Microport
Encyclopedia
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
UNIX System V
UNIX System V
Unix System V, commonly abbreviated SysV , is one of the first commercial versions of the Unix operating system. It was originally developed by American Telephone & Telegraph and first released in 1983. Four major versions of System V were released, termed Releases 1, 2, 3 and 4...
for the IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
286 and 386 Personal Computers, as well as IBM's PS/2
IBM Personal System/2
The Personal System/2 or PS/2 was IBM's third generation of personal computers. The PS/2 line, released to the public in 1987, was created by IBM in an attempt to recapture control of the PC market by introducing an advanced proprietary architecture...
systems. Together, these IBM families formed the backbone of what is now known as the Intel x86 architecture
X86 architecture
The term x86 refers to a family of instruction set architectures based on the Intel 8086 CPU. The 8086 was launched in 1978 as a fully 16-bit extension of Intel's 8-bit based 8080 microprocessor and also introduced segmentation to overcome the 16-bit addressing barrier of such designs...
.
By taking a new (at the time) approach, they were able to dramatically reduce development costs, and consequently, the price charged for UNIX.
At the Free Software Foundation
Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation is a non-profit corporation founded by Richard Stallman on 4 October 1985 to support the free software movement, a copyleft-based movement which aims to promote the universal freedom to create, distribute and modify computer software...
(FSF)'s request, Microport donated a complete 386 development system to the Richard Stallman
Richard Stallman
Richard Matthew Stallman , often shortened to rms,"'Richard Stallman' is just my mundane name; you can call me 'rms'"|last= Stallman|first= Richard|date= N.D.|work=Richard Stallman's homepage...
-led group. This was done for the explicit purpose of enabling the FSF to port
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
its GNU C compiler
GNU Compiler Collection
The GNU Compiler Collection is a compiler system produced by the GNU Project supporting various programming languages. GCC is a key component of the GNU toolchain...
(gcc) and associated utilities, onto the x86 architecture. GCC was, and still is, one of the largest free software projects available, permitting both the BSD and Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
programmers to develop those operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
s in the 1990s.
Microport also played a key role in Kevin Mitnick
Kevin Mitnick
Kevin David Mitnick is a computer security consultant, author, and hacker. In the late 20th century, he was convicted of various computer- and communications-related crimes. At the time of his arrest, he was the most-wanted computer criminal in the United States.-Personal life:Mitnick grew up in...
's first arrest, after he broke into the internal computer networks of both Microport and The Santa Cruz Operation.
Historical perspective
Previously, if one wanted the power of UNIX, one was limited to either expensive minicomputerMinicomputer
A minicomputer is a class of multi-user computers that lies in the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user systems and the smallest single-user systems...
s, or the less sophisticated (and still expensive) XENIX
Xenix
Xenix is a version of the Unix operating system, licensed to Microsoft from AT&T in the late 1970s. The Santa Cruz Operation later acquired exclusive rights to the software, and eventually superseded it with SCO UNIX ....
or other UNIX derivatives. None of these solutions was intended to make UNIX affordable to the average person, focusing instead on the larger (and more profitable) OEM
Original Equipment Manufacturer
An original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, manufactures products or components that are purchased by a company and retailed under that purchasing company's brand name. OEM refers to the company that originally manufactured the product. When referring to automotive parts, OEM designates a...
and VAR
Value-added reseller
A value-added reseller is a company that adds features or services to an existing product, then resells it as an integrated product or complete "turn-key" solution...
commercial deals. Microport's System V implementation was designed for the low-cost market, originally targeting the hobbyist, while capturing the attention of the OEMs and VARs.
Unfortunately for the hobbyists, Microport later moved away from the original roots of the individual hobbyist, turning instead towards selling to OEMs and VARs; gradually raising the price of the software until it was no longer easily affordable to the average person (although it was always cheaper than SCO's XENIX).
Nonetheless, others saw what Microport had done, and this left the market open for other low-cost UNIX technology to follow, including Linux and BSD for the PC's in the 90's, among others.
Background
In 1983, AT&T announced UNIX System V at the West Coast Computer Fair in Anaheim, CaliforniaAnaheim, California
Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was about 365,463, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States...
. In an effort to promote System V, AT&T created their "Microports" program, with each of the major CPU manufacturers at that time (Intel, Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
, Zilog
Zilog
Zilog, Inc., previously known as ZiLOG , is a manufacturer of 8-bit and 24-bit microcontrollers, and is most famous for its Intel 8080-compatible Z80 series.-History:...
