Developers are being urged to join the new Linux
Standard Base (LSB) Developer Network, a developers’ website
designed to rival the Microsoft Developers Network
(MSDN).
The site has been set up by the Free Standards Group (FSG), a
non-profit organisation dedicated to developing and promoting open
source software standards.
The LSB Developer Network (LDN) is now in beta form at
developer.freestandards.org.
For the first time, developers writing portable, LSB-compliant
Linux applications will not have to cobble together information
from various sources, said the LSB.
Instead, they can make use of and contribute to software tools,
standards, forums and content provided by the LSB.
The LDN is supported by HP, IBM, MySQL, Novell, Real Networks,
Red Hat and others.
“In order for Linux to be a truly competitive platform, there
must be a central information source for developers building
portable Linux applications,” said Ian Murdock, chief technical
officer of the Free Standards Group.
“Microsoft has done a great job with the Microsoft Developer
Network, and we aim to do the same for the Linux Standard Base
using the "bottom up" community-based development model exemplified
by open source and Linux,” said Murdock.