After months of pressure from the Linux Community, SCO has unveiled its evidence that is the basis of its legal battle with IBM. Analysts have been shown samples of the allegedly stolen code, and they say that the evidence is damaging.
At the heart of the case is the argument that portions of Unix System V code has been copied into Linux. SCO has shown analysts blocks of code, some containing as many as 80 lines of identical code that appear in both operating systems. It is possible (although unlikely) that two developers could come up with an identical set of code to accomplish a task, but they are completely identical including variable names and even developers’ comments. This combination is extremely unlikely to occur by chance.
If everything SCO claims is found to be true, this will have a huge effect on IBM, the Linux Community, and all users of open-source software. SCO has already sent letters to Fortune 1,000 companies and 500 other businesses advising them to seek legal counsel if they use Linux.
