"So what's the LSB buzz about? Linux software vendors,
OEMs and ISVs are promoting LSB as a way of gaining a unified
platform for the many different branded collections, aka
"distributions," of Linux.
At the end of last month, the Free Standards Group, author of
the specs, released the first major rev of the standard, LSB 1.1.
Top execs for four of the leading Linux vendors -- Caldera, Red
Hat, Turbolinux, and SuSE -- said they will ship products complying
with LSB 1.1 by the end of 2002.
Other big LSB backers include IBM, Sun, Oracle, Dell and Compaq.
Also contributing are groups such as the The Debian Project;
MandrakeSoft; Linux for PowerPC; Linuxcare; VA Linux; The Open
Group; Software in the Public Interest, and The USENIX
Association.
"Right now, Linux is a component of an infrastructure. It's
typically used on a Web server or a print/file server, for example.
Companies who are looking at deploying Linux as an application
server -- for ERP or CRM, for instance -- are those that will be
most interested in LSB," says IDC's Gillen."