, and others). Through this program, AT&T paid each of the processor manufacturers to port System V onto a standard hardware "reference" platform for each companies' flagship CPU (for Intel, this was called the Tahoe 80286-based platform, and later, the Tahoe 386
386
Year 386 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Honorius and Euodius...
-based reference platform).
By providing this software with the reference hardware, computer manufacturers could easily put UNIX onto their new systems, with a substantial reduction in cost. Putting UNIX onto new hardware is called a "porting" effort, or a "port". Hence, the name "Microports".
Typically, each UNIX port back then could easily involve a dozen or more software developer
Software developer
A software developer is a person concerned with facets of the software development process. Their work includes researching, designing, developing, and testing software. A software developer may take part in design, computer programming, or software project management...
s, take a couple of years, and cost over a million dollars. However once this port was available for the hardware reference platform, it was immediately available for any similar hardware design. The end result was a great reduction in the development cost and time. Typically only a few device driver
Device driver
In computing, a device driver or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a hardware device....
s had to be modified to support any new computer based on the reference platform. The rest of the utilities (most notably the compiler), the libraries
Library (computer science)
In computer science, a library is a collection of resources used to develop software. These may include pre-written code and subroutines, classes, values or type specifications....
and application software
Application software
Application software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...
could immediately run without any modification. Such a new UNIX "port" typically required only a few developers, took only a few months, and usually cost well under $100,000 dollars to develop. Time to market was drastically reduced, as well as the development costs.
Intel subcontracted out their microports program to Digital Research
Digital Research
Digital Research, Inc. was the company created by Dr. Gary Kildall to market and develop his CP/M operating system and related products. It was the first large software company in the microcomputer world...
(DRI). DRI hired Chuck Hickey to lead this effort. Unfortunately, DRI was also in negotiations with AT&T to gain exclusive control over marketing UNIX on microcomputers, and when those discussion fell through DRI cut its funding and dissolved Hickey's team before the work could be completed. Intel later selected INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation
INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation
INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation was a US-based software company and the first vendor of the Unix operating system outside AT&T, operating from Santa Monica, CA....
to finish up the 286 port.
Microport's history
Microport's history can be divided into three distinct phases:- The early days (before bankruptcy).
- After their bankruptcy, but before NovellNovellNovell, Inc. is a multinational software and services company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group. It specializes in network operating systems, such as Novell NetWare; systems management solutions, such as Novell ZENworks; and collaboration solutions, such as Novell Groupwise...
sold the rights for the UNIX market to SCO. - After SCO took over ownership of UNIX sales.
The early days: (September 1985 to February 1989)
These days were characterized by an early hacker-driven environment, which gradually gave way to a more corporate environment (dropping its early emphasis on the individual hacker) and catered more towards large OEM and VAR deals. Unfortunately it was a period plagued by severe financial mismanagement which ultimately sank the company.Chuck Hickey realized that one could take the AT&T port for the Intel platform and easily modify it for the IBM 286 PC, bringing the first real AT&T advanced System V UNIX technology to the PC. All with minimal effort and cost, allowing the software could be sold at a subsequent discount. Since marketing was Hickey's strength, he assembled a small team of developers in September 1985, who were willing to work for stock
Stock
The capital stock of a business entity represents the original capital paid into or invested in the business by its founders. It serves as a security for the creditors of a business since it cannot be withdrawn to the detriment of the creditors...
and/or royalties
Royalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
, and little to no pay as there was no financial backer at that time.
Microport's main competitor was the Santa Cruz Operation, who sold their base XENIX Operating System for about $500 (with the complete system being over $1500 at the time). Microport demonstrated their product at the COMDEX
COMDEX
COMDEX was a computer expo held in Las Vegas, Nevada, each November from 1979 to 2003. It was one of the largest computer trade shows in the world, usually second only to the German CeBIT, and by many accounts one of the largest trade shows in any industry sector...
tradeshow in November 1985, for an introductory price of $99. Furthermore, it had the standard advanced System V technology. It took SCO several years to catch up with the System VR3 technology that Microport brought out in the mid 1980s.
To put the development effort in perspective, almost no money was involved in the initial 286 UNIX port. There was a team of four developers, working for almost no pay, and using office space borrowed from a software consulting company called "Santa Cruz Computer".
