Tool Searches and Replaces SCO Code

August 08, 2003 (11:42 AM EDT)

Linux developer Aduva released a tool at this week's LinuxWorld that will allow companies looking over their shoulder for lawyers to replace offending Linux code with code that doesn't infringe on what SCO alleges is a violation of its intellectual property rights.

The battle between SCO and the rest of the Linux community--particularly IBM, which on Thursday counter sued SCO--has made enterprises nervous about whether they'll be the target of SCO's lawsuits. Already this year, SCO has mailed out letters to more than 1,000 companies worldwide, threatening legal action if they continue to use Linux, and announced a licensing arrangement to avoid such legal action.

In the event that SCO prevails in the courts, Aduva's OnStage, which the company unveiled Wednesday in San Francisco, could be used by IT staffs to sniff servers for the Linux code determined to be in violation. Then, from one console, install non-proprietary, community-developed replacement code.

OnStage 2.0 is available immediately, and runs on Red Hat and SuSE implementations of Linux.