SCO is a flop as a software company. But they did buy the original UNIX code. What they actually own is in doubt, is it the code, or the code along with the intellectual rights and the licensing rights? This will have to be resolved, but the US courts have always found in favor of the owners of the code in cases like this. The court has always seen the code as being the same as the intellectual rights. If SCO owns the original UNIX code, then we move to round two.
If SCO is correct, and Linux has SCO owned UNIX code in the kernel, then they will be entitled to receive compensation. Only a few Linux shops have the bucks to pay out damages, IBM being one of them. But end Users could be required to license their copies, or cease and desist from using Linux. If LT wrote the SCO code into Linux, he will have a big problem. He could already have a legal problem that will cost him a ton of money, just because he will need representation when this gets to court.
The guys at SCO have already made bucks from this, as did a bunch of people that bought in a <$2 a share
, but what is at stake is much larger. If SCO wins or IBM just settles, then Linux will be dead as free ware. If IBM buys a license to use the code, then they will pass it on to their end Users. Red Hat and the other boxers would be in a bad way if IBM settled. There is enough Linux code out there to keep it going, but development will slow to a crawl as the big shops fold or move on to new code.
If SCO wins, then MS buys them out; well it will be Katie bar the door time. MS will have Windows and UNIX. And Linux will be dead in the water. The rumor is that MS would like to use UNIX in the next generation server code, but will not do so unless they can own it outright. And that it was MS that found the UNIX code in Linux. This thing will take years to work its way through the system, but it has the potential to be the largest software battle to date.