Editing SCO Group (section)

== Initial history ==
=== Background ===
[[File:Mount Timpanogos and Utah Valley, Utah (67181503).jpg|thumb|right|The Utah Valley was where Novell, Caldera, and the Canopy Group were all based, each of which would play a part in the story of The SCO Group, also based there]]
{{main|Santa Cruz Operation|Caldera International}}
The [[Santa Cruz Operation]] had been an American software company, founded in 1979 in [[Santa Cruz, California]], that found success during the 1980s and 1990s selling [[Unix]]-based operating system products for [[Intel x86]]-based server systems.  SCO built a large community of [[value-added reseller]]s that eventually became 15,000 strong and many of its sales of its [[SCO OpenServer]] product to small and medium-sized businesses went through those resellers.  In 1995, SCO bought the [[System V Release 4]] and [[UnixWare]] business from [[Novell]] (which had two years earlier acquired the [[AT&T]]-offshoot [[Unix System Laboratories]]) to improve its technology base.  But beginning in the late 1990s, SCO faced increasingly severe competitive pressure, on one side from Microsoft's [[Windows NT]] and its successors and on the other side from the free and open source [[Linux]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=SCO UnixWare Operating System |url=https://www.bus.umich.edu/kresgepublic/journals/gartner/research/90000/90038/90038.html |access-date=2020-06-03 |publisher=University of Michigan |archive-date=May 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170501153120/http://www.bus.umich.edu/KresgePublic/Journals/Gartner/research/90000/90038/90038.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>  In 2001, the Santa Cruz Operation sold its rights to Unix and its SCO OpenServer and UnixWare products to [[Caldera International]].

Caldera, based in [[Orem, Utah]],<ref name="sublease">{{cite web |url=https://contracts.onecle.com/sco/south520.lease.2002.01.10.shtml |title=SCO Group Inc. Contracts: Office Sublease … January 10, 2002 |publisher=Onecle |access-date=November 2, 2019}}</ref> was founded in 1994 by several former Novell employees who saw promise in Linux as a technology and failed to convince Novell management to move forward with it.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransom-love-back-to-the-linux-future/ | title=Ransom Love: Back to the Linux future | author-first=Stephen | author-last=Shankland | publisher=ZDNet | date= November 21, 2003}}</ref> Caldera's early funding came from [[Ray Noorda]], the former CEO of Novell, and the [[Utah Valley]]-based [[Canopy Group]] investment fund that Noorda started for high-technology firms.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76090532/ | title=Norda Founds Firm in Utah to Help Companies Market High-Tech Ideas | agency=Associated Press | newspaper=The Salt Lake Tribune | date=June 22, 1995 | page=B-4 | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The company had been in the business of selling its [[Caldera OpenLinux]] product but had never been profitable. It attempted to make a combined business out of Linux and Unix but failed to make headway and had suffered continuing financial difficulties.  By June 2002, after it had moved to nearby [[Lindon, Utah|Lindon]],<ref name="sublease" /> its stock was facing a second delisting notice from NASDAQ and the company had less than four months' cash for operations.<ref name="Wired"/>  As ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]'' magazine later wrote, the company "faced a nearly hopeless situation".<ref name="Wired">{{cite news |url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.07/linux.html |title=The Linux Killer |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |date=July 2004 |author-first=Brad |author-last=Stone}}</ref>

On June 27, 2002, Caldera International had a change in management, with [[Darl McBride]], formerly an executive with [[Novell]], [[FranklinCovey]], and several start-ups, taking over as CEO from Caldera co-founder Ransom Love.<ref name="cw-darl">{{cite news |url=https://www.computerworld.com/article/2575775/caldera-ceo-steps-aside-to-focus-on-unitedlinux.html |title=Caldera CEO steps aside to focus on UnitedLinux |author-first=Todd R. |author-last=Weiss |magazine=Computerworld |date=June 27, 2002}}</ref><ref name="cnet-darl">{{cite news |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/struggling-linux-company-swaps-ceos/ |title=Struggling Linux company swaps CEOs |author-first=Stephen |author-last=Shankland |publisher=CNET | date=June 27, 2002}}</ref>

