If the two endlessly-feuding Unix camps ever get it together, a post-war industry map may not look exactly like what Unix International Inc had in mind if the Open Software Foundation’s own plans bear the right kind of fruit. While the former might have envisaged, at one time, some kind of tripartite arrangement, with the Foundation cast in the role of software developer, Unix International the sheriff of the Unix vendor community and X/Open Co Ltd as the vanguard of open systems, the Foundation has its own plot. It wants to be standing on its own feet – we’re talking self-sufficient here – within a couple of years. And, candidly speaking, chairman David Tory warns the latest peace pipe smokers that there is less and less need for the Foundation to make a political gesture as we move towards self-sufficiency. As well as trying to derive maximum benefits from its various technologies, which probably explains the thorny problems that some prospective licensees are currently experiencing, the Foundation hopes to spread its contributed funding – which currently stands at $4.5m a year from each of its remaining six founder members – across a broader base by creating a new form of membership. The way the Foundation sees it, organisations (and presumably individual companies too) will be invited to participate in an executive members group, and contribute to the Foundation coffers accordingly. The Foundation isn’t expecting to be crushed in the rush, in fact it modestly hopes for just one or two volunteers to step forward initially, but that could include Unix International, it says.
