computer science

SCO Skunkware

SCO Skunkware is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand SCO Skunkware rather than just read about it. In short: SCO Skunkware, often referred to as simply "Skunkware", is a collection of open-source software projects ported, compiled, and packaged for free redistribution on Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) operating environments. SCO Skunkware packaged components exist for SCO Xenix, SCO UNIX, OpenServer 5–6, UnixWare 2 and 7, Caldera OpenLinux, and Open UNIX 8.

Key takeaways

SCO Skunkware belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect SCO Skunkware to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of SCO Skunkware from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

SCO Skunkware, often referred to as simply "Skunkware", is a collection of open-source software projects ported, compiled, and packaged for free redistribution on Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) operating environments. SCO Skunkware packaged components exist for SCO Xenix, SCO UNIX, OpenServer 5–6, UnixWare 2 and 7, Caldera OpenLinux, and Open UNIX 8. SCO Skunkware was an early pioneering effort to bring open source software into the realm of business computing and, as such, provided an important initial impetus to the acceptance and adoption of open source software in the small and medium-sized business market. An extensive SCO Skunkware download area has been maintained since 1993 and SCO Skunkware components were shipped with operating system distributions as far back as 1983, when Xenix for the IBM XT was released by The Santa Cruz Operation. The annual SCO Forum conference was a venue for the makers and users of SCO Skunkware to meet and discuss its contents and ideas for future additions. Later additional open source distributions for operating platforms such as the FreeBSD Ports collection and the Solaris Freeware repository would lend added momentum to the adoption of open source in the business community.

Release history SCO Skunkware has been released often on CD-ROM and as a downloadable CD ISO image. Individual packages are distributed via FTP. The Skunkware CD release history is:

1983 – First SCO Xenix Games Diskette 1993 – Skunkware (SCO UNIX 3.2) 1994 – Skunkware 2.0 (OpenDesktop) 1995 – Skunkware 5 (OpenServer 5) 1996 – Skunkware 96 (OpenServer 5) 1997 – Skunkware 97 (OSR5 + UW2) 1998 – Skunkware 7 (UnixWare 7) 1998 – Skunkware 98 (OpenServer 5) 1999 – Skunkware 7.1 (UnixWare 7) 1999 – Skunkware 99 (OpenServer 5 and UnixWare 7) 2000 – Skunkware 2000 (OpenServer 5) 2000 – Skunkware 7.1.1 (UnixWare 7) 2001 – Skunkware 8.0.0 (Open UNIX 8) 2001 – SOSS 3.1 (OpenLinux 3.1) 2002 – Skunkware 8.0.1 (Open UNIX 8) 2002 – SOSS 3.1.1 (OpenLinux 3.1.1) 2006 – Skunkware 2006 (OpenServer 6)

Licensing SCO Skunkware components are licensed under a variety of terms. Most components are licensed under an Open Source Initiative (OSI) approved open-source license. Many are licensed under the terms of either the GNU General Public License or the GNU Library General Public License. Licenses used by SCO Skunkware components include or are similar to:

GNU General Public License GNU Library General Public License Artistic License Mozilla Public License Netscape Public License The Open Group Public License The AST Open Source License X Consortium License Berkeley Based Licenses A few of the components are "freeware" with no restrictions on their redistribution. Some components may restrict their use to non-commercial purposes or require a license fee for commercial use (e.g. MBROLA). Some components may be redistributed with special permission from the author(s) as is the case with KISDN.

Packaging formats SCO Skunkware packages are typically distributed in the native packaging format of the operating system release for which they are intended. Package management systems used by SCO Skunkware include the following:

Old SCO Custom installable floppy images (SCO Xenix & UNIX 3.2v4) New Custom SSO architecture media images (SCO OpenServer 5 and 6) SysV pkgadd datastreams (UnixWare 2, UnixWare 7, Open UNIX 8) RPM (OpenLinux 3, UnixWare 7, OpenServer 5 & 6) Compressed tar and cpio archives (all platforms)

See also Open-source software List of free and open-source software packages The Cathedral and the Bazaar

Notes

References SCO Skunkware website SCO Skunkware SCO Forum 1998 Open Source and SCO SCO Forum 2000 Open Source BOF SCO Forum 2002 Open Source Components in SCO OpenServer and SCO UnixWare SCO Forum 2004 Open Source and SCO SCO Forum 2005 Open Source at SCO SCO Forum 2006 Mohr, Jim (May–June 2000). "Free Network Software from SCO". SCO World. 7 (3). Mountain View, California 94040: Venture Publishing Inc. Archived from the original on 2001-02-28. Retrieved 2008-05-13.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: location (link) SCO, Skunkware, and the Open Source Movement SCO World magazine February 1, 1999 Porting Open Source Software to SCO SCO World magazine November 1, 1999 Sorfa, Petr (March–April 2000). "Application Development with the KDevelop IDE". SCO World. 7 (2). Mountain View, California 94040: Venture Publishing Inc. Archived from the original on 2001-01-07. Retrieved 2008-05-13.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: location (link) About SCO World magazine at archive.org Leibovitch, Evan (January–February 2000). "Linux and SCO: Testing Open Source Waters". SCO World. 7 (1). Mountain View, California 94040: Venture Publishing Inc. Archived from the original on 2000-10-07. Retrieved 2008-05-13.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: location (link) Gerber, Boyd. "SCO Skunkware mirror at zenez.com". ZENEZ Consulting. Retrieved 2008-05-13. Lawrence, Anthony. "What Is Skunkware ?". APLawrence.com. Retrieved 2008-05-13. Merrill, Andrew; Allie, Billy G. "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for PostgreSQL". PostgreSQL Global Development Group. Archived from the original on 2008-02-26. Retrieved 2008-05-13. "SCO Skunkware CD-ROM ISO images". debian.org. Retrieved 2008-05-13.

External links SCO Skunkware FTP download area

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with SCO Skunkware

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what SCO Skunkware claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to SCO Skunkware before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about SCO Skunkware ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of SCO Skunkware

In research: SCO Skunkware appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses SCO Skunkware in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: SCO Skunkware is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Computing platforms, Free software distributions, Unix software, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for SCO Skunkware outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study SCO Skunkware in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what SCO Skunkware means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain SCO Skunkware out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is SCO Skunkware in simple terms?

Why does SCO Skunkware matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study SCO Skunkware?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on SCO Skunkware.