=== Back to a SCO name ===
Change under McBride happened quickly.  On August 26, 2002, he announced at the company's annual [[SCO Forum|Forum conference]]{{snd}} relocated from Santa Cruz to Las Vegas{{snd}} that Caldera International was changing its name to The SCO Group.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.computerworld.com/article/2578171/sco-name-returns-as-caldera-rebrands-itself.html |title=SCO name returns as Caldera rebrands itself |author-first=Todd R. |author-last=Weiss |magazine=Computerworld |date=August 26, 2002}}</ref>  He did this via a multimedia display in which an image of Caldera was shattered and replaced by The SCO Group's logo, which was a slightly more stylized version of the old Santa Cruz Operation logo.<ref name="lj-namechange-1">{{cite news | url=https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6292 | title=A Rose by Any Other Name&mdash;Is It Still the Same? | author-first=Jeff | author-last=Gerhardt | magazine=Linux Journal | date=August 27, 2002}}</ref>  The attendees at the conference, most of whom were veteran SCO partners and resellers, responded to the announcement with enthusiastic applause.<ref name="lj-namechange-1"/><ref name="reg-namechange"/>  McBride announced, "SCO is back from the dead", and a story in ''[[The Register]]'' began "SCO lives again".<ref name="reg-namechange"/> As part of this, the company adopted SCOX as its trading symbol.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.deseret.com/2002/8/27/19674115/caldera-international-plans-name-change-to-sco-group |title=Caldera International plans name change to SCO Group |newspaper=Deseret News |date=August 27, 2002}}</ref>{{notetag|The final legal aspects of the name change did not become complete until May 2003.<ref name="jdk-113-rn">{{cite web |url=http://ftp.sco.com/pub/unixware7/714/other/java_131_13/ReleaseNotes.html |title=Release Notes: Java 2, Standard Edition, v. 1.3.1_13 for SCO UNIX Operating Systems |publisher=Xinuos |date=June 15, 2004}}</ref>}}

The change back to a SCO-based name reflected recognition of the reality that almost all of the company's revenue was coming from Unix, not Linux, products.<ref name="starts"/>  For instance, [[McDonald's]] had recently expanded its usage of OpenServer from 4,000 to 10,000 stores; indeed, both OpenServer and UnixWare were strong in the replicated sites business.<ref name="starts"/>  Furthermore the SCO brand was better known than the Caldera one, especially in Europe, and SCO's large, existing reseller and partner channel was resistant to switching to Caldera's product priorities.<ref name="reg-namechange">{{cite news | url=https://www.theregister.com/2002/08/27/sco_lives_caldera_reinvents_itself/ | title=SCO lives! Caldera reinvents itself under the old brand | author-first=Gavin | author-last=Clarke | agency=ComputerWire | website=The Register | date=August 27, 2002}}</ref>

[[Image:Strategy discussion at The SCO Group in Linden Utah December 2002.jpg|thumb|left| A high-level strategy meeting being held among executives, product managers, and engineering personnel of The SCO Group, in the company's Lindon, Utah offices in December 2002]]

McBride emphasized that the OpenServer product was still selling: "What is it with the OpenServer phenomenon? We can't kill it. One customer last month bought $4&nbsp;million in OpenServer licenses. The customers want to give us money for it. Why don't we just sell it?"<ref name="reg-namechange"/>  As a historical comparison for his strategy of building back up the brand and being more responsive to customers, McBride used a model of the [[Harley-Davidson#Restructuring and revival|revival of the Harley-Davidson brand]] in the 1980s.<ref name="lj-namechange-2"/>  Besides McBride, other company executives, including new senior vice president of technology Opinder Bawa, were heavily involved in the change of direction.<ref name="reg-namechange"/>

