Canadian Linux Community Prepares to Take on SCO

A group of Canadian Linux developers and users has banded together to deal with recent legal threats made by The SCO Group (SCO) against creators and users of the popular open source software.   The new group is called the Canadian Linux Interests Coalition (CLIC). Earlier this year, SCO sued IBM for more than $3 billion for allegedly moving Unix code into Linux.   According to recent reports, SCO may also sue Silicon Graphics and other Linux developers.   In a pre-emptive move this summer, RedHat (a leading provider of Linux-based systems) sued SCO over SCO's threats to include Linux end users in its legal claims.   SCO had demanded that all Linux users pay a license fee, based on claims that the open source Linux software actually contains SCO's proprietary code and threatened to sue the users to back up those claims. The suits and countersuits show no sign of abating anytime soon.   Now, CLIC is encouraging Canadian Linux developers and users to be active in opposing SCO, and has set up an information clearinghouse for the Canadian Linux community.   According to the CLIC web site, "SCO's actions are not just unethical and immoral, but completely incorrect."   It asserts that SCO's refusal to disclose the disputed code confirms that the company has a weak claim. For more information on SCO's claims and CLIC's response, see CLIC's web site at: http://linux.ca/clic/. Summary by: Michael Erdle