SCO offers 'opportunities' for Linux users

The SCO Group will later today unveil "opportunities for Linux customers" along with additional details of its ownership of Unix.

In a telephone briefing the company will also reveal the latest developments in its lawsuit against IBM, and provide details "about ownership of Unix intellectual property, copyrights and opportunities for Linux customers".

Conducting the briefing will be SCO president and chief executive Darl McBride, senior vice president Chris Sontag, and David Boies, a lawyer at Boies, Schiller & Flexner.

One unconfirmed report suggests that the opportunities for Linux customers could include a licensing model to protect them from future litigation.

It is possible that - for a fee - SCO could offer to license the code in Linux which it claims to own.

The Linux kernel is distributed under the GNU Public Licence, which states that sublicensing is not allowed.

But the GNU licence, which governs all distributions of Linux, states: "You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Program [Linux in this case] except as expressly provided under this licence.

"Any attempt otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Program is void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this licence."

SCO declined to comment on the report.

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