Linux Is Getting Its Act together

If you had ventured into Linux waters say 10 or more years ago to the extent of keeping software updated you would have noticed that occasionally things got a little out of kilter. Not quite as bad as the Windows dll hell where a new version of an application might install a different version of a shared dll and break existing applications. With Linux it was more a case of a new version of a library released that broke other applications. There'd be a few days frustration and then a fix would come through. Not a major hassle but annoying...

In a bid to improve things the Linux Developer Network has developed the Linux Standard Base, a joint project by several Linux Distributions to standardize the internal structure of Linux through open standards and the Linux Application Checker. There is a written binary interface specification that provides guidelines for packaging, installing, common shared libraries, config files, system commands and Application Binary Interfaces for System Interfaces. Note that the LSB is ISO/IEC standard 23360. There's a bit more to it than just a standard; for instance there is a downloadable Application Checker developed in Russia, but it is initiatives like this that accelerate the take-up of Linux.

Note I've added a new page of useful online resources so if you know of anything, please email me.

• Link to Useful Online resources