The US software company Aduva has announced its intention to release a tool to root out SCO code in the current Linux kernel and replace it.

What the vnu.net report says is that the Butler Group, a company of analysts, has suggested in a recent research note  that it can only be a matter of time before SCO code is removed entirely from the Linux kernel. "Even if SCO's claims are proven to be true that the 2.4 kernel and later do contain Unix code," says the report, 'the kernel will be rewritten."

So is it true that vendors and users could easily recompile their Linux software to temporarily remove modules that may contain SCO copyrighted software, thus avoiding potential demands by SCO for royalty payments? Well, even if it is, the point is moot until such time as SCO Group goes on recordsating what exact Linux components lie at the hertb of its lawsuit against IBM.

SuSE's vice president of corporate communications, Joe Eckert, tells vnu.net that any offending code could be replaced "within weeks if not days."  The report suggests that it's only a matter of time before SCO code is removed entirely from the Linux kernel.

"A new kernel will not be long in coming, and SCO can wave goodbye to its expected royalties," it concludes. 

• Aduva homepage