LST Software GmbH

Caldera, Inc.
Company type	Private
Industry	Software
Founded	October 1994; 32 years ago
Founder	Bryan Wayne Sparks, Ransom H. Love, and others
Defunct	2002
Headquarters	Orem, Utah, United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Bryan Wayne Sparks, Ransom H. Love, Roger Alan Gross (Caldera UK), Makoto Asoh (Caldera K.K.), Darl McBride (The SCO Group)
Products	Caldera Network Desktop, OpenLinux, DR-DOS, DOS-related products
Owner	The Canopy Group (financier)
Parent	None

Caldera, Inc. was a software firm financed by Canopy, established in October 1994 and officially incorporated on January 25, 1995, by former Novell staff members Bryan Wayne Sparks, Ransom H. Love, among others. The company created the Caldera Network Desktop (CND) and subsequently introduced the Linux distribution known as OpenLinux (COL). Initially headquartered in Provo, it later relocated to Orem, Utah, USA.

History

Their inaugural offering in 1995 was Caldera Network Desktop, which was built upon Red Hat Linux and Novell's Corsair Internet Desktop. This product incorporated LISA (Linux Installation and System Administration), developed by the German Linux Support Team (LST) for their proprietary Linux distribution.

The updated OpenLinux distribution, announced in 1996 and released in 1997, was derived from LST Power Linux, a distribution based on Slackware and maintained by LST since 1993. It was notable for being the first distribution to include the Linux 2.0 kernel.

In pursuit of a DOS operating system to bundle with OpenLinux, Caldera—supported primarily by The Canopy Group—purchased Novell DOS 7 along with other Digital Research assets from Novell on July 23, 1996. This acquisition involved an upfront payment plus royalty arrangements based on DR-DOS sales. On the same day, Caldera initiated the Caldera v. Microsoft antitrust lawsuit accusing Microsoft of monopolistic practices, illegal tying arrangements, exclusive dealing, and tortious interference. For instance, certain beta releases of Windows 3.1 triggered misleading "non-fatal" error messages when running on DR DOS 6.0 due to a mechanism known as the AARD code, generating fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) that harmed DR-DOS’s market standing. Additionally, Microsoft’s bundling of MS-DOS 7 with Windows 4 into Windows 95 was seen as an attempt to suppress competition. Caldera demonstrated that Windows 4 could operate on DR-DOS 7 using utilities like WinGlue, illustrating the advantages of allowing users to choose between MS-DOS and DR-DOS.

Since Digital Research’s legacy products such as CP/M and MP/M held no commercial interest for Caldera, they released both binaries and source code for public download and permitted redistribution through Tim Olmstead’s independent "The Unofficial CP/M Web site" starting in 1997, provided no DOS-related technology was included.

Caldera, Inc. contributed approximately in funding to support the Linux port of Star Division's StarOffice 3.1, enabling its inclusion with their OpenLinux distribution in 1997.

Subsidiaries

Throughout its existence, Caldera, Inc. founded several subsidiary companies.

Caldera UK

Under the leadership of Roger Alan Gross as General Manager of the Digital Research Systems Group (DSG), the UK-based development branch known as Caldera UK Ltd. was formed on September 20, 1996 to continue work on the DR-DOS operating system. Located in a renovated barn near Andover, Hampshire, Caldera UK developed multiple DOS-related products including OpenDOS 7.01 (COD), DR-DOS 7.02, DR-DOS 7.03, and DR-WebSpyder. The Caldera UK development team ceased operations in February 1999 shortly after launching DR-DOS 7.03, marking the conclusion of their DOS development efforts.

Caldera Deutschland

In 1995, Caldera integrated LISA, the configuration manager from the German Linux Support Team (LST), into its Network Desktop offering. By 1996, LST had transformed into LST Software GmbH, based in Erlangen, Germany, working alongside Caldera on the OpenLinux project. In May 1997, LST Software was rebranded as Caldera's German development branch, Caldera Deutschland GmbH, with a focus on Linux technology development. This division remained active until it was shut down by the US parent company at the close of 2001.

