Legal action looms over use of Linux

Some of the world’s biggest companies could shortly face lawsuits over their use of the Linux computer operating system, the executive
at the center of the growing legal storm over the software has warned.

The potential lawsuits would escalate the legal wrangle around Linux, dragging non-US companies into a battle that has threatened to derail one of the
technology industry’s biggest recent success stories.

BP, Siemens and Fujitsu are among a large number of big companies whose use of the operating system has come under scrutiny, said Darl McBride, chief
executive of SCO, the small US company that has mounted the challenge.

He said the company had not yet decided whether to sue. But he added: “That clearly is an option we are looking into very closely.”