Reply #6: In English...

[Born_a_Democrat]

There is a company suing IBM (proponents of Linux O/S) because that company (SCO) says that the Linux O/S core is based on copyrighted code

example: Imagine if now GM sued Ford because GM says that using a certain type of 6 cylinder engine in a car started out being THEIR idea and is copyrighted (as if they couldn't come up with it on their own)

This is oversimplified of course but it gives you the point.

Following with this example:
The problem with the argument is that the company suing will not say EXACTLY what about the engine is copyrighted...like "the Ford engine is a 60 degree six cylinder in a V configuration and we invented that"


The reason they won't say: Because they know that if they say EXACTLY what about the engine they "invented" then FORD will just choose another type of 6 cyclinder engine and there are many:
45 degree V6, Inline 6, Flat 6 and so on....if this happens they will not have a case....




Back to the Linux topic

SCO will not say EXACTLY what source code is "being violated that is copyrighted by them" because they know as soon as they say what it is...Linux O/S developers around the globe will just replace the "copyrighted" code with something else and SCO will have no suit.


Now Wait!...if this can be done...where all of a sudden your supposed "intellectual property" is NO LONGER being "stolen" then WHY ON EARTH would you not just come out and show what is being "violated" so they can stop doing it?

two reasons:

1. Microsoft paid SCO 10 million in supposed "licencing" fees just weeks before this suit went forward (which means that Microsoft basically paid SCO to file the suit because Linux is the only main competitor of Windows that could in the next few years WIPE OUT the advantage that Windows has in the market".


2. Because SCO thinks that if the suit is actually won...(which will be nearly impossible unless they have A LOT of people in their pockets) then they will start collecting royalties for the time that their supposed "copyrighted code" was used (even if Linux developers change it immediately).


The way SCO thinks of it...they have nothing to lose...Microsoft gave them 10 mil to spend on legal expenses and if they lose, well, then they're exactly where they were before the suit, nothing lost, nothing gained....BUT

If they win...then not only did they NOT pay for the battle but they get the spoils of victory. So you see...it's about Greed on both sides, Microsoft AND SCO...

I hope that clears it up...

Mike