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From: greid@ondine.COM (Glenn Reid)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.news
Subject: Re: MicroTimes interview with John Warnock of Adobe
Message-ID: <4259@adobe.COM>
Date: 25 Oct 88 23:06:49 GMT
References: <5742@hoptoad.uucp>
Sender: news@adobe.COM
Reply-To: greid@adobe.UUCP (Glenn Reid)
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated, Mountain View
Lines: 42


> [MicroTimes is 'California's computer magazine', back issues available for
> $4 from +1 415 652 3810.  The interview is from the Nov88 issue, pg 52.]
> 
> Steve Guttman and Mary Eisenhart interviewed John Warnock, founder of Adobe,
> at a recent conference.  He mentions Sun and NeWS several times, e.g.:
> 
> "Q: Sun has some kind of Display PostScript system interpreter in their
>     NeWS system.  Does that make them a competitor in any sense?
>  A: They've implemented their own interpreter, I guess.  I would rather
>     have that kind of competitor than this Presentation Manager stuff.
>     At least they're spiritually for the same purposes."
>  
> "Q: Are there any UNIX machines that PostScript graphics are currently 
>     running on?
>  A: There's Sun's implementation of NeWS...  No, there really isn't, except
>     in our laboratories.  Actually, NeXT will be the first Display PostScript
>     platform."
> 
> To me it sounds like he thinks NeWS really *is* a PostScript implementation,
> but keeps remembering that the Adobe lawyers tell him to say it isn't...

Adobe lawyers work for John Warnock, and he doesn't have to be reminded
of anything.:-)

In this interview, Dr. Warnock is simply acknowledging Sun's efforts in
implementing a clone PostScript language interpreter.  If you read the
last Q and A above one more time, Sun's implementation of NeWS does run
PostScript graphics on UNIX machines, in a sense, but it is referred to
as an implementation of NeWS, not of PostScript.

All very tricky legal landmines, but I can assure you that Dr. Warnock
knows exactly what NeWS is, and I think the important message in
between the lines here is that Adobe has a great interest in Sun
Microsystems, and would love to see them use our Display PostScript
implementation rather than a "clone."

Disclaimer:  I work at Adobe Systems and this is not an impartial
commentary, although I like to think it is at least reasonable....

Glenn Reid
Adobe Systems