Starting in September, this team finished up the first release of the software in record time, and was able to demo the software in NCR
NCR Corporation
NCR Corporation is an American technology company specializing in kiosk products for the retail, financial, travel, healthcare, food service, entertainment, gaming and public sector industries. Its main products are self-service kiosks, point-of-sale terminals, automated teller machines, check...
's booth at Comdex in November 1985. It was this demo, and announcement, which paved the way for other business opportunities. And it caught the eyes of IBM, SCO, and Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
.
NCR was the first customer of Microport, giving them a contract worth $100,000. With this money, Microport was able to complete the final version of System V for the 286, and begin work on the System V port to the 386 in September 1986.
Applications
Microport immediately ran into a key problem. Namely, providing application software for the Operating System. All large corporations required applications, not just the Operating System. Unfortunately, the application companies (like Oracle) all typically required $100,000 to port and certify their software on a new Operating System.Microport had neither the time, nor the money, to interest the application companies, even if it had the most advanced OS technology.
Consequently, Microport announced that it was going to enable compatibility with any Xenix application (i.e. Xenix binary compatibility), allowing all of the applications which ran on SCO/Microsoft Xenix to also run on AT&T UNIX. AT&T had actually contracted with Microport to provide an estimate of what it would take to do this back in October 1985.
In a sadly amusing precursor of the later, famous SCO lawsuit against IBM over Linux
SCO v. IBM
SCO v. IBM is a civil lawsuit in the United States District Court of Utah. The SCO Group asserted that there are legal uncertainties regarding the use of the Linux operating system due to alleged violations of IBM's Unix licenses in the development of Linux code at IBM.-Summary:On March 6, 2003,...
, SCO and Paul Allen
Paul Allen
Paul Gardner Allen is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. Allen co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates...
of Microsoft threatened to sue Microport if they "ever so much as demo'd Xenix binary compatibility". SCO and Microsoft of course had no basis for such a lawsuit, but that was irrelevant. Microport had no cash to defend against such an action, and consequently dropped the development efforts for Xenix binary compatibility.
Out-Maneuvering SCO and Microsoft
Desperate for application software, Microport managed to pull an end-run around the SCO/Microsoft effort to sink them.Microport discovered that AT&T had already spent millions of dollars certifying dozens of major application software packages on AT&T's 6300+ Personal Computer
AT&T Computer Systems
AT&T Computer Systems is the generic name for American Telephone & Telegraph's unsuccessful attempt to compete in the computer business. In return for divesting the local Bell Operating Companies , AT&T was allowed to have an unregulated division to sell computer hardware and software.Prior to the...
. This was AT&T's version of the IBM PC, and of course it ran standard AT&T System V UNIX. Because Microport had adhered to the System V standard, their Operating System was immediately compatible with all of the applications for the 6300+. Normally in the UNIX industry, binary compatibility was a novel concept; pretty much unheard of. This was a situation which showed the power of it. It's not clear that AT&T ever sold any of the applications that they had certified. But it is clear that Microport sold a substantial amount.
With the applications now in order, the way was now clear for Microport to fully compete against SCO for all business customers.
The 386 version of System V
In 1986, Microport became the first company to put System V UNIX on the newly released 386 IBM PC. This was done using an early release of System V which Intel used for their 386 Tahoe platform, again done by Interactive Systems Corporation (ISC).Even though ISC had a huge lead in doing this port, Microport took this software and adapted it from the Tahoe platform to the 386 PC. They were the first one to deliver it to Intel, beating ISC by three weeks. This product later moved from its beta version to production status when AT&T announced the full availability of SVR3 (System V, Release 3) the next year. During August 1986, Microport also established its international division. Two months later, Microport received an investment from Televideo
Televideo
TeleVideo Corporation is a U.S. company that achieved its peak of success in the early 1980s producing computer terminals. TeleVideo was founded in 1979 by K. Philip Hwang, a Utah State University graduate born in North Korea who had run a business producing CRT monitors for arcade games since 1975...
, of over one million dollars, in exchange for 51% of the company stock.
From 1986 to 1988 Televideo continued to increase its investment in the company. As a subsidiary of a public corporation and with a Big-8 Accounting Firm veteran as CFO, accounting was not the problem. What happened was that sales started to decline as Interactive Systems, Bell Technologies, Everex and others started selling their version of the AT&T 386 port, eroding Microport's unique position and making continued inflow of investment capital unlikely. Realizing that survival of the company was now dependent upon full acquisition of the company by Televideo or another company, Hickey stepped down as CEO though remained on the board, putting CFO Greg Chavez in charge.
