While X/Open Co Ltd welcomed Novell Inc’s letter of intent to buy Unix System Laboratories Inc, it was apparently not impressed enough to allow the company to carry over Unix Labs’ membership by default. According to X/Open, it is looking forward to re-negotiating membership terms with Novell – and, more to the point, membership fees that reflect the size and financial strength of Novell rather than of Unix Labs. X/Open said it very much hopes Novell will join its menagerie, but hinted it would have to pay a significant amount for the privilege. The actual terms of the membership have not been revealed, so it is unclear whether Novell will purchase two memberships or keep Unix Labs’ membership with a re-negotiated fee. Further details were unavailable at press time, as X/Open staff worldwide were taking part in a brainstorming session, somewhere in the wilds of Devon in the UK. But the organisation may be in dire need of the fee following Oki Electric Industry Co’s decision to leave the X/Open consortium over Christmas. The company said it could no longer afford the UKP320,000 membership fee and claimed that open systems standards were widely enough accepted for it to leave. Oki also announced that it will be changing its membership within Unix International Inc from an official to a general member.
