rye@sfmin.UUCP (R.Schwark) (10/19/88)
Attached is a press release that I believe will be of interest to the net, particularly considering recent discussions. It is in troff format for those who have access to it. Ryerson Schwark rye@attunix.att.com att!attunix!rye %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% .TL SEVERAL MAJOR COMPUTER AND SOFTWARE COMPANIES ANNOUNCE STRATEGIC .ce COMMITMENT TO AT&T'S UNIX SYSTEM V, RELEASE 4.0 .sp 4 .P New York, October 18, l988 -- Several major computer and software companies today announced their intent to support and introduce products based on the next generation of AT&T's UNIX System V, Release 4.0. .P The Companies -- each of which has a major product-line commitment to UNIX Systems -- include Amdahl, Control Data Corporation, Fujitsu, Gould, HCR, ICL, Informix, Intel, Lachman Associates, Inc., Micro Focus, Motorola, NCR Corporation, Olivetti, Prime, Sun Microsystems, Toshiba, Unisoft and UNISYS. .P The companies also announced their intent to establish an industry association that will assure the continued evolution and compatibility of UNIX Systems to meet the needs of the hundreds of thousands of end users of those systems. The companies indicated that they would release more details on the proposed association shortly. .P The companies made it clear that this association would work closely with any company or organization that is committed to the expansion of open systems. Representatives from a number of these companies have been meeting with the Open Software Foundation. .P "AT&T submitted a proposal to the OSF which we all believed would assure a natural migration to a single open systems standard for today's large installed base of customers using UNIX System- based products," Said Charles E. Exley, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of NCR. "While we remain hopeful an accommodation will be reached, our customers are telling us to act now and get on with the business of providing UNIX System V, the open systems standard that exists today." .P "NCR believes that UNIX System V, Release 4.0 will provide the best migration path to the open systems technologies of the future," Exley said. "It will protect the software investments that customers and the industry have made in open systems today while providing the base for the functionality they need for the future." .P "UNISYS wants to continue to protect its customers' substantial investments in UNIX System-based products," said Michael W. Blumenthal, chairman and CEO of the UNISYS Corporation. "We will participate in this new industry forum to ensure that UNIX System V suppliers, developers and users have a full and equal voice in the evolution of this truly open, vendor-independent applications environment based on industry standards." .P "We are pleased by the industry commitment to UNIX System V, Release 4.0 evidenced by today's announcement," said Bob Kavner, president of AT&T's Data Systems Group. "And we look forward to working with this association to ensure that UNIX Systems continue to meet the needs of our customers." .P "To assure that we best achieve that goal," he added, "AT&T plans to announce shortly the formation of a UNIX Software Division -- separate from our computer business -- which will be responsible for the development and licensing of UNIX System V." .P Vittorio Cassoni, managing director, Olivetti, lauded the goals of the new association. "This joint initiative brings together companies that are deeply committed to the UNIX System. We are confident that it will contribute to the success of open systems as opposed to closed, proprietary systems. We must not forget that is is proprietary systems that are the real competitors to UNIX Systems." .P Peter Bonfield, chairman of ICL, pointed to the benefits of Release 4.0 for customers. "Through ICL's commitment to Release 4.0, our customers will be able to protect their considerable investments in existing UNIX System-based applications. The new release enables these customers to plan forward without ambiguity a clear applications development path for the 90's." .P We support AT&T's commitment to work with the industry in evolving the UNIX System V product," said Joe M. Henson, president and chief executive officer of Prime Computer Inc. "AT&T has been extremely responsive to our and other licensees' concerns. Prime has had a long-standing commitment to UNIX System V, as demonstrated by a product line that includes a number of UNIX System V systems." .P AT&T UNIX System V, Release 4.0 is the culmination of a two-year effort to unite the major variants of the UNIX System -- the XENIX System, Berkeley 4.2 and UNIX System V -- into a single standard providing an easy migration path for customers using any of those systems. .P AT&T has already begun