Either that or the case is so complex that the judge needs discovery done before he can decide whether the case has any merit.
BTW, well-expected news flash: SCO says they yet again cannot make the deadline for producing infringing code. Groklaw dug up an old ethics complaint against Boies including the tidbit "Throughout the litigation, Habie and her attorneys [Boies' firm] have been sanctioned nine times by six different judges for violating at least 13 court orders related to the settlement and discovery orders." I see a pattern here.
This is interesting to this thread because SCO just asked to extend the IBM process 6+ months. They filed this request the day before (oops!) the judge in the Red Hat case said it may go forward if the IBM case is delayed, which is exactly what SCO is doing.
This is turning out to be a serious comedy of errors.