// TOM'S HARDWARE US — HARDWARE & GADGET
Decades-long Linux ownership dispute effectively dead after Xinuos appeal rejected — US Court of Appeals halts the legal wrangling over IBM’s and Red Hat’s use of Project Monterey UNIX code
Xinuos plans to petition for a full‑bench rehearing of its case, but this kind of request has only a 0.03% success rate according to IBM’s lawyers.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
A decades-long dispute over the ownership of Linux looks like it is over. Earlier this month, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected Xinuos’ continued claims that IBM and Red Hat improperly contributed jointly‑developed Project Monterey UNIX code to Linux, reports The Register. Despite this deathly blow to its chances of extracting potential damages from IBM and Red Hat, and oodles of Linux royalties and licensing fees, Xinuos intends to seek a full‑bench rehearing. This appeal is a very long shot for Xinuos, with only 0.03% of such hearings granted, according to IBM’s legal representatives in the dispute.
This is a complicated case that spans decades. So, to make sense of what has happened over the years, we’ve constructed a timeline of key events, spanning from way back in 1998 to the present day.
While Xinuos looks like it has run out of road on its Linux code ownership claims, that’s probably good for the computing community. IBM, Red Hat, and the open-source world can probably now rest a little easier, with the shadow cast in 2003 now nearly entirely removed. Lingering uncertainty over Linux’s legitimacy is evaporating with the Second Circuit’s affirmation that the case is time-barred, and rather hollow, legally.
Other companies contributing code to open source projects can also rest a little easier as this distracting, resource-draining litigation grinds to a halt. Success for Xinuous may have also meant billions of Linux devices facing licensing uncertainty, maker settlements, audits, and/or forced software rewrites.
Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.