The SCO case was one of the things that troubled my first months on Linux bliss. As I remembered it, the lawsuit alleged that the Linux kernel contained portions of Unix. SCO then went on a RIAA-like crusade of suing companies and users to obtain license fees. What amazed me was that SCO continued court proceedings even after auditors found no evidence of infringing code. Add to the fact that they were suing bigwigs such as IBM and Novell, and you have what equates to a company with a death wish.
On Friday, August 10, 2007, this death wish came true as Judge Dale Kimball ruled that the rights to Unix belongs to Novell, not SCO (reference). On Monday, the stock proceeded to lose more than 2/3 of its value. A closer examination of the stock’s historical prices yielded an even more disturbing revelation: If one were to have bought the stock back in 2000 and still has it now, he/she would have lost 99% of what they invested.
In any case, this post is dedicated to Judge Dale Kimball for his judgment that allows Linux users like me to use and explore Linux in peace. As a parody to the motivational posters, here is a little something I whipped up to commemorate this event:
