux infringes on their copyrights? Sadly, I was at a loss for words. I've done some digging on Google, but haven't really found anything on the subject. With the SCO/IBM lawsuit heavy in the headlines of late, I figured I'd turn to the Slashdot community for answers. How do I respond to questions about Linux and indemnification protection?"
Yes, Microsoft will give you indemnity protection. Not sure if they do for an individual user, but they definitely do for corporates.
Any software manufacturer that sells into large corporates will have indemnity insurance - they simply won't get any contracts otherwise.
To answer the original poster's question: if you buy a support contract from Red Hat / IBM / whoever, they will provide you with indemnity protection. Possibly for an extra fee, but they will provide it.
It would be interesting to see how RedHat is going to provide security to me. The original poster was talking about enterprise level Z/OS machines, not a farm of x86 boxen. The world doesn't revolve around the hordes of college geeks and the ubber fast 'leete machines they run. Your bank can't afford to be caught with their pants down, and that is why they go with the IBM flavor of Linux, which is bastardization of SUSE. But, for all who care, IBM offers the exact protection the original poster is requesting. I know, cause there is a Z/OS mainframe box on this floor that we run linux on it. While this one isn't in a development role, the shrink wrap wouldn't have made it into the building without our in-house legal department's approval first.