| Motif GUI to be released under open-source license |
May 15, 2000
Menlo Park, CA -- (press release) -- The Open Group announced today that it is releasing the source code of Motif, using a public license, to the Open Source community.
"As the graphical user interface toolkit of choice on UNIX systems, Motif is the most successful technology available today for heterogeneous platforms," said Allen Brown, President and CEO of The Open Group. "We want to support the momentum of Open Source operating systems such as Linux and FreeBSD by developing an Open Motif® licence for use with Open Source operating systems."
This license will allow the release of the Motif source code, as a product called Open Motif, for use, reproduction and distribution on operating systems that are themselves Open Source programs, such as Linux and FreeBSD, without the payment of royalties. The license can be found here. Supporters of Open Motif initiative include: Imperial Software Technology (IST), Integrated Computer Solutions (ICS), KL Group, and Metro Link.
"As the creators of X-Designer, the world's leading Motif GUI builder, we're delighted to have assisted The Open Group in preparing Open Motif for release," said Derek Lambert, CEO of Imperial Software Technology. "The advent of Open Motif extends the reach of standards-based, professional user interface technology to the new free operating system platforms which will materially assist in the acceptance of Linux and FreeBSD in the corporate networked application environment."
"The release of Open Motif is great news for Motif and Open Source communities," said Dennis MacNeil, product marketing manager for KL Group. "Open Motif is an . . . industrial strength toolkit that will enable software developers to deliver powerful mission-critical applications to Open Source platforms like Linux and FreeBSD." "In support of The Open Group initiative, we have produced one of the first versions of Open Motif to allow developers to access the source code. Open Motif will be freely available from The Open Group and KL Group's Web site" added MacNeil.
"Motif has long been a useful, popular tool for developers. Since 1991, Metro Link has been porting, testing and producing packages for Motif. Metro Link was the first company to ship a commercial product on Linux, that being Motif. Metro Link Motif has been certified by one of the most popular database vendors as the most stable supported graphical interface available," said Morgan Von Essen, Metro Link CEO and President. "Now that version 2.1 is freely available on open source systems, Metro Link believes that even more developers will be attracted to the Motif environment with its reliability and portability. We are fully committed to standards-based open source development. This movement by The Open Group is a significant demonstration of the open source community's effort to establish universal standards for key software products."
Those wishing to distribute Open Motif are invited to become Supporters of the Open Motif initiative. They are required to provide a binary version of the Open Motif products for an Open Source operating system on the central web site being hosted by The Open Group. The source of Open Motif is available now here.
About Motif
Motif is an industry standard graphical user interface (GUI) available on more than 200 hardware and software platforms. It is the de facto graphical user interface on UNIX systems in heterogeneous networked computing environments. Motif is fully specified by the IEEE 1295 standard, providing application developers, system vendors, and end users with a stable, mature and reliable environment for application presentation on a wide range of platforms. Motif is also the base graphical user interface for the Common Desktop Environment (CDE) and a number of other desktops. The current release of Motif is 2.1.30.
About The Open Group (www.opengroup.org)
The Open Group, a vendor and technology-neutral consortium, is committed to delivering greater business efficiency by bringing together buyers and suppliers of information systems to lower the cost and risks associated with integrating new technology across the enterprise. The Open Group's mission is to deliver assurance of conformance to Open Standards through the testing and certification of suppliers' products.
[Editor: fyi, there's an interesting discussion thread about this topic at LinuxToday.com, here.]
(Click here for further information)
|
|
|
FUEL Database on MontaVista Linux
Whether building a mobile handset, a car navigation system, a package tracking device, or a home entertainment console, developers need capable software systems, including an operating system, development tools, and supporting libraries, to gain maximum benefit from their hardware platform and to meet aggressive time-to-market goals.
Breaking New Ground: The Evolution of Linux Clustering
With a platform comprising a complete Linux distribution, enhanced for clustering, and tailored for HPC, Penguin Computing¿s Scyld Software provides the building blocks for organizations from enterprises to workgroups to deploy, manage, and maintain Linux clusters, regardless of their size.
Data Monitoring with NightStar LX
Unlike ordinary debuggers, NightStar LX doesn¿t leave you stranded in the dark. It¿s more than just a debugger, it¿s a whole suite of integrated diagnostic tools designed for time-critical Linux applications to reduce test time, increase productivity and lower costs. You can debug, monitor, analyze and tune with minimal intrusion, so you see real execution behavior. And that¿s positively illuminating.
Virtualizing Service Provider Networks with Vyatta
This paper highlights Vyatta's unique ability to virtualize networking functions using Vyatta's secure routing software in service provider environments.
High Availability Messaging Solution Using AXIGEN, Heartbeat and DRBD
This white paper discusses a high-availability messaging solution relying on the AXIGEN Mail Server, Heartbeat and DRBD. Solution architecture and implementation, as well as benefits of using AXIGEN for this setup are all presented in detail.
Understanding the Financial Benefits of Open Source
Will open source pay off? Open source is becoming standard within enterprises, often because of cost savings. Find out how much of a financial impact it can have on your organization. Get this methodology and calculator now, compliments of JBoss.
Embedded Hardware and OS Technology Empower PC-Based Platforms
The modern embedded computer is the jack of all trades appearing in many forms.
Data Management for Real-Time Distributed Systems
This paper provides an overview of the network-centric computing model, data distribution services, and distributed data management. It then describes how the SkyBoard integration and synchronization service, coupled with an implementation of the OMG¿s Data Distribution Service (DDS) standard, can be used to create an efficient data distribution, storage, and retrieval system.
7 Advantages of D2D Backup
For decades, tape has been the backup medium of choice. But, now, disk-to-disk (D2D) backup is gaining in favor. Learn why you should make the move in this whitepaper.
|
|
|
|
|
news feed