Code sleuths (Boston.com) [LWN.net]

Boston.com has posted an article on the dangers of open source code. "Similar scenes are playing out at software firms and other businesses across the country, as engineers frantically search their files for something they hope not to find: open-source components. Their improper use, in the worst case scenario, could subject companies to costly litigation from parties like the SCO Group of Lindon, Utah." It's a low-clue article, but, alas, it may well scare some people.

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Code sleuths (Boston.com)

Posted Dec 28, 2004 2:04 UTC (Tue) by AnswerGuy (guest, #1256) [Link]

Need I point out that they should have been scouring their source code for
copyright violations all along. Open source just means that lazy and
unscrupulous programmers could more readily find large volumes of free
(libre) source code to steal from. However, lazy and unscrupulous
programmers have been stealing proprietary code for as long as source code
has been usable on more than one system (well, as long as there has been
"proprietary source code" anyway.

Need I point out that search for patent violations is probably a waste of
everyone's time since there are so many "submarine patents" lurking under
the waters --- and that there's not much point in searching sources for
patent violations because it's the whole technique that's patented in
software, not merely a specific expression of it; thus patent violations are
more a matter of design then of implementation (code).

An attempt to characterize these risks as if they were specific to "open source," or even exacerbated by open source is patently absurd. (Come to think of it, I should probably apply for a
patent on the "business process" of making this particular type of claim
to garner more business on slow news days. Then I can make a killing
from authors like this! Right?

JimD

Responsibility

Posted Dec 28, 2004 19:03 UTC (Tue) by chrism (guest, #4713) [Link]

"""
We need to pay attention to the crap we put into our software now? In the old days, we could just throw anything in there. We didn't think about licenses. But now, geez, we might get sued for it by someone who has actually has money. Help! We need protection!
"""

One good thing about the SCO debacle is that it provides great entertainment even on the edges.