OpenVision Inc says it is quite happy with X/Open Co Ltd’s decision to take rival Tivoli Systems Inc’s submission for distributed managment services as at least the organisation can now make a start on building a standard set of application services. Even so, the Pleasanton, California company does observe that the submission has only been accepted for evaluation, and has a long way to go before becoming a standard. Still, it is believed to have begun building bridges with Tivoli. OpenVision initially planned to submit a distributed services proposal of its own, but decided to devote time to other application-oriented technologies instead. According to director of product marketing, Darrell Trimble, OpenVision is currently working on a submission in this area with Hewlett-Packard Co and Gradient Technologies Inc. This is likely to re-open debate on standards for distributed software licence management, which erupted briefly last autumn when suppliers began loudly pursuing the expected COSE endorsements that never happened. Gradient currently markets the Hewlett-Packard developed NetLS licence management system. But OpenVision delivers its systems management products over Digital Equipment Corp’s CORBA-compliant ObjectBroker services, but says it is willing and able to swap these for others if they become a standard – it realises the dynamic nature of the systems management process, it says. Meanwhile, if the Open Software Foundation, or a successor, decides to rescue a distributed management development effort, OpenVision says it would be willing to take over or subcontract the work.
