at&t toolchest

[Felts Steve]

Since I am a provider of one of the tools in the Toolchest, maybe
I can fill you in on what it is.
The toolchest is a new distribution channel for AT&T.
Their main goal is to make some money without much staffing and "no hassles."
This means that:
 1. the software is unsupported
 2. there is a "lump sum" arrangement - no royalties.

Here's the key facts:
1.  Source code is provided
2.  All source runs on System V (I know that some of tools run on a
                                 wide variety of UNIX versions including BSD)
3.  AT&T selected well used and liked tools from its development community
    (using a 6 page screening form and some type of review board)
4.  Toolchest is running on an AT&T 3B2
5.  Dial 201-522-6900   login: guest
6.  System is menu driven (and somewhat slow)
7.  Once inside, you can browse through list of software, get more
    information on a specific tool and product specs, etc.
8.  You need to get "licensing authority" before getting any software -
    a single umbrella agreement for as many tools as you want.  Costs $100
    to register.
9.  You request software - software is sent via uucp and an invoice
    is sent by mail.
10. There are two prices:  initial price gets you one source copy for
    internal use and grants you right to distribute copies internally on as
    many processors as you wish.
    Sublicensing - "lump sum" arrangement - one fee per package and an
    acknowledgement of source in promotion and you can offer binary copies
    commercially.  No royalties!
11. No technical support - offered "as is."
12. More info on Toolchest - contact AT&T Account Rep - 1-800-828-UNIX

These are the tools available when I last looked:
name             category               description
----             --------               -----------
bptap            programming            background process term access pkg
conv-dt          programming aid        date conversion
datebook         office automation      maintain per. appointment calendar
emacs-tc         editor                 full screen editor, split screen
fastdd           file utility           faster "dd" command
file-util1       file utility           extract lines; extr. ascii lines
fmail            office automation      full screen interface to std mail
ncsl             programming            count non-commentary src lines
qbus-tc          driver                 ibv 488 interface driver
sh-pgmg1         programming aid        set of useful shell prog. tools
slog             programming aid        flexible src level logging facility
teco-tc          editor                 popular DEC teco editor for UNIX
unity-tc         database               relation db for simple files

As an example of pricing, the unity-tc database system
costs $1250 for source and $10,000 for binary license.
Included is 133 page user manual and 16K of source.

The Toolchest system became available Jan. 2, although my
original understanding was that Jan. 2 is availability only
to VARS and Mar. 1 available to the world.

                                  Steve Felts
                                  whuxlm!sdf
                                  (201)3866416
                                  AT&T Bell Labs