Thanks to Andrew Josey for
passing this along.
From the press
release:
Collaborative Effort to Yield Version 3 of the Single UNIX
Specification
MENLO PARK, Calif. (16 July , 1999) – The Open Group, a leading
consortium dedicated to enterprise integration, and The Institute
of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Inc., announced
today an agreement for joint development of a common revision to
the existing Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) and UNIX
specifications.
Under this agreement, The Open Group and IEEE will share joint
copyright of the resulting work. The work will replace the existing
IEEE Std 1003.1, 1996 version, IEEE Standard for POSIX–Part 1:
System Application: Program Interface (API) [C Language], and IEEE
Std 1003.2, 1992 version, IEEE Standard for POSIX–Part 2: Shell
and Utilities, and The Open Group Base specifications for the
Single UNIX Specification. It is expected that the joint work will
also be put forward for adoption by the International
Electrotechnical Comission (IEC) and the International Organization
for Standardization (ISO).
This unique collaboration, informally known as the Austin Common
Revision Standards Group, combines the formal standards process
with the industry specifications for the UNIX system. The resulting
document set will replace the existing POSIX.1, POSIX.2 and become
the core of Version 3 of the Single UNIX Specification.
“This (agreement) offers significant benefits to the industry
and to end users. The IEEE POSIX specifications and the UNIX
specification are significant foundations for today’s IT systems.
By combining the two, the industry is assured of this solid
foundation continuing, preserving the high value of investments
associated with software systems,” stated Judith Gorman, Managing
Director of IEEE Standards.
“The aim for the revision project is to write once, adopt
everywhere,” said Andrew Josey, Chair, of the Austin Group.
“Participation in the project presently includes over 120
individuals from over 50 companies, including representatives from
the commercial system vendors, the Open Source community,
government and academia.”
The joint revision of standard is anticipated to be finalized in
the first quarter of 2001. The first draft specifications are now
available from The Open Group web site at URL: http://www.opengroup.org/austin/login.html.
Detailed information about the project is found at http:/www.opengroup.org/austin/
The Austin Common Revision Standards Group has received
widespread industry support for its efforts.
“Compaq has always been a leading advocate of industry
standards, is playing an active role in the Austin Common Revision
Standards Group effort, and is committed to ensuring that Compaq
Tru64 UNIX remains open standards-compliant,” said Tim Yeaton, Vice
President and General Manager, UNIX Software Division, Compaq
Computer Corporation. “Participation in this initiative underscores
our commitment to open standards, and helping our customers
maintain their investment in existing applications. This effort is
going to substantially increase the pace at which corporate
customers adopt UNIX as the IT platform for enterprise
applications,” Yeaton added.
“Development of these key industry standards continues to
provide the necessary freedom of choice in selection of systems
from competing suppliers both today and, more importantly
tomorrow,” said Denis Brown, Vice President, General Manager,
Litton PRC and Chair of the Governing Board of The Open Group.
“The Linux Standard Base is pleased to be contributing to the
Austin Group. POSIX is an important factor behind the success of
Linux and the Austin Group update is needed to underpin the future
of Linux and other POSIX operating systems,” said Dan Quinlan,
Linux Standard Base.
“Canada has been and continues to be a strong supporter of this
work through our participation via the Standards Council of Canada
in ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG15. We look forward to the publication of
this important work in the very near future,” said Doug Langlotz,
the Standards Council of Canada.
“Softway Systems has long supported the ongoing work of the IEEE
POSIX standards, and their adoption by The Open Group into the
Single UNIX Specification,” said Jason Zions, Chief Scientist,
Softway Systems and Chair of the IEEE POSIX Working Group for
System Services. “These documents form the basis for the INTERIX
environment on Windows NT and Windows 2000. We look forward to
continuing our participation to ensure a common programming
environment exists between Windows NT and all Linux and UNIX
systems.”
“Lack of true source level portability is one of the highest
hidden costs in software development, and this agreement is a
substantial step towards reducing that cost. Producing a single,
coherent, reference work for application developers that will be
implemented not just on traditional UNIX platforms but on numerous
others, including LINUX ™ and Windows NT ™, is something our
8,000 members have long demanded’.” said -Nick Stoughton, Standards
Representative at Usenix Association.
The Open Group has been the custodian of the specification for
the UNIX system and the trademark since 1993. The effort that led
to this transfer was the catalyst for all vendors to make their
systems conform to this single definition, a goal that had been
elusive in previous harmonization efforts. Today all the major
vendors support the Single UNIX Specification and have registered
product. For information on registered products see http://www.opengroup.org/regproducts/.
ABOUT THE IEEE
The IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional society.
The members and volunteers of the IEEE are the technical and
scientific professionals making the revolutionary engineering
advances that are reshaping our world today. This includes the
development of leading-edge, electronic and information technology
standards used throughout industry.
ABOUT THE OPEN GROUP
The Open Group is committed to delivering greater business
efficiency by bringing together buyers and suppliers of information
systems to lower the cost and risks associated with integrating new
technology across the enterprise. The Open Group, a vender and
technology-neutral consortium, ensures that multi-vendor
information technology matches the demands and needs of customers.
This is achieved through the development and deployment of
frameworks, polices, best practices and standards in pursuit of the
group’s IT DialTone vision — the concept of making all technology
as open and accessible as using a telephone.
By leveraging the expertise of its sponsors – Compaq (NSYE:
CPQ), Fujitsu, HP (NYSE: HWP), Hitachi (TSE:6501), IBM (NYSE: IBM),
NCR (NYSE: NCR), Siemens, Sun (NASDAQ: SUNW) – and other members
comprising leading software companies, Fortune 500 users and
government departments, The Open Group is well on its way to
achieving the DialTone vision. Embracing the maxim: “we can do so
much more together than alone”, The Open Group is helping its
members to stay ahead in the race to use technology to gain
competitive advantage. Additional information about The Open Group
is available at the consortium’s web site at http://www.opengroup.org.
Note to editors: UNIX is a registered trademark and IT DialTone
and The Open Group are trademarks of The Open Group in the US and
other countries. POSIX is a registered trademark of the IEEE. All
other products or company names mentioned are used for
identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of their
respective owners. The Austin Common Revision Standards Group is
named after the location of the inaugural meeting held at the IBM
facility in Austin, Texas in September 1998.