VNU Net: Linux standards body formed

By John Geralds, VNU
Net

An industry association known as the Free Standards Group (FSG)
has been set up to revitalise the push for standards in the Linux
market.

The group aims to establish core functionality within the
operating system so that applications will run on any version of
the platform, and to ensure that the software supports several
international languages.

FSG is a combination of two ad hoc bodies – the Linux
Standard Base and the Linux Internationalisation Initiative – and
has already received funding and support from a number of Linux
players. They include Caldera Systems, Corel, IBM, SAP, SCO,
SGI, Sun Microsystems, SuSE and Red Hat. Details of the funding
will be released later this month.

Daniel Quinlan, FSG chairman, claimed the group’s formation was
“critical” to ensure that Linux does not fragment further.

Dirk Hohndel, SuSE’s chief technology officer, said: “Clear cut
standards will be the basis to get even broader support from ISVs,
as well as customers for the Linux platform.”

“The combination of well-defined standards and choice of vendors
gives an obvious signal against any monopolistic tendencies in the
software industry,” he added.

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