Oracle unit to launch BSD Unix-based network computer software in April
>>>Allen, the attached article came from a recent InfoWorld. BSD is definitely in the first release of NC/OS. I have no idea when the VxWorks version will be available.
By Niall McKay
InfoWorld Electric
Posted at 6:36 AM PT, Feb 27, 1997
Oracle's Network Computer Inc. (NCI) subsidiary plans to launch its Intel-based network computer software at the Oracle OpenWorld User Conferences in Vienna and Tokyo in April, a company spokesman confirmed Wednesday.
The software will be based on BSD Unix, an old version of the operating system put out by the University of California at Berkeley. It will run on both Intel x86-architecture chips and the ARM RISC processor, according to sources close to NCI.
The company recently hired a team of programmers specifically to write client software that will run on the Intel processor, a source close to NCI said.
However, NCI spokesman Randy Brasche would not confirm that the company is using BSD. "It's more complicated [than] that, but there will be more than one operating system developed," he said. "We will be using a Unix-based microkernel, but we will be separately pursuing several different strategies. One will be based on VxWorks from Wind River Systems. The other I can't elaborate on right now," Brasche said.
Wind River's VxWorks is a real-time operating system, typically used in embedded applications, according to analysts.
An analyst said using BSD would make sense for NCI. "It is quite logical for Oracle to base an operating system on BSD," said Clay Ryder of Zona Research Inc. in Redwood City, Calif. "BSD Unix has been the basis for many good operating systems in the past. Although it's not the best solution, it is probably the cheapest. They [Oracle] will not have to pay a royalty on what they use."
"The reason they chose BSD was that there was a lot of code that could be hacked out of it to make a very slim operating system for the network computer," a source close to NCI said.
Meanwhile, Brasche said NCI plans to focus on three markets -- education, consumer, and corporate.
"We will roll out the network computer software in two phases," he said. "The first phase in April will include the Intel-based client software and will be aimed at the business market. The second phase, aimed at the consumer market, will be made during the third quarter and will be made in conjunction with consumer electronics manufacturers RCA and Zenith."
Brasche did not elaborate on when products aimed at the educational market would be launched.
NCI's new development team is developing three different technologies: NC System Software, NC Server Software, and the NC Smart Card, according to an Oracle statement.
NC System Software is a client operating system that will include network connectivity, World Wide Web browsing, multimedia content, and real-time audio and video.
NC Server, based on Oracle database software, will include components for authentication and administration, file management, e-mail delivery, and dispatching software updates to network computers.
NC Card is a smart card that looks like a credit card and provides personalized access to the network by identifying the user and providing security through a personal identification number.
Network Computer Inc. in Redwood City, Calif. is at (415) 631-4600 or nc.com.
Niall McKay is a San Francisco-based correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld
affiliate.
Please direct your comments to InfoWorld Electric News Editor Dana Gardner.
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