SCO's Legal Setback Should Help Linux Users Breathe EasierSCO's Legal Setback Should Help Linux Users Breathe Easier

At least one analyst feels that a judge's decision to toss out much of the SCO Group's $5 billion infringement lawsuit against IBM wasn't a total defeat for the litigious Unix vendor. "They will now be able to concentrate on the remaining claims. It should focus them," says Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

Other than that, it's hard to see much that's positive for SCO after Utah District Court magistrate judge Brooke Wells last week dismissed 182 of the company's 294 claims against IBM. Wells was ruling on a motion filed by IBM to limit the suit.

The legal action dates back to 2003, when SCO claimed that IBM's contributions to the Linux open-source movement contained lines of code that it had purloined from SCO's Unix software.

Judge Wells said the dismissed claims lacked the specificity needed to hold up in court. She said SCO, in most instances, failed to identify which lines of code IBM is alleged to have taken improperly. "If an individual was stopped and accused of shoplifting after walking out of Neiman Marcus they would expect to be eventually told what they allegedly stole," wrote Wells. Wells left intact more than 100 of SCO's claims.

SCO can appeal Wells' ruling if it chooses. Officials from SCO and IBM weren't available for comment.

Enderle says the ruling means Linux users in commercial environments can breathe easier, knowing that it's now less likely that SCO will gain control over significant pieces of the freely distributed Linux operating system. "There's still that possibility, but it's getting more remote," says Enderle.