LSB and Debian, Commercial perspective
Hi all,
Was reading an article on News.com
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-961296.html?tag=fd_top_5
----------------------
Four new versions of Linux have been certified to comply with guidelines
set down by the Linux Standard Base, a group trying to make it easier for
software to run on different companies' versions of the Unix clone.
Red Hat 8, SuSE 8.1, SCO Group OpenLinux 3.1.1 and MandrakeSoft 9 ProSuite
all comply with the LSB's guidelines, according to the Free Standards
Group, which oversees the LSB certification process.
---------------------
What are your thoughts on this? Since everyone on this group is presumably
running Debian Linux for a server/commercial perspective, our views would
probably differ from the home/desktop users. To the home user, I can't see
this making any huge difference. But on the commercial side, I can see
this having serious long-term consequences.
IMHO, I think Debian should join the group (and as many standards groups
as possible), if not just for the compatibility, but also for the
appearance of co-operating. I'd hate if more and more companies certify
their software and drivers for those 4 distros, and leave Debian out
"because it's not part of any standard". I know that kind of answer is
bogus and not really a reason to not support Debian, but I'm sure that's
what we'll be hearing from the vendors later on as an excuse not to
support Debian "officially".
Since many times we need "official" vendor support for company purchases
and such (however useless it may end up being), what do you guys think of
all this?
I would really hate if we were forced to go an "only Redhat" or "only
Mandrake" path just because vendors start supporting only the
"standardized" distros.
(Oh, and just in case Debian actually already complies with the LSB, why
on earth is it not mentioned in the article, or other prominent places? If
that _IS_ the case I think Debian seriously needs to do better PR work,
otherwise vendors are going to drop support and/or ignore Debian, calling
it "the distro no one heard of").
Sincerely,
Jason Lim
Zentek International Co. Ltd.
http://www.zentek-international.com
Reply to: