Sun Microsystems Inc’s Solaris announcement last week throws the future of other desktop Unix projects into question, notably the Unix International Inc-Unix Systems Laboratories Inc effort to produce a Unix Lite, or golden master binary version of Unix. Sun is reported to have said that it won’t be taking that particular offering – it believes that in designing the thing for systems with only 4Mb RAM and 80Mb disk, Unix Labs is pitching Unix too far down the market, where users can more profitably use MS-DOS. Despite this, Unix International has hired former Commodore International Ltd staffer Jesse Bornfreund as director of desktop marketing – a newly created postion – to try and kick some life into the thing. Distribution is going to be one of the key factors determining the success or failure of these mass market products, and Novell Inc – already close to Unix Labs is reportedly in talks with the two about doing just that.
