Date: Fri, 7 Jul 95 00:27:06 +0100 From: Jean-Marc Zucconi <jmz@cabri.obs-besancon.fr> To: hackers@freebsd.org Subject: FYI: JAPAN COMPUTER CORPORATION PORTS BSD BERKELEY TO PREP Message-ID: <9507062327.AA28093@cabri.obs-besancon.fr>
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JAPAN COMPUTER CORPORATION PORTS BSD BERKELEY TO PREP
(July 3rd 1995) Japan Computer Corporation launches its first
PReP-compliant desktop this month, based on technology from
FirePower. It also reports that it has signed parallel processing
technology from Groupe Bull plus a further deal with Canon for
technology, and possible future sales of Canon's laptop machines.
But perhaps the most notable aspect of the announcement is the
inclusion of a PReP-compatible version of the 4.4 BSD Lite freeware
Unix. This will be bundled as a standard part of the system - the
other PReP operating systems will also be available, but will cost
extra. Whether JCC will make its BSD implementation available to
other vendors is unclear at the moment.
The Japanese PC market is fragmented compared to much of the rest of
the world and Microsoft has failed to secure the grip that it has
obtained elsewhere. Much of this is due to the alphabetical problems
which beset the original DOS market. JCC says that one of the main
reasons it decided to base its operating system strategy on BSDLite
is a perceived English-centric attitude among the other OS providers.
Basically, the company is sick of having to wait for local-language
versions of the other PReP operating systems. The company reckons
that it has got at least 100 public domain software packages running
on the Unix platform. These include the Mosaic web browser, a WWW
creation package, the LaTex text editor and X11 release 5.
The basic machines themselves will look very familiar to anyone who
has looked at Firepower's desktop systems. The 'Crusader 3e' machine
is based upon a 100MHz 603e, the 'Crusader 604' on a 100MHz 604. No
pricing was available as we went to press. The company says that it
also looking at taking FirePower's dual-processor machines.
Future plans are a little hazy, but the technology agreement with
Bull suggests the company will look at the SMP server space; it will
be interesting to see whether it attempts to produce an SMP version
of BSD Unix, or whether it will plump for AIX. Tokyo-based Japan
Computer Corp was founded in 1977, has a yearly turnover of around
3000 million Yen and until now has mainly been involved in designing
SPARC-based workstations and network servers.
(c) PowerPC News - free by mailing add@power.globalnews.com
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_____________________________________________________________________________
Jean-Marc Zucconi Observatoire de Besancon F 25010 Besancon cedex
PGP Key: finger jmz@cabri.obs-besancon.fr
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