The product name Caldera OpenLinux became "SCO Linux powered by UnitedLinux" and all other Caldera branded names were changed as well.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.osnews.com/story/1615/caldera-changes-name-to-the-sco-group-plans-sco-linux-40/ |title=Caldera Changes Name to the SCO Group, Plans SCO Linux 4.0 |author-first=Eugenia |author-last=Loli |work=OSNews |date=August 26, 2002}}</ref>
In particular, the longstanding UnixWare name{{snd}} which Caldera had changed to Open UNIX{{snd}} was restored,<ref name="reg-namechange"/> such that what had been called Open UNIX&nbsp;8 was now named in proper sequence as UnixWare 7.1.2.  Announcements were made that a new OpenServer release, 5.0.7, and a new UnixWare release, 7.1.3, would appear at the end of the year or beginning of the next.<ref name="reg-namechange"/><ref name="eweek-namechange"/>  Moreover, through a new program called SCO Update, more frequent updates of capabilities were promised beyond that.<ref name="eweek-namechange"/>  Caldera's Volution Messaging Server product was retained and renamed SCOoffice Server,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/scos-linux-grabs-for-microsoft-e-mail/ |title=SCO's Linux grabs for Microsoft e-mail |author-first=Stephen |author-last=Shankland |publisher=[[CNET]] |date=January 22, 2003}}</ref> but the other Caldera Volution products were split off under the names Volution Technologies, Center&nbsp;7, and finally Vintela.<ref name="vol-tech">{{cite web |url=https://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/answer/Authenticating-Linux-with-LDAP |title=Authenticating Linux with LDAP |publisher=[[TechTarget]] |date=March 3, 2003 |access-date=December 26, 2021 |archive-date=August 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824181422/http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/answer/Authenticating-Linux-with-LDAP |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="osn-davewilson">{{cite news |url=https://www.osnews.com/story/9030/interview-with-vintelas-president/ |title=Interview with Vintela's President |author-first=David |author-last=Adams |publisher=[[OSNews]] |date=November 30, 2004}}</ref>
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=== Software releases and e-commerce initiatives SCOBiz and SCOx ===
[[Image:Bellingham data center building 2003.jpg|thumb|right|As part of the SCOBiz joint initiative, executives from The SCO Group and Vista.com inspect the latter's data center operations in Bellingham in January 2003]]

In addition to reviving SCO's longtime operating system products, the SCO Group also announced a new venture, SCOBiz.<ref name="eweek-namechange"/>   SCOBiz was a collaboration with the [[Bellingham, Washington]]-based firm Vista.com, founded in 1999 by John Wall,<!--in 2005 merged with Innuity, Inc. --> in which SCO partners could sell Vista.com's online, web-based e-commerce development and hosting service targeted at small and medium-sized businesses.<ref name="eweek-namechange"/>  More importantly, as part of SCOBiz, the two companies would develop a [[SOAP]]- and [[XML]]-based [[web services]] interface to enable Vista.com e-commerce front-ends to communicate with existing back-end SCO-based applications.<ref name="reg-namechange"/>  Industry analysts were somewhat skeptical of the chances for SCOBiz succeeding, as the market was already crowded with [[application service provider]] offerings and the [[dot-com bubble]] had already burst by that point.<ref name="reg-namechange"/><ref name="lj-namechange-2"/>

Lastly, SCO announced a new program for partners, called SCOx.<ref name="eweek-namechange"/> A key feature of SCOx was a buyout option that allowed SCOx solution providers to sell their businesses back to SCO.<ref name="eweek-namechange">{{cite news | url=https://www.eweek.com/servers/caldera-renames-itself-sco-group/ | title=Caldera Renames Itself SCO Group | author-first=Peter | author-last=Galli | magazine=eWeek | date=August 26, 2002}}</ref>  McBride stated that the program would give partners a chance at "living the American dream".<ref name="reg-namechange"/>

The company's financial hole was emphasized when it released its results for the fiscal year ending October 31, 2002{{snd}} it had lost $25&nbsp;million on revenues of $64&nbsp;million.<ref name="starts"/>

