Not all Linux distributions are made with the same components, which can make it difficult for software developers to write applications for multiple Linux distributions. That's where the Linux Standards Base (LSB) comes into play. For years the LSB has not quite lived up to its full potential. That could all change with the upcoming LSB 4.0 release.
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Member since:2005-07-13
this will not cause all distros to act as one and kill diversity. what it will do is create a unified set of instructions and requirements that disro's that want to be compient need to follow. this makes life much easier on people like myself who write software having a standard base that is followed by the major distributions.
I am really looking froward to this. this is jsut what linux needs to go mainstream, or at least this is a great step in the right direction.
Member since:2006-10-08
I would really welcome this. Coming from a BSD environment, it's no matter, for example, if you are on FreeBSD, on PC-BSD or on DesktopBSD. All of them have the same base OS beneath any additional stuff. This is how the BSDs keep it: Have a basic OS ("just the OS") and let the user install what he needs, or put it preconfigured onto the OS as installed packages ("everything else"). I think Linux does this different: It's the business of the distributors what software they include, for exmaple, if they consider awk to be in the "base OS" (allthough Linux does not have something like the "base OS") or not. Get me right: That's nothing bad per se, so I won't say "it's Linux' problem", but just the way it is done. There are different directory structures, different places where installed applications go, different package managers and different concepts (e. g. system startup). With a good LSB, you simply can rely on the presence of certain commands, functionalities or interfaces, you don't need to check each required one manually.
A LSB that can be followed by the creators of a distributions is a very good step. As it has been mentioned before, it will make the life of programmers, technicans and administrators more happy. And, of course, if you're making a "niche Linux distribution", you don't need to comply with the LSB requirements. It may be seen as a kind of "quality certificate" which will, in my opinion, help Linux getting more usage share, and oh joy oh market share. :-)
Member since:2006-02-15
I kind of like the variety, I like creativity of different distributions and I would really hate if they all had the same package manager, the same filesystem structure etc. Sometimes different doesn't mean worse.
It doesn't destroy the variety or creativity. It just ensures there's all the needed base libraries, they are accessable in a pre-defined way and that if your application works with one LSB distro it should work on all of them. It does NOT have anything to do with boot-up, themes, applications included and so forth. Those are left to distros themselves.
Member since:
2006-01-06
I kind of like the variety, I like creativity of different distributions and I would really hate if they all had the same package manager, the same filesystem structure etc. Sometimes different doesn't mean worse.
But, seriously - it's great for some main distros to follow the same standards, and it's certainly good for 3rd party software developers.