Even with help from Linux boosters and from contributors with as much sway as IBM, open-source advocates face critics such as Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer, who said of Linux last week that "customers will never really know who stands behind this product." Others are not so worried. SCO's claims "could definitely sensitise the open-source community in general," said Illuminata analyst Jonathan Eunice, "but before it creates any kind of vastly disruptive effect, (SCO is) going to have to not only make a claim, they're going to have to prove a claim." That will be difficult, in particular because so much Unix intellectual property has come out in papers, books, articles and other forms over the years, Eunice said. "It was a very leaky ship and has been for quite some years," he said. Open-source programming tends to be a transparent process, and despite the fact that there are millions of lines of open-source software, "so far there have been no significant problems with cleanliness of code," Eunice said. "This is the first major case where there's been a claim of fraud or improper use of code getting into open-source." Bruce Perens, a former leader of the Debian version of Linux and an unofficial spokesman for open-source programmers, derided SCO chief McBride's claims as an attempt to foster fear, uncertainty and doubt--"FUD," in computing parlance. "He's saying this stuff exists, but he's not willing to reveal it. Well, maybe we'll hear about this in court, but frankly, maybe we won't, because they'll try to seal it all," Perens said. "It sounds like he's trying to FUD Linux in general." And taking the offensive, Perens added, "Copying works both ways. I want to see some proof they haven't copied Linux source code into SCO Unix." Although SCO sells a version of Linux based on the version put out by SuSE, a German seller of the OS, most of its revenue comes from its Unix products, which were originally developed by AT&T but made their way to SCO via Novell and a company now named Tarantella. Linux is a close relative of Unix. The collection of software known today as Linux piggybacked on the Gnu's Not Unix (GNU) effort begun by Richard Stallman in the 1980s to independently create a clone of Unix. An issue for Linux sellers
SCO's accusation of source code copying also could have implications for SuSE and other companies that sell their own versions of Linux, such as Red Hat. Although McBride said SCO is concentrating its legal energies on the IBM case right now, those companies aren't immune from Unix-Linux issues. "There's a point in time that has to be resolved with those guys too," McBride said, "but that's not currently what our legal approach is about." Red Hat, though, says it's unconcerned. "Given that we have extensive legal resources put forth into making sure we respect the valid intellectual property rights of companies, we are not concerned with the statements that have been made" that Unix code appears in Linux, said Red Hat spokeswoman Leigh Day. "We do take intellectual property very seriously." But using another company's code does pose problems for Red Hat and SuSE, said John Ferrell, an intellectual property attorney with Carr & Ferrell. "To the extent that there is copyrighted code in the Linux operating system borrowed from Unix, I think these companies have a problem," Ferrell said. A copyright infringer could be forced to pay $100,000 per infringement and reimburse the copyright holder for lost profits, Ferrell said. SCO doesn't have a desire to take legal action against companies that distribute Linux, McBride reiterated. But that doesn't preclude the possibility. Indeed, the company didn't have a desire to sue IBM either, McBride said, but it has done just that. Regardless of whether the issue is hashed out in the courts, Linux companies will have to grapple with it, McBride said. "For Linux to move forward in a wide-scale fashion, I believe the intellectual property issues have got to be resolved," he said. "There is not an intellectual property policeman sitting in at the check-in counter saying this is OK, this is not OK. It is a free-for-all," McBride said. "At the end of the day, there's not a basis for making sure code is clean when it goes in there." There's a simpler solution to the issue, Perens said. "They should show us what code they have problems with. We'll take a look at it or we'll just replace it. Keeping us in the dark is just silly," he said. An impassioned McBride, however, said there's a matter of principle at stake. SCO Group can't just let its intellectual property be used willy-nilly. "This is not about 10 lines of code, it's about 20 years of extremely valuable intellectual property we're trying to protect...Am I supposed to lie down and not say anything about it?" McBride said. "There's a certain point here where you stand up for what's right and let the chips fall where they will."
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