Subject:  Internationalization Framework To Ease Application Design For Global
To: lwn@lwn.net
From: Paul_Albright@sfo.bm.com
Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2000 08:47:59 -0700

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, contact:

Russ Castronovo
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
(408) 863-3306
russ.castronovo@eng.sun.com

Patrick Sullivan
Burson-Marsteller
916/341-1017
Pat_Sullivan@sac.bm.com

      SUN RELEASES GLOBALIZATION TECHNOLOGY TO OPEN SOURCE COMMUNITY

 Solaris(tm) Operating Environment Internationalization Framework To Ease
                   Application Design For Global Markets

PALO ALTO, CA, August 29, 2000 - Sun Microsystems, Inc. today announced it
will release the source code for the internationalization technologies for
the Solaris(tm) Operating Environment to X.org, a non-profit, international
consortium responsible for standards requirements in the X Window System.
This code, made available under the X license, will provide open source
software developers with an easy way to design applications which operate
in virtually all national language environments and among the operating
systems that utilize X-windowing technologies, such as Linux and Unix®
variants.

Until now, open source developers have typically had to write additional
code for each separate national language they wanted to support in their
application.  This internationalization technology provides developers a
comprehensive environment for developing applications that will run in
multiple national languages around the world, allowing access to a
significantly broader market using the same amount of coding effort. As
this code becomes adopted by the open source development community, more
global users will have access to applications in their native language.

"To date, many open source applications could not reach international
markets because applications have needed additional customized code for
each spoken language and locale," said Mike Rogers, Sun's Vice President of
Global Engineering and Information Services.  "This release of code will
accelerate the availability of globalized applications for the UNIX systems
community in the same way that Java(tm) technology accelerated availability
of cross-platform applications."

The Solaris Operating Environment X internationalization (X I18n)
technology provides a clear and concise framework of rules that makes it
easier for developers to write global software.  Its support for 37
languages and 123 locales, including languages involving Complex Text
Layout such as Arabic, Hebrew and Thai, has made the Solaris Operating
Environment internationalization technology the leading environment for
global application development.

The decision to release the Solaris Operating Environment X
internationalization enhancements under a commonly recognized open source
license, emphasizes Sun's ongoing desire to improve the standards of global
application development for open source platforms.  X open source users
will be able to mix languages in the same document, use commonly understood
methods for keyboard input, and exchange files in multiple languages.

"One of the cornerstones of international success of a product is good
adaptation to different languages and different local needs. Production
quality code for multilingual input and output support as well as complex
text layouts and improved Unicode support are a much appreciated
contribution to the open source world," said Dirk Hohndel, Vice President,
The XFree86 Project, Inc. and Chief Technology Officer, SuSE Linux AG.
"SuSE has long contributed XFree86 and many other open source projects and
we are extremely happy to see that Sun continues to move more of its
technology into the open source as well."

The X license is considered one of the most simple and open licenses in use
today in the open source community. Under this license, anyone is free to
use the code in any way they desire, without restriction.   This is a
commonly accepted license approved by the Open Standards Group, and has
been used with the X Window System since it's creation.  The terms of the
license can be viewed at: http://www.x.org/terms.htm.  Sun plans to
formally release the code to X.org on September 15, 2000.

"The Linux Internationalization Initiative (LI18NUX) thanks Sun
Microsystems for the contribution of its internationalization framework of
X Windows system and multi-lingual input methods to open source," said Akio
Kido, co-chair person of Li18nux project, Free Standards Group. "These two
technologies will be instrumental in accelerating open source globalization
and will allow users worldwide to enjoy open source software in their
native language."

"X.org is very pleased to accept Sun's contribution of its X
internationalization code, to be incorporated with the X.Org Sample
Implementation (SI). Sun was instrumental in the original design of the X
I18N standard, and its contribution of code will make the SI fully
operational for global X11-based application development," said Steve
Swales, Chairman of X.Org. "This announcement highlights the commitment of
both Sun and X.Org to the advancement of open source technologies such as
X11."


About The X Window System
The X Window System provides the only common windowing environment bridging
the heterogeneous platforms in today's enterprise computing. The X Window
System is one of the most successful open source, collaborative
technologies developed to date and is the de facto standard graphical
engine for the UNIX systems community. The inherent independence of the X
Window System from the operating system and hardware has made it widely
available and deployed with over 20 million users worldwide. All major
hardware vendors support the X Window System and many third parties provide
technologies for integrating X Window System applications into the network
computer or personal computer environments including DOS, Microsoft
Windows, Windows 9x, Windows NT and Linux. Further, thousands of software
developers provide X Window System applications, and with the emergence of
Linux, the number of users is growing exponentially.

About X.Org
X.Org is a non-profit organization, chartered to develop and execute
effective strategies which provide world-wide stewardship of the X Window
System technology and standards through funding by some of the leading
computing companies in the world - including Compaq Computer Corporation
(NYSE: "CPQ"), Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: "HWP"), Hummingbird
Communications Ltd. (NASDAQ: "HUMCF"), International Business Machines
Corporation (NYSE: "IBM"), SGI (NYSE: "SGI") and Sun Microsystems Inc.
(NASDAQ 100: "SUNW"). The current X.Org release of the X Window System is
X11R6.4 and is available immediately for download at http://www.X.Org.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision - The Network Is The
Computer[tm] -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW), to its
position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software
and services that power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to
dot-com their businesses. The Solaris Operating Environment has established
itself as the leading dot- com grade operating system that combines the
reliability of the data center with the flexibility of the internet. With
$15.7 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 170
countries and on the World Wide Web at www.sun.com.

© 2000 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Solaris, Java, and The Network Is
The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems,
Inc. in the United States and other countries.

UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries,
exclusively licensed through X/Open Company Ltd.



***************************************************************
Paul F. Albright Jr.
Burson-Marsteller San Francisco for Sun Microsystems
100 Pine Street, #2300
San Francisco, CA 94111
415/591-4063, 415/591-4030 FAX
Paul_Albright@sfo.bm.com
***************************************************************