Linux Ownership Case Enters Final Stages After Appeals Court Ruling
The long-running case over ownership of Linux has taken another step towards resolution, with a US appeals court upholding a decision that the claim against IBM and Red Hat is invalid.
The dispute dates back to 1998 when IBM partnered with Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) on Project Monterey, an effort to create a single version of UNIX for multiple processor architectures.
However, Linux soon emerged as a viable alternative, running on multiple processors and introducing a new way of developing software. SCO's legal successors claim that IBM added code from Project Monterey to Linux without permission, giving them a potential claim over the operating system.
Xinuos, one of SCO's legal heirs, took this argument to court in 2021, but lost. The appeals court has now ruled against Xinuos again, agreeing that it is too late for further action and that IBM only had a non-exclusive license to use the code.