Now that it’s on this unity roll, the Unix industry needs to sort out what to do with those tired old war horses, Unix International Inc and the Open Software Foundation. One source intimate with the goings-on claims that they will both be put out to pasture (but apparently not destroyed and sent to the meat-packing plant) before the end of the year, replaced by a new little filly everyone can ride. The problem with Unix International and the Foundation, he says, is that IBM Corp and Hewlett-Packard Co won’t join Unix International and the Unix System V.4 people won’t join the Foundation yet they need a common umbrella to meet under. One of the remaining hurdles is what to call it – and who will be at the head of it. We’re not sure whether he was kidding or not but he said the notion of calling it Open Software International had been rejected. A more serious note is the issue of Unix branding. There is said to be pressure being exerted on Novell Inc to invest this new organisation with the Unix branding task as a way of keeping Novell honest and giving its OEM customers a warm and cuddly feeling about Unix no matter what path Novell decides to take. That fact alone might explain why no proper name was attached to last week’s unity fest and its product. Sources report there was a concerted effort to avoid the U word, dooming such contenders as Unified Unix, Universal Unix and – our personal favourite – Unix 32, a clear alternative to Microsoft’s Win 32, to the waste bin. In a separately distributed support statement, Unisys Corp referred to it simply as the OS/API. Maybe that name will stick.
