[alt.hacking] ZDNet: Linux standard gets the go-ahead

[Technomage]

In article <afu6vc$pfe$1@feed.centurytel.net>, "Organized Chaos"
<james.bailey@centurytel.net> wrote:

> Linux standard gets the go-ahead
> By  Matthew Broersma
> ZDNet (UK)
> July 2, 2002, 7:11 AM PT
> 
> A project aimed at keeping different Linux distributions on the same
> track has moved a step forward with the launch of a certification
> program to back up the project's claims.
> 
> Tech Update
> United States of Linux
> 
> 
> The program, announced by the Free Standards Group, is the latest effort
> by the largest Linux vendors to make the platform more attractive to
> major software vendors, and accelerate its acceptance by big businesses.
> 
> The launch of the Linux Standards Base certification program comes six
> months after the introduction of Linux Standards Base 1.1, a major
> advancement in the standardization project, which had long lain dormant.
> 
> 
> The standards will make it easier for software companies such as Oracle
> to bring their applications to Linux, according to the Free Standards
> Group. Oracle will know what Linux features can be expected, not only
> from one company's version of Linux to another, but across newer
> versions of the same company's product.
> 
> The certification program is aimed at developers, software vendors and
> Linux distributions alike, and is designed to allow customers to easily
> identify software that has gone through the standardization process.
> Certification prices run from $400 (about £280) to $3,000.
> 
> "Corporate, government, enterprise and individual end users, as well as
> developers and ISVs can be assured that an LSB certified Linux
> distribution or program meets the highest possible adherence to the
> standard," stated Free Standards Group executive director Scott McNeil.
> 
> The Free Standards Group is an independent non-profit group that
> promotes standards in open- source technologies. The organization has
> contracted The Open Group, which specializes in interoperability
> certification, to manage the program.
> 
> Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Dell, Compaq, SuSE, Red Hat, Caldera
> International, Turbolinux and Ximian announced the standard at the
> LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in New York at the end of January.
> 
> Backing UnitedLinux
> LSB 1.1 has more recently been complemented by the decision of Linux
> vendors Caldera International, SuSE Linux, Turbolinux and Conectiva to
> combine their efforts into a single LSB- compliant distribution called
> UnitedLinux. The distribution is scheduled to appear by the end of this
> year.
> 
> However, UnitedLinux does not yet include some of the biggest
> distributors, of which Red Hat is the most prominent. Red Hat has said
> that it will bring its software into the LSB fold, but the process will
> take time.
> 
> Though Red Hat's basic version of Linux will comply with LSB this year,
> its coming high-end Advanced Server version initially will not, the
> company has said. And with that product being updated once every 12 to
> 18 months, it will be well into 2003 before it does comply.
> 
> Red Hat doesn't have as much to worry about because most software
> companies certify their programs to work with Red Hat's Linux
> distribution first. But Red Hat has said that LSB will ensure that
> software companies will have an easier time dealing with upgrades, which
> come every six months or so. Without that stability, software makers
> would have to constantly spend money to re-certify software.
> 
> The standard, along with software that checks whether a version of Linux
> or software that runs on Linux complies with the standard, governs some
> basic parts of Linux--for example, which "libraries" of reusable
> software components are available, what basic commands Linux can
> execute, or where to find specific programs in the file system.
> 
> Major Linux companies have endorsed the standards and said they will
> make sure their versions of Linux will comply.
> 
> The LSB released version 1.0 in beta testing form in July, then expanded
> it before settling on version 1.1 as the standard that should be
> adopted.
> 
> The LSB project is designed to keep Linux from fragmenting into several
> incompatible versions, as happened with Unix, an operating system used
> in high-end servers. The fragmentation of Unix--the operating system on
> which Linux is based--helped Microsoft's relatively unified Windows to
> gain market share.
> 
> <end>
> 
> What does everybody think about this?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> OC
> 
> --
> begin  OE-OCsig.sig
> ------BEGIN SIGNATURE------
> aka "Dopefish" or "Organized Chaos"
> 
> Microsoft?  Is that some kind of toilet paper?
> 
> "If ignorance is bliss
> Then knock the smile off my face"
> 
>                      -- Rage Agains the Machine
> 
> ------END SIGNATURE------
> `
> end


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