SCOsource
Encyclopedia
SCOsource is a business division of The SCO Group
that manages its (now legally voided
) Unix
intellectual property
. The term SCOsource is often used for SCO's licensing program that allows corporate users of Linux
to buy licenses to proprietary Unix technology that SCO claims exists in the Linux operating system
. A single CPU
license costs $699 (USD).
On July 21, 2003, SCO announced that it intends to sell binary-only licences to use the free Linux operating system which will remove the threat of litigation from licence-holders. Linux advocates reacted by stating that SCO has no basis for this action, as their claims were still disputed in court, and that the terms of the GPL seemed to indicate that doing this may cause SCO to forfeit their rights to distribute Linux or Linux-derived code in any form.
On August 5, 2003, SCO's Darl McBride announced the company's final licensing fees requested from end users for the use of Linux; a single-CPU server license will cost US $699 until October 15, 2003, and $1,399 afterward, while license
s for desktop and embedded systems will currently cost US $199 and US $32, respectively. http://www.thescogroup.com/scosource/license_program.html http://msnbc-cnet.com.com/2100-1001_3-5060134.html Prices for server systems with more than one CPU range from US $1,149 for two CPUs to US $2,499 for four CPUs and US $4,999 for eight CPUs, with each additional CPU being priced at US $749. All of these prices, including the ones for desktop and embedded systems, were scheduled to be increased on October 15, 2003, but as of January 2005, the prices have remained the same.
case, SCO attorney Mark J. Heise wrote a letter answering some questions raised by IBM’s attorneys. In this letter, sent on February 4, 2004 and published on Groklaw
on February 10, 2004, Heise revealed that Computer Associates bought a Linux intellectual property license from SCO. On March 4, 2004 Computerweekly.com published an extensive article in which SCO CFO Robert Bench confirmed this. Computer Associates later denied buying licenses from SCOhttp://www.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=04/03/05/0249257:
SCO Group
TSG Group, Inc. is a software company formerly called The SCO Group, Caldera Systems, and Caldera International. After acquiring the Santa Cruz Operation's Server Software and Services divisions, as well as UnixWare and OpenServer technologies, the company changed its focus to UNIX...
that manages its (now legally voided
SCO v. Novell
SCO v. Novell was a United States lawsuit in which the The SCO Group claimed ownership of the source code for the Unix operating system, including portions of Linux...
) Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
. The term SCOsource is often used for SCO's licensing program that allows corporate users of Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
to buy licenses to proprietary Unix technology that SCO claims exists in the Linux operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
. A single CPU
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
license costs $699 (USD).
On July 21, 2003, SCO announced that it intends to sell binary-only licences to use the free Linux operating system which will remove the threat of litigation from licence-holders. Linux advocates reacted by stating that SCO has no basis for this action, as their claims were still disputed in court, and that the terms of the GPL seemed to indicate that doing this may cause SCO to forfeit their rights to distribute Linux or Linux-derived code in any form.
On August 5, 2003, SCO's Darl McBride announced the company's final licensing fees requested from end users for the use of Linux; a single-CPU server license will cost US $699 until October 15, 2003, and $1,399 afterward, while license
License
The verb license or grant licence means to give permission. The noun license or licence refers to that permission as well as to the document recording that permission.A license may be granted by a party to another party as an element of an agreement...
s for desktop and embedded systems will currently cost US $199 and US $32, respectively. http://www.thescogroup.com/scosource/license_program.html http://msnbc-cnet.com.com/2100-1001_3-5060134.html Prices for server systems with more than one CPU range from US $1,149 for two CPUs to US $2,499 for four CPUs and US $4,999 for eight CPUs, with each additional CPU being priced at US $749. All of these prices, including the ones for desktop and embedded systems, were scheduled to be increased on October 15, 2003, but as of January 2005, the prices have remained the same.
EV1Servers.net
On March 1, 2004, SCO announced it had reached a license agreement with EV1Servers.net, which allowed EV1Servers to use some of SCO's "intellectual property".http://ir.sco.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=129791 SCO's Blake Stowell claimed the deal was worth upward of "seven figures" ($1,000,000) while a few days later EV1Servers CEO Robert Marsh claimed the amount was much lower. The exact amount was required to remain secret under terms of the agreement.Computer Associates
During discovery of the SCO v. IBMSCO v. IBM
SCO v. IBM is a civil lawsuit in the United States District Court of Utah. The SCO Group asserted that there are legal uncertainties regarding the use of the Linux operating system due to alleged violations of IBM's Unix licenses in the development of Linux code at IBM.-Summary:On March 6, 2003,...
case, SCO attorney Mark J. Heise wrote a letter answering some questions raised by IBM’s attorneys. In this letter, sent on February 4, 2004 and published on Groklaw
Groklaw
Groklaw is an award-winning website covering legal news of interest to the free and open source software community. Started as a law blog on May 16, 2003 by paralegal Pamela Jones at Radio UserLand, it has covered issues such as the SCO-Linux lawsuits, the EU anti-trust case against Microsoft, and...
on February 10, 2004, Heise revealed that Computer Associates bought a Linux intellectual property license from SCO. On March 4, 2004 Computerweekly.com published an extensive article in which SCO CFO Robert Bench confirmed this. Computer Associates later denied buying licenses from SCOhttp://www.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=04/03/05/0249257:
- CA senior VP of product development Mark Barrenechea says that Bench’s claim is nonsense. CA has not paid SCO any Linux taxes, he said. Drawing up short of calling SCO a liar, Barrenechea claims that SCO has twisted a $40 million breach-of-contract settlement that CA paid last summer to the Canopy Group, SCO’s biggest stockholder, and Center 7, another Canopy company, and has turned it into a purported Linux license.
- As a 'small part' of that settlement, Barrenechea said, CA got a bunch of UnixWare licenses that it needed to support its UnixWare customers. SCO, he said, had just attached a transparent Linux indemnification to all UnixWare licenses and that is how SCO comes off calling CA a Linux licensee.
External links
- The SCO Group - Official website
- SCOsource - Official website of the SCOsource division
- Groklaw - An online community dedicated to following the progress of the various lawsuits and investigating the claims SCO makes