Ancient ‘Who owns Linux?’ case now has one foot very deep in the grave

Federal Appeals Court Poised to End SCO’s 20-Year Linux Lawsuit

The long-running legal battle over who controls the rights to Linux has taken a decisive turn, with a federal appeals court appearing ready to dismiss the claims brought by a software company that has spent years asserting ownership over the open-source operating system. The case, which has dragged on for more than two decades, centers on allegations that the Linux kernel and related components contain code originally developed under proprietary…

Ancient ‘Who owns Linux?’ case now has one foot very deep in the grave

The long legal battle over ownership of Linux is closer than ever to ending, after a panel of three judges ruled a claim against IBM and Red Hat isn’t valid, and that time has expired for further action. This story starts in 1998 when IBM decided the world needed a single version of UNIX capable of running on multiple processor architectures. To make that happen, Big Blue allied with a company called the Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) which made a v…

SCO Successor Xinuos Asks Court to Rehear Its Claims Against IBM/Red Hat Over Project Monterey

The long legal battle over ownership of Linux "is closer than ever to ending," reports the Register, "after a panel of three judges ruled a claim against IBM and Red Hat isn't valid, and that time has expired for further action." In 2021, an heir to SCO settled with IBM for $14.25 million —...