Open source standard gets boost
Good news for those trying to establish a standard Linux
LSB 3.0 comes a year after LSB 2.0 was launched. Key features include a new application binary interface (ABI) for C++, which is aimed at reducing the cost and time for developers who need to support more than one distribution.
Michael Azoff, senior research analyst at Butler Group, welcomed the new version.
“It is really important that an independent co-operative standard for Linux is maintained. There is always a danger of fragmentation, such as happened with Unix given the number of distributions of Linux that exist – something like 160 the last time I counted.
“This standards base is supported by big players such as Debian, Red Hat and Novell, and having one standard backed up by the main developers can only be a good thing,” he said.
The LSB is maintained and developed by the Free Standards Group. Its aim is to provide interoperable standards using a common set of APIs and libraries so developers can create applications that will be compatible with LSB-certified Linux distributions.
It supports seven major architectures: IA32, IA64, PPC32, PPC64, S390, S390X and X86_64.
The LSB is created by a public, open development process. The standard is available to anyone and there is no fee to acquire or implement it
