Unix System Laboratories: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:58, 15 May 2020

Revision as of 01:45, 22 May 2020

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UNIX System Laboratories, Inc., came into being as a separate subsidiary of AT&T in November 1989 and was assigned all U.S.-based AT&T Unix and USO assets.<ref name="pr-rosetta"/>

However USO continued to operate as USO until June 1990, when the reincorporation of AT&T's European and Asian Unix business operations as wholly owned subsidiaries of USL was completed.<ref name="signals-91"/> At that point the UNIX Software Operation was publicly rebranded as UNIX System Laboratories.<ref name="pr-rosetta">{{cite press release | url=http://tech-insider.org/unix/research/1990/0625.html | title=AT&T Renames Unix Software Unix System Laboratories | publisher=PR Newsire | date=June 25, 1990}}</ref>

Again, a point of emphasis was to separate the Unix-based business from AT&T's hardware-based business.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0bqdMvDMv74C&pg=PA10&lpg=PA10 | title= AT&T's Unix unit spun off | first=Johanna | last=Ambrosio | newspaper=Computerworld | date=July 23, 1990 | page=10}}</ref> The subsidiaries were known as UNIX System Laboratories Europe, Ltd., sited onnear [[Ealing Broadway]] in [[London]], and UNIX System Laboratories Pacific, Ltd., located in [[Shiba, Tokyo]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xe-8gZ6FoIMC&pg=PA39 | title=AUUG Conference Proceedings 1992 | publisher=Australian Open Systems Users Group | date=Summer 1992 | page=39}}</ref>

Dooling was named the initial president of USL, continuing from his position at USO.<ref name="pr-rosetta"/>

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USL produced many books documenting various aspects of Unix System V.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n91048302/ | title=Identities: UNIX System Laboratories | publisher=WorldCat | accessdate=May 6, 2018}} WorldCat lists "122 works in 297 publications in 1 language and 1,849 library holdings" from USL.</ref>

USL also provided some training and consulting services for Unix systems.<ref name="pr-finalized"/>

==Chorus and Ouverture==

[[Image:High Street in Ealing.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|USL Europe's offices were in Ealing, London (in the building on the right side after the road bends, as seen here in 2009)]]

In 1991, USL forged an arrangement with the French company [[Chorus Systèmes SA]] to engage in cooperative work on the [[ChorusOS|Chorus]] [[microkernel]] technology, with the idea of supporting SVR4 on a microkernel and thereby making it more scalable and better suited for parallel and distributed applications.<ref name="en-1991"/><ref name="pcw-1993"/> As part of this, USL took a $1 million stake in Chorus Systèmes.<ref name="en-1991">{{cite news | author-last=Khermouch | author-first=Gerry | title=USL backs French firm's Microkernel | magazine=Electronic News | date=November 25, 1991 | page= 13 | via= Gale General OneFile | url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A11521898/ITOF?u=wikipedia&sid=ITOF&xid=50f6313d }}</ref> Much of the USL Chorus work was done at the USL Europe facility in London.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/6603/es | title=An Industry Project to Progress Microkernel-based Open Operating Systems for the 1990s | publisher=Community Research and Development Information Service | work=Resultados de investigaciones de la UE | date=June 17, 1994 | access-date=May 21, 2020}}</ref> By 1993 the work was still ongoing, with questions of industry standardization of interfaces arising.<ref>{{cite news | url=<!-- https://www.cbronline.com/news/chorus_systemes_takes_the_initiative_in_establishing_a_microkernel_compatibility_effort/ -->| title=Chorus Systemes takes the initiative in establishing a microkernel compatibility effort | work=Computergram International | publisher=Computer Business Review | date=June 16, 1993}}</ref> [[Unisys]] was also part of the collaboration effort.<ref name="pcw-1993"/> Announcements made during 1993 promised an OEM release in 1994 and a general availability release in 1995.<ref name="pcw-1993">{{cite news | author-last=Foley | author-first=Mary Jo | title=USL, Chorus outline plans for microkernel release of Unix SVR4 | magazine=PC Week | date= June 14, 1993 | page= 60| via=Gale General OneFile | url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A13938479/ITOF?u=wikipedia&sid=ITOF&xid=deeb8d72 }}</ref>

This was part of the larger [[Ouverture project]], a $14 million effort that was itself part of the [[European Strategic Program on Research in Information Technology]] (ESPRIT), overseen by the [[European Commission]].<ref>{{cite news | author-last=Van Tyle | author-first=Sherry | title=PC fault-tolerant Unix-based system runs on a modular microkernel architecture | magazine= Electronic Design | date= October 15, 1992 | page=34 | via= Gale General OneFile | url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A14402019/ITOF?u=wikipedia&sid=ITOF&xid=ede270b7 }}</ref>

{{clear}}

==Other software work==