[gcc.git] / README.SCO

As all users of GCC will know, SCO has recently made claims concerning
alleged copyright infringement by recent versions of the operating
system kernel called Linux.  SCO has made irresponsible public
statements about this supposed copyright infringement without
releasing any evidence of the infringement, and has demanded that
users of Linux, the kernel most often used with the GNU system, pay
for a license.  This license is incompatible with the GPL, and in the
opinion of the Free Software Foundation such a demand unquestionably
violates the GNU General Public License under which the kernel is
distributed.

We have been urged to drop support for SCO Unix from this release of
GCC, as a protest against this irresponsible aggression against free
software and GNU/Linux.  However, the direct effect of this action
would fall on users of GCC rather than on SCO.  For the moment, we
have decided not to take that action.  The Free Software Foundation's
overriding goal is to protect the freedom of the free software
community, including developers and users, but we also want to serve
users.  Protecting the community from an attack sometimes requires
steps that will inconvenience some in the community.  Such a step is
not yet necessary, in our view, but we cannot indefinitely continue to
ignore the aggression against our community taken by a party that has
long profited from the commercial distribution of our programs.  We
urge users of SCO Unix to make clear to SCO their disapproval of the
company's aggression against the free software community.  We will
have a further announcement concerning continuing support of SCO Unix
by GCC before our next release.
Commit	Line	Data
3f2fa484 RS	1	As all users of GCC will know, SCO has recently made claims concerning
	2	alleged copyright infringement by recent versions of the operating
	3	system kernel called Linux. SCO has made irresponsible public
	4	statements about this supposed copyright infringement without
	5	releasing any evidence of the infringement, and has demanded that
	6	users of Linux, the kernel most often used with the GNU system, pay
	7	for a license. This license is incompatible with the GPL, and in the
	8	opinion of the Free Software Foundation such a demand unquestionably
	9	violates the GNU General Public License under which the kernel is
	10	distributed.
	11
	12	We have been urged to drop support for SCO Unix from this release of
	13	GCC, as a protest against this irresponsible aggression against free
	14	software and GNU/Linux. However, the direct effect of this action
	15	would fall on users of GCC rather than on SCO. For the moment, we
	16	have decided not to take that action. The Free Software Foundation's
	17	overriding goal is to protect the freedom of the free software
	18	community, including developers and users, but we also want to serve
	19	users. Protecting the community from an attack sometimes requires
	20	steps that will inconvenience some in the community. Such a step is
	21	not yet necessary, in our view, but we cannot indefinitely continue to
	22	ignore the aggression against our community taken by a party that has
	23	long profited from the commercial distribution of our programs. We
	24	urge users of SCO Unix to make clear to SCO their disapproval of the
	25	company's aggression against the free software community. We will
	26	have a further announcement concerning continuing support of SCO Unix
	27	by GCC before our next release.