Kumar Calls For End To Linux Legal Wars
"I just think the industry has an obligation to solve it for customers and move on," said Kumar in a press conference here at CA World. He said CA "supports and wholeheartedly endorses" the Linux vision.
Although customers do not appear "particularly perturbed" by the legal issues, Kumar said they nevertheless want the problem resolved.
Kumar's comments come with The SCO Group muddying the Linux waters with a legal battle against IBM for allegedly misappropriating SCO Unix code and donating it to the Linux open-source project. SCO has threatened that it will move to enforce what it is calling its intellectual property rights against customers.
"I don't know the legal merits of the matter," said Kumar. "I am not qualified to discuss it. But when it comes to these kinds of macro-disputes, my solution is always get the people in a room, bang heads together, and fix it and move on for the benefit of the industry. I don't think we serve any useful purpose getting into a big heated debate."
Linus Torvalds, considered the father of Linux, is a making a high-profile appearance here at CA World only several weeks after stepping down as a developer at Transmeta to work full-time on the Linux kernel development as the first Open Source Development Lab fellow.
CA is hosting a full fledged mini-Linux conference as part of CA World. "We have an amazing amount of Linux technology on display," said Kumar. "Last year we talked about it. This year we are actually showing it."
Mark Barrenechea, senior vice president of product development and CIO at CA, said the SCO lawsuit has not slowed Linux adoption. "It has had zero impact on adoption," he said. "Linux is here to stay. It is a compelling platform. It is economical. Lintel provides compelling performance."
CA supports Linux as one of its top three platforms, which also include Windows and IBM MVS mainframe technology, across its 1,200 software products, said Barrenechea.