Software and hardware companies involved in the network computer (NC) market are to get together to hammer out common standards so that NCs will work with servers from multiple vendors.
Different vendors use different software to connect NCs to servers. As a result, NCs to date have tended to operate with a limited set of servers, according to officials from companies that are attending the meeting, set for January 14 and 15, 1998, in Cupertino, California.
The companies intend to develop a technical specification and submit it to The Open Group, the non-profit group that oversees the Network Computer Profile, a set of common standards for NCs. The spec will encompass CORBA, according to Ann O'Leary, a spokeswoman for Oracle.
Companies that will attend the meeting include: Corel, IBM, Lotus, Neoware, Netscape Network Computer Inc., Novell, Novera, Oracle, SCO, Sun Microsystems, Tivoli and TriTealp.
The group invites industry vendors that develop network computers, servers, systems management servers and Java applications to participate. Additional conference and technical specification details are available by emailing: poz@us.ibm.com.