Sun Microsystems Inc claims to have developed 80% of Unix System Laboratories Inc’s Unix System V.4 operating system, and SunSoft, pushing its Solaris version of Unix, is disappointed that its former technology partner has chosen to go into competition against Solaris in the personal computer desktop Unix arena. Unix Labs has come up with its own desktop version of Unix for Intel Corp and other architectures, System V.4.2, and via its partnership with Novell Inc in Univel Inc has recently brought to market the NetWare network-enabled version of System V.4.2 called UnixWare. However, given the size of Sun’s business empire SunSoft Inc’s European general manager, Peter Watkins, doesn’t see Unix System V.4.2 and its derivative(s) as a real threat to its market position. Out of its concern to maintain conformance to industry standards, SunSoft is more sensitive about the impact of Unix Labs’s latest technologies in the plans of political organs such as Unix International Inc. Unix System V.4 is currently specified by Unix International’s RoadMap as the foundation for the future direction of the Unix operating system. Like the majority of Unix developers, SunSoft has already incorporated Unix System V.4 application programming interfaces in its operating systems. However, enhancements such as the ToolTalk communications package, Open Look toolkits and Open Windows 3.0 environment have been added to its SunOS and Solaris operating systems, and other additions, including the object-oriented Distributed Object Maintenance Framework will be incorporated by springtime next year. System V.4.2 and UnixWare have their own extensions, and other Unix providers have added other functionality for particular CPU architectures and application areas. Even though most now provide base conformance to Unix System V.4, to get the best out of an application, independent software vendors provide tailored versions of an application targeted for different operating systems environments.

Bells and whistles

The problem is that the additional functionality provided by Unix vendors – the bells and whistles that differentiate and position their products in the market – all require further application programming interfaces, rendering different Unix implementations incompatible in certain areas. Watkins’s fear is that if Unix International extends the Unix RoadMap to include conformance with System V.4.2 – technology that Unix International helped conceive and encouraged Unix Labs to develop – SunSoft would have to implement a bunch of programming interfaces that are inconsistent with its own operating system releases to maintain RoadMap conformance. If the world and Unix International goes to System V.4.2 as the basis of the RoadMap, then Sun will have to consider its position very carefully, says Watkins. Hinting perhaps of bringing subtle pressures to bear, Watkins reminds us that SunSoft has at least 1,000 engineers working full-time on its Unix implementation, many more than Unix Labs has in its entire organisation. Indeed SunSoft believes Unix International will have to become more sensitive to future Unix issues because Unix Labs is claimed to be making rather smaller investments in technology than SunSoft. Watkins is also sceptical of Unix International’s stated aim of developing a microkernel-based version of Unix: Unix Labs has already signed up French Unix house Chorus Systemes SA for its Chorus/Mix microkernel that will form the basis of this release. Watkins says Bill Joy’s Sun Labs team has been looking at micro-kernel technologies under the auspices of Spring, Sun’s blue-sky, rolling research effort. They haven’t found some of the performance capabilities that are expected from micro-kernels, he says, adding Solaris has a very modular kernel, and we’ve made some of the microkernel mistakes already. – William Fellows