SCO OPENSERVER

'SCO OpenServer', previously 'SCO UNIX' and 'SCO Open Desktop' ('SCO ODT'), is a closed source version of the Unix computer operating system developed by Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) and now maintained by the SCO Group.

Contents

History

OpenServer 6.0

See also

External links

History

SCO UNIX was the successor to SCO Xenix, derived from AT&T System V Release 3.2 with an infusion of Xenix device drivers and utilities. SCO UNIX System V/386 Release 3.2.0 was released in 1989 as the commercial successor to SCO Xenix. The base operating system did not include TCP/IP networking or X Window System graphics. Shortly after the release of this bare OS, SCO shipped an integrated product under the name of SCO Open Desktop, or ODT. 1994 saw the release of SCO MPX, an add-on SMP package.
At the same time, AT&T completed its merge of Xenix, BSD, SunOS and System V features into System V Release 4. SCO UNIX remained based on System V Release 3, but eventually added home-grown versions of most of the features of Release 4.
The 1992 releases of SCO UNIX 3.2v4.0 and Open Desktop 2.0 added support for long file names and symbolic links. 1995's rebranded OpenServer Release 5.0.0 added support for ELF executables and dynamically linked shared objects, and made many kernel structures dynamic.
SCO purchased the right to distribute UnixWare system and its System V Release 4 code base from Novell in 1995. Novell retained copyrights and patents to Unix, whereas SCO maintains ownership of derivative works of Unix since the purchase. SCO was eventually able to re-use some code from that version of UnixWare in later releases of OpenServer. Until Release 6, this came primarily in the compilation system and the UDI driver framework and the USB subsystem written to it.
By the end of the 1990s, there were around 15,000 value-added resellers (VARs) around the world who provided solutions for customers of SCO's Unix systems.
SCO announced on August 2, 2000 that it would sell its Server Software and Services Divisions, as well as UnixWare and OpenServer technologies, to Caldera Systems, Inc. The purchase was completed in May 2001. The remaining part of the SCO company, the Tarantella Division, changed its name to Tarantella, Inc., while Caldera became Caldera International, and subsequently in 2002 the SCO Group.
The SCO Group continues development and maintenance of OpenServer. They currently continue to maintain the now obsoleted 5.0.x branch derived from 3.2v5.0.x; the most recent of these is 5.0.7.
On Friday, August 10, 2007, a U.S. district court judge ruled in the case of SCO v. Novell that Novell holds the UNIX and UnixWare copyrights, enabling Novell to claim licensing fees collected by SCO related to those copyrights. The case is not fully vetted in the legal system as there are remaining portions still awaiting findings.

OpenServer 6.0

The SCO Group, on June 22, 2005, released OpenServer 6.0, codenamed "Legend", the first release in the new 6.0.x branch. SCO OpenServer 6 is based upon the System V Release 5 UNIX kernel and features multi-threading application support for C, C++, and Java applications through the POSIX interface. OpenServer 6 features kernel-level threading (not found in 5.0.x), and is bundled with numerous open-source applications including Apache, Samba, MySQL, OpenSSH, Mozilla Firefox, KDE. Some improvements over OpenServer 5 include improved SMP support (support for up to 32 processors), support for files over 1 terabyte on a partition (larger network files supported through NFSv3), better file system performance, and support for up to 64GB of memory. OpenServer 6.0 maintains backward-compatibility for applications developed for Xenix 286 onwards. In addition, SCO has changed their pricing and licensing scheme to provide customers twice the number of users, four times the number of CPUs and 4GB memory support for the same price as OpenServer 5.0.7. [1]

See also

★ The Santa Cruz Operation and UNIX

★ SCO v. Novell

External links

★ SCO OpenServer 6.0 home page

★ SCO OpenServer 5.0.7 (deprecated) home page

★ SCO OS FAQ (3.2v4.2 and 3.2v5.0.x)

★ Performative "exorcism" of Unix SCO CD-ROMs staged by monochrom, Quintessenz and other open source groups at the Chaos Communication Camp 2007.