Unix takes a shot at Linux
ZDNet | at | by Mike
Earlier this month, SCO Group sued IBM for allegedly misappropriating SCO's Unix technology and then building it into Linux. The lawyers want to project an image of a small company's valiant battle to protect its own intellectual property against an unscrupulous bully. The reality is more complex. Even though SCO desperately wants to avoid turning this into debate over the merits of opposing models for software development, the lawsuit filed against IBM looks more like a stalking-horse for a deeper struggle between proprietary and open-source software. Here's why.
Back in 1992, Novell's then CEO Ray Noorda believed he could bring down Bill Gates by competing against Microsoft on a variety of fronts. Novell subsequently acquired the likes of WordPerfect, Borland's spreadsheet business and the Unix software code from AT&T, which developed Unix in 1969.