Hello out there!

This may sound a bit paranoid but I've been following all of the SCO nonsense, the numerous M$ "TCO Studies", the whole Novell/SUN thing, the "Linux_is_an_intellectual_ property_minefield" FUD, etc for quite some time now and although I continue to use and love Linux (as I have for ages) and pay most of these hyped up stories very little attention, I have often wondered what any of us would do if somehow our screwed up and often corrupt legal system handed our enemies a victory in court and either Linux (or parts of it) became illegal or we had to pay some huge fee just for the binaries. Yes, I know it is "impossible" and will "never happen" and all that but unless you are psychic, you can only guess and predict but not actually *know* what the future holds.

This brings me to the question of what will we do?. Will we all use M$ on our computer that is connected to the internet and only use Linux when we are not going to be online in order to prevent our IP address from being traced as a "criminal Linux user"?. Will we be having to constantly worry about being "caught" using....er..."violating" someone else's "intellectual property" or hiding in the basement with our computers?. Will our heros (IBM, RH, Novell, etc) suddenly become traitors and try to claim that they "own" Linux someday?. I know all this sounds pretty paranoid but you'd be suprized at some of the crazy stuff that goes on in the minds of greedy people, corrupt judges, politicians and the like and frankly, I would'nt put anything past anyone at any time to do anything if they thought they could make a quick buck from it.

I say all this not because I am trying to be sinister or plant FUD here but because it just seems like every time things start to really look up for Linux and the whole OSS movement, some greedy corporate a-hole with a team of lawyers invariably comes along and tries to rain on everyone's party and it just kind of sucks that I have to sit here using Linux thinking that I probably should'nt get too attached to it for fear that the proverbial "rug" might someday be pulled out from underneath me. So anyway, what will we all do someday if we end up with a worst-case scenario (specific answers please).

- A curious and concerned Fedora Core 1#/Gnome user

I'll use it anyway.



I can also guarentee that whatever small amount of code that they say that they own would just get taken out and not put back in.

People have already said that this would not have much affect on new releases of the kernel....but you'd have to replace your old one if *it* did happen.

They would never get people to pay up. They would have to make Redhat pay......not the customers.

I woud keep using it even if they said I can't. Screw 'em

-Whitehat

P.S. - Check out this thread that we were all posting in yesterday. This will have some of what you're looking for too.

If they all start to charge, what's the point for open source anyway?

I think RH is srewing themselves for stopping supporting & development regular linux.

But what I do hope to see is that all big venders of linux come together and get a standard for linux, so we don't have to look for things all over when we change to a different distro.

"This brings me to the question of what will we do?."

Linux users around the world unite and take up arms against the fascist regimes trying to control their lives (and computers.) The security-centric NWO eventually falls and is replaced by the freedom-centric NWR (New World Renaissance), which ushers in a new era of creativity and enlightenment like never seen before. Power hungry politicians and greedy captains of industry are wiped from the history books. Poor and humble intellectuals are elevated to the highest pedestals society has to offer. And we all live happily ever after.

like many have elloquantly put, the offending source code would be changed and all would be hunky dory just as long as every one knew, download the new kernel (or kernel patch) or risk being sued....

and if somehow linux itself is pegged out and attacked and somehow the offending source code becomes half the kernel and really the linux effort is squashed beyond all hope of resurrection...

then we switch to BSD and people really dont notice the difference anyways

bsd

pff, if it becomes illegal I wouldn't quit using Linux...
Remember the windoze story, how many people have a legal windows box. When we are not talking about companies, a great part of the ordinary users have illegal copies of software and the M$ operating system on there computers.

People that use Linux are often fanatics ( as I am ) and won't quit using Linux just it becomes illegal...

It would never be possible to find all the Linux users and suddenly start billing for code that has been open source for so long!

that's my point, so nobody is really afraid...

No matter what happens, I will still use Linux. I am not someone that can be threatened or bullied into doing anything, and in fact those tactics make me start becoming a bitch to begin with.

Besides, it wont happen

If I have an old Caldera Linux CD that came with a book I purchased on clearance for $5. That means I already puchased a license for any old SCO code and am free to use Linux forever on that license no matter what happens, right?

Oh yea you can use that without any worries!

But if my old Caldera license includes the code in question, I can use any current or future linux distro that includes the disputed code since I have a license that includes that particular piece of code?