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Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) is calling reports that it is leading a revision of the Linux kernel to remove code that might infringe on software patents "horse puckey." OSDL, which promotes the adoption of the Linux operating system, debunked a Linux Business Week report based on anonymous "informed sources." The source claimed that OSDL had teamed up with Intel, IBM, the state of Oregon and the city of Beaverton to launch a consortium that would rewrite parts of the Linux kernel.
"A lot of people will maintain that Linux is ripped-off Unix code -- and certainly there there is a lot of Unix in Linux."
That's a pretty broad statement. I think a better way of putting it might be "One company, The SCO Group, has claimed that Linux includes code they have rights to, but no proof of this has been forthcoming for over two years." The phrase "a lot of people" is probably exaggeration, unless you define "a lot" to mean "the executive staff of TSCOG and Ms. DiDio".
You can find some identical code in both operating systems. This doesn't mean that Unix code is in Linux. It could, for example, mean that both Unix and Linux used BSD code. Remember, Unix has a tradition of being open. That got them into trouble in the BSD case.
That's a pretty broad statement. I think a better way of putting it might be "One company, The SCO Group, has claimed that Linux includes code they have rights to, but no proof of this has been forthcoming for over two years." The phrase "a lot of people" is probably exaggeration, unless you define "a lot" to mean "the executive staff of TSCOG and Ms. DiDio".
You can find some identical code in both operating systems. This doesn't mean that Unix code is in Linux. It could, for example, mean that both Unix and Linux used BSD code. Remember, Unix has a tradition of being open. That got them into trouble in the BSD case.
