SCO: Linux doesn't exist

How's this for controversial: "Linux doesn't exist. Everyone knows Linux is an unlicensed version of Unix."

Kieran O'Shaughnessy, director of SCO Australia and NZ also told Computerworld Australia the company is not the "anti-Christ of cyberspace" and offered this emotional explanation:

"The only reason we are [pursuing a lawsuit against IBM] is to defend our Unix business; we are not a litigation company, we are about Unix on Intel," he said.

"IBM has transformed Linux from a bicycle to a Rolls-Royce, making it almost an enterprise-class operating system.

"It took us 25 years to build our business and it took [IBM] four years simply by stealing code and then giving it away free."

Unfortunately, SCO's recent history has done little to prove it is nothing more than a litigation company. And to attack the credibility of Linux as "almost" an enterprise-class OS at the same time you are attempting to sell Linux licenses (accompanied by the threat of legal action, eg the Novell case) is yet another hammer in the coffin.