Caldera Taiwan

Caldera established a sales office in Taipei, Taiwan, on 1 June 1998 to support and market its DOS-based product line. The office was managed by Irrana and Henry Huang.

Caldera, Caldera Systems and Caldera Thin Clients

On 2 September 1998, Caldera announced the creation of two fully owned subsidiaries based in Utah: Caldera Systems, Inc. and Caldera Thin Clients, Inc., aiming to optimize operational focus and efficiency.

Under CEO Ransom H. "Ron" Sparks, Caldera, Inc. continued handling the ongoing Caldera v. Microsoft litigation. Despite Microsoft’s repeated efforts to dismiss the case, it moved forward until an out-of-court agreement was reached on 7 January 2000 for an undisclosed sum later revealed to be . After this settlement, Caldera, Inc. ceased its business activities.

Caldera Systems, Caldera Holdings, Caldera International, Caldera K.K., and The SCO Group

Caldera Systems, Inc. (CSI), with Love serving as president and CEO since its establishment in Orem, Utah on 21 August 1998, concentrated on Linux software products such as OpenLinux. This effort was supported by the German development center at Caldera Deutschland. The company reincorporated in Delaware on 2 March 2000 and went public with an IPO under the ticker symbol CALD. Although shares doubled on their debut trading day to briefly reach , yielding a market capitalization of , this performance was viewed as modest amid a surge of tech IPOs.

In August 2000, a corporate restructuring led to the formation of Caldera International, Inc. (CII) by March 2001. That May saw the launch of Tokyo-based subsidiary Caldera K.K. (カルデラ株式会社), directed by Makoto Asoh and backed by investments from Fujitsu and Hitachi. In August 2002, Caldera International underwent rebranding to become The SCO Group, Inc., with CEO Darl McBride at the helm.

Caldera UK, Caldera Thin Clients, Lineo, and Embedix

Caldera Thin Clients, Inc. (CTC), founded in August 1998 and initially led by Gross as president and CEO, specialized in developing thin client and embedded solutions for DOS and Linux platforms. Originally headquartered in Orem and later Lindon, Utah, CTC was intended to serve as the US parent company for Caldera UK Ltd. Following Gross’s departure and the dissolution of Caldera UK in February 1999—as well as an unsuccessful attempt to relocate DR-DOS development to the US—CTC shifted its focus exclusively toward Linux under new management.

In April 1999, CTC released the GEM and ViewMAX source code under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). On 20 July 1999, it rebranded as Lineo, Inc., licensing a streamlined OpenLinux variant from Caldera Systems known as Embedix. Lineo maintained a sales presence in Taipei throughout 1999 and reincorporated in Delaware by January 2000.

After Olmstead’s passing, Lineo renewed its CP/M redistribution license in October 2001. By July 2002, the company reorganized as Embedix, Inc., under Matthew R. Harris’s leadership. Embedix ceased operations later that year; certain DR-DOS assets were transferred to the Canopy Group before being acquired by DRDOS, Inc. (DeviceLogics) around late 2002. Meanwhile, key Linux-related Embedix assets were purchased by Motorola’s Metrowerks division on 17 December 2002.

External links

Archived official websites for Caldera, Inc. (caldera.com, 1996–1999), Caldera UK Ltd. (caldera.co.uk, 1997–1999), and Caldera Thin Clients, Inc. (calderathin.com, 1999).
Archived web pages for Lineo, Inc. (calderathin.com, lineo.com, embedix.com; 1999–2003).
Archived domains related to Caldera Systems, Inc. and its successors (calderasystems.com, caldera.com; 1999–2002), including Caldera Holdings and The SCO Group.
Archived German subsidiaries: LST Software GmbH and Caldera Deutschland GmbH (lst.de, caldera.de; 1997–2001).
Archived websites for Caldera Graphics (caldera.fr, caldera.eu, caldera.com; 1996–2012).