Open source advocate fires back at SCO

Company calls effort "a waste of time"

Just days after The SCO Group escalated its legal battle with IBM over alleged violations of the two companies' Unix source code contract, open source advocate Eric Raymond has responded, saying that he possesses evidence that could undermine some of SCO's legal arguments in the case.

Raymond claims to have collected the names of 60 Unix users who are willing to sign affidavits that, he claims, will disprove SCO's claims that its Unix System V source code, which forms the basis of IBM's AIX Unix, contains trade secrets.

Raymond declined to comment on what he plans to do with his evidence, citing legal reasons.

Misappropriation of trade secrets is one of six causes of action listed by SCO in its filings with the District of Utah US District Court relating to the case, but Raymond claims that the Unix source code has been so loosely guarded over the last twenty years that it is now impossible to legally prove that SCO's code contains trade secrets.

News source: InfoWorld