SCO Claims IBM/SGI Licenses are Revokable

shadow099 writes "SCO claims in an open letter writen by Blake Stowell, Director Public Relations SCO, that the Unix licenses to IBM and SGI can be revoked. " This is just the latest volley in the ongoing circus. It keeps getting funnier!

Comments

Do not become complacent

[skroz]

While SCO's antics are often confusing and sometimes amusing, this is not a matter that should be taken lightly. Too many people are taking this lightly, and I have a fear that at the end of the day, the OSS community is going to be caught bent over with their pants down looking back on a grinning SCO.

The court system in the US is less than predictable, and often makes ludicrous decisions in favor of seemingly frivolous lawsuits (see RJR Reynolds, McDonalds, and KB Toys.) Linux CAN lose, and defeat in just this one battle would be disasterous.

And what does SCO have to lose? They admit that they only have a few hundred customers, and it would be no big loss to the world for the company to disappear. SCO execs have already made their money, so defeat wouldn't harm them much, even if it meant the end of their corporation.

Linux, on the other hand, would be utterly destroyed. Invalidation of the GPL would mean that existing GPL'd software could be incorporated into commercial code without restriction or credit to the original author. Commercial vendors would be at SCO's mercy, and many would be forced to fold. Non-commercial linux developers without funds to support a lawsuit would be forced to fold. Linux, at least in the US, would be dead.

Be amused, but those that are in a position to make a difference need to take this VERY seriously, or risk a serious blow to Linux' very existance.