Europe's Unix vendors cheer Novell/USL deal - Unix Systems Laboratories Inc

Software Magazine,  March, 1993  by George Black

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He argues that there is still no standard Unix and that although SCO is interested in any move toward unification, Novell's top priority should be providing total solutions, not standardizing the underlying operating system.

The purchase of USL by Novell has also been welcomed by Germany's Siemens-Nixdorf Information Systems, France's Bull, Italy's Olivetti and the U.K.'s ICL, now owned by Fujitsu of Japan. ICL and Olivetti, minority shareholders of USL, will become Novell minority shareholders through the proposed share exchange.

Peter Stuart, worldwide marketing strategy manager for midrange systems at ICL in Bracknell, U.K., said, "Novell will put more muscle behind Unix and enlarge the market for all of us. This will make it easier for DOS users on LANs to access Unix systems. A whole raft of new users will get into Unix.

"PC users will be keen to get their hands on Unix-based multiuser business applications," he added. "Novell will take Unix into the NetWare world and turn it into a shrink-wrapped commodity product."

Stuart argues that although standardization of Unix has not been a major issue for midrange systems, it will be at the PC level.

"The Novell takeover weakens the argument for users to wait for Windows NT, he said. "They will see Unix as the logical replacement for DOS and Windows, and the best vehicle for client/server systems."

GUARANTEEING FAIR PLAY

Rob Bailey, U.K. Unix marketing manager for Bull, thinks the acquisition will be a good thing for the Unix community because "Novell's hardware independence will guarantee fair play between manufacturers."

Unix will be much more commercialized under Novell, he predicted, and Novell will take steps to cut its research and development costs. Lower R&D costs could mean lower license fees. However, it could also mean a lower quality product. The code licensing structure could also be changed, he said.

Bailey maintained that the split between the AT&T-backed Unix International and the IBM-backed Open Software Foundation, based in Cambridge, Mass., is now less important and less likely to deter users from committing to Unix.

"Unix is now a safe bet, whichever version you choose. The focus is now on the middleware -- not the operating system -- on the Case tools and databases. We therefore argue that Unix is the only pragmatic route to go, as Windows NT is still an unknown quantity," said Bailey.

Siemens-Nixdorf is both a firm supporter of USL's SVR4 and a supplier of Novell products. Vice Chairman Horst Nasko said the goal of improving the performance of Unix and marketing it more effectively will be achieved faster because of Novell's purchase of USL.

Olivetti supports all three operating system challengers--Windows NT, Unix and OS/2. "Our Open Systems Architecture is independent of the operating system," said Lance Allen, U.K. marketing manager for Olivetti in London. "We are advising our big corporate customers to hedge their bets as long as possible, until it becomes clear who is winning." That might not be until mid-1994, according to some experts.