OSDL Issues First Release of Desktop Linux Capabilities Document

OSDL Issues First Release of Desktop Linux Capabilities Document
 
Invites participation in defining requirements for Linux on the enterprise
desktop

BEAVERTON, Ore.   February 14, 2005   The Open Source Development Labs
(OSDL), a global consortium dedicated to accelerating the adoption of Linux®,
today announced the availability of Desktop Linux Capabilities, version 1.0,
a document created with the participation of key industry vendors, large end
user customers and leaders in the development community that defines a
target for what will make Linux desktops  successful in the enterprise. 

"OSDL is committed to accelerating use of Linux on desktop computers in the
enterprise," said Tim Witham,  CTO of OSDL.  "We're fostering an open forum
where IT vendors, IT managers, and the Linux development community can
discuss and define the capabilities required in future Linux desktops.  We
invite the Linux community and the rest of the industry to participate."

The OSDL Desktop Linux Capabilities document was developed by current OSDL
member companies after reviewing the requirements of enterprise desktop
users. The document defines capabilities that address the needs of four types
of desktop Linux users: 
 Basic office
 Transaction worker
 Technical workstation, and 
 Fixed function 
 
"The OSDL Desktop Linux Working Group found that Linux operating system
adoption in the enterprise is directly tied to the number of ISV applications
available for Linux" said J. Craig Manning, senior manager, IT for Cisco and
chair of the Desktop Linux Working Group Steering.  "We are releasing the
first version of the capabilities document to support an open process to
solicit feedback on capabilities which we will incorporate into our future
work."

Desktop Linux capabilities are grouped into eight application layers:
hardware support, operating system services, application services, system
security, network services, browser, installer, and accessibility.

"In keeping with our customer-centric approach, AMD supports the Desktop
Linux Capabilities document and encourages our enterprise Linux customers and
ISV partners  to review the document and provide feedback," said Joe Menard,
corporate vice president, Software Strategy and Alliances, AMD.  "We will
continue support of OSDL and the open source community in their efforts to
develop software solutions that meet the needs of the enterprise"


The Desktop Linux Capabilities document is necessarily forward looking
and describes capabilities which may or may not be present, or may not be
fully developed on any current system. For this reason the capabilities
document should not be regarded as any form of desktop specification which
can be used to evaluate a current desktop implementation, rather it captures
the needs of the enterprise.

"Novell's support for  the OSDL Desktop Linux working group effort further
demonstrates our focus on the needs of enterprise customers who are
increasingly looking at Linux as a viable desktop choice," said Alan Nugent,
chief technology officer of Novell.  "We will continue to work closely with
the Linux community as the Linux desktop matures."

"We are seeing widespread worldwide demand for Linux based desktop and client
systems", said Michael Evans, VP of Partner Development at Red Hat, "We
believe efforts like OSDL DTL that can help gather end user and market input
for capabilities in future Desktop Linux versions can be very helpful to the
overall market".

The OSDL Desktop Linux Capabilities document is freely available online from
OSDL at http://www.osdl.org/lab_activities/desktop_linux/DTL09/document_view


About Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) 
OSDL - home to Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux - is dedicated to
accelerating the growth and adoption of Linux. Founded in 2000 by CA,
Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP, IBM, Intel and NEC, OSDL is a non-profit organization
at the center of Linux supported by a global consortium of more than 60 of
the world's largest Linux customers and IT industry leaders. OSDL sponsors
industry-wide initiatives around Linux in telecommunications, in the
enterprise data center and on corporate desktops. The Lab also provides Linux
expertise and computing and test facilities in the United States and Japan
available to developers around the world. Visit OSDL on the Web at
http://www.osdl.org/. 

OSDL is a registered trademark of Open Source Development Labs, Inc. Linux is
a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Third party marks and brands are
the property of their respective holders.

EDITORIAL CONTACTS:
                            
Bret Clement for OSDL
Page One PR 
+1 303.462.3057
bret@pageonepr.com