Typically in the high-tech business, a CFO taking over is a bad sign for a startup, and this was no exception. Greg Chavez attempted to sell the company, but without success. By early 1989, Microport had run up debts of about $1,000,000. In the spring of that year, Chavis left and Televideo resigned from the board of directors, leaving Hickey with some difficult choices. Televideo to their credit did provide temporary housing for the company during this period and put Hickey in contact with a Chapter 11 specialist, should he decide to go that route. The company entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and the Court approved the specialist selected to run the company. Microport continued to operate, but it gradually reduced its staff.
It continued to operate under Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code
Chapter 11 is a chapter of the United States Bankruptcy Code, which permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is available to every business, whether organized as a corporation or sole proprietorship, and to individuals, although it is most...
provisions for nearly two years.
The second phase: 1990 - 1995
In May 1990, Microport emerged from bankruptcy after being purchased by Abraxas software, with Sherman "Spike" Kasper as President. Kasper was arguably the best president during the history of the company, and kept the business on a solid track during his tenure.During this time, it joined Unix International
Unix International
Unix International or UI was an association created in 1988 to promote open standards, especially the Unix operating system. Its most notable members were AT&T and Sun Microsystems, and in fact the commonly accepted reason for its existence was as a counterbalance to the Open Software Foundation ,...
, and participated in the development of the first multiprocessor SVR4, along with Unisys
Unisys
Unisys Corporation , headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, United States, and incorporated in Delaware, is a long established business whose core products now involves computing and networking.-History:...
, Intel and Sequent Computer Systems
Sequent Computer Systems
Sequent Computer Systems, or Sequent, was a computer company that designed and manufactured multiprocessing computer systems. They were among the pioneers in high-performance symmetric multiprocessing open systems, innovating in both hardware and software Sequent Computer Systems, or Sequent, was...
. Microport was among the first to compile SVR4 for the Pentium
Pentium
The original Pentium microprocessor was introduced on March 22, 1993. Its microarchitecture, deemed P5, was Intel's fifth-generation and first superscalar x86 microarchitecture. As a direct extension of the 80486 architecture, it included dual integer pipelines, a faster FPU, wider data bus,...
processor, and was credited with having the best serial device driver among all of the UNIX vendors.
Microport Unix was also "certified on DEC
Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation was a major American company in the computer industry and a leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals from the 1960s to the 1990s...
, Compaq
Compaq
Compaq Computer Corporation is a personal computer company founded in 1982. Once the largest supplier of personal computing systems in the world, Compaq existed as an independent corporation until 2002, when it was acquired for US$25 billion by Hewlett-Packard....
, ALR and AST
AST Research
AST Research, Inc. was a personal computer manufacturer, founded in Irvine, California in 1980 by Albert Wong, Safi Qureshey and Thomas Yuen. AST's original business was the manufacture and marketing of a broad range of microcomputer expansion cards, later focusing on higher-density replacements...
platforms".
In 1992, Novell bought the rights to Unix, which immediately changed the industry. Microport dropped its own UNIX and became a reseller of UnixWare
UnixWare
UnixWare is a Unix operating system maintained by The SCO Group . UnixWare is typically deployed as a server rather than desktop. Binary distributions of UnixWare are available for x86 architecture computers. It was originally released by Univel, a jointly owned venture of AT&T's Unix System...
(SVR4.2). Other developers either did the same or got out of the business. Microport still did select development, for certain new drivers, improving others and it "wrote the platform support layer for SMP
Symmetric multiprocessing
In computing, symmetric multiprocessing involves a multiprocessor computer hardware architecture where two or more identical processors are connected to a single shared main memory and are controlled by a single OS instance. Most common multiprocessor systems today use an SMP architecture...
servers in the AST Manhattan and the Altos/Acer Frame 5000". The company still closed large OEM deals, until SCO bought the rights to UnixWare from Novell in December 1995.
Suddenly, Microport was reduced to being a reseller of its old nemesis, SCO.
One can say that the SCO deal marked the beginning of the end of UNIX, for by 1995 Linux and BSD were significantly rising in popularity, and SCO never perceived them as a threat until much later. Despite a couple of opportunities, Microport's CEO's never took the FSF or Open Source movement seriously, in spite of the fact that some of its original engineering staff had assisted the FSF in the early days.