Isn it possible that someone slipped some SCO code into Linux, and the rest of the Linux team didn realize it?
Of course it’s possible. There’s no way anyone — either Linux developers or proprietary developers — can be completely sure that a piece of code wasn’t copied from somewhere else, especially if the original was proprietary code, not available for comparison. However, there’s little incentive for anyone to misappropriate code into an Open Source project such as Linux. Since all the code is in the open, infringements cannot be concealed. Anyone caught misappropriating code, especially for such a high-profile project as Linux, would instantly become a pariah, apart from any civil or criminal liability. Such ostracism would be no small penalty in the open source community, where an individual’s primary reward for contributions is not money, but bragging rights. The same is not true of proprietary code. If SCO were to misappropriate Linux code into its own products, the infringement would almost certainly go undetected, unless it were disclosed by an insider or through discovery proceedin
Related Questions
- Why doesnt SCO just simply publish this code so that it can be taken out of Linux if it is indeed infringing? And why do you require a non-disclosure agreement to view some of this infringing code?
- Isn it possible that someone slipped some SCO code into Linux, and the rest of the Linux team didn realize it?
- Still, suppose there is infringing code in Linux. Can SCO claim damages?
