IBM: Leading suppliers to publish guidelines for UNIX system development on
Intel-based servers
APR 5, 1999, M2 Communications - SOMERS, N.Y. -- Along with other
leading UNIX suppliers -- including Compaq, HP, SCO, and Sequent -- IBM
today announced a collaborative industry effort to develop and publish
guidelines that software developers and system manufacturers can use
for UNIX systems based on Intel Architecture.
These guidelines can help reduce development, maintenance, and test
costs for software developers and system manufacturers. For example,
software developers will be able to shift their focus from porting
programs to providing differentiation in their products and creating
new offerings. All types of applications, including enterprise resource
planning, e-business, business intelligence and transaction processing,
can benefit from this effort.
Industry supporters and contributors to the UNIX Developer's Guide -
Programming Interfaces include Compaq, Groupe Bull, Hewlett-Packard
Company, IBM, Intel, SCO, Sequent, plus software companies that include
BEA Systems, Informix, MERANT Micro Focus, Netscape Communications
Corporation, Oracle, PeopleSoft, Progress Software, SAS Institute, and
Tivoli Systems.
The guidelines will describe a comprehensive set of application
programming interfaces (APIs) and services for a high-volume,
enterprise-class UNIX operating system. It will also define an
application binary interface for the Intel IA-64 processor, delivering
the benefit of applications that will run on UNIX systems from a wide
range of manufacturers.
The guidelines will build on The Open Group=92s Single UNIX
Specification by including Public Key Encryption, Lightweight
Directory, Access Protocols, management and software integration
services.
The open systems standards will serve as the preliminary
specification that is offered into the consensus process of The Open
Group. A successful consensus review will result in a set of open
specifications, that are expected to become part of a future version of
The Open Group's Single UNIX Specification.
"We welcome this industry initiative to establish guidelines for
application developers using the UNIX system on the Intel
architecture," said Allen Brown, acting president and chief operating
officer of The Open Group. "We expect this initiative will add new
functionality to the existing Single UNIX Specification and enhance it
to meet the evolving business requirements of software developers and
customers. I am particularly delighted that this industry collaborative
effort is building on existing open specifications, such as UNIX 98,
CDSA, and LDAP, reducing fragmentation and ensuring that the UNIX
system is the best computing platform for the third millennium."
"Today, software developers have to bear the burden of costs to
support their applications across UNIX systems from different
manufacturers," said Rajiv Samant, general manager of UNIX at IBM.
"Working closely with leading industry companies, we will help
establish common software interfaces quickly and bring the benefits of
volume and economies of scale to software developers, systems
manufacturers and customers."
Xuan Bui, technology center manager for HP's Enterprise Internet
Solutions Center said, "A common API and ABI have long been a desire of
the UNIX software development community. The IA-64 processor, with its
common instruction set across all vendors, gives us a unique
opportunity to fulfill that desire. To capitalize on this opportunity,
we are eager to cooperate with these companies to define a common set
of software interfaces to meet this need."
"We believe this effort to promote standardization and commonality
will go a long way to further promoting high volume usage of UNIX on
the Intel Architecture, which will help reduce our support costs, while
attracting a greater range of software applications," said Tim Yeaton,
vice president and general manager, UNIX software division, Compaq.
"Compaq is committed to helping establish a high volume UNIX for
Compaq's Proliant platforms."
"Intel Architecture is becoming the unifying architecture for
UNIX-based servers," said Bill Raleigh, director of marketing Intel's
enterprise server group. "The UNIX Developer's Guide - Programming
Interfaces specification, along with the full backing of IBM, will
accelerate the availability and innovation of applications running on
Intel-based servers."
"The benefits of this effort are very attractive given the volumes we
expect for the new Intel chip architecture," said Dave Dargo, vice
president, Oracle's IBM product division. "Collaborating with IBM on
the UNIX Developer's Guide fits well with our tradition of delivering
lower-cost, standards-based software solutions to our customers."
Key target milestones include the initial release of the guidelines
in the third quarter of 1999. Reference implementations, development
tools and compliance test suites are planned to follow.
About The Open Group:
The Open Group is the consortium for enabling Enterprise Integration.
Membership is available to leading organizations in the deployment of
IT in a multi-vendor environment who are looking for ways for reducing
the time, risk and cost of integrating new solutions often within an
existing infrastructure.
The Open Group empowers its members to develop user requirements,
business policies, frameworks and standards, adopting and integrating
specifications from suppliers and from consortia working on relevant
components that makes the implementation of standards-based solutions
in an enterprise infrastructure practical.
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