Legal squabbles over Linux demonstrate its strategic
significance but do businesses no favours, says Simon
Moores.
I’ve kept deliberately silent till now about the legal squabble
between SCO (The Santa Cruz Operation) and just about everyone else
other than Microsoft over Linux and who owns the rights to the code
contained therein – allegedly.
After all, litigation stories are not everyone's cup of tea, and
there's always the worry that the website editor will censor my
comments for fear I've trodden on the wrong toes.
Now – not content to fight its corner against IBM, Red Hat and
most of the Penguin-fancying world – SCO plans to frustrate
Novell's purchase of SuSE, alleging (that word again!) that this
would put it in violation of a much older non-competitive
agreement, signed in 1995, between Novell and SCO as part of their
Unix System V software agreement.
At the time, Novell was casting around for answers, any answers
to the looming inevitability of Windows NT, parked, like the Star
Wars' Death Star, right across its corporate parking lot in Utah.
Unix seemed like a good idea at the time as it revealed the
weaknesses in Microsoft’s network operating system ambitions as it
started its march off the desktop and into the enterprise.
Today, Novell has one real chance for survival and that lies
with Linux. The Netware, upon which it built its business,
represents the law of diminishing returns and Linux is becoming
fashionable in all the right places, particularly the poorer
sectors of the market where customers are still hanging on to
Netware because they can’t afford the costs of a Windows migration.
In this respect, one might describe Novell’s acquisition of SuSe as
either an upgrade path or a lifeline to its customers.
If SCO stops the deal going through on the basis that a
Novell/SuSe Linux competes with its own Unix-based products, this
is only going to further hurt everyone involved in bringing Linux
into the mainstream.
Already, the IBM and Red Hat involvement is causing a level of
nervousness among enterprise customers. After all, when you buy
your software, you want to know who owns what and where the
responsibility stops, which has always been a problem with Linux
and one that had only been recently resolved before the SCO action
appeared on the scene.
The action leaves Novell with a stark choice. Fight SCO through
the courts and shelve progress until a decision is made, which
could take years if we use the example of Microsoft and Sun
Microsystems fighting over Java as an example. Alternatively, pay
SCO off because like Novell, SCO is also looking at an uncertain
future, built very much upon Unix in a world that is adopting Linux
rapidly.
All the legal activity around Linux has put the dampers on SCO
and, from where I sit, its best potential revenue stream may come
from settlements with the likes of Novell and IBM. Either way,
Linux loses until the matter of ownership and non-competitive
activity is resolved and Microsoft enjoys a valuable breathing
space while it considers how best to react to the potential loss of
markets such as South-east Asia, Germany and Brazil to the Penguin
invasion.
Meanwhile, although it’s good to see the strategic importance of
Linux reflected in a series of messy legal actions, it doesn’t do
business any favours and while IBM, Red Hat and Novell tag wrestle
with SCO, the rest of us are left wondering how such large
companies can behave like so many small children.
What do you think?
Do you think Linux progress is under threat from the litigation
craze?
Tell us in an e-mail >>
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Setting the world to rights with the collected thoughts and
opinions of leading industry analyst Dr Simon Moores of
Zentelligence.
Acting globally, Zentelligence (Research) advises
governments, suppliers, business and the media on the evolution,
application and delivery of leading-edge technologies and
specialises in the areas of eGovernment and information
security.
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