Defense Information Systems Agency Adopts LSB as Standards Requirement for Linux-Based Products.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers LinuxWorld San Francisco 2003 SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 5, 2003 Joins Growing Number of IT Organizations Requiring Linux Standard Base See LSB. Compliance The Free Standards Group See Linux Foundation. , a nonprofit standards organization for free and opensource software, today announced that the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA 1. (body) DISA - Defense Information Systems Agency. 2. (standard) DISA - Data Interchange Standards Association. ) has introduced Linux Standard Base (LSB (Linux Standard Base) A standard interface (ABI) for Linux from the Linux Foundation (www.linux-foundation.org). Introduced in 2001 by the Free Standards Group, which later became the Linux Foundation, applications based on the LSB standard will run properly under ) as a requirement in its platform compliance for Linux-based products. DISA's adoption of the LSB is a significant milestone for the Free Standards Group, which first released the LSB specification in 2001. Since January 2003, every major Linux distribution vendor has applied for and achieved LSB Certification. As industry and community support behind the LSB has gained momentum, leading IT organizations such as DISA have begun to adopt the LSB. "Maintaining the interoperability and supportability of our information systems is critical," said Frederick Schulz, chief system engineer of DISA. "The LSB provides us with an important set of standards we can use in evaluating Linux-based products." The LSB enables binary compatibility across different Linux systems. Software applications written to the LSB specification will run "out of the box" on any Linux system that is LSB compliant. By purchasing LSB Certified software applications and operating systems, information technology (IT) organizations benefit from ease of administration, improved security and reduced maintenance costs over the long term. "Standards are important to IT organizations using Linux," said Scott McNeil, executive director of the Free Standards Group. "With leading organizations such as DISA requiring LSB compliance, software vendors and developers are starting to realize the commercial benefits of LSB Certification in addition to its technical merits." Linux distribution vendors that have applied for and achieved LSB Certification include Mandrake mandrake, plant of the family Solanaceae (nightshade family), the source of a narcotic much used during the Middle Ages as a pain-killer and perhaps the subject of more superstition than any other plant. , MSC (1) (MSC.Software Corporation, Santa Ana, CA, www.mscsoftware.com) Founded in 1963 by Richard H. MacNeal and Robert G. Schwendler, MSC is the world's largest provider of mechanical computer aided engineering (MCAE) strategies, simulation software and services. , Red Hat, Sun Wah Linux, SuSE, ThizLinux (Hong Kong) and UnitedLinux. Further information on LSB Certification -- and its implications for IT users, software vendors and developers -- is available at http://www.freestandards.org/. About the Free Standards Group The Free Standards Group is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the use and acceptance of free and open source software See free software and open source. by developing and promoting standards. Key Free Standards Group projects include the Linux Standard Base (LSB), OpenI18N, LANANA LANANA Linux Assigned Names and Numbers Authority and OpenPrinting. Supported by leaders in the IT industry as well as the open source development community, the Free Standards Group fulfills a critical need to have common behavioral specifications, tools and ABIs across Linux platforms. More information on the Free Standards Group is available at www.freestandards.org. |
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