DevBlog

Last week, SCO filed suit against IBM for $1 billion for misappopriating Unix trade secrets and using them in Linux. IBM, of course, will vigorously fight this suit. And, the suit is causing ripple effects throughout the Linux community (http://news.com.com/2100-1016-991622.html?tag=fd_top). However, when you peek under the hood, it should come as no surprise that this lawsuit was filed. SCO is bankrolled by none other than Ray Noorda, the man resposible for making Novell what it is today. Novell, under Noorda's direction, also filed several lawsuits against Microsoft for prohibiting Novell's growth. It was under Noorda's leadership as CEO when Novell purchased Word Imperfect for a HUGE amount of money to fight Microsoft tooth and nail on every front. Noorda also was instrumental in Novell's purchase of Digital Research, the publishers of DR-DOS. Another Noorda company later took ownership of DR-DOS and subsequently sued Microsoft for trying to force them out of business. (For the record, this suit was settled out of court a couple of years ago. My response at the time was "Who cares? DOS isn't used anymore.") There are other Noorda-financed companies that have filed lawsuits against bigger rivals when they felt they were threatened. So, are we surprised by this latest lawsuit? We shouldn't be. It's a common theme in companies run or financed by Ray Noorda.