shipping the first phase of that effort, release 3.2, which merged the XENIX and UNIX System products. AT&T has indicated that Release 4.0 will be available in source code form as early as second quarter of next year. AT&T began sharing the details of the new release with members of the industry at a series of technical conferences that began last summer. .P AT&T's UNIX System V, Release 4.0 will continue to comply with X/OPEN operating system requirements for applications portability. .P "Customers worldwide can be sure that UNIX System V, Release 4.0 is a base operating system that stands for quality, openness and most importantly, protection of their software investments,"said Takuma Yamamoto, president of Fujitsu Limited. .P "Sun supports today's announcement as a major breakthrough for open systems because it eliminates all doubt or ambiguity about the future of UNIX System V," said Scott McNealy, president and CEO of Sun Microsystems Inc. "Today's move clears the way for aggressive software development by users and independent software vendors which will accelerate the growth of the entire open systems industry." .P "We offer the only native operating system based on the UNIX System for use on Large, System/370-compatible mainframes." said John C. Lewis, chairman, Amdahl Corporation. "Enchancements to that system are a priority for Amdahl and we are convinced that working with this association and using System V, Release 4.0 will provide the best path for future improvements and growth." .sp 3 .ce ******************** .sp 3 .P Several of the participating companies issued their own statements: Gil Williams, vice president and general manager, Computer Products Division, Control Data Corporation: .P "Control Data is fully committed to implementing UNIX System on its entire product line, including workstations, mainframes and supercomputers. Today's announcement will help remove much of the confusion surrounding the UNIX System and we believe the formation of this group is truly in the interest of our customers. It will help give users the environments they need for computing in the 90's. AT&T has demonstrated a strong willingness to keep the UNIX System truly open, and ensure vendor participation." .P C. S. James, president and general manager, Gould Corporation: "The beauty of AT&T's UNIX System V, Release 4.0 is that customers who are using any of the major variants of the UNIX System such as XENIX or Berkeley 4.2 can move to the new release without spending a lot of time and money rewriting applications." .P Brian Eisenberg, vice president of Sales and Marketing of HCR said, "HCR is committed to producing software products based on UNIX System V, Release 4.0 technology. We believe System V, Release 4.0 is an established fact and is part of our future." .P Roger Sippl, chairman and CEO of Informix Software, Inc., said "We have always supported all versions of UNIX, however, UNIX System V is the version we see the most demand for from our customer base. We look forward to the continued upward compatibility of UNIX systems and the completion of the consolidation of Berkeley UNIX and XENIX with UNIX System V." .P "Customers of all computer systems vendors should be pleased by this initiative," said Ron Lachman, president of Lachman Associates. "Major vendors are lining up behind UNIX System V, Release 4.0 with their customers' interests firmly in mind. UNIX System V, Release 4.0 represents a unified commitment to software compatibility and portability." .P "Business application developers and users benefit greatly from standards and cross-systems compatibility," said Paul O"Grady, chairman of Micro Focus, "and Micro Focus welcomes the convergence of UNIX variants that UNIX System V, Release 4.0 represents." .P "Toshiba believes," said Joichi Aoi, president of Toshiba Corporation, "that the open systems based on UNIX System V Release 4.0 should be ideal for integrating advanced features in UNIX. At the same time, it offers continuity for a wide range of UNIX customers, from the first Japanese UNIX customer in 1982 to recent laptop UNIX customers." .P Contacts: Amdahl (Dick Whitcomb) 408/746-6000, (John Skalko) 201/221-2888; Control Data (Tom Charland) 612/853-3298; Fujitsu (Michael Solomon) 212/755-7680; Gould (Paul Haller) 305/587-5710; HCR (Heather Grief) 416/922-1937; ICL (Paul Carson) 01-441-7272; Informix (Kay Feallock) 415/322-4100; Lachman Associates (Ron Lachman) 312/505-9100; Micro Focus (Ray Mrofka) 415/856-4161; Motorola (Jeff Nutt) 512/440-2138; NCR Corporation (Robert Kramer) 513/445-2082; Olivetti (James Hansen) 39-125-522224; Prime (Richard Eokel) 508/665-8000 X7396; Sun (Greg Xenakis) 415/336-6543; Toshiba (Yuji Wakagama) 11-81-3-457-2104; Unisoft (Sherri Jennings) 415/420-6400; UNISYS (Charlotte LeGates) 215/542-4213