Q&A: Sybase CEO decries SCO 'garbage,' Oracle's behavior

Computerworld - John Chen, CEO of Dublin, Calif.-based Sybase Inc., spoke with Computerworld yesterday about a range of controversial issues, including The SCO Group Inc.'s Unix copyright infringement claims and the security implications of offshore outsourcing. Excerpts from the interview follow:

Given that Sybase has such a strong presence in Linux shops, how concerned are you and your customers about SCO's claims? I have had customers express concern about it. Two major customers of mine have already told me that they're going to slow down their rollouts on Linux and wait to see how this develops. So it has put a wrinkle in the equation. Am I concerned about it? No. As long as the customers are soliciting and getting my help to either get more apps migrated from Unix to Linux or from NT to Linux, I'm doing the work anyway.
I and my customers are going to watch and see how the thing unfolds. As an industry person, I think it's rather a shame. The Linux platform serves a segment of the market, and I hate to see this being challenged by a very established player. Ultimately, it hurts our industry and innovation. If you stop the open-systems movement because of something like this, it limits innovation and it only favors the big boys. You want an open environment that players can add value to and thereby expand IT budgets -- not shrink them. I think it's very unfortunate that this garbage is being thrown around. A small group of players just wants to protect the status quo.

John Chen, CEO of Sybase Inc.