| Line 1: |
Line 1: |
| − | '''Unix''' is an early operating system for large mainframe computers developed by Bell Labs in the 1960s. In the 1990s AT&T sold Unix to Novell, which in turn sold its business of lisencing and supporting Unix to Caldera Systems, which changed its name to The SCO Group of Lindon, Utah. Novell, however, retained all copyrights to the software. | + | '''Unix''' is a family of related or similar operating systems. It was originally developed by Bell Laps in the late 1960s and 1970s for [[mini-computers]], such as the [[PDP-11]]. |
| | | | |
| − | In 2003, SCO filed lawsuits against IBM, Autozone and Daimler-Chrysler for using Linux, an open source clone of Unix developed for the PC by Linus Torvalds and others over USENET. Simultaneously, SCO declared it was entitled to a license fee of $699 for every copy of Linux in use anywhere. Novell in turn sued SCO for slander of title and ordered SCO to drop the suits. All of these court actions are still moving through the federal legal system in Utah. | + | Over time, Unix fragmented, with various manufacturers and organizations publishing their own variants under license from AT&T. These were directly or indirectly derived from AT&T source code but generally did not use the Unix trademark. Important examples from the 1980s include [[BSD]], [[SunOS]] and [[Xenix]]. |
| | + | |
| | + | In the 1990s AT&T sold Unix to [[Novell]]. Novell transferred the trademark to [[X/Open]] in 1994<ref>http://www.unix.org/questions_answers.html#</ref>, which in turn licensed it for use on any operating system which met the [[Single Unix Specification]]<ref>http://www.unix.org/questions_answers.html#7</ref>, separating the name "Unix" from the original Unix source code. X/Open is now part of [[The Open Group]], having merged with [[The Open Software Foundation]]. |
| | + | |
| | + | Novell later sold its business of licensing and supporting [[System V]] Unix (the direct descendant of the original AT&T Unix) to [[The Santa Cruz Operation]], commonly called "SCO"; exactly which rights were sold, and whether the copyright itself was sold, is part of the dispute in the [[SCO v. Novell]] lawsuit. In 2000, [[Caldera Systems]] purchased the server software division of SCO, which then changed its name to [[Tarantella]]. In 2002, Caldera changed its name to [[The SCO Group]]. |
| | + | |
| | + | In 2003, SCO filed lawsuits against [[IBM]], [[Autozone]] and [[Daimler-Chrysler]] for using Linux, an open source clone of Unix developed for the PC by [[Linus Torvalds]] and others over [[USENET]]. Simultaneously, SCO declared it was entitled to a license fee of $699 for every copy of Linux in use anywhere. Novell in turn sued SCO for slander of title and ordered SCO to drop the suits. All of these court actions are still moving through the federal legal system in Utah. |