-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUN TO SUPPORT UNIX SYSTEM V.4 IN NEXT MAJOR SunOS RELEASE SunFLASH Vol 11 #1 November 1989 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUN TO SUPPORT UNIX SYSTEM V.4 IN NEXT MAJOR SunOS RELEASE Migration Guide to System V.4 Available Now to SunOS Developers NEW YORK CITY --November 1, 1989-- Sun Microsystems today demonstrated a pre-release implementation of UNIX(R) System V Release 4 running on a Sun workstation. The company also announced that the next major release of SunOS(TM)--one of the most widely used versions of UNIX, with more than 175,000 installations--will be based on this new release of UNIX soon to be introduced by AT&T. The demonstration was part of the "premier porting event" staged by AT&T and UNIX International at the UNIX EXPO trade show being held here. Sun also announced that the "SunOS to UNIX System V Release 4.0 Compatibilty and Migration Guide" is now available for free. It helps software developers write applications that will be source code- compatible with System V.4. The first copies of the free migration guide were distributed to developers at UNIX EXPO. "Sun believes that System V Release 4 will be widely acknowledged as the leading UNIX," said Bill Joy, Sun vice president of research and development and a world-renowned UNIX expert. "We encourage all independent software vendors who write for Sun platforms to migrate their applications to this operating system. Our new migration guide is just the first of several steps we'll take to ensure a smooth migration path for developers." The migration guide includes an exhaustive list of SunOS system calls, cross-referenced to show whether they are the same or different in System V.4. If the system call is different, the guide shows programmers how to write code that will run on both operating systems. Sun Contributed Substantial Technology to System V.4 Sun worked closely with AT&T on the development of System V.4 and contributed substantial technology. Among the major elements of SunOS UNIX to be incorporated in System V.4 are: Sun's Remote Procedure Call/External Data Representation (RPC/XDR) protocol, enhanced to run on top of the new transport-level interface, co-developed by Sun and AT&T. This enhancement will allow software developers to write distributed applications based on RPC/XDR that will run independent of the underlying network transport (such as TCP/IP and OSI). This transport-independent "common platform for distributed computing" has been endorsed by many leading software vendors and will also be supported by such PC local area network suppliers as Novell, Banyan and 3Com. Sun's Network File System (NFS(TM)), a de facto industry standard for file sharing between heterogeneous systems. NFS is now licensed or implemented by more than 260 organizations worldwide, including IBM, Digital Equipment Corp., Hewlett-Packard, Novell and Data General. The virtual memory capability in SunOS is the basis for System V.4's virtual memory management scheme. The dynamic linking and shared library mechanisms make possible portability across hardware platforms. The OpenWindows(TM) application environment will be included in System V.4. It consists of Sun's X11/NeWs(TM) window system and XView(TM) toolkit, which allows developers to write applications based on the intuitive OPEN LOOK(TM) graphical user interface designed by Sun and AT&T. System V.4 is a composite of essentially all the major UNIX operating systems in use today: AT&T's System V, SunOS, BSD and Xenix. Besides being enhanced with SunOS features, System V.4 will include BSD features such as a fast file system, internet services and sockets, which support networking software. SPARC ABI Will Benefit Software Developers AT&T, Sun and other SPARC vendors are currently in the final stages of developing a System V.4 application binary interface (ABI) for SPARC-based systems that will allow developers who write to the SPARC ABI to market just one version of their product that will run unmodified on all SPARC systems. "We believe this ABI will become the standard for shrink-wrapped software distribution in the UNIX market," said Sri Rajeev, Sun product manager for unified UNIX. "As more vendors develop and ship SPARC-based systems, software developers will be able to write applications that will run on all SPARC systems." Sun will work with members of its Catalyst program of third-party vendors to help them migrate their applications to System V.4. Already, numerous large software vendors have publicly stated their intention to support the new operating system. These include Agfa Compugraphic Division, Cadre, Dynamic Graphics, GeoQuest Systems, Lotus Development, Micrognosis, Oracle, ProCase, RasterOP, Ready Systems, SCO, SAS Institute, Simulation Sciences, Telesoft, Teradyne Inc. (EDA group), Valid, V.I. Corporation and Wind River Systems. Sun's migration guide is available for free to any developer. Sun Microsystems, Inc., headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., is a leading worldwide supplier of network-based distributed computing systems, including professional workstations, servers and UNIX operating system and productivity software. ### NFS, NeWs, SPARC, XView, OpenWindows and SunOS are trademarks of Sun Microsystems. UNIX is a registered trademark and OPEN LOOK is a trademark of AT&T. All other products or services mentioned in this document are identified by the trademarks or service marks of their respective companies or organizations. For reader inquiries, telephone 1-800-821-4643 outside California. Inside California, call 1-800-821-4642. Press Contact: Dennis Freeman (415) 336-6117 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunflash is an electronic mail news service from Sun Microsystems, Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Please address comments to John McLaughlin (sun!sunvice!johnj or johnmclaughlin@sun.COM). (305) 776-7770. Sunflash is targeted at Sun customers and users, not Sun employees as much of the information posted to sunflash is already available to Sun employees. If you have any information that you think would be of value to Sun users and customers, please email it to sun!sunvice!johnj. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++