Some industry experts see SCO's campaign as an attempt to gain a windfall settlement, most likely by selling itself to IBM or another industry heavyweight.
Previously, Caldera bought the rights to a DOS operating system and used it in 1996 to sue Microsoft and reach a settlement. DOS was the predecessor to Microsoft's Windows, which runs more than 95 percent of the world's personal computers.
Members of the Linux community have demanded that SCO reveal the code under contention, so that they can write their own software and "purify" their software while removing any liability.
"We know that we didn't steal anything," said Jason Hall, a freelance programmer who was protesting outside SCO's headquarters. "If someone has (copied code) illegally, it should be taken care of."
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