The Open Group & FSG announce LSB 2.0 certification

The Free Standards Group and The Open Group join forces to certify
applications to the Linux Standard Base 2.0

San Francisco, CA - September 14, 2004 - The Free Standards Group, a
nonprofit organization dedicated to developing and promoting open source
software standards, and The Open Group, a vendor-neutral and
technology-neutral consortium that operates the industry's premier
certification service, today announced the readiness of certification
efforts for the newly announced Linux Standard Base 2.0 Specification (LSB
2.0).  Developers can work with The Open Group starting today on certifying
their applications to the global standard for Linux.
 
LSB Certification is essential for Linux-based runtime environments
(distributions), Linux-based application developers and vendors. It
provides an assurance to users and customers that the certified software
product has the highest possible runtime adherence to the LSB
specifications. It provides a foundation that ensures that a certified
application will work with any LSB certified runtime environments.

Free Standards Group certification to LSB 2.0 is now available for the
following types of products:
* LSB Application certification is for application software conforming to
the LSB Written Specifications. LSB applications are the consumers of the
services provided by LSB Runtime Environments.
* LSB Runtime Environment certification is for Linux-based operating system
distributions and emulation environments.
Certification is achieved through an innovative automated web certification
system developed and administered by The Open Group that allows applicants
to upload their submission over the internet. Fees are kept to a minimum,
starting from just $500, to encourage developers, ISVs and Linux
distributions to become LSB Certified. "The Open Group is ready to certify
applications to the Linux Standard Base 2.0,' said Allen Brown, President
and CEO of The Open Group. "The LSB is crucial for the ongoing success of
Linux. We're pleased to work with the Free Standards Group on certifying
products to this important specification."

Certification is available today from The Open Group. Details can be found
at http://www.opengroup.org/lsb/cert/.

About the LSB 
The LSB specification and test suites provide developers and vendors with
the information, guidelines and tools they need to work toward LSB
compliance. Developers and vendors are granted a license to use the "LSB
Certified" trademark in connection with a particular software product once
that product has passed the applicable certification test suites and the
required agreements have been signed by both the developer or vendor and
the Free Standards Group. The LSB Certification process is managed by The
Open Group to ensure neutrality and confidentiality.

The LSB has garnered pledges of support from the majority of the Linux
Community including AMD, Conectiva, Dell, HP, IBM, Intel, Mandrakesoft,
Miracle Linux, Novell's SUSE LINUX, Progeny, Red Flag, Red Hat, Sun Wah
Linux, Thizlinux, and Turbolinux. This groundswell of support is
significant as it promises to keep Linux from forking and going the way of
proprietary systems in the past. Because of the reduced costs for software
vendors writing to the Linux, adoption of the LSB will also result in an
increase in the number of applications written to the operating system.

The Importance of the LSB
The Linux Standard Base is developed and maintained by the Free Standards
Group (FSB), a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing and promoting
open source software standards. The LSB specification offers an answer to
the most pressing issue facing Linux today: fragmentation. Industry leaders
have rallied behind the standard and pledged their support to prevent this
from happening. FSG has developed LSB along with a number of tools and test
suites to facilitate the creation of a standard Linux.

Distributions that comply with the LSB achieve interoperability with
application software written to the standard. This is crucial for the
on-going success for Linux as it simplifies the development and porting of
applications by ISVs and guarantees end users will not get forced behind
proprietary distributions of Linux. Most importantly, support for the LSB
standard ensures Linux will not fork and will continue to be the fastest
growing operating system in the industry. Application vendors will save
millions of dollars by basing their applications on a clear set of
standards.

About The Open Group 
The Open Group is a vendor-neutral and technology-neutral consortium, which
drives the creation of Boundaryless Information Flow(TM) that will enable
access to integrated information within and between enterprises based on
open standards and global interoperability. The Open Group works with
customers, suppliers, consortia and other standard bodies. Its role is to
capture, understand and address current and emerging requirements,
establish policies and share best practices; to facilitate
interoperability, develop consensus, and evolve and integrate
specifications and open source technologies; to offer a comprehensive set
of services to enhance the operational efficiency of consortia; and to
operate the industry's premier certification service.
Note to Editors: Boundaryless Information Flow is a trademark of The Open
Group.

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 by
developing and promoting standards. Key Free Standards Group projects
include the Linux Standard Base (LSB), OpenI18N, LANANA and the new
Accessibility Workgroup. 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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