[ Thanks to Jason
Greenwood for this link. ]
“As 2003 dawned, Linux seemed poised to take off. This low-cost,
open-source alternative to proprietary Windows and Unix systems had
grown so robust and reliable that Fortune 1,000
corporations–entities not known for taking bold IT leaps–were
beginning to migrate to it en masse. Meanwhile, giant vendors like
IBM, HP and Oracle were basing more of their core offerings on the
OS.“But just when Linux seemed poised to scale new heights in its
ongoing challenge of Microsoft, SCO crashed the ring like a
deranged fan. In March, the company sued IBM for US$1 billion for
allegedly using some of its proprietary Unix code without
compensation. Earlier this month, SCO issued intellectual property
licenses for entities using Linux, implying that anyone who chose
not to buy a license would risk severe penalties…”