Thread: [Indic-computing-users] Microsoft to license Unix code
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From: Dr. U.B. P. <pav...@vi...> - 2003-05-19 06:30:33
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<?xml version=3D"1.0" ?><html> <head> <title></title> </head> <body> <p><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size:12pt= ">http://news.com.com/2100-1016_3-1007528.html</span></font></p> <p><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size:12pt= ">Microsoft to license Unix code </span></font></p> <p><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size:12pt= ">By </span></font><a href=3D"mailto:sa...@cn...?subject=3DFEEDBACK: Mic= rosoft to license Unix code"><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"> <u>Scott Ard</u></font></a><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3">  <br/> Staff Writer, CNET News.com<br/> May 18, 2003, 10:45 PM PT<br/> <br/> <b>Microsoft is acquiring the rights to Unix technology from SCO Group, a move that could dramatically impact the battle between Windows and Linux in the market for computer operating systems. </b></font= ></p> <p><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size:12pt= ">According to a statement from Microsoft, the company will license SCO's Unix patents and the source code. That code is at the heart of a high-stakes, </span></font><a href=3D"/2100-1016-991464.html?tag=3Dnl"><fo= nt face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"> <u>billion-dollar lawsuit between SCO and IBM</u></font></a><font face=3D"= Times New Roman" size=3D"3"> , which is aggressively pushing Linux as an alternative to Windows in corporate back shops. </font></p> <p><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size:12pt= ">Microsoft's Windows has a monopoly in the market for desktop operating systems, with a market share greater than 90 percent. Linux, which has been developed by thousands of contributors and can be freely obtained, has caught on as a worthy competitor in the market for corporate servers. In the past two years, Microsoft has repeatedly labeled Linux a threat to the Redmond, Wash.-based computing giant, partly because of its low cost. </span></font></p> <p><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size:12pt= ">Unix was invented more than 30 years ago by AT&T's Unix Systems Laboratories. In many ways Linux works similarly to Unix, making it relatively easy to translate Unix software to Linux. </span></font></p> <p><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size:12pt= ">AT&T sold the Unix intellectual property to Novell Networks, which in turn sold it to the Santa Cruz Operation. Caldera International, a seller of Linux, then acquired from SCO the Unix rights and two SCO products, OpenServer and UnixWare. Then last year, Caldera changed its name to SCO Group to reflect the fact that most of its revenue came from its SCO business and not from the Linux products. </span></font></p> <p><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size:12pt= ">SCO claims the Unix source code has been copied into Linux. In March, SCO sued IBM for $1 billion, alleging that Big Blue had used SCO's Unix code in Linux. IBM, along with Hewlett-Packard, has been a major backer of Linux. Last week, SCO escalated the battle by </span></font><a href=3D"/2100-1016-1001609.html?tag=3Dnl"><font face=3D"T= imes New Roman" size=3D"3"> <u>sending hundreds of letters to large corporations</u></font></a><font f= ace=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3">  warning them that their use of Linux could infringe on SCO's intellectual property. </font><= /p> <p><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size:12pt= ">SCO's letter stated, in part, "We believe that Linux infringes on o= ur Unix intellectual property and other rights. We intend to aggressively protect and enforce these rights. Legal liability that may arise from the Linux development process may also rest with the end user." </span></= font></p> <p><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size:12pt= ">Some analysts said the move was an attempt by SCO to be acquired by another company--possibly Microsoft, IBM or another firm with a stake in the matter. "I guess suing IBM wasn't enough to get them acquired,= so (the letters are) the next stage," Illuminata analyst Gordon Haff = said. </span></font></p> <p><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size:12pt= ">Late Sunday, Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith said acquiring the license from SCO "is representative of Microsoft's ongoing commitment to respecting intellectual property and the IT community’= s healthy exchange of IP through licensing. This helps to ensure IP compliance across Microsoft solutions and supports our efforts around existing products like Services for UNIX that further UNIX interoperability." </span></font></p> <p><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size:12pt= ">Microsoft's public disdain of Linux stretches back more than two years. = </span></font></p> <p><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size:12pt= ">In March 2001, Microsoft Senior Vice President Craig Mundie said </span></font><a href=3D"null?tag=3Dnl"><font face=3D"Times New Roman" siz= e=3D"3"> <u>releasing source code into the public domain</u></font></a><font face=3D= "Times New Roman" size=3D"3">  is "unhealthy," causes security risks and "as history has shown, while this type of model ma= y have a place, it isn't successful in building a mass market and making powerful, easy-to-use software broadly accessible to consumers." </fo= nt></p> <p><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size:12pt= ">A few months later, in an interview with CNET News.com, </span></font><a= href=3D"/2009-1082-268707.html?tag=3Dnl"><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"> <u>Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates sought to warn corporate users</u></font></a><font fac= e=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3">  about the </font><a href=3D"http://www.fsf.org/copyleft/gpl.html"><f= ont face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"> <u>GNU General Public License</u></font></a><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D= "3"> , which Linux is distributed under. "Some of our source codes are out there and very available, like Windows CE," Gate= s said. "Some generally require a license, like Windows itself. We have= no objection to free software, which has been around forever. But we do think there are problems for commercial users relative to the GPL, and we are just making sure people understand the GPL. </font></p> <p><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size:12pt= ">"Unfortunately, that has been misconstrued in many ways. It's a top= ic that you can leap on and say, 'Microsoft doesn't make free software.' Hey, we have free software; the world will always have free software. I mean, if you characterize it that way, that's not right. But if you say to= people, 'Do you understand the GPL?' And they'll say, 'Huh?' And they're pretty stunned when the Pac-Man-like nature of it is described to them." </span></font></p> <div align=3D"left"><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"><span style=3D= "font-size:12pt">-----------------------------------------------------</sp= an></font></div> <div align=3D"left"><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"><span style=3D= "font-size:12pt">Dr. U.B. Pavanaja</span></font></div> <div align=3D"left"><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"><span style=3D= "font-size:12pt">Editor, Vishva Kannada</span></font></div> <div align=3D"left"><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"><span style=3D= "font-size:12pt">World's first Internet magazine in Kannada</span></font><= /div> <div align=3D"left"><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"><span style=3D= "font-size:12pt">http://www.vishvakannada.com/</span></font></div> <div align=3D"left"><br/> </div> <div align=3D"left"><font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"3"><span style=3D= "font-size:12pt">Note: I don't worry about pselling mixtakes</span></font>= </div> <div align=3D"left"></div> </body> </html> |
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