Aug 05, 2003
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."