The previously announced operating system releases began appearing, beginning with a Linux release.  Caldera International had been one of the founders of the [[United Linux]] initiative, along with [[SUSE S.A.|SuSE]], [[Conectiva]], and [[Turbolinux]], and the newly-named SCO Linux 4 came out in November 2002, in conjunction with each of the other vendors releasing their versions of the United Linux&nbsp;1.0 base.<ref name="iw-sl4">{{cite news | title=Comdex: SuSE, SCO quick to jump on UnitedLinux bandwagon; Ximian also throws its weight behind UnitedLinux 1.0 | magazine=InfoWorld | date= November 20, 2002 | via= Gale General OneFile <!-- (accessed October 31, 2021). --> | url= https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A94585123/ITOF?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=32d1d026 | author-first=Ed | author-last=Scannell}}</ref>  The SCO product was targeted towards the small-to-medium business market, whereas the SuSE product was aimed at the enterprise segment and Conectiva and Turbolinux were intended mostly for the South American and Asian markets.<ref name="iw-sl4"/>  The common United Linux base (which mostly came from a SuSE code origin), and the promise of common certification across all four products, attracted some support from hardware and software vendors such as IBM, HP, Computer Associates, and SAP.<ref name="iw-sl4"/><ref name="eweek-sl4"/>  An assessment of SCO Linux&nbsp;4 in ''[[eWeek]]'' found that it was a capable product, although the [[Webmin]] configuration tool was seen as limited when compared to [[YaST]], SuSE's own operating system configuration tool.<ref name="eweek-sl4">{{cite news | url=https://www.eweek.com/servers/sco-linux-4-is-rough-around-the-edges-but-shows-promise/ | title=SCO Linux 4 Is Rough Around the Edges but Shows Promise | author-first=Jason | author-last=Brooks | magazine=eWeek | date=January 6, 2003}}</ref>  In terms of service and support, SCO pledged to field a set of escalation engineers that would only be handling SCO Linux issues.<ref name="iw-sl4"/>

The new Unix operating system releases then came out.  UnixWare 7.1.3 was released in December 2002, which featured improved Java support, the [[Apache Web Server]] framework, and improvements to the previously developed Linux Kernel Personality (LKP) for running Linux applications.<ref name="adt-uw713">{{cite news | url=https://adtmag.com/articles/2002/12/04/sco-brings-back-unixware.aspx | title=SCO brings back UnixWare | author-first= Michael W. | author-last=Bucken | magazine=Application Development Trends | date=December 4, 2002}}</ref>  In particular, the SCO Group stated that due to superior multiprocessor performance and reliability, Linux applications could run better on UnixWare via LKP than they could on native Linux itself,<ref name="adt-uw713"/> a stance that dated back to Santa Cruz Operation/Caldera International days.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/08/22/scaldera_vows_a_better_linux/ |title=Scaldera vows a better Linux than Linux |author-first=Andrew |author-last=Orlowski |work=The Register |date=August 22, 2000}}</ref> One review, that found UnixWare 7.1.3 lacking in a number of other respects, called LKP "the most impressive of UnixWare's capabilities".<ref name="osn=uw713"/>  SCO OpenServer 5.0.7 was released in February 2003; the release emphasized enhanced hardware support, including new graphic, network and HBA device drivers, support for [[USB&nbsp;2.0]], improved and updated [[Uniform Driver Interface|UDI]] support, and support for several new Intel and Intel-compatible processors.<ref>{{cite press release | title=SCO Ships SCO OpenServer Release 5.0.7 | publisher=PR Newswire | date= February 24, 2003 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/446983603 | id={{ProQuest|446983603}} | via=ProQuest}}</ref>

The SCOx software framework was announced in April 2003;<!-- ... so this initial SCOx is NJ work, *before* S and B join ... but it is after the lawsuits start --> its aim was to enable the SCO developer and reseller community to be able to connect web services and web-based presentation layers to the over 4,000 different applications that ran small and midsize businesses and branch offices.<ref name="crn-scox-first">{{cite news | url=https://www.crn.com/news/channel-programs/18823566/sco-group-to-roll-out-web-services-framework.htm | title=SCO Group To Roll Out Web Services Framework | author-first= Paula | author-last=Rooney | publisher=CRN News | date=April 30, 2003}}</ref>  The web services aspect of SCOx included bundled SOAP/XML support for the Java, C, C++, PHP, and Perl languages.<ref name="nw-scox-first"/>  A primary target of the SCOx framework was SCOBiz e-commerce integration, although other uses were possible as well.<ref name="crn-scox-first"/>  The planned SCOx architecture overall was composed of layers for e-business services, web services, SSL-based security, a mySCO reseller portal, hosting services, and a software development kit.<ref name="nw-scox-first">{{cite news | url=https://www.networkworld.com/article/2342039/sco-web-enables-apps-for-small-enterprises.html | title=SCO Web-enables apps for small enterprises | author-first=Mark | author-last=Gibbs | magazine=Network World | date=May 14, 2003}}</ref>

But by then, these software releases and e-commerce initiatives had become overshadowed by legal actions.