In the last few months, eight members of the Open Software Foundation have failed to renew their membership in the organisation. The only one apparently anxious to trumpet its defection, however, is Toshiba America, which continues to retain its membership in the rival Unix International organisation. Toshiba vice-president Don Anderson said the firm allowed its membership to lapse because it failed to see any advantage in continuing to pay its $25,000 subscription fee. OSF’s only argument to continuing membership is being part of the Request for Technology process. But member’s don’t have any influence. The OSF staff make all the decisions anyway – and blatantly say so. And if a company wants to influence the process it can do so without being a member. Toshiba, which has opted to use Sun Microsystems’ Sparc processor, was one of the companies endorsing Unix System V.4 at its roll-out by Unix International in New York in October. The Foundation, which now claims 185 members, declined to name the firms that have dropped out, quoting a management decision to protect their identities. An spokeswoman indicated that erstwhile members Apollo and Lachman Associates, both recently acquired, were in addition to the eight defectors. Hewlett-Packard, she noted, nobly continues to honour Apollo’s major $4.5m a year commitment as a founder member. But the delays in getting OSF/1 out the door are straining the organisation, which has cancelled plans for a distributed database Request For Tech nology, and with members having to invest in their own Unix developments to stay competitive in the meantime, the Foundation is in danger of further cuts.
