"Don't touch open source software unless you have a team of intellectual property lawyers prepared to scour every single piece [of the open source code]. We offer indemnification, but many suppliers do not. A lot of companies are going to get very disappointed as we move forward. It will become a very challenging intellectual property issue."

Eben Moglen has written a new position paper for OSDL. The actual pdf is here.

There is an interview with me on Linux Online. They wanted to ask me why I do this and other questions. So, I explain. Yesterday, it was The Inquirer.

More on Caldera contributions to Linux.

Greg T. Hill decided to look under the covers of 2.4.19 and here is what he found, with some explanation, in case you still aren't convinced that Caldera officially contributed to the Linux kernel knowingly:

Just a simple "grep -r 'Caldera' /usr/src/linux/*" and "grep -r 'caldera' /usr/src/linux/* on kernel sources for 2.4.19 (patched for SGI's xfs) turns up all of the following

/usr/src/linux/CREDITS:S: Caldera (Deutschland) GmbH
N: Stefan Probst
E: sp@caldera.de D: The Linux Support Team Erlangen, 1993-97
S: Caldera (Deutschland) GmbH
S: Lazarettstrasse 8
S: 91054 Erlangen
S: Germany

/usr/src/linux/Documentation/networking/tlan.txt:(C) 1997-1998
Caldera, Inc.
*first copyright listed

/usr/src/linux/Documentation/smp.tex:The author wishes to thank
Caldera Inc.
( http://www.caldera.com )
The author wishes to thank Caldera Inc. ( http://www.caldera.com ) whose donation of an ASUS dual Pentium board made this project possible, and Thomas Radke, whose initial work on multiprocessor Linux formed the backbone of this project.

/usr/src/linux/Documentation/sound/CMI8338: b. Caldera OpenLinux 2.2 b. Caldera OpenLinux 2.2
Use LISA to load the cmpci module.

/usr/src/linux/arch/i386/kernel/smpboot.c: * (Original development of Linux SMP code supported by Caldera.)

/usr/src/linux/drivers/net/tlan.c: * (C) 1997-1998 Caldera, Inc.
*first copyright listed

/usr/src/linux/drivers/net/tlan.h: * (C) 1997-1998 Caldera, Inc.
*first copyright listed

/usr/src/linux/drivers/scsi/advansys.c: AdvanSys driver in the Caldera releases.
Erik Ratcliffe has done testing of the AdvanSys driver in the Caldera releases.

/usr/src/linux/net/ipx/af_ipx.c: * Portions Copyright (c) 1995 Caldera, Inc.

* Portions Copyright (c) 1995 Caldera, Inc.
* Neither Greg Page nor Caldera, Inc. admit liability nor provide
* warranty for any of this software. This material is provided
* "AS-IS" and at no charge.

*

/usr/src/linux/net/ipx/af_ipx.c: KERN_INFO "IPX Portions Copyright (c) 1995
Caldera, Inc.n"

/usr/src/linux/Documentation/Configure.help:# LocalWords: caldera
Preload
Preloading slowdowns schoebel uni NBD nbd prog

/usr/src/linux/drivers/net/slip.c: * from Jim Freeman's

* Matti Aarnio : Dynamic SLIP devices, with ideas taken * from Jim Freeman's

/usr/src/linux/drivers/char/drm/drm_context.h: * 2001-11-16 Torsten Duwe

* ChangeLog:
* 2001-11-16 Torsten Duwe
* added context constructor/destructor hooks,
* needed by SiS driver's memory management.

/usr/src/linux/drivers/sound/maestro.c: * v0.15 - May 21 2001 - Marcus Meissner
* History
* v0.15 - May 21 2001 - Marcus Meissner
* Ported to Linux 2.4 PCI API. Some clean ups, global devs list
* removed (now using pci device driver data).
* PM needs to be polished still. Bumped version.

