For those of you attempting to follow, this is the best summary I've seen of the SCO lawsuit against IBM - the one that claims pieces of UNIX have been incorporated into Linux.

Will Linux suffer irreparable harm? Once again, there are a range of opinions on this subject. Although no one is recommending outright abandonment of Linux, some are recommending a cautious approach. Gartner recommends that its clients “minimize Linux in complex, mission-critical systems until the merits of SCO’s claims or resulting judgments become clear.” Robert Francis Group states that “IT executives should not scrap Linux deployment strategies out of hand…SCO’s attacks on enterprise users hinge on successfully proving its case against IBM, and the best estimates currently give it at least two years before the case will be finally decided. In the meantime, IT executives should evaluate alternatives such as BSD as an escape route….”

Following up on its belief that IBM will make the SCO annoyance go away, Robert Francis Group firmly states that “enterprises should not stop their Linux rollouts.” In addition to its IBM buyout belief, it also argues for the continued use of Linux because “the risk that tiny SCO can muster the resources to effectively litigate against even one of two of the 1,500 companies it has threatened is low.”

| |