Linux supporters deliver desktop standards

The Free Standards Group is due to launch version 3.1 of its Linux Standards Base, delivering the first fruits of its LSB Desktop Project to create new standards for Linux on the desktop.

While previous versions of the LSB have been adopted by all the major Linux distributions as a means of enabling standard libraries and application behavior, version 3.1 is the first to specifically target desktop standards, following the creation of the LSB Desktop Project in October 2005.

LSB Desktop members including Red Hat, Novell, Mandriva, HP and IBM contributed to the project, which for the first time now specifies interfaces for libraries including GTK+ 2.6 and Qt 3.3.

The desktop standard have been delivered alongside LSB C++ and LSB Core - approved in November 2005 as an ISO standard by the International Standardization Organization and International Electrotechnical Commission - to complete the LSB 3.1 specification.

With version 3.1 the Free Standards Group is also offering for the first time optional modules as add-ons, which are under consideration for inclusion in future LSB standards, with Qt 4.0 the first to be covered by this system. Version 3.1 is also expected to the see the delivery of an LSB Software Developers Kit, designed to make it easier for developers to build LSB-compliant applications.

LSB 3.1 is the latest attempt to increase the standardization of Linux desktop environments while maintaining customer choice. It follows the recent launch of the Portland Project to develop common interfaces for the Gnome and KDE Linux desktop environments. The LSB covers standards at a lower level and does not mandate the use of either KDE or Gnome.

• Share:
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•