A judge presiding over the Linux-focused court battle between SCO and IBM has ordered that SCO show, within 30 days, the software to which it believes it has rights. SCO SA would not comment on the development, but one Linux distributor said he did not think the case a huge problem for Linux.
SCO SA country manager, Mark Knight, told ITWeb he could not comment, but was following the huge amount of media coverage closely for clues on the future of the case.
Ross Addis, chairman of the Gauteng Linux User Group and head of The Impi League, distributor of Impi, a local Linux flavour, says worldwide indications are that the open source software (OSS) movement is not concerned about the case.
For one thing, he says, SCO has so far provided little proof of its rights to certain Linux code, and world Linux-based server shipments are strong. "[In that light] we went ahead with our own distribution."
The case
SCO has sought compensation from IBM, claiming it had moved technology from Unix to Linux, violating its licensing agreement and trade secrets.
IBM and the OSS movement in general have for some time wanted proof from SCO of its claim, in the form of "offending code".
In one "interrogatory", IBM sought "all source code and other material in Linux...to which the plaintiff has rights; and the nature of the plaintiff's rights." In another, IBM wanted a detailed description of how SCO believes IBM has infringed its rights, and whether SCO ever distributed the source code described in the first interrogatory.
The information IBM sought is central to the case, which, in turn, will affect other large IT firms and enterprise users. SCO wants $3 billion from IBM, and is also trying to compel Linux-using corporations to license SCO's Unix.
SCO plans to add copyright infringement to the original charges in the case.
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