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SCO down and out
SCO has officially been reduced to the status of a footnote in history.
The company today filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Although the firm could restructure its business, it would still have to deal with the tens of millions of dollars that it owes Novell.
From the hunter, SCO has become the hunted prey. That took amazingly little time: SCO first launched its legal assault against IBM and Linux customers in 2002, claiming that their Linux use violated its copyrights on Unix. The company purchased those rights from Novell in 1993, prompting Novell to dust off its contract.
The fine print however showed that SCO never acquired the full rights for the software. In fact, it was supposed to forward 95 per cent of its license revenues to Novell – which it had failed to do. A judge confirmed the terms of the contract last August.
It took SCO management only one month to admit defeat. There is nothing left to reorganize, because most of SCO's former customers have abandoned its software out of protest against over the legal proceedings. When SCO chief Darl McBride switches off the light in his office tonight, he might just as well keep it off for eternity.
SCO chief Darl McBride: enemy number 1 (well, maybe nr 2, after Microsoft) according to open source fans
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