By now you have all undoubtedly heard about SCO's lawsuit against IBM and the threat that it reflects on the Linux community. The news sites and web forums have been alive with speculation about how this case will pan out, articles either show many shortcomings of Open Source development or how wrong SCO is and how bad they are going to lose.Note to readers: I am not a native English speaker so please excuse any grammar errors. This editorial expresses my opinions and should not be considered the opinion of OSNews or any of their respective partners.
Let's push aside all the analysts as well as McBride, Eric Raymond, Richard Stallman and Linus Torvalds and get to the meat of it. Does Linux contain Unix IP? Undoubtedly it does. Bill Gates in a recent meeting with financial analysts claimed that Open Source software contains Microsoft Intellectual Property. Does Open Source software contain Microsoft IP? Most certainly it does. Now before I get crucified and hung from my toenails and disemboweled, let me explain.
WHAT IS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY?
Here is the definition of Intellectual Property:
Intellectual Property is the "property of the mind." The term includes both industrial property and copyright.
Industrial property: patents, trademarks, registered designs, plant breeder's rights, confidential information, trade secrets and know-how, trade names, indications of source and names of origin, and circuit layout rights.
Copyright: The protection of artistic and literary works such as books, computer programs and engineering drawings. It is designed to prevent the use, by other people, of an original piece of work in which an idea or information has been expressed by the creator.
Many people in the SCO vs IBM case associate Intellectual Property with software code. There are many things that make up Intellectual Property. In the case of Computer programs, trade secrets, look and feel, file formats, methods of engineering as well as software code all make up intellectual property. In the case of SCO there are many gray areas. Owning Intellectual Property is part of the big picture actively enforcing those rights is the rest of the picture.
DOES OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE CONTAIN MICROSOFT IP
Although many people say no, the answer is a resounding yes. I would not go as far as saying that Open Source software contains Microsoft code. But, look and feel as well as file formats play a part.
When people use those cool Windows XP themes for KDE and GNOME and when people use Icons and themes that Microsoft publishes, without express permission from Microsoft, it is infringement. Microsoft does not publish any part of Windows engineering in any kinds of manuals or books, so trade secrecy of Windows engineering is well protected. When consultants and developers participate in Microsofts Shared Source Program, they must sign a stringent and very enforceable NDA and they are expressly forbidden to disclose any details of Microsoft Windows code, but some programs even though they are not using all of Windows engineering, just the mere inclusion of some files violates Microsofts IP rights. WINE for example, allows users to run Microsoft applications without Windows. When you tell wine to set up a fake Windows partitions it copies some common DLL files into that partition so you can execute setup programs and install dependencies are satisfied. Should Microsoft sue Open Source developers for this? No, because it is so trivial that any judge would probably laugh it out of court. It would be like a smoker throwing a cigarette butt on the ground. Is he littering? Yes he is. Would a cop write him a citation for littering? Probably not. Another thing is Microsoft's Word, Excel, and Powerpoint formats. Microsoft has never published any details on these formats, so in my opinion, yes, some inside information was needed. But that information has been passed down through the years and since Microsoft has never complained or issued a cease and desist order, they have basically given Implied permission to use this information. We will discuss implied and expressed permission later in this editorial. So, yes, Microsoft IP does exist in Open Source software, but in my opinion as a software developer and as a consultant, Linux and Microsoft share no common code. I believe Bill and Steve were just throwing around more FUD by including code. What I expect from Microsoft in the SCO case is a friend of the court filing where some of what I said will appear. But how far a friend of the court filing will go where the filer is a convicted monopolist is beyond me.
- "Linux and IP, Page 1"
- "Linux and IP, Page 2"
