Caldera, MandrakeSoft Linux Get Certified

The latest Linux operating systems from MandrakeSoft SA and the former Caldera International have been certified as compliant with the specifications of the Linux Standard Base, which is helping to create a standardized Linux core to benefit users, software developers, and systems administrators.

In an announcement Tuesday, the nonprofit Free Standards Group said it has certified Caldera OpenLinux 3.1.1 and Mandrake Linux ProSuite 9.0 as adhering to the group's specifications.

Caldera OpenLinux is owned by The SCO Group in Lindon, Utah, which recently changed its name from Caldera International.

Opening the Door for Apps

"Both Caldera OpenLinux from SCO and Mandrake Linux ProSuite have passed a true milestone, assuring users that these two products meet the highest possible adherence to the LSB standard," Scott McNeil, executive director of the Oakland, California-based Free Standards Group, said in a statement. "That companies continue to apply for LSB certification demonstrates how important standards are to the continued growth of the Linux market."

The LSB is a working group under the Free Standards Group, which strives to standardize the core functions of Linux so application developers can spend more time building programs for the platform rather than having to customize their work for each different Linux distribution.

Andy Nagle, SCO's director of Linux products, said the new standards achievement "should lead to an environment whereby the number of certifications and test scenarios that independent software vendors need to go through is greatly reduced."

The standards will also be important to SCO and its partner companies later this year when the four-vendor UnitedLinux effort releases the first versions of its operating system, which will also be LSB-certified.

Community Supported Standards

According to Jacques Le Marois, CEO and cofounder of Paris-based MandrakeSoft SA, "The Linux Standard Base is a standard that is going to be massively supported by the computing industry in the near future."

Dan Kusnetzky, an analyst at IDC in Framingham, Massachusetts, said that developing the standards has likely been challenging, with so many different players involved. But it will no doubt be worthwhile.

"It means that any applications developer can more easily develop applications for Linux," Kusnetzky said. "My suspicion is that all of the principal members of the open-source community will announce compliance, because it helps the whole community."