In another step towards general release, the first beta of Linux Standard Base (LSB) 4.0 was released today. LSB 4.0 will introduce a new application checker, a new shell script checker, and a new multi-version software development kit (SDK) that will enable developers to build applications to earlier LSB specifications without changing SDKs.
"This LSB 4.0 release is aimed at the practical needs of developers, both those looking for a standard platform and those who just want some practical advice on portability," said Jeff Licquia, Senior Engineer and technical lead for LSB 4.0 at the Linux Foundation.
The LSB was created to solve the challenges of multiple-distribution development and lower the overall costs of supporting the Linux platform. By reducing the differences between individual Linux distributions, the LSB greatly reduces the costs involved with porting applications to different distributions, and lowers the cost and effort involved in after-market support of those applications. The LSB enables ISVs to cost effectively target the Linux platform, reducing the ISVs' porting, support, and testing costs, while helping them address a global market for their applications.
This new version of LSB promises to accomplish these goals in a more powerful way. "We have a new set of LSB tools to make it much easier for ISVs to development applications that are LSB compliant, and to test to see how portable their applications are via the Linux Application Checker," Ted T'so, Chief Platform Strategist and Fellow with the Linux Foundation, explained.
The newly revised Linux Application Checker is a powerful tool designed to help software developers target Linux. The Application Checker draws on the extensive testing framework developed by the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Linux Foundation to examine the binary files of an application to determine how it will run on all LSB-certified distributions. Not only does this assist application developers work towards LSB certification, it also greatly enhances the general portability of any application that's tested.
Portability is also a big reason for the introduction of a new specification for shell scripts that will work in any shell. A more distributions tend to shy away from the bash shell due to its size, scripts that are written in bash might not function when moved to a distribution that doesn't use bash by default. The shell script checker will catch potential cross-shell problems in scripts, which means that a script on one distribution can run on another without blowing up.
Another important new feature in this beta version of LSB 4.0 includes a new SDK that will be decoupled from the release of new specifications. The 4.0 SDK can build applications to the LSB 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, or 4.0 specifications, and can switch at will between them.
"Developers for the LSB won't be tied to a single version of the LSB and won't have to uninstall and reinstall SDKs to target different versions of the LSB," according to Liquia.
T'so added that there are many applications that are nearly ready to be certified to LSB 4.0. T'so cited 234 applications listed in the LSB Database Navigator that are at or nearly ready for LSB 4.0 certification.
Other features of LSB 4.0 include:
- The inclusion of the Mozilla's Network Security Services (NSS) and Netscape Portable Runtime (NSPR) as a cryptography solution in LSB 4.0. The NSS/NSPR combination will provide, among other features, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) capability. Though popular, the OpenSSL library has one big concern that poses a problem for standardization: as it has been developed over time, OpenSSL has not maintained full backwards compatibility with its earlier versions. NSS and NSPR have maintained backwards compatibility with earlier versions, thus making it a better fit for the LSB.
- The sample implementation (SI) has been completely redesigned, and is now based on the rPath Conary technology instead of Linux From Scratch. The SI will ship with utilities to make it easier to use.
- The addition of new distribution tests that cover more of the LSB standard, making it easier for distribution vendors to run more comprehensive tests for LSB certification.
The Linux Standard Base 4.0 beta specification, test suite, and developer tools are available today on the Linux Foundation web site. The full release of LSB 4.0 will be later this Fall, 2008.
