United Linux
| Company type | Limited liability company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software, Linux distribution |
| Founded | May 29, 2002 |
| Founder | SUSE, Turbolinux, Conectiva, Caldera International (The SCO Group) |
| Defunct | January 22, 2004 |
| Fate | Dissolved due to legal disputes among members |
Area served | Enterprise Linux market |
Key people | Richard Seibt (president of SUSE division) |
| Products | United Linux distribution |
United Linux represented a coalition of Linux vendors established to develop a unified base distribution aimed at enterprise environments, thereby minimizing redundant development efforts and enhancing competitiveness against Red Hat. The founding participants were SUSE, Turbolinux, Conectiva (which later merged with MandrakeSoft to become Mandriva), and Caldera International (subsequently known as The SCO Group). The alliance was publicly introduced on May 30, 2002, and formally concluded on January 22, 2004.
Formation
Throughout the 1990s, the proliferation of various Linux distributions—stemming from the open-source nature of the Linux kernel and GNU components—raised concerns about fragmentation and compatibility issues reminiscent of the historic UNIX wars. Initial efforts to establish a consolidated business-oriented platform began during COMDEX in November 1999. By early 2000, essential success criteria had been outlined.
From March to April 2002, the United Linux board collaboratively crafted a foundational technical specification incorporating feedback from all four members and their affiliates. On May 29, 2002, UnitedLinux, LLC was officially created alongside the signing of two pivotal contracts—the Master Transaction Agreement (MTA) and Joint Development Contract (JDC)—by each founding organization. These contracts transferred intellectual property rights related to UnitedLinux software to UnitedLinux, LLC, while simultaneously granting all members extensive, royalty-free permissions to utilize, modify, distribute, market, sublicense, and commercially integrate the software. Existing open source licenses such as the GNU General Public License continued to apply. Any conflicts were resolved via arbitration under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce.
The initial beta version was distributed exclusively to member partners on August 14, 2002; this was followed by a public beta release on September 25, 2002. The official launch of United Linux 1.0 occurred on November 19, 2002.
For an in-depth case study regarding one partner’s implementation of United Linux principles, refer to Caldera OpenLinux.
Technical overview
Built upon SUSE Linux and adhering to the Linux Standard Base, the distribution relied heavily on SUSE for engineering efforts, while marketing responsibilities were divided among SCO, Turbolinux, and Conectiva within their respective territories.
Version 1.0 was targeted for release within a six to eight month timeframe and was designed to receive two years of support—one year as current support and an additional year as extended support. The minimum technical specifications included:
- Linux kernel version 2.4.18 or newer
- GNU C Library version 2.2.5
- Compliance with the Linux Standard Base
- Adherence to OpenI18N standards (for internationalization and localization)
- Conformance with GB 18030 (Chinese character encoding standard)
- Use of GCC version 3.1
- Inclusion of XFree86 version 4.2
- Integration of KDE version 3.0
Ending
On January 20, 2004, SCO initiated legal action against Novell, then-owner of SuSE.
The dissolution of United Linux was declared on January 22, 2004 by Richard Seibt, president of SUSE’s division. The legal dispute between SCO and IBM coupled with SCO's public criticisms of Linux rendered the partnership unsustainable.
Following the commencement of SCO’s lawsuit against IBM, no substantial development activity occurred; SUSE withdrew from active involvement during this period. The final notable updates included Oracle's endorsement in March 2003 and AMD64 processor support introduced in April 2003.
Although effectively defunct, United Linux never underwent formal dissolution and its corporate entity still exists.
In February 2006, SCO expanded its lawsuit to assert copyright infringement claims concerning Novell's SuSE Linux distribution. Novell countered by requesting arbitration based on agreements that provided members perpetual licenses to each other's intellectual property within the United Linux framework.
Novell’s request to pause SCO’s claims related to SuSE received partial approval.
On September 14, 2007, SCO filed for bankruptcy protection; subsequently, arbitration proceedings were suspended at SCO's behest.
SuSE attempted to lift this suspension in November 2009 but faced opposition from SCO; consequently, the motion was denied in January 2010.
See also
References