Re: Differences Unixware/OpenServer/OpenUnix

From: Ian Wilson (scobloke2_at_infotop.co.uk)
Date: 10/31/05 

Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2005 15:50:56 +0000 (UTC)

Lars Bausch wrote:
> Ian Wilson wrote:
>
>>> What are the differences between Unixware, OpenServer and OpenUnix ?
>>
>> Too many to enumerate here. You'd have to be specific about versions.
>
> I meaned the differences in general. I need only a brief overview about
> the differences, and not in detail.
> Do you know some links ?
>
> Sorry I am a newby. And so I am a little bit confused about the
> different between this three Unixes.
>

UnixWare is Novell's name for the ancestral Unix code acquired by The
SCO Group (as Caldera) from the Santa Cruz Organisation (old SCO, now
named Tarantella), who acquired it from Novell, who acquired it from
Unix Systems Labs who were spun of from AT&T who originally developed
Unix. (This is from memory so probably contains errors). Unixware is a
reasonably modern Unix with many advanced features.

OpenServer 5 (Often abbreviated to OSR5) was developed by the Santa Cruz
Organisation (old SCO) from AT&T's Unix SVR3.2. As such the kernel has a
pretty old Unix base but it has been battle hardened over the decades
and is generally very reliable. Due to its age, IMO features are
restricted and driver availability is limited. This is just my view.
OSR5 is a good operating system for zero-admin environments. Often used
for things like POS systems at retail branches of widely dispersed
retailers.

OpenServer 6 (OSR6) is the Unixware kernel married to an OpenServer
personality. It can run OSR5 binaries and is designed to look and feel
as much like OSR5 as is reasonably possible.

OpenUnix (AFAIK) is what Ransome Love's Caldera eventually called their
Linux distribution before Darl came along and Caldera renamed itself SCO
Group and eventually ceased marketing Linux. As such you can't buy
OpenUnix AFAIK.

>>> Are there binary compatible ?
>>
>> s/there/they/
>> Under limited circumstances yes, but in general assume not for almost
>> all of the currently deployed population of each.
>
> Why ?
> I see it under the aspect of porting a application.
>

There are many different types of binary. COFF, ELF, etc. Whilst
Unixware, OpenServer5 and OpenUnix run on x86 platforms, they have
different native binary formats. Some compatibility libraries exist. For
example Linux used to have iBCS which would help with running OSR5
binaries, but lacked proprietary SCO libraries that native SCO apps
would usually make use of. Similarly I think UnixWare now has a
compatibility layer for OSR5 binaries and there is the lxrun software
that allows Linux binaries to run on UnixWare.

Porting an application, to me means recompiling the source code on the
target platform[1]. So binary compatibility is not needed.

[1] Or using a compiler that targets the 'other' platform.

YMMV

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Porting from *nix to SCO
    ... Can someone tell me which source would be easier to port to SCO? ... From Solaris native dev kit to SCO native dev kit. ... There is an argument to build a unixware binary instead of a native ... osr5 binary, because for several years osr5 has had unixware binary ...
    (comp.unix.sco.misc)
  • Re: Porting from *nix to SCO
    ... From Solaris native dev kit to SCO native dev kit. ... There is an argument to build a unixware binary instead of a native ... osr5 binary, because for several years osr5 has had unixware binary ...
    (comp.unix.sco.misc)
  • Re: Porting from *nix to SCO
    ... Porting from *nix to SCO ... From Solaris gcc/gnu dev kit to SCO gcc/gnu dev kit. ... There is an argument to build a unixware binary instead of a native ... osr5 binary, because for several years osr5 has had unixware binary ...
    (comp.unix.sco.misc)
  • Re: Differences Unixware/OpenServer/OpenUnix
    ... >UnixWare is Novell's name for the ancestral Unix code acquired by The ... It remains to be seen what Old SCO got in their purchase from ... >compatibility layer for OSR5 binaries and there is the lxrun software ...
    (comp.unix.sco.misc)
  • Wish
    ... people still posting on this list (I've ... others') SCO god, and the others were up with him. ... Open Server is dead as a doornail and there is no future for UnixWare. ... I use any sort of Unix for what I can do with it. ...
    (comp.unix.sco.misc)
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