SCO vs Novell

In 2003 a legal fight came to the forefront between the SCO Group and Novell. SCO sought to gain licensing fees from Linux users. They claimed that a deal their predecessor, the Santa Cruz Operation, had made with Novell entitled them to Unix and therefore it was their legal right to collect fees from all Unix, including Linux, users.

Novell responded by revealing an amendment they had made to the purchase agreement with SCO which revealed that it was still the legal owner of Linux. They also announced they would compensate and protect all Linux users against the claims made my SCO.

Finally in 2004 SCO filed a lawsuit with a Utah State court. Novell soon followed with their own counter suit and sought damages in excess of SCO's net worth.

In 2006, Novell presented evidence that supported their claim that they were in fact the legal owners of Unix. The judge agreed and even awarded them a judgement that said SCO owed them over 2 million dollars.

Even though SCO won a partial appeal, in the end Novell came out as the winner and the legal owner of Unix. SCO even had to file for bankruptcy but not before they had to pay out to Novell.

Donate to Get Rover to the Moon

The Google Lunar X Prize is offering $20 million dollars for the first team to land a data-transmitting rover on the moon.

Most of the teams are sponsored by or work for big corporations that can afford to put a lot of money behind their projects. However Team FredNet is a taking a different approach, they're using the same open-source style that has worked so well with Linux. Their asking for people with different backgrounds to use their skills and submit their ideas so together they can win this great prize.

I think this is a great idea. Everyone enjoys rooting for the little guy to take out the bully and this contest is a great tool to do that. There are many talented individuals from different place and ages that all dream about landing in space. Well the next best thing is to be part of a team that gets their project to the moon. And the prize money isn't bad either.

So for all you space enthusiasts or just anybody who likes a good David vs Goliath story we're asking for you donations or help so we can win the Google Lunar X Prize.

Linux Kernal Numbering System

The great thing about the Linux Kernel is that it's always being updated and revised by programmers. With these updated there is a need for keeping them in order and being able to identify them. That is where the numbering system came in.

The numbering scheme consist of 4 numbers. The first denotes the kernel version. It is changed only when major changes in the concept and the code of the kernel occur. The second number represents the major revision of the kernel version. The third number stands for the minor revision of the kernel and it is only changed when new features or drivers are added. Finally, the fourth number represents corrections for things such as security patches and bugs fixes. Sometimes the numbers are followed by letters and those letters are followed by other numbers. These refer to a release candidate and a non-official release. Sometimes other letters indicate the person responsible for that release.

Currently the numbers that represent the most recent Linux Kernel are 2.6.11.