Petition to SCO for PDP-11 UNIX Source Licenses

The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.
Dear Sirs/Madams,
 

We, the undersigned, are a group of people who are interested in obtaining legal access to the source code and binaries of the versions of UNIX that ran on the PDP-11 range of computers from Digital Equipment Corporation. We would like legal access to these versions of UNIX to be available because:

• they are of great historical importance, and/or
• we personally own PDP-11 computers on which these systems will run.

The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc. owns the copyright to these very old versions of UNIX. We understand and appreciate that SCO wishes to protect their intellectual property within, and ownership of, these versions of UNIX. Therefore, we wish to petition SCO to make available source code and binary licenses of these versions of UNIX so that:

• we can legally own source code and binaries for PDP-11 UNIXes, and
• SCO's copyright and intellectual property is protected.

We would be happy to purchase and be legally bound by a source code and binary license for PDP-11 UNIXes that meets SCO's requirements, as long as:

• the license covers the entire distributions (source code, binaries and documentation) of the following versions of UNIX:
  • 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Edition UNIX
  • 32V UNIX
  • PWB/UNIX
  • those portions of all 2BSD releases which are derived from UNIX source code
• we have the right to make changes to the source code of the above versions of UNIX
• we have the right to distribute our changes to other people who have signed and agreed to the source code and binary license for PDP-11 UNIXes
• we have the right to install UNIX binaries on PDP-11 hardware and PDP-11 emulating software
• we have the right to allow other people to use the UNIX binaries on such an installation

Note that the latter is already permitted, given SCO's binary license agreement for 5th, 6th and 7th Edition UNIX. We would also be happy with the following conditions imposed in the source code and binary license for PDP-11 UNIXes:

• no resale of the license is permitted
• source code covered by the license cannot be distributed or disclosed to people not covered by the license
• no commercial usage of the source code or binaries is permitted
• SCO is not required to provide copies of any source code, binaries or documentation with the source code and binary license for PDP-11 UNIXes

On a recent survey of people interested in such a license, over 120 people responded. Most of the respondents would agree to a license with the conditions and limitations outlined above, if the cost of such a license was less than US$200.

We urge you to consider

• the historical significance of the UNIX operating system,
• that the PDP-11 versions of UNIX are essentially obsolete,
• that UNIX-like operating systems, libraries and applications are freely available in source code form,
• that the source code to 6th Edition UNIX is publicly available in printed form ( Lions' Commentary on 6th Edition UNIX, Peer to Peer Communications, Inc.)

and make personal-use non-disclosure source code and binaries licenses for PDP-11 UNIXes available at a price which we can afford as individuals.

The UNIX community has played an extremely important role in the development and success of the UNIX operating system. The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc., as owners of the UNIX operating system source, would be repaying the UNIX community in some measure by providing source licenses for these old versions of UNIX. Although you would not profit greatly from the licenses, you would earn the respect and appreciation from many people who helped make UNIX what it is today.

Thank you for your time. Your response to our petition will be appreciated, and can be sent via Internet e-mail to Warren Toomey wkt@cs.adfa.edu.au.

Sincerely yours, the undersigned.