Leading Linux Distributions Become LSB Certified; Industry leaders are first in the world to achieve Linux Standard Base -LSB- certification.

Business/Technology Editors

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 14, 2002

In a move that will ensure the continued growth of the Linux industry, the Free Standards Group announced that three leading Linux distributions have become Linux Standard Base (LSB) Certified. MandrakeSoft S.A., Red Hat, and SuSE Linux AG, have all achieved LSB Certification. LSB Certification verifies adherence to the community and industry developed standard for both Linux distributions and Linux-based applications.

"LSB Certification by the leading Linux distributions comes less than six weeks after the initial launch of the LSB Certification program," said Scott McNeil, Free Standards Group executive director. "This rapid adoption illustrates just how important compatibility is to the LSB Certified companies and their customers. Linux as a technology and market has truly matured."

LSB, a workgroup under the Free Standards Group, standardizes the core functionality of Linux and the suite of GNU tools, giving Linux distributions and Linux-based applications the opportunity to reach a wider market, while allowing application developers to concentrate on increased functionality. LSB was developed through a collaboration between community developers, Linux distribution companies, ISVs and system vendors.

"Certification is not a profit center for the Free Standards Group," said George Kraft IV, LSB Workgroup Chair. "It was designed to give users and developers the highest confidence that whatever LSB Certified Linux distribution or program they work with meets the highest possible adherence to the standard."

Additionally, the Free Standards Group announced the launch of Linux Internationalization Initiative (Li18nux) Certification. Li18nux standardizes true internationalization capabilities for Linux distributions and Linux-based programs.

Li18nux Certification will launch later this quarter and will be similar to LSB Certification in its stringent requirements, including vendor-neutral, third party verification. Several Linux distributions have already become Li18nux compliant under the Li18nux compliance pilot program.

Standards for Linux ensure that all LSB and Li18nux Certified applications will work with any LSB certified platform -- making deployment on any system, large or small, much easier. Information on certification can be found at www.freestandards.org/certification

With LSB's full complement of standards, testing and certification, and with the addition of the Li18nux Certification program, the Free Standards Group has created indispensable tools for Linux.

About the Free Standards Group

Supported by industry leaders, the Free Standards Group is an independent, vendor-neutral, non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating the use and acceptance of open source technologies through the development, application and promotion of standards. Headquartered in Oakland, Calif., the Free Standards Group fulfills a critical need in the open source development community to have common behavioral specifications, tools and APIs, making development across Linux distributions easier. More information on the Free Standards Group is available at www.freestandards.org.

                         Free Standards Group
             Leading Linux Distributions Become Certified
                             Quote Sheet

    Debian

    "The LSB is an important step in the evolution of Linux, one which
I hope will help ensure that Linux distributions become ever more
compatible in all the ways that really matter to users and
developers," said Bdale Garbee, Debian Project Leader. "As part of
fulfilling our vision of Debian as a Universal Operating System, we
intend to continue working both to ensure that Debian is fully capable
of running standards-compliant applications, ant that Debian remains
an excellent platform for developing them!"

    Hewlett-Packard Company

    "For the adoption of standards, LSB and Li18nux continue to play
pivotal roles," said Judy Chavis, director of worldwide Linux
marketing, HP Industry Standard Servers. "The adoption of standards
allows HP to continue to meet customers' needs through increased
choice and applications for Linux."

    MandrakeSoft S.A.

    "Being one of the first companies to be LSB certified, we are
fully aware of the importance of LSB," said Jacques Le Marois, CEO and
Co-Founder of MandrakeSoft S.A. "LSB is a major step in the
development of Linux. It offers a common standard to all the players
in the market, as well as a fundamental basis that facilitates healthy
competition, which will contribute to the expansion of Linux."

    Red Hat

    "With LSB certification," said Michael Tiemann, CTO at Red Hat,
"Red Hat can offer customers what is most desirable: a platform that
not only supports a wide range of ISVs and systems today, but a
platform that we can evolve while maintaining compatibility with
LSB-certified systems already deployed."

    SuSE Linux AG

    "We are very pleased with the LSB certification, which confirms
the technical superiority of our products," said Boris Nalbach, CTO of
SuSE Linux AG. "SuSE is highly committed to position Linux standards
as binding. As a member of the Free Standards Group and founding
member of the UnitedLinux initiative, it is our goal to provide both
ISVs and IHVs with an attractive basis to certify their products and
solutions."