Xinuos revives SCO’s ‘who owns Unix?’ dispute against IBM over Project Monterey claims

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Key Points

Xinuos, the successor to SCO, is pursuing old license and copyright claims against IBM.
The claims stem from the 1998 IBM–SCO “Project Monterey” effort to create a unified Unix for multiple processors.
The litigation is tied to disputes over alleged SCO code contributions that IBM incorporated into open-source and IBM operating systems.
A prior SCO/IBM-related settlement ended the dispute in 2021 without IBM admitting fault.
A hearing occurred on June 22, with arguments focusing on rights to litigate, ownership, and supporting evidence.

A long-running lawsuit over Unix and Linux code ownership is resurfacing as SCO’s successor, Xinuos, seeks to pursue older license and copyright claims against IBM. The dispute traces back to a 1998 collaboration between IBM and the Santa Cruz Operation (SCO), along with Intel and Sequent, to develop “Project Monterey,” an effort to create a unified Unix version that could run on multiple processors. Sources describe that by the early 2000s Project Monterey neared completion by combining code from IBM and SCO. At the same time, Linux already supported multi-processor systems, leading IBM to withdraw from Project Monterey. IBM later contributed some Monterey-related material to open-source and to its AIX and z/OS products, which SCO and later successors argued included SCO-owned code.

IBM denied wrongdoing and argued it had the necessary rights. The related SCO/IBM litigation and its successors continued for years and ended in 2021 via a settlement in which parties agreed to end the matter without IBM admitting fault. After SCO sold its software to Xinuos, Xinuos renewed attempts to litigate similar underlying issues. A hearing on June 22 marked a procedural milestone, with arguments focusing on whether Xinuos has standing to litigate and on competing views of licensing, ownership, and proof of rights.

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Zombie 'Who Owns Unix?' Lawsuit Comes Alive Again

The long-running SCO/IBM Unix and Linux ownership dispute has resurfaced yet again, this time through SCO successor Xinuos, which is trying to pursue old license and copyright claims tied to Project Monterey. "The core issue seems to be whether Xinuos even has the right to litigate the matter, or if some ancient legalese in the original agreements means the window for legal argument has long since expired," reports The Register. From the report: [T]he roots of the case are the 1998 alliance between IBM and a company called the Santa Cruz Operation which sold a version of UNIX for x86 CPUs. Those two companies, plus Intel and Sequent, created "Project Monterey" -- an effort to create a unified version of UNIX that could run on multiple processors. By 2001, Project Monterey was close to delivering a unified UNIX, an achievement made possible by blending code from IBM and SCO. By then, a little project called "Linux" already ran on multiple processors. Big Blue decided Linux was the future and bailed from Project Monterey -- then allegedly contributed some Monterey code to the open-source project and to its own AIX and Z operating systems. SCO felt it owned some of that code, so sued IBM. SCO and its successors struggled to survive, but interested parties kept the lawsuit alive because the chance to emerge as owner of parts of the Linux codebase, and IBM's code, had the potential to turn into a colossal payday. The case and its successors ended in 2021, with a settlement that saw litigants agree to end the matter without IBM admitting fault. But by then, SCO had sold its software to a biz called Xinuos that decided to fight on. The Xinuos case has burbled along quietly since, and on June 22nd reached the milestone of a hearing. The matter has become a little more modern, if only because this hearing was held online and the presiding judge appeared to unwittingly be on mute at one point. But the arguments otherwise seemed to revisit Project Monterey, debated the relevance of past litigation, contested who owned what, when they owned it, and how they could prove it. Xinuos argued IBM never had a license for SCO code. Big Blue argued that it did nothing wrong. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Zombie ‘who owns Unix?’ lawsuit comes alive again

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Xinuos revives SCO’s ‘who owns Unix?’ dispute against IBM over Project Monterey claims

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