std-unix@longway.TIC.COM (Moderator, John S. Quarterman) (05/19/88)
[ Someone forwarded this to me. It looks like a good opener for a discussion
on the Open Software Foundation. -mod ]
In comp.unix.wizards wesommer@athena.mit.edu (William Sommerfeld) writes:
This is a typed-in copy of a press release I got this afternoon.
I am not responsible for typing errors, but I think I was fairly
careful.
Bill Sommerfeld
wesommer@athena.mit.edu
FOUNDATION CONTACT: Deborah Siegel
Cohn & Wolfe
(212) 951-8300
... Apollo, Groupe Bull, Digital Equipment, Hewlett-Packard, IBM,
Nixdorf, Siemens ...
NEW FOUNDATION TO ADVANCE SOFTWARE STANDARDS,
DEVELOP AND PROVIDE OPEN SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENT
NEW YORK, N.Y., May 17, 1988---Seven leading computer companies today
announced an international foundation to develop and provide a
completely open software environment to make it easier for customers
to use computers and software from many vendors.
The Open Software Foundation (OSF) will develop a software
environment, including application interfaces, advanced system
extensions, and a new operating system, using X/Open(tm) and POSIX*
specifications as the starting point. POSIX is an operating system
standard, closely related to the UNIX(tm) system, that specifies how
software should be written to run on computers from different vendors.
Initial funding for OSF is being provided by the following sponsors:
Apollo Computer Inc., Groupe Bull, Digital Equipment Corporation,
Hewlett-Packard Company, International Business Machines Corporation,
Nixdorf Computer AG, and Siemens Aktiengesellschaft. OSF membership
is available to computer hardware and software suppliers, educational
institutions, and government agencies around the world.
The foundation has a management organization, staff, and a funding
comittment in excess of $90 million to begin immediate operations.
Its initial development will be based on technologies offered by the
members and its own research, to be carried out worldwide.
"The creation of a standard software enviornment is one of the most
important issues facing the computer industry today," said John L.
Doyle, chairman of the foundation board of directors. "Establishing
this international foundation fulfills the critical need for an open,
rational, and equitable process to help establish the standards our
customers demand and to protect their long-term software investment."
Foundation Principles:
OSF is incorporated as a non-profit, industry-supported research and
development organization. It will define specifications, develop a
leadership operating system, and promote an open, portable
applications environment.
Principles of the foundation include:
* Offerings based on relevant industry standards;
* Open process to actively solicit inputs and technology;
* Timely, vendor-neutral decision process;
* Early and equal access to specifications and continuing
development;
* Hardware independant applications;
* Reasonable, stable licensing terms;
* Technical innovation through university/research participation.
To support its portable application environment, the foundation will
provide software that makes it easier for users to mix and match
computers and appllications from different suppliers by addressing the
following needs:
* Portability---the ability to use application software on computers
from multiple vendors.
* Interoperability---the ability to have computers from different
vendors work together;
* Scalability---the ability to use the same software environment on
many classes of computers, from personal computers to
supercomputers.
To achieve maximum acceptance for the new software environment, the
foundation will provide all members early and equal access to the
development process.
The foundation will follow a direction consistent with the
international X/Open Common Application Environment, the U.S. National
Bureau of Standards Application Portability Profile, and equivalent
European and international standards. Where standards do not exist,
the foundation will work with standards groups to help define them.
Membership
Foundation members will contribute ideas on both technical and policy
matters. They will be informed of foundation activities on a regular
basis and periodically polled on specific issues. Membership is open
to anyone.
Research Institute
A research institute is being created to fund research for the
advancement of applications portability, interoperability standards,
and other advanced technologies for future foundation use. An
academic advisory panel will provide guidance and input to the
institute. The Institute's research will be conducted worldwide.
Software environment guidelines
The foundation's open software environment will allow vendors to add
value through compatible extensions. To encourage its widespread use,
it will run on a wide range of single- and multi-processor computers.
THe foundation's software environment includes a set of application
programming interfaces to make it easier to write applications for a
variety of systems. The initial set of interfaces will support POSIX
and X/Open specifications, and will be extended to include areas such
as distributed computing, graphics, and user interfaces.
