30)* What is DCE?

[Last modified: Sept 95]

A.  DCE is an acronym for "Distributed Computing Environment". OSF maintains
an extensive WWW page concerning DCE at:

        http://www.osf.org/dce/index.html
        E-mail: dce-support-admin@osf.org
        Telephone: +1 617 621 8990

There was a DCE User and Developer Conference (sponsored by Digital
Consulting, Inc.), August 21-23, 1995 in Boston, MA. See
http://www.DCIexpo.com/.

On May 22, 1995, a Warranty Patch for Release 1.1 of the OSF Distributed
Environment (DCE) was announced. On that same date, a draft of the OSF DCE 1.2
Contents Overview Request For Comment (RFC) document (RFC 63.1) was also made
available.

DCE is defined in "The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing"
(http://wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk/) by Denis Howe <dbh@doc.ic.ac.uk>:

(DCE) An architecture consisting of standard programming interfaces,
conventions and server functionalities (eg. naming, distributed file system,
remote procedure call) for distributing applications transparently across
networks of heterogeneous computers. DCE is promoted and controlled by the
Open Software Foundation (OSF).

Kristen Knotts <uunet!osf.org!kjk> wrote:

NEWTON, MA, November 1, 1994 -- The Open Software Foundation today announced
the general availability of Release 1.1 of the Distributed Computing
Environment (DCE).  This release includes,

- Major new enhancements to system administration, including a consolidated
interface for administration throughout DCE, plus a capability allowing for
the remote start-up and shut-down of remote services;

- Enhancements to security, including a Generic Security Service API (GSSAPI)
which allows non-RPC based systems to take advantage of DCE security, extended
registry attributes allowing various proprietary systems to be  registered in
the DCE security registry, as well as security delegation and auditing
capabilities;

- Enhancements to internationalization which include standardized POSIX and
X/Open interfaces and provide character code set  interoperability and

- General performance enhancements.

Contact:  Jane Smeloff, Open Software Foundation, (617) 621-8997