BMC, a company that sells server management software for Linux and several other operating systems, is among those happy with the LSB. Currently, BMC must maintain separate versions of its server management software for Red Hat and SuSE, said Fred Johannessen, director of strategy and business development for BMC's Linux business unit. "We're certified to Red Hat and SuSE, but in the long term, we will be moving to the LSB certification," he said. The company also expects to certify its own software with the LSB, he said. LSB isn't as directly useful for others whose software reaches deep down into the kernel. For example, database companies such as Oracle require "asynchronous input-output" features in the heart of Linux that lets a computer make many simultaneous requests to read and write data on a storage system, said Markus Rex, vice president of development at SuSE. "If you need direct links to the kernel, you need more than LSB," he said. Sistina is in the same situation with its file-storage software, which lets large numbers of servers share the same storage system without stepping on each others' toes. The software reaches directly into the kernel, an area LSB doesn't govern. Instead, Sistina relies on the unifying force that stems from the version of Linux posted at kernel.org by Linux founder Linus Torvalds and his deputies. Different Linux sellers tend to minimize variations from this version, Christenson said. LSB discourages fragmentation in general, though, so Sistina supports it. "We're in favor even if it doesn't directly help us at this point," Christenson said. "The more similar the (Linux) distributions get, the easier our job becomes." LSB is gradually expanding its domain as new technologies settle down, said LSB chairman George Kraft IV, an IBM software engineer. For example, future LSB versions will standardize the way Linux handles "threads"--computing processes that can be started with relative ease. "We expect it to be put into the (LSB) specification as soon as it stabilizes," Kraft said, a move that will make it easier to run Java Red Hat on board
An important ally in the LSB is dominant Red Hat, which according to market researcher IDC garnered nearly three-quarters of the money spent by businesses on the Linux operating system. Red Hat has built software alliances with major software companies including database seller Oracle, storage software maker Veritas and e-commerce software seller BEA Systems. "The (Linux sellers) had to come together," said Mike Balma, HP's Linux business strategist. "A lot of people said it could never happen." Red Hat believes in the merits of LSB certification, but doesn't believe companies such as Oracle will drop Red Hat certification in favor of LSB certification, said Paul Cormier, executive vice president of engineering. Red Hat will LSB-certify its Advanced Server version, possibly with an update to the existing version 2.1 but certainly with 3.0, due in the second quarter of 2003, Cormier said. LSB compliance, which requires changes to software "libraries" that handle many standard software tasks, can't just be overlaid on an existing product. Even with LSB compliance, software companies will still sign partnerships with Linux sellers to deal with issues such as the quality of support, the speed with which bugs are fixed or the ability to build in new features such as asynchronous input-output, Cormier said. Not just the LSB
Another move against fragmentation took place with the formation in May of UnitedLinux, an agreement that Conectiva, Caldera International, Turbolinux and SuSE all will use SuSE's version of Linux for Intel servers. The alliance was founded to reduce development expenses and to make life easier for software companies that often just certified their software with Linux from Red Hat. UnitedLinux on Wednesday announced its first beta, or test version, of the product, with public beta testing scheduled to begin by the end of September. HP is among the backers of UnitedLinux as well as the LSB. It helps both in selling servers and in creating software such as HP's OpenView management software, Balma said. UnitedLinux will comply with LSB, its backers say. Indeed, since it uses the exact same software base, many of the standardization issues are made easier to work out. However, Illuminata's Eunice said, customers using different higher-level software, such as management tools from different UnitedLinux partners, might not find it a trivial task to switch. If Linux fans veer from the course, there's always the cautionary tale of Unix to pull them back into alignment. "I don't know that (LSB) is all that's necessary, but it's a step in the right direction," said Steve Solazzo, general manager of IBM's Linux efforts. "Everyone has a bad taste in their mouth from the fragmentation of Unix."
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