In a surprise to no one, The SCO Group used some kind of a get out-of-jail-free card to avoid going to the LinuxWorld show happening in San Francisco next week. That’s right, InfoWorld’s own editor-at-large Ed Scannell and Robert McMillan of the IDG News Service, while reporting on the conference, uncovered the fact that SCO will be notoriously absent. SCO spokesman Blake Stowell laid it on the line for the news story Scannell and McMillan collaborated on, saying that he is unsure what reception SCO would get if the company did appear at the open source extravaganza. But Gordon Haff, an analyst with Illuminata, seemed to be sure how attendees and sponsors would react to seeing SCO there. “For SCO to show their head would only invite hostility, vitriol and hangings in effigy,” Haff said. Perhaps SCO is too busy concentrating on its lawsuit with IBM and trying to dream up legalese to threaten customers that run Linux. Oh well. Even if the illustrious SCO won’t be gunning for the spotlight at the show, a number of the usual Linux suspects will, including IBM, HP, Oracle, Dell, Red Hat, SuSE, to name just a few. Even BEA will be there making waves. So check back here for more postings and breaking news from InfoWorld reporters live at LinuxWorld. Technology Industry