Enterprise Unix Roundup — Linux Looks Beyond SCO

If SCO disappears tomorrow, the company can take satisfaction in knowing it did one good thing for Linux before fading away: The fear, uncertainty, and doubt stirred up over the provenance of pieces of the Linux kernel's source code prompted Linux creator Linus Torvalds to introduce the Developer's Certificate of Origin (DCO), a means to ensure that accusations like those from SCO are easier to refute in the future.

The certificate is a fairly simple document in which a developer submitting source code to the Linux kernel can assert he or she either wrote the code personally, got the code from a source that allows copying because it's licensed under an open source or free software license, or got the code from someone willing to assert either of the first two points.

A press release from the Open Source Development Labs (OSDL), where Torvalds works, said the DCO "goes a long way toward eliminating doubt surrounding the origin of Linux code, and does so without placing any undue burden on the development community."

Not much downside, right?

Well, no. But that didn't keep some folks from trying to find something. This includes, of all publications, the New York Times, which noted with approval that Linux "is becoming a mainstream technology" even as it declared the operating system's "counterculture aura" dead. As we're tired of sounding like a broken record, we're considering just distributing a pamphlet so hapless journalists can get over the whole "Linux as counterculture" meme.

We also came across an even more outlandish concern than the thought that Linux might be not just for hippies anymore: the worry that kernel developers could, somehow, be blamed if a bit of code traced to them failed in the hands of a litigious company. Fortunately for everyone concerned, the GNU Public License (GPL) has a provision noting that the only thing you get with GPLed code is the right to use it — not a guarantee that it will work.

In the end, the DCO is a good thing: If you've been watching the SCO license grab with mounting horror and wondering if it's worth the hassle to deploy Linux if it means crack litigators may come through the windows the next day, you have good reason to believe the chances of that sort of thing happening in the future have been reduced. If you were never particularly concerned about SCO in the first place, the DCO gives you something to point to for the people in your food chain who are.

Has Linux "grown up"? Maybe. At least to the extent that its developers have come to realize that even a freely given, no-strings-attached gift to the computing world will attract litigation against which they must protect themselves. On closer examination, however, reading the comments of Mr. Torvalds and others reveals the DCO is little more than a written assertion of the sort of professionalism OSDL has been practicing for years.

In Other News

» FreeBSD 4.10-RELEASE was announced late Wednesday night. The release notes indicate this version includes a lot of bug fixes and version bumps.

» We'll repeat our general dislike for tracking stock prices to judge companies, but Novell's Linux push appears to be helping the company out of its recent slump.

» It looks like Microsoft has an interest in clustering, with reports circulating about a high performance computing edition scheduled to show up some-time-that's-not-this-year, thanks to a few help wanted ads. Unix users will want to watch this development, if only because clustering is a core Unix (and lately Linux) competency. If Microsoft wants into the market, things could get interesting.

» Jonathan "Just About Being Quotable" Schwartz Watch: "Availability of source code isn't what qualifies you as 'not proprietary — Sun's definition of proprietary is behavior which defeats the customer's ability to compete vendors against one another, or choose from among many 'compatible' implementations." This way through the rabbit hole. Mind your heads.

» Who's number one? Depending on how you measure, the latest server numbers from Gartner show IBM and HP leading in revenue and volume, respectively. On the Unix front, Sun led in terms of volume and revenue, but it did so in a market where Linux continues to explode, apparently at the expense of other Unix variant's revenue. In overall operating system measurements, Windows continues to lead, with Linux showing the most growth.

» A second iteration of IBM's SAN File System is headed for market next month. Formerly for Windows and AIX, the new version will include support for Red Hat and Solaris. The Register caught a disturbing side note about the product: "SAN File System has limited file sharing between Unix and Windows environments because of the difference in file access control between the two types of operating systems."

» Yellow Dog Linux expects to have Y-HPC, its 64-bit product, ready for PowerMac G5s once it's done testing on Apple's Xserve and Cluster Node servers.

» Amateur Linux historians are likely familiar with the story of Linus Torvalds vs. Andy Tanenbaum, author of Minix. The debate between the two over the technical merits of the Linux kernel during its early days is largely read by the average Linux zealot as a religious feud that established the godhead of Mr. Torvalds. The rest of us remain entertained by a back-and-forth between two opinionated, bright people.

Fast forward to 2004: The Alexis de Tocqueville Institution's (ADTI's) recent interest in establishing, somehow, that Mr. Torvalds lies when he says he invented Linux. To accomplish the task, Ken Brown, the organization's president, flew to Amsterdam in March to interview Professor Tanenbaum, perhaps on the belief that for the past 10 years, the good professor has been languishing in a darkened office, waiting for his chance to burst forth and denounce Linus anew. Professor Tanenbaum's account of their interview, and an amusing followup are good reading. Said Professor Tanenbaum: "My conclusion is that Ken Brown doesn't have a clue what he is talking about."

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