PRESS RELEASE
CORBA on LINUX Gains Momentum
Framingham, MA – Programmers and end-users can now obtain
implementations of the Object Management Group’s (OMG’s) Common
Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) for Linux. As the
momentum has grown behind the open source Linux operating system,
more and more OMG members have requested this support. The
emergence of CORBA-conformant ORBs for Linux is an indicator of the
commercial confidence and industry support for both CORBA and
Linux.
Early Linux programmers dabbled in Linux as a popular
alternative to WindowsNT. Over time, the cooperatively-developed,
full-fledged, open source Linux operating system has matured, and
major industry players such as Netscape, Oracle, Sybase, IBM and
Intel have taken notice. According to Datapro Information Service
(a division of Gartner Group), Linux is the only alternative
operating system growing in market share. Although difficult to
quantify, some analysts estimate that Linux has attracted over a
million users, perhaps more if you consider the “underground” base
of developers who are not ready to announce official commercial
support.
As greater proof that Linux has entered the mainstream, Oracle
(http://www.oracle.com)
recently released its flagship database, Oracle8, as well as its
Application Server, on the Linux platform. IBM has also announced
plans to migrate DB2 to Linux in the near future. Sybase claims
over 1000 downloads of its Adaptive Server Enterprise Linux suite
since the end of September. Linux’s fast-paced popularity has
resulted in a surge of support and a large selection of software
including proxy servers, clustering kits, screen savers and now
OMG’s Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA). Paragon
Software’s OAK (www.paragon-software.com),
MICO (http://diamant.vsb.cs.uni-frankfurt.de/~mico/)
and Washington University’s TAO (www.cs.wustl.edu/~schmidt/TAO.html)
are some of the CORBA Object Request Brokers available for a Linux
environment.
At Washington University, the development of the TAO ORB is
being sponsored by companies and organizations including Boeing,
Lucent and Motorola which recognize the value of open source models
and can recognize the future commercial value of such ORBs. Malcolm
Spence, Marketing Director with Object Computing, Inc. (http://www.ociweb.com), the company
responsible for providing marketing and technical support for TAO,
said, “Customers want a solid, reliable platform for durable
mission critical applications. Once the applications are there, the
next logical step is establishing an object middleware so that the
user community doesn’t need to know how, or where, this service is
being rendered. When that happens, CORBA on Linux is the answer. An
open source ORB based on CORBA standards is an even better
answer.”
“It’s all about options. Users don’t want to be bound to only
one platform or operating system,” commented Bill Hoffman,
President of the Object Management Group. “Linux offers another
level of independence and CORBA vendors have responded. As Linux
comes out of the back room and into the mainstream, I suspect other
middleware vendors will follow this trend.”
About Linux and Linux International
The Linux commercial server operating system is promoted by
Linux International, an association of vendors that add services,
training, support and software value to Linux. Linux version 1.0
was released in early 1994. Production versions (Linux 1.2 and 2.0)
are available from several vendors including Red Hat Software and
Caldera, Inc. For more information about Linux or for membership in
Linux International, see http://www.li.org. For information on CORBA
ORBs for Linux, see http://linas.org/linux/corba.html.
About OMG
With the support of its membership of software vendors, software
developers and end users, OMG’s CORBA is “The Middleware That’s
Everywhere.” Since 1989, OMG has been “Setting The Standards For
Distributed Computing^Ù” through its mission to promote the
theory and practice of object technology for the development of
distributed computing systems. The goal is to provide a common
architectural framework for object oriented applications based on
widely available interface specifications. OMG is headquartered in
Framingham, MA, USA and has international marketing offices in
Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Germany, India, Italy, Japan and the
UK. Additionally, OMG is a sponsor of the COMDEX Enterprise series
of Trade Shows and Conferences.
For information on joining OMG or additional information, please
contact OMG headquarters by phone at +1-508-820 4300, by fax at
+1-508-820 4303, by email at info@omg.org. OMG provides current
information and services for Distributed Object Computing through
The Information Brokerage^Ù on the World Wide Web at:
www.omg.org.
Note to editors: CORBA, OMG*, Object Management* and the OMG
logo are registered trademarks of the Object Management Group. The
Information Brokerage*, CORBA – The Middleware That’s Everywhere*,
OMG: Setting The Standards For Distributed Computing*, IIOP*, OMG
Interface Definition Language*, CORBAservices*, CORBAfacilities*,
CORBAmed*, and CORBAnet* are trademarks of the Object Management
Group. All other products or company names mentioned are used for
identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of their
respective owners.