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AIX users unworried about SCO's Unix offensive against IBM
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June 20, 2003 (Computerworld) -- Corporate users of IBM's AIX operating system remained unfazed by The SCO Group Inc.'s decision earlier this week to follow through with its threat to revoke IBM's AIX distribution license (see story).
Ken Ebbe, president of Chicago-based nonprofit IBM user group Share Inc., said he sees the legal issues between SCO and IBM as separate from the everyday IT worries of users.
"My perspective is that we get [AIX] from IBM, and we consider the licensing issues to be IBM's issue," said Ebbe, whose group includes about 20,000 active participants from some 2,100 member companies. "The lawyers will sort it all out."
The resolution to the case could eventually have ramifications for AIX users, Ebbe said, and while any court rulings or legal decisions against IBM could be "painful" for customers, "I still look to IBM to resolve it."
Another AIX 5L user, an enterprise architecture manager for a large global food retailer who asked not to be named, said, "It's hard for me to understand how [the case] could affect us."
The only effect, she said, "is if IBM were to lose." In that case, the food retailer would carefully watch to see if IBM changed its product road maps and then determine how those changes might affect the company's infrastructure, she said. "We would be hard-pressed to change our hardware, but we could change our operating system" if necessary.
Vaughn Moffett, IS director at the Atlanta Housing Authority, said he will continue to use AIX to support his 150 users until he's told its no longer licensed by IBM. "I love IBM AIX," Moffett said. "If that happens, we'll have to look elsewhere. I don't see it as important right now unless the court makes a decision" in SCO's favor.
Meanwhile, IBM rival Sun Microsystems Inc. wasted no time this week in unveiling an advertising campaign aimed at prodding corporate AIX users to start worrying about the ongoing legal fight (see story). In the ads, Sun offers its own Solaris as an alternative Unix platform.
"Attention AIX Users: Sun is Here to Help. ... Unfortunately, our friends in Blue have a problem with licensing contracts that could make things very expensive for anyone running AIX," said the ads, which offer free two-day assessments to customers looking to migrate from AIX to Solaris.
Nancy Weintraub, director of competitive intelligence at Sun, said the motivation for the ad campaign is "to help customers who are concerned.
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