[ Thanks to Jeremy Allison –
Samba Team for this release. ]
Over the past few months, the SCO (Santa Cruz Operation)
Corporation (formerly Caldera International, Inc. a Linux
distribution vendor) has been complaining about violations of its
Copyright works by the Linux kernel code.
Recently, Darl McBride, the Chief Executive Officer of SCO has
been making pejorative statements regarding the license used by the
Linux kernel, the GNU GPL. In a keynote speech he recently said
:
“At the end of the day, the GPL is not about making software
free; it’s about destroying value.”
In light of this it is the depths of hypocrisy that at the same
event SCO also announced the incorporation of the Samba3 release
into their latest OpenServer product. Samba is an Open Source/Free
Software project that allows Linux and UNIX servers to interoperate
with Microsoft Windows clients. The reason for this is clear;
Samba3 allows Linux and UNIX servers to replace Microsoft Windows
NT Domain Controllers and will add great value to any Operating
System which includes it. However, Samba is also developed and
distributed under the GNU GPL license, in exactly the same manner
as the Linux kernel code that SCO has been criticizing for its lack
of care in ownership attribution.
We observe that SCO is both attacking the GPL on the one hand
and benefiting from the GPL on the other hand. SCO can’t have it
both ways. SCO has a clear choice: either pledge not to use any
Open Source/Free Software in any of their products, or actively
participate in the Open Source/Free Software movement and reap the
benefits. For SCO to continue to use Open Source/Free Software
while attacking others for using it is the epitome of
hypocrisy.
The strength of Open Source/Free Software is that it is
available to all without restrictions on fields of endeavor, as the
Samba Team believes the ability to freely use, modify and learn
from software code is one of the grounding principles of computer
science, and a basic freedom for all.
Because of this, we believe that the Samba must remain true to
our principles and be freely available to use even in ways we
personally disapprove of.
Even when used by rank hypocrites like SCO.
Jeremy Allison,
Marc Kaplan,
Andrew Bartlett,
Christopher R. Hertel,
Jerry Carter,
Jean Francois Micouleau,
Paul Green,
Rafal Szczesniak.
Samba Team.