SCO is warning that the "legal liability for the use of Linux may extend to commercial users," according to a Computerworld report. SCO has already sued IBM for more than $1 billion over intellectual property rights to Unix, which it alleges are misused in Linux. Background: SCO owns Unix, which it got from Novell, which got it from AT&T, which created it. "Linux" is a copy of Unix. The creation of "Linux" was started by Richard Stallman, long before Linus Torvalds came along, because he wanted a free operating system. This kick-started the free software movement, which was later renamed "open source" in order to get rid of the ethical and moral dimensions and make it more appealing to big businesses. Comment: SCO's lawsuits must be considered a threat because: (a) America's intellectual property regulations are insane; and (b) the system is run by incompetents. However, hackers in garages can feel safe: there's never been much mileage in suing people who don't have any money.