Knowledge@Wharton: Open Source: Closing, Closing…

“It might look like the battle of David and Goliath, but in the
case of the SCO Group vs. IBM, not too many people are rooting for
David. The SCO Group, which has filed a $3 billion suit against Big
Blue, alleges that Unix code–which it claims rights to–was
wrongly used in some of IBM’s Linux code. IBM has filed a
countersuit, saying that SCO is simply trying to make money from
laying claim to code that is freely available under the General
Public License. Linux distributor Red Hat has also joined the fray,
asking that SCO be stopped from making claims of intellectual
property misuse in Linux code. Most Linux developers have weighed
in on IBM’s side, expressing annoyance at what they perceive as
SCO’s attempt to undermine the very nature of open source software
development.

“The case is making headlines, but the larger issue in question
is whether Linux–which has become the poster child for open source
software development–can truly remain open while simultaneously
gaining acceptance in the corporate marketplace…”

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