Compaq Computer will attempt to push its Tru64 version of Unix and its Alpha server hardware in the mainland with its coming release of a 'Chinese Unix'.
But the leading enterprise hardware vendor has no plans yet to offer Linux with its workstations and servers sold in the mainland.
It said Cosix, a localised Unix version for the mainland, would be co-developed by Compaq - the second-biggest Unix hardware vendor worldwide, according to International Data Corp - and the China National Computer Software and Technology Service Corp (CS&S), a state-owned software developer and systems integrator under the administration of the Ministry of Information Industry.
The vendor has licensed its Tru64 Unix source code to CS&S, which previously had created a 32-bit localised Unix operating system.
Cosix would be adapted to use the simplified Chinese character set and meet security needs that are specific to the mainland, Tim Yeaton, Compaq Unix software division general manager, said.
The operating system would be shipped in a matter of weeks, Compaq chief executive Eckhard Pfeiffer said, and would be binary-compatible with the Tru64, formerly known as Digital Unix, which Compaq acquired through its merger with Digital Equipment Corp last year.