Linux's Legal World After SCO

[RoyGBiv]

Crossposted from the Open Source group.

When you have some time, read this. It's long, but if you have an interest in Linux specifically as more than just an OS, legal battles the good guys actually win, or the open source philosophy generally, it is worth it. Mac users take note as well, as OS X had the potential to be affected by a decision that went the other way, if by no other reason that precedent.

The SCO Group's legal attacks on Linux were a false alarm, but left the Linux community with stronger defenses against future threats.
By Pamela Jones, LinuxWorld.com, 08/14/06

When SCO and its supporters decided to attack Linux, they must have seen the Linux community as vulnerable, disorganized, legally inexperienced, and unlikely to be able to defend itself effectively, the quintessential 98-pound weakling. They felt free to kick sand in its face, and they did, but they were clearly stunned by the reaction they got. The community rapidly organized an effective response. The SCO saga is drawing to a close, and Linux won. But what about the future? If a Son of SCO copycat appears, is the community now better prepared because of having gone through the SCO saga? What is now in place to handle legal issues that wasn't there when SCO first attacked in 2003?

What Changed

First and foremost, we've changed. SCO did its worst, and Linux came out victorious, with the community more solid and better organized than ever. The threat appears now to be over, from all we can see. The rest is process and paperwork, barring something new. SCO's list of allegedly infringing material in the IBM case astounded us by being so empty of substance, leaving SCO's earlier public threats looking like a balloon with a pinhole, leaking air and careening around wildly in the air.

...

IP law is too important to leave it to just the lawyers. They need to understand the tech, and now they can. And vice versa. Geeks need to understand the law, because more and more it affects them directly. We didn't have Groklaw in place in 2003. If the next attack is patent infringement, Groklaw is ready. In fact, it has already done some group research on prior art for specific cases.

More

[bigmonkey]

1. I wish more people understood how important this is.

Hooray for the good guys, for once.

[RoyGBiv]

2. Me too ...

I post on stuff like this regularly, and I rarely even get one response unless I post in the Computer forums. I was so happy to see yours I nearly cried. :-)

Even here, something like the Charlie Sheen gets more attention.

Anyway, thanks for noticing.

[silverojo]

3. K&R'ed!

I'm learning to use Linux, and I've even been using other open-source software on Windows. I'm sick of greedy corporations like Micro$haft controlling the computing world, and it's high time they had some competition. I will NEVER upgrade to WinXP, let alone Windows Vista. Big Brother WILL NOT reside in my PC!

[RoyGBiv]

4. Kick for day crowd

:kick: