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Randall Davis: IBM Has No SCO Code

Posted by timothy on from the hey-they've-been-trying-to-tell-you-that dept.

Mick Ohrberg writes "As reported by Groklaw, Randall Davis, renowned professor of Computer Science at MIT has after an extensive search found no evidence of SCO's claims that IBM has incorporated parts of the Unix System V code. Davis says "Accordingly, the IBM Code cannot be said, in my opinion, to be a modification or a derivative work based on the Unix System V Code." Surprised, anyone?"

5 of 405 comments (clear)

  1. Thanks Professor Davis... and thanks ESR... by LinuxParanoid · · Score: 5, Informative

    ... who wrote the comparator tool which was one of the two tools used in the analysis.

    ESR deserves three cheers for 'scratching his itch', making a tool to compare copyrighted code. To have it actually used in the SCO case which was the annoying impetus for its creation (AFAICT) has to be a nice feeling.

    I'm not an ESR fanboy, but I'll give him props when I think he deserves it and in this case I think he does.

    --LP

  2. Read the PDF... by mekkab · · Score: 5, Informative

    He goes into detail.

    --
    In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
  3. a judge will weigh. by www.sorehands.com · · Score: 5, Informative
    Judges will weigh the 'testimony' of experts in a case. In some cases, a court will appoint an expert as a special master -- to make technical determinations.

    If I recall correctly, Randy told me that he has served as a special master in several cases.

    --
    Fight Spammers!
  4. Re:question by Carnildo · · Score: 5, Informative

    Novell. There's a lawsuit going on about the matter right now, but it looks like the Unix copyrights were never actually transfered from Novell to SCO.

    --
    "They redundantly repeated themselves over and over again incessantly without end ad infinitum" -- ibid.
  5. Re:question by MathFox · · Score: 5, Informative
    With Novell holding Unix copyrights
    That raises an interesting possibility for Novell. I wonder if they've thought about integrating their Unix copyrights into their Linux distribution and later suing other makers (and, heck, users) of Linux distributions for copyright infringement.
    The moment Novell releases Unix code as part of Linux the Unix code will be distributable under the GPL. The Unix code has become part of Linux and the only way to distribute the whole is under the GPL. As copyright owner Novell will still be able to dual licence the same code to Sun, MS, etc.

    Citing the GPL:

    If identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the Program, and can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in themselves, then this License, and its terms, do not apply to those sections when you distribute them as separate works. But when you distribute the same sections as part of a whole which is a work based on the Program, the distribution of the whole must be on the terms of this License, whose permissions for other licensees extend to the entire whole, and thus to each and every part regardless of who wrote it.
    Clear enough?
    --
    extern warranty;
    main()
    {
    (void)warranty;
    }