[CLUE-Talk] SCO planning to offer licensing for Linux

[Jeffery Cann]

On Sunday 20 July 2003 03:44 pm, Kirk Rafferty wrote:
> Imagine the repercussions if a Judge ruled that SCO had, in fact, GPL'd
> their own software accidentally.  Other companies would see this ruling
> as an extremely bad thing, and perhaps abandon their own open source
> initiatives, for fear of accidentally GPL'ing their own proprietary code.
> If you think FUD about the GPL being viral is bad now, wait until a
> ruling like this came down.  MS for one, would have a field day.
> (example: disgruntled <big software house> coder "contributes"
> proprietary code to Linux kernel.  Get's incorporated into latest kernel
> build--*poof!*-- <big software house> just lost [mb]illions in IP.  This
> example doesn't have to be valid, it just has to scare the crap of out
> a bunch of CEOs.)

Kirk -

Excellent discussion.  I wasn't thinking along those lines.  My only counter 
offer is that any company that produces a Linux distribution should *really* 
do their legal home work with regard to the 'viral' aspects of the GPL.

Jeff
-- 
"Keep yourselves far from every form of exaggerated nationalism, racism and 
intolerance."
-- Pope John Paul II