/usr/src/linux/drivers/sound/sonicvibes.c: *
Meissner

* 18.05.2001 0.30 PCI probing and error values cleaned up by Marcus
* Meissner

/usr/src/linux/drivers/sound/esssolo1.c: *
* 15.05.2001 pci_enable_device moved, return values in probe cleaned
* up. Marcus Meissner
* 22.05.2001 0.19 more cleanups, changed PM to PCI 2.4 style, got rid * of global list of devices, using pci device data.
* Marcus Meissner

/usr/src/linux/drivers/sound/nm256_audio.c: *
19-04-2001 Marcus Meissner
* Ported to 2.4 PCI API.

usr/src/linux/fs/freevxfs/vxfs_olt.c: printk(KERN_NOTICE "vxfs: please notify hch@caldera.de n");

SCO Announces Availability of OpenServer Kernel Personality on UnixWare®
OpenServer Kernel Personality (OKP) for UnixWare 7.1.3 Leverages the Components of OpenServer and UnixWare for Greater UNIX® Scalability, Extending the Reach of OpenServer Applications - Giving OpenServer Customers More Choices

LINDON, Utah, Jul 31, 2003 The SCO Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOX), the owner of the UNIX® operating system, today announced the availability of OpenServer Kernel Personality (OKP) for customers who want the additional power of UnixWare® for their OpenServer applications. Building upon the reliability of OpenServer, UnixWare provides the capability for OpenServer applications to leverage the increased scalability, performance, CPU support, and clustering technology available for UnixWare without the need to invest in costly migration projects.

OKP contains Xenix compatibility and supports OpenServer 5.0.4, 5.0.5, 5.0.6 and the latest 5.0.7 release. Many applications that were written for current and older versions of OpenServer, including SCO UNIX, SCO OpenDesktop, that run on OpenServer 5.0.4 or later release, will run on OKP. "OpenServer has an excellent track record and reputation for reliability and availability and it continues to be developed and maintained. OKP on UnixWare helps customers gain greater uptime because UnixWare 7.1.3 supports hot plug CPU, hot add memory, and hot plug PCI thus eliminating unnecessary downtime," said Janet Sullivan, Senior Manager, Product Marketing, for SCO. "For customers that have a need for these benefits, OKP is ideal because it protects your investment in OpenServer applications and avoids costly end-user re-training."

"OKP provides more choices for OpenServer customers," said Jeff Hunsaker, senior vice president of marketing, SCO. "They can choose to continue to update their OpenServer environments, or they can use UnixWare 7.1.3 with OKP. Either way, the customer is assured that their investment in OpenServer applications is protected."

Some of the additional benefits that customers will gain using OKP on UnixWare 7.1.3 are:

-- Increased reliability through the use of Reliant HA Clusters on UnixWare
-- Support for up to 32 CPUs per server
-- Increased performance of UnixWare
-- Ability to consolidate physical or logical workloads on fewer, more powerful servers

Pricing and Availability

OpenServer Kernel Personality is immediately available as an add-on to UnixWare 7.1.3 via download from the Web. Beginning August 1, it will be packaged into the UnixWare media kit.

For a limited time, a license for the Business or Departmental Edition of UnixWare 7.1.3 with OKP is available for special, promotional trade in prices. The promotional trade in price applies to OpenServer 5.0.4 through 5.0.7 and represents a savings of between $150 and $200 over the normal trade in price.

For additional information, contact your local SCO authorized reseller or contact SCO at http://www.sco.com/products/unixware713 / or by calling 1 (800) 726-8649.

About The SCO Group

The SCO Group (Nasdaq: SCOX) helps millions of customers in more than 82 countries to grow their businesses with UNIX business solutions. Headquartered in Lindon, Utah, SCO has a worldwide network of more than 11,000 resellers and 4,000 developers. SCO Global Services provides reliable localized support and services to all partners and customers. For more information on SCO products and services visit http://www.sco.com.

SCO and the associated SCO logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of The SCO Group, Inc., in the U.S. and other countries. UNIX and UnixWare are registered trademarks of The Open Group in the United States and other countries. All other brand or product names are or may be trademarks of, and are used to identify products or services of, their respective owners.