[lug] The SCO IP License.. where do I click?

[Sean Reifschneider]

On Wed, Aug 06, 2003 at 10:35:23AM -0600, John Hernandez wrote:
>Another barrier to collection attempts would be the fast pace of Linux kernel 
>development.  If the court identified some infringing code, it would be 

One thing that SCO is trying to do is to say that having the IP in the
kernel has tainted the kernel and there's really no way to remove it.
The use of these algorithms or APIs may have been driven by the use of
this IP, so you can't just remove the infringing code, the code around
it is also tainted by it's presence, etc...

Those of you who remember the AT&T/BSD suits will remember that this was
an issue then as well.  The code in question was not that much, but they
spent a very long time trying to figure out how to remove it.

Also, SCO can claim that people who have worked on any of this code are
tainted and can't touch the kernel again as well, without threat of
action.  If SCO wins it's claims, it could spell the end of the Linux
kernel, and some of the best hackers aren't likely to be able to move
over to HURD and pick up where they left off there.  That's my
impression, at least.

Sean
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Sean Reifschneider, Member of Technical Staff <jafo at tummy.com>
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