I got asked to comment on them by some local firms. Most of the listed files are really the same file in different architecture subtrees -- if you filter them down, there's really only about 16 unique files. A majority of them are header files that describe a large number of standard symbolic value to error code mappings, all of which are documented in the POSIX standards and in the BSD source, which the Regents of California have published permission to use these materials without the standard BSD copyright header. The other files are reimplementations of things like toupper() and tolower(), which existed far earlier than the existance of Linux (or SCO for that matter). Linus has admitted to authoring some of the really ugly bits of those files, an embarassment for him -- that code is thoroughly ugly and embarassing to look at.
SCO claims these are part of the ABI, although there is little or no executable code in any of the files (I don't consider #define statements executable). I don't see how a bunch of constant definitions constitutes a ABI. It's clearly a desperation move for SCO. The analysis on http://www.groklaw.com is excellent for this case, and should be required reading for your CIO. -- db David Boyes Sine Nomine Associates > -----Original Message----- > From: Linux on 390 Port [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Behalf Of Joe > Poole > Sent: Monday, December 29, 2003 3:36 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: SCO Christmas Letter > > > We received our Christmas letter from SCO, warning us that we may not > make Santa's list next year if we persist in befriending > penguins with > questionable ancestry. Although dated on December 19th, the > letter did > not arrive in time for Christmas Eve and therefore could not > be placed > in the CIO's stocking. CIO immediately forwarded same to the > barristers so that they might also enjoy the season's greetings. > > Has anyone else on this list received the SCO Christmas > Carol? Not as > well written as that by Charles Dickens, but classically entertaining > nonetheless. >
