Unix International Announces Operating Plans At Transatlantic Teleconference

NEW YORK, Jan. 31, 1989 -- PRNewswire -- UNIX International, Inc., today announced details of its charter, organizational structure and working relationship with AT&T's newly formed UNIX Software Operation.

At an international satellite broadcast between New York and Brussels, Donald J. Herman, organizing chairman, said the charter and purpose of UNIX International, Inc., is to ensure the integrity of UNIX(R) System V and guide its future development so that it remains the industry standard open operating system.

"The strength of our organization is the experience of our member firms who are suppliers as well as users of UNIX System V," said Herman. "We think the composition of our members, coming from the U.S., Europe and the Pacific regions, mirrors the worldwide momentum and acceptance of UNIX System V.

"UNIX International is an association open to all those who have an interest in UNIX System V, including end users, hardware and software vendors, software developers, academic and government institutions and others," he said.

According to Herman, a formal process has been set up and is already underway to develop specifications for future releases of UNIX System V. UNIX International will manage the definition process, and AT&T will develop the product and license it to the community at large. UNIX International, in managing the definition process, also intends to be fully compliant with the X/Open(TM) Common Applications Environment specification, which is rapidly becoming a leading procurement specification worldwide.

"UNIX International and AT&T have come up with a formula unique in the industry -- where users and vendors participate directly in the future of products that are critical to their success," said Herman. "This broad community of users of UNIX System V-based products -- more than one million installations -- can now speak with a single voice to direct future development of the industry standard open operating system."

Herman cited a recent market research report, which forecast that UNIX System-based shipments are expected to vie for the industry's number two position, reaching 20 percent of the worldwide market by 1992.

Headquarters Locations and Key Executives Named

Herman said UNIX International's worldwide headquarters will be located in Northern New Jersey. Its European headquarters are in Brussels and its Asia-Pacific headquarters are in Tokyo.

Assignments to key executive positions within UNIX International also were announced by Herman. Peter Cunningham, directing manager of office systems strategy for ICL, was named president and chief executive officer. He will be responsible for day-to-day operations of the organization. Other appointments include Tom Mace, UNIX strategy manager at Unisys, to director of marketing and promotions; Alan G. Nemeth, corporate consultant at Prime Computer, to director of technology and David Sandel, division manager of AT&T, to director of business operations and planning. Other appointments announced today were Van Aggelakos, assistant vice president, General Purpose Systems Division, at NCR, and Shuitsu Yoshida, manager of UNIX development for advanced workstations at Fujitsu America, as members of the Office of the Chairman.

"UNIX International is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of the one million plus installed base of users of UNIX System V-based products, including Xenix(TM), and Berkeley 4.2," Peter Cunningham said. "We represent the views of more than 80 percent of the UNIX-based industry. UNIX International concentrates on protecting the interests of users of UNIX System-based products by reinforcing a true open systems operating environment."

The organization's structure will consist of three standing committees, a variety of workgroups, and the UNIX International staff. Cunningham noted that in wide-ranging discussions held with AT&T, the members decided not to undertake responsibility for the engineering and licensing of the industry standard, preferring instead to leverage the strength and maturity of the AT&T development and business team.

"This agreement is a sensible one for all concerned, and uses the strengths of the various groups to the fullest," said Cunningham. "What is central is that UNIX International and AT&T have come to an agreement that gives users practical control over the evolution of their product."

Relationship with AT&T's USO

Herman, together with Bob Kavner, president of AT&T's Data Systems Group, described the product direction that UNIX International will provide to the UNIX Software Operation (USO), AT&T's newly formed independent AT organization that develops and licenses UNIX System V. UNIX International and USO will interact on technical, business and promotional matters and will work jointly in the production of UNIX System V specifications. UNIX International members will receive early access to detailed information on future UNIX System V releases.

"AT&T is committed to working with UNIX International to ensure that future releases of UNIX System V continue to evolve and protect the investments of the user community," said Kavner. "We will diligently seek direction from UNIX International in order to remain responsive to the user community's interests."

Conformance with X/Open

"We are very pleased that UNIX International plans to conform with X/Open's Common Applications Environment," stated Geoffrey Morris, president and chief executive officer of X/Open Company, Ltd. "And we are pleased that UNIX International has asked us to help them achieve that objective. We view the objective as further progress toward a unified Open Systems environment and we applaud them for making this commitment. Of course, we are prepared to cooperate with them toward that end."

20th Anniversary of UNIX Systems

Additionally, UNIX International officials noted that 1989 is the 20th anniversary year of UNIX Systems. The UNIX System was developed in 1969 at Bell Laboratories, and has become the industry standard open operating system. UNIX International plans a variety of events in 1989 to celebrate the occasion, beginning at the upcoming UniForum show in San Francisco.

New Members Announced

Herman announced the recent addition of new members to UNIX International, including Alcatel-SMH, FP Computing, Addamax, Ricoh, MODCOMP, HCL, Fuji/Xerox, Stratus, L.M. Ericsson, EMSCA, Omron, Wang and 88Open.

Other member companies include Amdahl, Arix, AT&T, Computer Consoles, Concurrent, Control Data, Convergent, Data General, Fujitsu, Gould, HCR, ICL, Informix, Intel, Interactive Systems, Lachman Associates, Micro Focus, Motorola, NCR, NEC, OKI Electric Industry, Olivetti, Oracle, Phoenix Technologies, Prime Computer, Pyramid Technology, Sun Microsystems, Texas Instruments, Tolerant Systems, Toshiba, Unisoft and Unisys.

"This expanded membership roster is further evidence of widespread support in the industry for the goals of UNIX International," Herman said. "We warmly welcome our new members."

Membership is Open

Membership in UNIX International is open to all parties worldwide who are interested in the standardization and use of UNIX System V, including users, independent software vendors, computer manufacturers, systems integrators, resellers, industry standards bodies, industry consultants, academic and research institutions, government agencies and microprocessor vendors.

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(R) UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T

(TM) Xenix is a trademark of Microsoft Corp.

(TM) X/Open and the "X" symbol are trademarks of X/Open Company, Limited in the United Kingdom and other countries.

/CONTACT: Randall S. Coppersmith, 212-373-1722, or Victoria B. Glazar, 212-373-1739, both of Unix International/

Copyright PR Newswire 1989 wire