usrgroup@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu (Peter Renzland) (06/06/88)
[The following is the press release text, as provided by Judy Adams from DEC.
This was previously posted elsewhere. I'm posting it here in case you missed
it before, and are wondering what OSF is about.]
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, NY -- 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 and POSIX specifications as the starting
point. POSIX is an operating system standard, closely related to the UNIX
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, government agencies and organizations around the world.
The foundation has a management organization, staff, and a funding
commitment 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 environment 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 application
environment.
Principles of the foundation include:
o Offerings based on relevant industry standards:
o Open process to actively solicit inputs and technology;
o Timely, vendor-neutral decision process;
o Early and equal access to specification and continuing development;
o Hardware-independent implementations;
o Reasonable, stable licensing terms;
o 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 applications from different suppliers by addressing the following
needs:
o Portability -- the ability to use application software on
computers from multiple vendors;
o Interoperability -- the ability to have computers from
different vendors work together;
o 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
everyone.
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:
o Apollo's Network Computing System (NCS);
o Bull's UNIX system-based multiprocessor architecture;
o Digital's user interface tool kit and style guides for the
X Window System;
o Hewlett-Packard's National Language Support (NLS);
o Nixdorf's relational database technology;
o 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 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
UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T in the U.S. and other
countries.
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.