SCO Responds, May Sue Red Hat

By Timothy R. Butler | Aug 5, 2003 at 12:50:56

The SCO Group, Inc. today released a statement concerning the lawsuit filed against it yesterday by Red Hat, Inc. The release quotes Darl McBride, SCO's President and CEO, as being "disappointed" with Red Hat CEO Matthew Szulik for not being "forthcoming" about Red Hat's intentions in a previous discussion.In the release, SCO insists that it is not trying to spread “fear, uncertainty and doubt” (commonly known in the industry as FUD) to users. Instead, the company asserts, “we have been educating end users on the risks of running an operating system that is an unauthorized derivative of UNIX.” The company did not address the fact that it has refused to publicly release the information necessary for Linux developers to resolve the problems, instead attempting to collect a $699 per CPU fee that some have likened to Mafia “protection money.”

According to a letter to Szulik that was attached to the announcement, SCO "will prepare our legal response as required by your complaint." McBride continued by suggesting that his company's response "will likely include counterclaims for copyright infringement and conspiracy."

McBride ended his letter somewhat vaguely by suggesting that Red Hat's "decision to file legal action does not seem conducive to the long-term survivability of Linux."