Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!van-bc!ubc-cs!alberta!ncc!idacom!danny
From: danny@idacom.uucp (Danny Wilson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apollo
Subject: OSF Picks Apollo's NCS for Distributed Computing
Message-ID: <1990Jun1.180211.3586@idacom.uucp>
Date: 1 Jun 90 18:02:11 GMT
Organization: IDACOM Electronics Ltd.
Lines: 49


(Excerpted without permission from Communications week, May 21)

In a key selection, the OSF picked the remote procedure call
in the Network Computing System (NCS) of Hewlett-Packard Co -
one of the OSF's founders.  In doing so, the group rejected a 
competing proposal from Netwise Inc and Sun Microsystems, and
set the stage for what could be years of stiff competition
between the two radically different RPC's.

[...]

The OSF said the DCE (Dist. Computing Environment) can be easily
ported for use with a number of operating systems, including the
OSF's yet-to-be shipped OSF/1, AT&T's Unix System V, Microsoft's
OS/2 and DEC's VMS.  The DCE also can be used with a wide variety
of network hardware and software, including TCP/IP, DECnet, SNA, 
Ethernet and X.25, according to the OSF.

Some components of the software environment, adapted to work together
are scheduled to be release later this year. [...]


[...]

A chorus of disapproval came from the rival distributed computing
camp.  Because users of Sun's RPC will have no method to interoperate
with the RPC chosen by the OSF, Sun officials reacted vehemently against
the decision.

... "This decision will delay people using RPC technology because now 
they have to choose".  Sun claims some 800,000 installed nodes support its
RPC.

Jonathan Gossels, manager for interoperability technologies at the OSF, 
conceded that the number of nodes equipped to handle HP's RPC is 
significantly smaller, ranging from 400,000 to 600,000.  But he
noted that whichever RPC choice was made, a number of existing 
computer-network users would be left behind.


(Any typos are probably mine)


-- 
Danny Wilson			danny@idacom.uucp
IDACOM Electronics		alberta!idacom!danny
Edmonton, Alberta	X.400	danny@idacom.cs.ubc.cdn	
C A N A D A		Voice	+1 403 462 4545