SCO Can't Slow Linux
By Mark Glaser
Roughly a year ago,
SCO Group unveiled its legal strategy for
protecting its alleged copyrighted code within Linux, suing IBM for
billions of dollars and threatening hundreds of corporate end users
with similar action. The idea was to get these companies to ante up
licensing fees to SCO, or perhaps to win huge settlements or court
cases in its favor. That left IT shops in a quandary: To buy or not to
buy Linux?
One year later, the Linux tide continues to rise through the software
industry, and it's threatening to completely swamp SCO Group. On the
plus side for SCO: its lawsuit with IBM is still alive, though the
court case won't even begin for another year. It has gained a handful
of licensees, including Microsoft and most recently a small Web host
called Everyones Internet, which was worried about anxious hosting
clients. Plus, it recently unveiled two new lawsuits against end users
AutoZone and DaimlerChrysler.
But while there has been a lot of media attention for SCO's every move,
IT shops and major software vendors continue to push Linux like never
before. HP, Sun, Novell, and the Open Source Development Lab have set
up funds to pay customers' possible court costs. PeopleSoft recently
announced Linux support in its next version of the EnterpriseOne suite,
and no major software company has dropped Linux support.
Meanwhile, IDC reported numbers that would hearten any Linux fan:
Shipments of servers running Linux were up 52.5 percent in the fourth
quarter, with revenues up 63.1 percent. Novell announced profitability
for the same quarter after buying SuSE, while SCO Group itself
announced a growing loss in the quarter of $2.3 million—with only
$20,000 coming from Linux-related licenses.
Just how prevalent are Linux servers? The U.S. District Court in
Nevada, where SCO is suing AutoZone, uses Linux for its Web sit—as do
the White House, FBI, and Department of Defense. Good luck.