Unix System Laboratories: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 09:59, 17 November 2019

Revision as of 18:40, 19 January 2020

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==Unix System V work==

[[Image:USL office in Summit with room number.jpg|thumb|right|250pxleft|Multi-part room numbers were characteristic of the AT&T heritage of the USL office in Summit]]

{{main|UNIX System V}}

One unit within USL, called the UNIX System V Software business unit and headed by Michael J. DeFazio, was responsible for the development of the UNIX System V base technology.<ref name="pr-rosetta"/> DeFazio had held a similar role within USO.<ref name="pr-uso"/>

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Indeed, the paper describing one of the first implementations of automatic instantiation of [[Template (C++)|C++ templates]] in a C++ compiler had as lead author an engineer associated with Unix System Laboratories.<ref>{{cite journal | first=Glen | last=McCluskey | first2=Robert B. | last2=Murray | title=Template Instantiation For C++ | journal=SIGPLAN Notices | volume=27 | issue=12 | date=December 1992 | pages=47–56}}</ref><ref name="m-and-c"/> And [[Margaret A. Ellis]], co-author with C++ creator [[Bjarne Stroustrup]] of ''The Annotated C++ Reference Manual'', an important publication in the history of the language, was a USL software engineer.<ref name="d-and-e"/>

[[Image:Office within the Unix System Laboratories building in Summit, New Jersey--March 1994.jpg|thumb|250px|rightleft|A software developer working in the Summit building]]

USL also continued the development of, and attempted to market, C++ Standard Components,

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== Partial spinoff from AT&T ==

[[Image:Unix System Laboratories presentation folder.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.7|USL presentation folder, made starting 1991]]

In April 1991, USL became partly independent of AT&T when about 22&nbsp;percent of it, worth about $65 million, was sold to eleven outside computer vendors: [[Amdahl Corporation|Amdahl]], [[Motorola]], Novell, Sun, [[International Computers Limited|ICL]], [[Olivetti]], [[Fujitsu]], [[NEC]], [[Oki Electric Industry|OKI Electric]], [[Toshiba]], and the [[Institute for Information Industry]].<ref name="cw-selloff">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D8pyWaTBzyoC&pg=PA12 | title=AT&T's Unix sell-off won't sway OSF | first=Johanna | last=Ambrosio | newspaper=Computerworld | date=April 8, 1991 | page=12}}</ref> There was a stated goal to lessen the control AT&T had over Unix, which would lead to USL becoming a publicly owned company within three years.<ref name="cw-selloff"/>

An AT&T executive said, "AT&T is convinced that the best way to nurture the growth of the open systems movement and to share into it ourselves is to establish an independent Unix Systems Laboratory with the technical guidance of Unix International and the business advice of investors who will ensure that USL is run properly and profitably."<ref name="nw-knowhow"/>

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== Acquisition by Novell ==

[[Image:Novell building in Summit, New Jersey that housed Unix Systems Group, which had been Unix System Laboratories-March 1994.jpg|thumb|250pxleft|The Summit building in the Novell Unix Systems Group era]]

On December 21, 1992, it was announced that Novell would acquire Unix System Laboratories, and all of its Unix assets, including all copyrights, trademarks, and licensing contracts, for some $335 million in stock.<ref name="lat-novell">{{cite news | url=http://articles.latimes.com/1992-12-22/business/fi-2406_1_networking-technology | title=Technology | newspaper=Los Angeles Times | date=December 22, 1992}}</ref> The news led to large headlines of the "NOVELL BUYS UNIX" variety.<ref name="crn-news">{{cite news | url=https://www.crn.com/columns/channel-programs/18831011/novell-buys-unix-again.htm | title=Novell Buys Unix, Again | first=David | last=Strom | magazine=CRN | date=November 5, 2003}}</ref>