[tr_wright1]

ive just read the following article about the future of linux here http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1115156,00.asp

As the battle drags on, the Linux movement loses momentum, then dies.

NEVER!!!

ther are some people (like me) who will use linux on their computers or simply not have a computer.

[solman66]

Correct me if i'm wrong,
but don't most people consider it a farce because the
"solid proof" of code (the linux code that was supposedly stolen from unix) that SCO displayed was actually code that they themselves submitted as open source in the 80's?

[techieMoe]

The author of this is not a lawyer, and although neither is PJ of Groklaw, I'll trust her judgment and the judgment of her team of legal analysts over the rantings of some editor in a PC magazine. I know from the publicly available legal proceedings I have read from the IBM vs SCO case that SCO has no case.

The author assumes way too much. He assumes SCO has a case, and also assumes that there is an untold number of pieces of stolen code in Linux (which is impossible, since Linux is just, after all, a kernel, and it's all Linus Torvalds' code, period.) He furthermore assumes (wrongly) that the Linux community has a general "ho hum" attitude toward the SCO/IBM case, which as anyone who reads Groklaw or Linux Insider can say is just obviously not the case.

Long story short, worthless fluff article IMHO. The author should not impress their opinion with such fire and brimstone imagery.

[Darl]

That is terrible journalism. Fearmongering.

The Linux community seems to have put its collective head in the sand. Nobody seems to realize that Linux and the entire open-source movement are at grave risk.

What a nice generalization. Nobody, and and, I say, nobody in the world understands this.

Apparently the open-source idealists don't understand the quirks of the legal system.

It's the same gross generalization, only this one is more offensive. "Apparently you guys just aren't smart enough."

How's about the alternative that, yes, indeed, our head isn't in the sand, we disagree that we are in grave risk, and we understand the legal system. What sort of journalist would purposefuly ignore that many people/lawyers/companies (along with groklaw) have taken a close look at the situation and found no merit. That possibility was completely ignored by this writer.

what happens if [IBM] suddenly emerges as the top Linux vendor with the only legal license to use certain aspects of the kernel?

The kernel is re-written. That's my guess, but IANAL. I would assume there would be a payout and a removal of the infringing portions of the kernel. Linux is very community based, I imagine linux users/companies being very willing to pay something to keep linux alive. I find it very unlikely the linux community could not collect even large sums of money if it comes to whether or not linux exists.

Ugh, someone else can attack the Versions -I find this person to be somewhat offensive.

[copycon]

I am sorry to have to bring this up especially since the author of the article is obviously mentally handicapped. But I fear that the wholesale coping and pasting of an article from a magazines website especially without any accreditation to most likely fall into the realm of copyright infringement.

[Mad Malc]

Just as an aside here, despite the intense speculation about who owns what and whether M$ for instance can commandeer a pre existing word from the english language and make it a trade mark.
The fact is the cat's out of the bag, Linux might be a rallying point for open source software development now, if linux falls will the open source community?
I doubt it, plus if a system works a system works, how many 'illegal copies ' of proprietary systems/ software exist?
The kernel has/ will be re-written many times, it is only if someone starts to claim copyright on the alphabet used that problems could/ will arise.
If old industrial countries try to keep the upper hand by claiming the proprietary right to sunshine or whatever, who cares.
The world is about change and the open source community looks like it can rock and roll with the best.

Mad Malc

[jasonlambert]

A source URL would have been nice, even if for no other reason that i could look at the bottom of the page to see if it has a note like "Written in Microsoft Word" attached.

[jeremy1701]

if linux falls will the open source community?

My thoughts exactly. Even if Windows, SCO, etc... win court battles, there's no way they can force us (the open source community) to stop the spreading the idea!

Jeremy

[tr_wright1]

and if linux fails the third-world computer prospect fails as well. very few schools in africa can afford to pay for multiple licences for profit software
in fact our school are sending old PIs and IIs over for the excact purpose of having linux installed.

[copycon]

After a search I was able to find the article online, so even if the copyright infringement is allowed to continue it can at least be atributed. It was an article on PCmags web site by John Dvorak called "Killing Linux"

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1115156,00.asp