AT&T Co’s Unix Software Operation yesterday began licensing the latest release of Unix, Unix System V release 4.0. At $100,000 the new version is $27,000 cheaper than System V/386 3.2. The basic system software components are the Posixcompliant System V 4.0 base system with the Vir-tual File System and Streams, and kernel extensions, including virtual memory, and utilities. The new version also includes, as addons, Network File System and X/11 News from Sun Microsystems, and products from Lachman Associates that previously had to be licensed separately. Other addon features are Remote File Sharing, Internet Services, Open Look, TCP/IP, the XWIN graphical windowing system and XVIEW/Typescaler. And in order to encourage vendors to offer products compliant with X/Open Group Ltd guidelines, a standard sublicensing option is offered under which vendors are elegible for reduced fees if they conform to the Port-bility Guide Issue 3, implement and conform to AT&T Streams, and provide device driver interfaces. Minimum fees are $60 for a single user version, $170 for a multiuser system, as for System V/386 3.2, the maximum per copy fee is $10,000. The percopy fees will be either 1% of the price of the basic entry model of the computer or 10% of the list price the vendor charges for a sublicensed product based on Unix System V.4. The pricing and new rules were set after discussions with the Unix Int-ernational Inc club, and AT&T hopes that they will be wellreceived.
