SCO Pulls IBM's Dynix/ptx Unix License In Latest Legal Manuever
The move follows a similar legal maneuver SCO made in June when it terminated IBM's AIX Unix license. IBM purchased Sequent Computer Systems and its NUMA-Q technology and Dynix/ptx Unix operating system in 1999.
In a statement issued Wednesday, SCO charged that IBM's Sequent group illegally contributed about 148 files--roughly 170,000 lines of direct Sequent Unix code--to the Linux 2.4 and 2.5 kernels. SCO said Sequent's Unix code contained important non-uniform memory access (MUMA) and multiprocessing code that was improperly donated to the most recent Linux kernels.
SCO said that one of the restrictions on Sequent's Unix System V license prohibits transfer of ownership of code and prevents its use by third-party companies. Therefore, SCO said customers and partners using IBM's sequent code are also in violation.
Lindon, Utah-based SCO filed a $1 billion lawsuit in March challenging IBM's alleged donation of Unix Systems V code to the open-source community that develops Linux.
In June, SCO expanded the charges and increased the damages request to the multibillion-dollar range after IBM refused to stop shipping AIX.
IBM, for its part, has said in the past that that the company and its business partners will not comply with any termination letters because the court has yet to hear--or decide--the merits of the charges.