The SCO Group’s recent threats of suing businesses using Linux seem to be having little impact on users’ attitudes. Tom Pratt, information systems manager at Coastal Transportation Inc., expressed a lack of concern, pointing out that too many companies use Linux for SCO to sue them all successfully. He stated that he doesn’t recall signing any agreements with SCO regarding licensing fees.
Kevin Gray, IT operations manager at DreamWorks SKG’s film studio, dismissed SCO’s claims as a “big red herring” and doesn’t see them going far. DreamWorks extensively uses Linux in various aspects of film production and animation.
Brad Friedman, vice president of IS at Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp., stated that SCO’s legal front won’t change their strategy. Burlington Coat Factory currently uses Linux for point-of-sale machines and in-store transaction processing, and they are considering back-end uses for Linux as well.
Overall, these users do not seem concerned about SCO’s threats and continue to rely on Linux for their business operations.
Brad Friedman, vice president of IS at Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp., expressed a cautious approach regarding the SCO situation, mentioning that they are not rushing to license every single Linux box they have, but they are keeping a close eye on the developments. He compared it to the uncertainty surrounding Oracle’s takeover attempt with PeopleSoft Inc. and J.D. Edwards & Co.
The SCO Group’s pursuit of lawsuits against businesses running Linux if they don’t acquire a special SCO UnixWare 7.1.3 license has raised concerns. The prices of these licenses have not been disclosed yet, but SCO expects them to be comparable to existing UnixWare licenses.
SCO has been involved in legal battles since March, suing IBM for alleged misappropriation of trade secrets related to SCO’s Unix products benefiting IBM’s Linux strategy. While the IBM lawsuit is still pending in court, Linux users appear to be waiting to see its outcome before deciding how to handle any potential licensing arrangements with SCO.
Harry Roberts, CIO at Boscov’s Department Stores, shared that his company is closely monitoring the SCO situation. They run both Red Hat Linux and SuSE Linux in their operations and believe they are compliant with their agreements with these vendors.