SCO loses to Novell over Unix copyrights - bit-tech.net Forums

Da Dego · 13th Aug 2007, 15:16

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/08...x_copyrights/1

Four and a half years into the making, Novell wins copyrights lawsuit over the Unix operating system.

plagio · 13th Aug 2007, 15:41

I don't get it. Why does Novell have the rights over Unix ?
Does that mean that Sun Solaris, SGI IRIX, IBM AIX are all licensed by Novell ?

zoom314 · 13th Aug 2007, 16:10

If they aren't already, Maybe they soon will be, Unless Novell is extremely magnanimous.

Techno-Dann · 13th Aug 2007, 18:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by plagio

I don't get it. Why does Novell have the rights over Unix ?
Does that mean that Sun Solaris, SGI IRIX, IBM AIX are all licensed by Novell ?

No, IBM just made a convenient target, until Novell stood up and said that they were the real owners.

You must understand, this entire case isn't based on copyright infringement - it's a puppet company (backed by M$) taking a shot at Linux (via Unix, via IBM and Novell). ESR tears the key point of the whole thing apart in great detail - I hope you speak C, because you'll need it to understand the code.

If I understand the situation correctly, Novell bought the core Unix development group from AT&T. At that time, there were dozens, if not hundreds of Unix-like OSes on the market - a real AT&T Unix license cost a lot of money for not much code, so there were lots of free (or less expensive) versions that worked all but exactly the same.

One of these versions was bought by the company that became SCO - there were two or three name changes in there. They licensed code from IBM, which IBM later donated to the Open Source movement. The conditions of the licence were ambiguous - it wasn't clear if IBM was letting SCO use the code, or if IBM was giving SCO the code.

SCO would have faded into obscurity (thanks to the rise of Linux and other free Unixes), but this not-so-little company named Microsoft noticed that they had a potential case against IBM, and by extension, all the Unixes that used the code that IBM donated. SCO sued, Microsoft provided serious financial help (that year, 2003, is the only one in which SCO turned a profit), and the rest is history.

Interestingly enough, the most published instance of code in Linux that was alleged as being copied was removed in 2.3.something, IIRC, as being "too ugly to live".

(edit)
Basically, Novell now owns the original, old-school Unix, and they can charge royalties and all that from people who use original Unix code. Sun, SGI, BSD, Linux, and company don't use original Unix code (because they wanted an alternative to the very expensive Unix), so they don't owe Novell a dime. I think it's a fairly comfortable agreement on all sides, as Novell is the company behind SuSE - I think it's more a case of Novell grabbing the Unix copyrights so somebody else couldn't buy them and try to extort the whole Unix-like crowd, rather than Novell trying to make money.

Woodstock · 13th Aug 2007, 20:31

wow, sounds like typical microsoft, lol. always out for number 1. Another thing to love about linux, how much would this court battle have cost Novell now? can SCO go for a retrial

Ramble · 13th Aug 2007, 20:39

Excellent, time for SCO to fade away.

Breach · 13th Aug 2007, 22:22

Good, Im glad these money-whore lawsuit happy companies are losing big time. Maybe if SCO actually had some kind of product or business plan they would do better...

DXR_13KE · 14th Aug 2007, 00:02

Quote:

but to also charge end users a license fee to run any flavour of Linux.

yeah right.... and pigs fly with cows attached to them....

quack · 14th Aug 2007, 11:35

Oh to be a fly on the wall in the SCO boardroom.

quack · 15th Aug 2007, 10:57

Shares are now down to 0.37, dropped 17% on Tuesday.

completemadness · 15th Aug 2007, 19:35

wow talk about shooting yourself in the foot, thats quite a drop

Woodstock · 15th Aug 2007, 21:19

looks like there screwed

Shielder · 16th Aug 2007, 09:15

They always were. If you look at the court filings (available on Groklaw) you'll see that they were always trying to delay delay and delay. If they'd tried it here, they'd have been hung drawn and quartered early on.

No we just wait for the Novell and IBM counter claims to be decided. SCO is toast and the executive may be looking at jail time for fraud.

13th Aug 2007, 15:16	#1
Da Dego Brett Thomas Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Cleveland, OH USA Posts: 3,906	SCO loses to Novell over Unix copyrights http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/08...x_copyrights/1 Four and a half years into the making, Novell wins copyrights lawsuit over the Unix operating system. __________________ "Frankly that seems overkill. iluvtrees2 arguing with spec is the intellectual equivalent of a bunny rabbit taking on a pissed-off lion." - Nexxo

13th Aug 2007, 20:31	#5
Woodstock So Say We All Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: New Zealand Posts: 1,657	wow, sounds like typical microsoft, lol. always out for number 1. Another thing to love about linux, how much would this court battle have cost Novell now? can SCO go for a retrial __________________ Hell hath no fury like a hippo with a machine gun.

13th Aug 2007, 20:39	#6
Ramble Ginger Nut Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Exeter, Devon/Wantage, Oxfordshire Posts: 5,233	Excellent, time for SCO to fade away. __________________ Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Ensign Ricky are beaming down to the planet. Guess who's not coming back.

13th Aug 2007, 22:22	#7
Breach Supermodder Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: WA Posts: 354	Good, Im glad these money-whore lawsuit happy companies are losing big time. Maybe if SCO actually had some kind of product or business plan they would do better... __________________ Project :: SSC (Super Sport Computer)

14th Aug 2007, 11:35	#9
quack \o/ Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: England Posts: 5,220	Oh to be a fly on the wall in the SCO boardroom. __________________ Denying Rights to Music lovers. Denying Rights to Movie lovers.

13th Aug 2007, 15:41	#2
plagio Multimodder Join Date: May 2004 Location: Rome, Italy Posts: 140	I don't get it. Why does Novell have the rights over Unix ? Does that mean that Sun Solaris, SGI IRIX, IBM AIX are all licensed by Novell ?

13th Aug 2007, 16:10	#3
zoom314 Multimodder Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Yermo, CA, USA Posts: 174	If they aren't already, Maybe they soon will be, Unless Novell is extremely magnanimous.

15th Aug 2007, 10:57	#10
quack \o/ Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: England Posts: 5,220	Shares are now down to 0.37, dropped 17% on Tuesday. __________________ Denying Rights to Music lovers. Denying Rights to Movie lovers.

15th Aug 2007, 19:35	#11
completemadness Hypermodder Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 887	wow talk about shooting yourself in the foot, thats quite a drop

15th Aug 2007, 21:19	#12
Woodstock So Say We All Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: New Zealand Posts: 1,657	looks like there screwed __________________ Hell hath no fury like a hippo with a machine gun.

16th Aug 2007, 09:15	#13
Shielder Live long & prosper! Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Northwich, UK Posts: 515	They always were. If you look at the court filings (available on Groklaw) you'll see that they were always trying to delay delay and delay. If they'd tried it here, they'd have been hung drawn and quartered early on. No we just wait for the Novell and IBM counter claims to be decided. SCO is toast and the executive may be looking at jail time for fraud. __________________ New Rig: GA-X38-DS5, Q6600 (running at stock until I get everything installed), 8GB OCZ RAM (not sure on timings), Inno3D 8800 GTS 512, Noctua NH-U12P heat sink, Hiper Type M 580, 4 HDDs, 2 opticals, Saitek Eclipse II keyboard, Sharkoon Rush gaming mouse, Samsung 2220WM monitor, running XP SP2 (32-bit), Vista HP (x64) and Fedora 9 Beta (x86-64).