No smoking gun in Erik Hughes' deposition [LWN.net]

No smoking gun in Erik Hughes' deposition

Posted Aug 11, 2005 14:09 UTC (Thu) by charlieb (subscriber, #23340)
Parent article: Some SCO notes

IMO (for once) PJ didn't read carefully enough before getting exited about the deposition. So, for a few releases, SCO included the linux kernel on their UnixWare CDs. So what? They also distributed the linux kernel via FTP. We already knew that. There's nothing I see which implies that linux source code was used in the implementation of the LKM.

I'd suggest everyone go read the deposition and make up their own mind.

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No smoking gun in Erik Hughes' deposition

Posted Aug 12, 2005 1:54 UTC (Fri) by Xman (guest, #10620) [Link]

I think the implication is that the code was mixed in with SCO's code, which under the terms of the GPL would require that SCO distribute their code with the same freedoms guaranteed by the GPL. While it's a bit unlikely, it is conceivable that the legal remedy for this would be to force SCO to conform to the terms of the GPL and provide for those same freedoms with their own code. It would also prove as an interesting counter point to their claim that the way the Linux kernel is developed exposes it to having stolen code integrated in to it.

None of that really applies to the case of them distributing the kernel.

Yes, smoking gun in Erik Hughes' deposition

Posted Aug 18, 2005 17:43 UTC (Thu) by dmag (subscriber, #17775) [Link]

Just to clarify:

Distributing the entire Linux kernel is one thing. The worst that could happen is that they can't sue IBM because they distributed Linux.

But putting Linux kernel code in their closed-source Linux Personality Module is a completely different beast. The worst that could happen is a hundred Linux developers sue them for Copyright infringement (~$75K per violation).