The Open Software Foundation is downgrading the status of its relationship with X/Open Co Ltd, the internatonal standards-setting body that it joined in back in May 1989, at the same time as its then bitter enemy, Unix International Inc did. The Foundation – currently with a representative on the X/Open board – will relinquish its shares on December 31. The Foundation cites its charter as a not-for-profit supplier of technologies and X/Open’s current process of re-structuring for the change of heart. However the Foundation was toying with the idea of pulling out of X/Open as long a go as last year, ostensibly for financial reasons, and X/Open believes finances are the main reason behind its current decision. The burdened cost of an owners’ share in X/Open runs a company around $1m a year, and the Foundation has experienced attrition among its founder members – sponsors, its largest financial supporters. The Foundation admits cost is a factor. Users may consider the amount a small price to pay for the influence wielded over the X/Open process by a board member. However, X/Open has also been something of a thorn in the Foundation’s strategy over the last 12 months, trying to bar it at every turn from passing off its products – Distributed Computing Environment, Distributed Management Environment and Motif graphical user interface – as standards. This is a situation, insiders believe, that the Foundation has had trouble accepting, even though X/Open has evenhandedly refused standards status to the Unix System V Interface Definition. Currently, the Software Foundation remains publicly committed to X/Open’s criteria, and could take a seat on X/Open’s 20-member Independent Software Vendor council – a role for which it has petitioned. The vendor council is allowed one board member. On the other hand, it may decide to start distancing itself from the organisation sometime in the New Year. The telltale signs would be a bucking up of its AES Application Environment Specification framework upon which the OSF/1 operating system rides, a backing off from X/Open’s XPG portability guide, and any movement towards a branding and certification process of its own. Meanwhile, X/Open is reportedly expecting further attrition among owners next year due to merger and acquisition activity and belt-tightening.
