08/14/2002 Industry leaders are first in the world to achieve Linux Standard Base
(LSB) certification
SAN FRANCISCO, CA August 14, 2002. In a move that will ensure the
continued growth of the Linux industry, the Free Standards Group announced
that three leading Linux distributions have become Linux Standard Base (LSB)
Certified. MandrakeSoft S.A., Red Hat, and SUSE Linux AG, have all achieved
LSB Certification. LSB Certification verifies adherence to the community
and industry developed standard for both Linux distributions and Linux-based
applications.
"LSB Certification by the leading Linux distributions comes less than six
weeks after the initial launch of the LSB Certification program,224 said Scott
McNeil, Free Standards Group executive director. 223This rapid adoption
illustrates just how important compatibility is to the LSB Certified
companies and their customers. Linux as a technology and market has truly
matured.
LSB, a workgroup under the Free Standards Group, standardizes the core
functionality of Linux and the suite of GNU tools, giving Linux
distributions and Linux-based applications the opportunity to reach a wider
market, while allowing application developers to concentrate on increased
functionality. LSB was developed through a collaboration between community
developers, Linux distribution companies, ISVs and system vendors.
"Certification is not a profit center for the Free Standards Group," said
George Kraft IV, LSB Workgroup Chair. "It was designed to give users and
developers the highest confidence that whatever LSB Certified Linux
distribution or program they work with meets the highest possible adherence
to the standard."
Additionally, the Free Standards Group announced the launch of Linux
Internationalization Initiative (Li18nux) Certification. Li18nux
standardizes true internationalization capabilities for Linux distributions
and Linux-based programs.
Li18nux Certification will launch later this quarter and will be similar to
LSB Certification in its stringent requirements, including vendor-neutral,
third party verification. Several Linux distributions have already become
Li18nux compliant under the Li18nux compliance pilot program.
Standards for Linux ensure that all LSB and Li18nux Certified applications
will work with any LSB certified platform 226 making deployment on any system,
large or small, much easier. Information on certification can be found at
www.freestandards.org/certification
With LSB's full complement of standards, testing and certification, and with
the addition of the Li18nux Certification program, the Free Standards Group
has created indispensable tools for Linux.
About the Free Standards Group
Supported by industry leaders, the Free Standards Group is an independent,
vendor-neutral, non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating the use
and acceptance of open source technologies through the development,
application and promotion of standards. Headquartered in Oakland, Calif.,
the Free Standards Group fulfills a critical need in the open source
development community to have common behavioral specifications, tools and
APIs, making development across Linux distributions easier. More
information on the Free Standards Group is available at
http://www.freestandards.org/.
Free Standards Group Leading Linux Distributions Become Certified
Quote Sheet
Debian
The LSB is an important step in the evolution of Linux, one which I hope
will help ensure that Linux distributions become ever more compatible in all
the ways that really matter to users and developers,224 said Bdale Garbee,
Debian Project Leader. 223As part of fulfilling our vision of Debian as a
Universal Operating System, we intend to continue working both to ensure
that Debian is fully capable of running standards-compliant applications,
ant that Debian remains an excellent platform for developing them!224
Hewlett-Packard Company
For the adoption of standards, LSB and Li18nux continue to play pivotal
roles, said Judy Chavis, director of worldwide Linux marketing, HP Industry
Standard Servers. The adoption of standards allows HP to continue to meet
customers needs through increased choice and applications for Linux."
MandrakeSoft S.A.
"Being one of the first companies to be LSB certified, we are fully aware of
the importance of LSB," said Jacques Le Marois, CEO and Co-Founder of
MandrakeSoft S.A. "LSB is a major step in the development of Linux. It
offers a common standard to all the players in the market, as well as a
fundamental basis that facilitates healthy competition, which will
contribute to the expansion of Linux."
Red Hat
"With LSB certification," said Michael Tiemann, CTO at Red Hat, "Red Hat can
offer customers what is most desirable: a platform that not only supports a
wide range of ISVs and systems today, but a platform that we can evolve
while maintaining compatibility with LSB-certified systems already
deployed."
SUSE Linux AG
"We are very pleased with the LSB certification, which confirms the
technical superiority of our products," said Boris Nalbach, CTO of SuSE
Linux AG. "SUSE is highly committed to position Linux standards as binding.
As a member of the Free Standards Group and founding member of the
UnitedLinux initiative, it is our goal to provide both ISVs and IHVs with an
attractive basis to certify their products and solutions."
MEDIA CONTACTS
Leslie Proctor
(801)446-4638
Proctors@pacbell.net
Press Contact:
Jasmin Ul-Haque
Novell, Inc
Phone: +44 (0)1344 326-900
E-mail: juh@novell.com
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