nrh@buzz.bellcore.com (Nathaniel Howard) (09/21/89)
Someone just sent me the AP news article that follows below. Unfortunately,
the article doesn't mention just what the "valuable technical information"
is -- the most obvious guess is a description of "hints", but that's
just my guess. My suggestion is that folks following-up avoid guessing:
I agree, it could be anything from revealing the already-revealed
"eexec" decryption method to the text of the V.50 PostScript interpreter
and the Stone fonts. I'm guessing -- but only to forestall other
guesses.
Anyhow, I'm sure this is a "hot button" over at Adobe, so let's not all
of us jump on Glenn demanding to know what the information is (if he
can tell us, I'm sure he will), but perhaps someone attended the
Seybold conference?
I've directed followups to comp.lang.postscript
^PM-Adobe-Apple, Bjt,0574<
^Adobe Strikes Back in Battle Over Computer Typefaces<
^By PETER COY=
^AP Business Writer=
NEW YORK (AP) _ Adobe Systems Inc. is hoping to keep Apple
Computer Inc. from stealing its thunder in a battle over typefaces
that has the computer industry's biggest names choosing sides.
Adobe said Wednesday it would take the unusual step of making
public some valuable technical information about the way its
PostScript software creates letters, numbers and other figures on a
page.
That step, while helping Adobe's competitors, should confirm the
Adobe system as an industry standard and deal a blow to a joint
effort by Apple and Microsoft Corp. to create a new standard,
analysts said.
The seemingly obscure battle will affect the course of desktop
publishing, which makes it possible for personal computer owners to
create professional-looking documents and publications using special
software and laser printers.
John Warnock, Adobe's chairman, chief executive and co-founder,
announced the decision to publish PostScript specifications in an
emotional speech at a conference in San Francisco.
He said he feared Apple's unspecific plans for new software
amounted to ``vaporware'' that could jeopardize a valuable existing
standard.
Steve Jobs of Next Inc. lined up on the side of Adobe at the
Seybold Computer Publishing Conference and Exposition, while Bill
Gates of Microsoft sided with Apple.
``This is like a soap opera. It's melodrama at its best,'' Bill
McGlynn, marketing manager for the Boise printer division of
Hewlett-Packard Co., said in a telephone interview from the
conference.
An agreed-upon standard makes things easier for makers of
computers, printers and new typefaces as well as computer users.
With Adobe's announcement, companies that already use PostScript may
decide to stick with it instead of spending their efforts on the
Apple-Microsoft plans, analysts said.
``A lot of people think this is a very good move,'' said David
Nelson, an analyst at Shearson Lehman Hutton Inc. He said customers
attending the conference ``overwhelmingly'' indicated in a show of
hands that they would stick with Adobe.
Adobe's stock was hurt Wednesday by the Apple-Microsoft
combination, which came after the close of trading Tuesday, but
helped by Adobe's counterploy. It closed the day off 37{ cents at
$19.75 in over-the-counter trading.
Adobe, of Mountain View, Calif., rose rapidly in recent years to
dominate the software that goes into laser printers and controls
their output.
Apple, which had been Adobe's biggest customer, signalled its
intention to go its own way earlier this year when it sold its 16
percent stake in Adobe.
Apple and Microsoft, which are battling each other in an
unrelated copyright suit, set aside their differences Tuesday to
announce they would swap technology on advanced printer fonts. The
plan is for Macintosh computers and IBM-type computers using
Microsoft base software to have identical font capabilities.
Gates, the Microsoft chairman, said the plan is to improve upon
PostScript. But he acknowledged that the improvements could render
the two sets of software incompatible.
Jonathan Seybold, the host of the San Francisco conference,
predicted that the first software from that alliance would not be
shipped before 1991.
Adobe's president, Charles Geschke, said in a phone interview
that the company had planned to publish the PostScript
specifications within a matter of months anyway but speeded up its
plans in hopes of keeping the industry standard from splitting.
AP-NR-09-21-89 0214EDT<bezanson@adobe.COM (Brian Bezanson) (09/22/89)
Here's a copy of the Adobe press release. ---- ADOBE TO PUBLISH ITS PROPRIETARY FONT FORMAT SPECIFICATIONS PostScript Developer to Offer Open Font Technology San Francisco, CA. (September 20, 1989)- Adobe Systems Incorporated has announced plans to publish the complete specifications for PostScript language Type 1 format fonts. Until today's announcement, Adobe has licensed tools to major type foundries for developing Type 1 format font software, but retained the specifications as its own. Today's announcement makes Adobe's entire PostScript strategy an open technology, designed to benefit developers and end users alike. The announcement was made during the opening session of the Seybold Computer Publishing Conference and Exhibition, being held here this week. "We will publish the enbtire specification of the PostScript language, including the Type 1 font format, thus making it a truly open technology," said Dr. John Warnock, Chairman and CEO of Adobe Systems. "We will offer this as a complete specification suitable for international standardization." "Adobe will compete on the excellence of its products and its implementations," said Dr. Charles Geschke, President and Chief Operating Officer, Adobe Systems. "We are confident that the quality of our software and hardware technology, as well as our established service and support to our customers, will continue to make us a very successful company." Adobe officials stated the documentation for the Type 1 format specifications will be published and available to the industry by the first quarter of 1990. "Adobe and the PostScript language have served the printing, publishing, and computing industries exceedingly well over the last five years. We have played a vital role in the evolution of electronic printing by enabling personal computers to achieve the same high quality output as high-end publishing systems," said Warnock. Every major computer vendor, printer and typesetter company, font supplier and software developer supports PostScript technology from Adobe. To date, there are over sixty Adobe PostScript printing devices on the market and over four thousand applications that support the PostScript language standard. "PostScript is too important to the industry for us to stand in the way of a unified printing and font technology. Multiple formats will only serve to confuse users and impede the progress of computing and publishing," said Geschke. For more information, please contact Brenda Hansen, Adobe Systems Incorporated, P.O. Box 7900, Mountain View, California, 94039. Telephone: (415) 961-4400. ---------- PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated.