Failing to come to terms with the Open Software Foundation over the issue of distributing Distributed Computing Environment to its licensees, Unix System Laboratories Inc is going to play its trump card. As we went to press it was believed to be dusting off an announcement it had intended to make at Cebit to distribute an implementation of the Distributed Computing Environment for System V.4 made by Open Software Foundation sponsor Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG. The indirect arrangement spoils Unix Labs’ hopes of one-stop shopping for its customers who will now have to pay licence fees to both the Open Software Foundation and Unix Labs. Reports indicate that the Software Foundation was reluctant to embroil itself in the special arrangements it has in place effectively to set Unix Labs up as a master distributor, unless of course there is sufficient political payback. Unix Labs on the other hand, is said to be equally reluctant to join the Open Software Foundation simply because of the Distributed Computing Environment and to be seen to be admitting the errors of its ways; it would prefer to be seen simply as Unix Labs taking on DCE. Discussions between the two arch-enemies are said to be continuing, with progress in other areas such as the nature of their relationship said to be being made. Apparently there is still some hope of an eventual pact. Availability of the Siemens Nixdorf implementation is thought to be almost immediate. No word of pricing yet.
