Darl McBride let go from SCO

Darl McBride had run SCO for seven years

SCO has "terminated" Darl McBride from his position as chief executive, according to the company's Form 8-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

SCO announced that the role of chief executive has been abolished, and that McBride is no longer with the company. His departure after seven years could bring an end to SCO's legal woes over the ownership of Unix.

"On October 14 2009 The SCO Group announced that the company has eliminated the chief executive officer and president positions, and consequently terminated Darl McBride," said the filing.

SCO will now be run by chief operating officer Jeff Hunsaker and chief financial officer Ken Nielsen, as well as court appointed administrators.

The statement explained that SCO is looking at selling off some assets to provide capital, and will be undergoing a complete restructuring.

"The company expects to finalise details of the restructuring and to reach cashflow breakeven for core operations within the next month. The savings are a combination of non-workforce related changes and a modest reduction in SCO's workforce," it said.

McBride's seven year tenure at SCO saw it go from a successful software development company to a firm run by administrators and seeking bankruptcy protection.

The company's decision to sue IBM over the use of SCO code in Linux sparked a six-year legal case, which has seen multiple court defeats for McBride. Nevertheless, he always vowed to continue the fight.

SCO will also continue the appeals process in its long-running case over Unix rights, and to support its existing product lines, according to the filing.