Submitted-by: richford@osf.org (Richard Ford)

      ANDF mailing list announcement

This message announces a new mailing list for discussions of technical
issues related to ANDF, the Architecture-Neutral Distribution Format
technology whose development is being coordinated by the Open Software
Foundation (OSF).  A description of ANDF and its current status appears
later in this message for those not familiar with it.  This list will
supercede the OSF ANDF SIG mailing lists that were formerly in use.
Please forward this announcement to others who might be interested.

andf-tech@osf.org is intended to be the general mailing list of the
technical ANDF community.  It will be used to propose and discuss
changes to the ANDF specifications, and to vote on them (whether these
votes will be binding or just straw votes is not yet determined).
Whenever possible, the general mailing list should be used for ANDF
discussions, so that the issues can have the widest possible coverage.

To be added to or deleted from the andf-tech@osf.org list, or to get
copies of any of the references listed at the end of this message, send
e-mail to the ANDF administrator (currently Rich Ford) at
andf-tech-request@osf.org.  I would like to restrict the mailing list to
include either names of individuals or pipes to local news groups,
excluding use of local mailing lists.  This will help me control bounced
mail messages (which can be annoying) better, since trying to diagnose
problems in someone else's local mailing list can sometimes be
difficult.  I prefer the use of individual e-mail addresses, but for
those who would rather use local news groups, I would still like the
names and e-mail addresses of those who will be reading the news for
those times when personal communication is necessary.  Also, the
andf-tech@osf.org list is actually composed of some sub-lists, some of
which have restricted circulation (because of the need to protect
proprietary information).  Any new-groups on which andf-tech postings
will be sent must be as secure as the sub-list they belong to.

In order to serve the ANDF community better, I ask that those
requesting addition to the andf-tech@osf.org list do so by filling in
and returning by e-mail the following form.

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       andf-tech@osf.org MAILING LIST ADDITION FORM

Please provide the following information.  Items marked * are optional.
Mail the edited form to andf-tech-request@osf.org.

Full Name:
Company*:
E-mail address:
E-mail address for pipe to news-group, if any*:
Phone Number*:
Fax Number*:
Postal Address*:



General Information[e.g. Job title, summary of your duties or interests, what
your company does, academic background, why you are interested in ANDF,
anything else you want to add]*:




Do you authorize distribution of the above information as part of a
directory of the ANDF community? ( Yes / No )
If you answer no, then the information you provide will be kept
confidential.   Or, if you want to provide some of the information to
the ANDF administrator, but want it kept confidential, then indicate
what information can be released.

===========================Cut Here=====================================

In addition to letting me know who you are (e-mail addresses can be
rather cryptic), this information (from those who authorize it) can be
the basis of a directory of the ANDF community which I hope will help to
encourage cooperation.  It also provides a way of communicating when
there are e-mail problems.  This directory will be available by request
from the ANDF administrator (or could perhaps be posted periodically).
I also plan to have a monthly posting of a Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQ) list.

Thanks for your cooperation.  I believe that ANDF is gaining momentum
and I hope that this mailing list will provide the review and
innovations that will help it to be a success.

Richard L. Ford

Enclosure:

        A Brief Introduction to ANDF

1. What is ANDF?

ANDF stands for Architecture-Neutral Distribution Format.  It is a
technology that facilitates the development and distribution of portable
software on heterogeneous hardware and operating system platforms.  It
is based on a compiler intermediate language in which all target dependence
has been abstracted out and deferred to installation.  Thus a single
version of an application can be distributed in a "shrink-wrapped"
format that can be installed on diverse platforms.

With ANDF, the compilation process is divided into two parts.  A
"producer", which is similar to a compiler front-end, processes the
source code and target-independent header files to produce the ANDF form
of the application.  When the software is installed at the target site,
an "installer", which is similar to a compiler back-end, combines the
ANDF code with target-dependent definitions and libraries to produce an
executable program or an object code library.

There are three main roles relative to ANDF: Software Vendor, System
Vendor, and End-User.  System vendors (or perhaps independent ANDF tool
suppliers) will supply ANDF producers, installers, debuggers, interpreters and
other portability aids to the software vendors for use in developing
applications.  The system vendors will use these and additional components
such as validation suites and formal methods to increase the reliability of
the ANDF tools.  The end-user will buy an application in ANDF form and then use
an ANDF installer supplied by the system vendor to install the software.  An
alternate scenario is that a software distribution service agency or network
server could do the work of using the installer to produce the target
executable files for the end-user.

2. A Very Brief ANDF History (See [1], appendix C for more details)

On April 25, 1989, the Open Software Foundation (OSF), of Cambridge,
Massachusetts, issued the Architecture-Neutral Distribution Format
Request for Technology (RFT).  Its purpose was to solicit technologies
that would provide a single format for distributing software independent
of the hardware platform.  Twenty five summary proposals, and then
fifteen full proposals were received.  Representative solutions included
obscured source code, compiler intermediate languages, and tagged
executable code.

The list of submitters was narrowed to a short list of four in February 1990.
These produced prototypes which were evaluated.  On June 4, 1991, OSF
announced that it had selected the TDF (Ten15 Distribution Format) technology
from the Electronics Division of the Defense Research Agency (DRA) of the UK,
formerly Royal Signals and Radar Establishment, for the core technology of
ANDF.  TDF is specified as a many-sorted algebra.  TDF itself was the result
of a 5 year research program at DRA with goals very similar to those of ANDF.
Since that time, OSF has released 3 snapshots of the ANDF technology.
Snapshot four is currently planned for January 1993.