Unix International declares 1990 Year of the Independent Software Vendor in Japan…Unix International Inc has been waving the flag in Tokyo for its true blue Unix System V.4, and both Peter Cunningham, president and chief executive of Unix International and Michael DeFazio, vice-president of AT&T Co’s Unix Software Operation were in town for the event, which also served to introduce the new head of AT&T Unix Software Operation Pacific James Clarke, who replaces long-time Japan resident Larry Crume, who retired from AT&T Pacific (and ended his Japanese sojourn) to join Lotus Development Corp in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Clarke expects to continue the profitable operation enjoyed by AT&T in Japan, especially over the last few years – Japanese hardware vendors have been especially keen licensees of the original AT&T Unix source code. Peter Cunningham claims that the System V.4 introduction last year was the most successful launch of an operating system ever. He also previewed a new activity this year which Unix International has designated the Year of the Independent Software Vendor – this will be the most aggressive push yet to get applications off proprietary base and onto open systems – although details of the new programme were not revealed it is expected to be announced within a month or so and will provide special incentives for developers to convert their software for an open system environment from other environments, including OS/2. Cunningham was followed by Yumio Imamura, head of Unix International Asia-Pacific. Imamura-san highlighted what he saw as the successes enjoyed by the AT&T supporters’ club in the region since its formation one year ago – including an increase in membership. There are now nine full members – Fuji Xerox, Fujitsu Ltd, NEC Corp, Nippon Sun, Nippon NCR, Oki Electric Industrial Co, Prime Computer Japan and Unisys Japan – Hitachi Ltd is out on a limb as the only Japanese major to have joined the Open Software Foundation. There are 11 general members of Unix International Asia-Pacific, ASCII Corp, Canon Inc, Nippon Data General, ERSO, ITRi of Taiwan and ETRI in South Korea, HCL America Inc, India, III of Taiwan, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, Omron Corp and even Yokogawa Hewlett-Packard, despite the fact that its US partner is a leading member of the rebel band. There are 12 supporting members, including CSK Corp, the large software house that is tipped to buy Hoskyns Group Plc; C Itoh Techno-Science, NTT Data Communications, Sumitomo Electric, and Nippon Steel; the eight sponsors include Aoyama Gakuin and Keio University, Tokyo University large Computing Centre, and Fujitsu Ltd affiliates Facom Centre and Facom Software Conference. Unix International’s overriding aim in Japan is to increase business market penetration of System V.4 systems – Unix is still very much seen as the province of technical and engineering applications.
Flotation plans
To this end Unix International is sponsoring a continuing series of seminars for developers of commercial applications, and will join with other open systems bodies such as the Sigma organisation and X/Open Co Ltd – the rival Open Software Foundation is conducting an Open Systems Fair later this year. The other main area of activity in Japan is to ensure that the Japanese language processing functions of Unix are adequate and sufficient; to this end the Unix International Work Group was formed last year. Several meetings have been held in various parts of Asia, resulting in a specification for a Japanese version of Open Look. Mike DeFazio of the Unix Software Operation gave figures to support his claim that the take-up of System V.4 is six months ahead of schedule. Asked to elaborate, he explained that Unix International had aimed to have 85% of the 175 independent system vendors worldwide registered with the programme by June 1990, and in fact this was achieved in January 1990. He also highlighted AT&T Co’s plans to float off a part of the Unix Software Operation, with a prospectus by July this year and the flotation to be completed by t
he end of 1990. – Anita Byrnes
as Open Software Foundation moves to mend fences with irate independents
In what looks to be an attempt to defuse public criticism of the way it handles independent software vendors – and perhaps head off possible legal action – the Open Software Foundation last week took steps to form an Independent Software Vendors Council and may include an independent representative on its board. In March a clutch of software houses, alarmed by the Foundation’s cut price system software pricing schedule and seemingly niggardly terms and conditions offered to contributing independents, petitioned the Foundation to institute such a council. The appeal caused a highly prickly Software Foundation much public embarrassment, if not consternation among its lawyers. Peter Winston, president of Interactive Computer Solutions Inc and a participant in the March meeting, attended the independent software forum the Foundation scheduled as part of its three day meeting in Boston last week. As a result he said he is now convinced that the alternative Unix club understands there is an issue, something it has previously seemed to shrug off, and that it is making a significant effort toward solving the institutional problems that created it. Winston said the forum was initially attended by about 30 people, half of them independents and the other half representatives of the Foundation, including president David Tory and some of the sponsor companies, notably more the Europeans than the Americans. The Foundation, he said, seemed open to discussing the business issues surrounding technology procurement from viewpoints other than its own, and how its technology selections and terms and conditions can affect the losers as well as the winners. It was agreed that a small three man task force, including Winston, Locus vice president of Boston operations Phil Shevrin, and Dave Simonson of Ingres, be established to draft the Council’s charter. Reputedly the Council will have input into the Foundation’s organisation and Request for Technology process. Issues such as whether or not non-members will be included, how the Council will interact with X/Open’s independent software vendors and the legalities of publishing standard terms and conditions without falling foul of anti-trust laws will have to be hammered out. It was also decided to schedule an independents’ forum at all members meetings.
