Movement All Along Linux Battle Front 2Movement All Along Linux Battle Front 2

SCO Group Tuesday moved to clarify the scope of its Linux-related lawsuit against IBM at the same time that Novell said it would provide limited indemnification for users of the SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 operating system. Novell, which Tuesday also completed its acquisition of Germany's SuSE Linux AG for $210 million in cash, became the first distributor of the Linux operating system to offer protection against intellectual-property challenges to Linux.

Hewlett-Packard, which sells Linux-related products and services but not its own distribution of Linux, launched a program in September to indemnify its Linux customers against SCO Group's claims that portions of SCO's Unix System V source code were illegally copied into the open-source operating system. Novell's indemnification program differs from HP's in that Novell will provide a limited amount of protection to its users from any Linux-related intellectual property challenges, not just those from SCO Group. Novell also has set a cap on the amount of money it will provide toward a legal defense--$1.5 million or 1.25 times the amount of the customer's Linux support and services contract with Novell.

Novell is offering its customers a "measure of protection" based upon standard software industry practice, a Novell spokesman says. The company offers, for example, indemnification of up to $200,000 or three times the cost of the license for most products it sells, including NetWare.

Novell has no plans, however, to offer indemnification for users of the Ximian open-source desktop software it acquired last August. No intellectual-property claims have targeted desktop-level apps, Novell says.

SCO Group last March sued IBM, claiming that it had illegally contributed licensed Unix code to the Linux kernel. SCO Group Tuesday responded to a Dec. 5 order from the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah compelling the company to clarify its allegations against IBM. Specific information contained in the documents SCO Group submitted isn't yet available. The two sides are scheduled to meet in court again Jan. 23.

Novell's indemnification program comes a day after IBM, Intel, and the Open Source Development Lab launched a Linux legal defense fund they hope will grow to $10 million. The money raised will be used to protect Linux users from any further copyright-infringement legal action that SCO Group might pursue. "It's a fundamental fairness issue," says an Intel spokesman, Chuck Mulloy. "We've received one of SCO's threatening letters, as have our customers, and we believe we've got an obligation. We're not conceding anything with regard to SCO's infringement claims." SCO Group last May sent letters out to 1,500 companies worldwide, warning them that use of Linux might interfere with SCO's Unix intellectual property.

Conspicuously absent from the legal defense fund is leading Linux distributor Red Hat, also a member of OSDL. "We do not feel indemnifying customers is a necessary action," says a Red Hat spokeswoman. She points out that Red Hat has taken several other steps to protect its customers and bolster confidence in Linux. These include a counter lawsuit against SCO in August and the ongoing policy of offering customers a warranty on Red Hat software. The warranty guarantees that, if proprietary code is found in Linux, Red Hat will fix any problems and remove the offending code from its customers' systems, Day says.

Analysts generally approved of Novell's indemnification move and the creation of a Linux legal-defense fund. These moves "don't imply that anyone is scared," says Bill Claybrook, VP of market research firm Harvard Research Group. "I don't know of anyone who thinks SCO has a chance of beating IBM."

Charles King, research director for the Sageza Group, says, "The basis for SCO's suit are allegations that have never been tested in court. It was important for OSDL to start putting together this fund to let SCO know they weren't going to roll over. And Novell's move is notable in that with its plunge into open source, they're setting themselves up to be a guiding light as a Linux vendor."