The foundation will base its development efforts on its own research
as well as on technologies which will be selected and licensed from
member offerings. Technologies being considered by the foundation
include:
* Apollo's Network Computing System(tm) (NCS)
* Bull's UNIX system-based multiprocessor architecture;
* Digital's user interface tool kit and style guides for the
X Window System(tm)
* Hewlett-Packard's Native Language Support (NLS);
* Nixdorf's relational database technology;
* Siemens' OSI protocol support.
To provide a clear and easy migration path for application developers
and end users, the foundation's system will include features to
support current System V- and Berkeley-based UNIX applications. The
operating system will use core technology from a future version of
IBM's AIX(tm) as a development base.
Specifications supported by the foundation will be publicly available,
and a set of verification tests for all appropriate facilities will be
identified or created. The foundation will license its open system
software internationally.
--------
X/Open is a trademark of X/Open CO. Ltd.
* Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Standard
1003.
UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T in the U.S. and other
companies.
Network Computing System is a trademark of Apollo Computer, Inc.
X Window System is a trademark of Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.
AIX is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.
Volume-Number: Volume 14, Number 17std-unix@longway.TIC.COM (Moderator, John S. Quarterman) (05/26/88)
From: John T. Nelson <uunet!potomac.ads.com!jtn> I have mixed feelings about the Open Software Foundation. On the one hand I agree with AT&T when they state that the OSF has no track record in the open software/standards business. This is true. The founders of OSF consist of a handful of large computer companies whose experience is mostly in marketing hardware and proprietary software, not designing state-of-the-art operating systems, user interfaces and environments for the scientist/engineer. Now the OSF claims that they can pound together a standard which will appeal to both System V and Berkeley users. I fear that more than likely the OSF standard will bind users to a single Unix standard and thus to a single proprietary product... namely IBM's AIX, and thus ensure IBM's position in the marketplace. Making the standard available to everyone does not qualify it as an "open" standard. There must be open and equal participation among ALL users of the system to make both technical and policy decisions when defining the standard. The OSF, if it is to live up to its advertised ideals, must recognize the diverse needs of developers, researchers and engineers who actually use the system and may prefer a system interface that is different from what the standard proposes. There must be diverse community participation. > Membership > > Foundation members will contribute ideas on both technical and policy > matters. They will be informed of foundation activities on a regular > basis and periodically polled on specific issues. Membership is open > to anyone. ... for a price... I note that individual/educational memberships to the OSF cost $5,000. Corporate memberships cost $25,000. Worse, simply being a member does not allow you to make decisions on ALL policy issues. Apparently the OSF founders only want partners who have a signicant financial stake in Unix. This means that the individuals who will be most affect by Unix (hackers, scientists) will be those most excluded from membership if they cannot find an institution to sponsor them. Even then it isn't clear how much of a voice they will have in defining the standard. > The foundation's software environment includes a set of application > programming interfaces to make it easier to write applications for a > variety of systems. The initial set of interfaces will support POSIX > and X/Open specifications, and will be extended to include areas such > as distributed computing, graphics, and user interfaces. Sounds pretty good so far though. > To provide a clear and easy migration path for application developers > and end users, the foundation's system will include features to > support current System V- and Berkeley-based UNIX applications. The > operating system will use core technology from a future version of > IBM's AIX(tm) as a development base. If the corner-stone of the OSF Unix standard is IBM's proprietary product then how flexible can the standard be to user needs? If the new standards require massive rewrites to the AIX kernal will IBM comply with the OSF's findings and completely rewrite their kernal? > Specifications supported by the foundation will be publicly available, > and a set of verification tests for all appropriate facilities will be > identified or created. The foundation will license its open system > software internationally. I would prefer to see an implementation maintained by an independent university or the user community at large, not by a handful of mega-marketing computer companies who have vested interests in products they have already developed. I would also like to see source code made available so that the system can be easily maintained and modified at each individual site. Much like Berkeley source code licences. On the other hand, I welcome the OSF as a positive effect on the market place. Adoption of standards that facilitate portability will stimulate a somewhat stagnant and confused computer software industry. Also, perhaps now Sun will get serious about their windowing systems (to name just one of my gripes about Sun computers). Sunview is a toy. NeWS is better and I think this will become a good product. I'm much more interested in seeing Sun develop an entierly new and integrated user interface... not just something that runs on top of the shell. Rather we should see a highly integrated window system/shell much like the Symbolics LISP machine's windowing environment. I realize this is difficult to implement in Unix thanks to Unix's rather backward way of thinking about the user interface, but hope springs eternal. Volume-Number: Volume 14, Number 19