[TriLUG] SCO Conference Call

[Robertdkeys at aol.com]

In a message dated 8/5/03 11:15:20 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
lovelace at wayfarer.org writes:

<< If, by some long stretch of the
 imagination some small amount of SCO code shows up in the Linux
 kernel it will be quickly removed and rewritten *AS SOON AS SCO
 IDENTIFIES IT*!  SCO realizes this which is why they haven't shown
 the code to anyone without an NDA. >>


Out of curiosity, and for the sake of discussion, does any part of the
code in question date from the BSD era?  There is a lot of code of
mixed lineage, from that era, when noone really could attribute where
it really came from (read AT&T or Berkeley).  It would not be uncommon
for such things to make their way, one way or another into Linux or DOS
or even CP/M, if you are old enough to remember that.  Consider the case
of something like BSD code, which, in the settlement cannot now be called
"UNIX", could actually have been derived from say V7 code.  SCO originally
generated V7 stuff as did Microsoft, and others.  It would be very easy for
some of that code, traced from say V7 though 32V through BSD to Linux
to look very much like code traced from V7 through SysIII through SysV
to SCO, or even V7 to minix to Linux.  I am not saying that this did happen,
but, if something like that did occur, then at one point in time the BSD tree
declared that code open-source and not UNIX, while the other side of the
tree still declared it encumbered.... both by legal agreement.  The 
possibility
that something like that might have occurred might make it opportune to
diff the trees of 4.4Lite vs Linux vs SCO and really see what tidbits are in
common.

Another possiblity is that someone inside salted the code,  just for
the purposes of monetary gain through litigation.  Stranger things have
happened, for the sake of discussion.

The honest way to handle it would be for SCO to openly publish the files
in question, and the sections of the files in question, for the entire open
source and closed source community to check, then allow time to remove
any questionable files, if, in fact, they do exist.  I personally don't think 
SCO
has the balls to do this, IMHO, as is said in the vernacular.  It does not 
seem
to be about the code, but about money..... sad.....very sad.  SCO will be
ultimate loser, in the end, and go bankrupt, and the real UNIX code might
wind up in opensource hands.....after all.  Wouldn't that be a trip!

I can see the headline, now...."UNIX source code bought by opensource
community!"  News at 11.....

am I dreaming.....?  Time will tell....

Bob Keys