As indicated, there is a momentum in some quarters to settle outstanding organisational differences in the Unix industry, but while a head of steam is building in anticipation of next month’s UniForum fest in San Francisco, there is little of substance to mention at this time. What is clear, however, is that the Open Software Foundation, in need of a future, is hoping to pull a something out of the hat in time for the show, although whether that will amount to anything more than the restructuring it tabled last week remains to be seen. At best, it hopes it can move enough ground – and that the formation of the Novell Inc-sponsored UnixWare Technology Group this week will pose enough of a threat – to attract Sun Microsystems Inc and others into a reconstituted organisation that embraces the rump of the COSE camp. The Foundation hopes to save as much of its current technology as it can – and the jobs of its staff and become what would effectively be a technology integration shop for interoperability and middleware projects on a scale far smaller than anything its undertaken thus far. With final approval still sought, the Foundation has up to a certain level agreed two new tiers of membership it will offer to target firms, including Sun: a new executive ticket with full voting rights, and a non-voting card that will come in at a quarter of the price, probably in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. A name change has always been a further option. The Foundation concedes that there are a host of emotional issues that remain unresolved – financial too.
Slimline
With a new executive member enjoying the same voting rights as the sponsors that have provided tens of millions of dollars to the Foundation, the likes of Hewlett-Packard Co, IBM Corp and Digital Equipment Corp will have to be recompensed. The Foundation envisages payback mechanisms that will straddle perhaps the signing over of technology licences and binary licence royalty credits to the value of sums contributed. The Foundation plans to have the package of measures approved within a month, leaving it, ideally, with UniForum as a platform to show off a new slimline look, new friends and a new job. Whether or not the Foundation wins new support before now and then, there will still be an Foundation announcement at UniForum, insiders say. At best, the Foundation could become a quick turnaround project management shop, overseeing subcontracted work on technology requests for interoperability and middleware technologies. It already reckons it could pursue as many as three technology areas. Whatever form reorganisation takes, if it doesn’t work out, the organisation could simply fade away with the fate of its technologies unknown. With DEC and Santa Cruz Operation Inc known to be unwilling to provide cash for a joint UniForum event, and IBM thought to be against rushing agreement along in time for the show – it thinks there are too many issues unresolved – the stakes for the Foundation are high.
