Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!uunet!pdn!tscs!metran!jay From: jay@metran.UUCP (Jay Ts) Newsgroups: comp.sys.m88k Subject: Open Hardware Message-ID: <16@metran.UUCP> Date: 26 Apr 91 01:10:13 GMT Organization: Metran Technology, Tampa, Florida Lines: 124 [This post is very difficult for me to write, but I feel so strongly that it has to be done, that I am having to accept the fact that a lot of you reading this are going to be offended. There's not much I can do about that except to not write, and I find that to be an unacceptable cop-out.] A few days ago, I referred to the recently-formed ACE alliance, made up of such industry heavyweights as DEC, SCO, Microsoft, MIPS and Compaq. The group is planning to form standards for the MIPS RISC architecture similar to what 88open has been doing for the 88k, but with some major differences. This got me thinking, so I posted a question: "Does 88open define a hardware standard that would allow a company to develop a UNIX port to run unmodified on all 88open-compliant machines?" The answer is: "No." A few of those who replied to my post went on to explain that 88open's standards applied to software only -- the interface between third party software and the operating system. This is very difficult for me to accept. It seems to me that an "open" standard that applies to software but not hardware is really only 1/2 open. After all, a major reason why the PC-compatible market caught on and flourished (and still is flourishing) is because at the introduction of the machine, IBM released documentation on the PC's expansion bus, allowing other companies to develop and market expansion hardware for the PC. Because the PC was so simple and easy to copy, the clone makers produced PC-compatible motherboards and other parts. This "second source" of parts is essential to VARs, systems integrators and other resellers who are in the business of providing the best available solutions for their customers. At the hardware level, that is what Open Systems is all about. (Another thing that bothers me about the lack of an 88open hardware standard is that the customers end up being tied to their system vendor for the operating system, so the lack of hardware standard bleeds through to the software side as well. Also, not only do the customers end up with no second source for hardware parts, but they are also tied to the vendor's support contract as well. So maybe it's less than 1/2 ...) Now I'm going to do something to really strike a nerve. Let's look at the competition: architecture sales volume standards ----------------------------------------- PC-compatibles massive open hardware and software; "de facto" industry standard. SPARC huge open hardware and software; formal standard - SPARC International MIPS big none right now; open hardware and software standards planned as part of ACE alliance. 88k big open software formal standards -- 88open IBM, HP big none; hardware is not even easily cloned. I am saying "big" for the last three because I'm not sure of the exact numbers. To give some idea, both IBM and Data General sell only about 1/10 (very approximately) the quantity that Sun does. The difference between Sun and the PC compatibles is also about 1:10 (also *very* approximately...). My point is that the 88k is much nearer the bottom than the top, and that the main 88k vendor at this point, Data General, is not as big and powerful as IBM or HP. Thus, the 88open companies simply cannot afford to remain in the proprietary segment. On the other hand, DEC *is* big and powerful, and for some reason, they are very interested in the ACE alliance. Maybe they are starting to catch on. I sense that there is a resistance to a hardware standard in the 88open members, because they are afraid of competition from other 88open vendors forcing them into the so-called "commodity" hardware market. To this, I have two things to say. First, a commodity, according to my dictionary, is simply an article of trade. There is nothing wrong in selling commodities; it's simply a common, fundamental and necessary part of maintaining the human system of life. Being in the commodities market is *good*, because it is where the lifeblood of the economy is. Second, any good company can not only survive, but have great success in such a market. The PC compatible market looks scary, until you realize that it's just a big testing ground; computer evolution in progress, where adaptation and natural selection are the rules. The companies who do the best job find the most success. There's nothing wrong with that. To continue with the evolution analogy, I think that what is happening in the computer market market is like what happened a few million years ago with animals; the age of dinosaurs (proprietary systems) gave way to the age of mammals (Open Systems). Still, in these days of "little mammals" there are animals like elephants and whales roaming the earth. They are just as big as the dinosaurs were. People (and especially corporate management) continue to find extra value in products that are soundly developed and supported by large companies, and are happy to pay extra money for them. If they aren't, I will be happy to talk them into it :-) What this is boiling down to is that I am urging the 88open members to IMMEDIATELY begin work on the 88k hardware standard. I really like the 88k and want very much to see it succeed. I feel that the 88k machines deserve to sell in greater quantity than any other machine now on the market, and think it would be a terrible shame if five years from now this were not the case. In the future, I want to be supporting, and maybe even selling, 88k-based open hardware/software solutions. At present, I find it hard to even recommend them to my clients. As I see it, the 88k is now suffering mostly from improper support from the very companies that are attempting to use it for their own gain, and would like to point out that there is much more to be gained from a more open attitude. Thank You Very Much for reading this far. If you work for a member of the 88open Consortium Ltd., please do me a favor and send a copy of this message to your 88open representative and/or other policy-making personnel. Jay Ts, Director Metran Technology 14100 N. 46th St., Z-29 Tampa FL 33613 (813) 979-9169 uunet!pdn!tscs!metran!jay