Unix Rumor Mill via decvax!duke!unc!smb via Info-Micro.

[utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!GEOFF at SRI-CSL]

From: the.tty.of.Geoffrey.S.Goodfellow at SRI-CSL
	
Mail-From: ARPANET host MIT-ML rcvd at 7-Aug-81 1018-PDT
Date: 6 Aug 1981 16:38:43-PDT
From: decvax!duke!unc!smb at Berkeley

In real life: Steven M. Bellovin, U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
To: info-micro

The following news and speculations appeared in the July 27 issue of
"Information Systems News"....

     *	Western Electric is currently investigating the release of their
	UNIX/370 system.  [This system runs "with" TSS/370 in some fashion.]

     *	Ken Thompson says that IBM has an internal version of UNIX running
	on the Series 1.  IBM declined comment, but noted that IBM had
	released to Western Electric some Series 1 code to permit it to act
	as a communications front-end to the UNIX/370 system.  [This gets
	around the full/half-duplex problem.]

     *	Western Electric will probably release "Writer's Workbench" soon,
	according to sources.  WE admits that they're investigating it.

     *	IBM has apparently contracted with Interactive Systems Corp.
	to develop a UNIX for the 4300 series.  IBM refused to comment,
	and ISC executive vice president Robert Anderson said that "he
	preferred not to say" anything at this time.  Sources said IBM
	had chosen to use a third party for developing UNIX on its hardware
	to avoid licensing and patent problems with WE in the future.

     *	TI is investigating UNIX for its busyness machines.

     *	Plexus Computers will be releasing a 16-bit machine with UNIX
	by the end of August, for about $50K, according to the company.

     *	Thompson says that Honeywell has UNIX running on its Level 6
	computers; they deny it.

     *	Thompson also said that UNIX is a good system for large machines,
	and that Bell Labs and Universities have it running on every
	popular computer system except for Data General equipment.

     *	Michael Bourk at SRI predicted that within the next several years
	Xerox Parc will develop a UNIX-like office automation system that
	will be for the "computer illiterate".  Xerox Parc denied this.

     *	Jean Yates, senior market analyst for Gnostic Concepts, estimates
	that by 1986, the market for UNIX-based hardware and software will
	be $9 billion.