Linux Standard Base
The Linux Standard Base is a joint project by several Linux distributions under the organizational structure of the Linux Foundation to standardize the software system structure, including the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard used in the Linux kernel. The LSB is based on the POSIX specification, the Single UNIX Specification, several other open standards, but extends them in certain areas. According to the LSB: The goal of the LSB is to develop and promote a set of open standards that will increase compatibility among Linux distributions and enable software applications to run on any compliant system in binary form. In addition, the LSB will help coordinate efforts to recruit software vendors to port and write products for Linux Operating Systems; the LSB compliance may be certified for a product by a certification procedure. The LSB specifies for example: standard libraries, a number of commands and utilities that extend the POSIX standard, the layout of the file system hierarchy, run levels, the printing system, including spoolers such as CUPS and tools like Foomatic, several extensions to the X Window System.
LSB specifies boot facilities, such as $local_fs, $network, which are used to indicate service dependencies in System V-style initialization scripts. A machine readable comment block at the top of a script provides the information necessary to determine at which point of the initialization process the script should be invoked, it is called the LSB header. The command lsb_release -a is available in many systems to get the LSB version details, or can be made available by installing an appropriate package, for example the redhat-lsb package in Red-Hat-flavored distributions such as Fedora, or the lsb-release package in Debian-based distributions; the LSB is designed to be binary-compatible and produce a stable application binary interface for independent software vendors. To achieve backward compatibility, each subsequent version is purely additive. In other words, interfaces are only added, not removed; the LSB adopted an interface deprecation policy to give application developers enough time in case an interface is removed from the LSB.
This allows the developer to rely on every interface in the LSB for a known time and to plan for changes, without being surprised. Interfaces are only removed after having been marked "deprecated" for at least three major versions, or eleven years. LSB 5.0 is the first major release. 1.0: Initial release June 29, 2001. 1.1: Released January 22, 2002. Added hardware-specific specifications. 1.2: Released June 28, 2002. Added hardware-specific specifications. Certification began July 2002. 1.2.1: Released October 2002. Added Itanium. 1.3: Released December 17, 2002. Added hardware-specific specifications. 2.0: Released August 31, 2004 LSB is modularized to LSB-Core, LSB-CXX, LSB-Graphics, LSB-I18n New hardware-specific specifications Synchronized to Single UNIX Specification version 3 2.0.1: Released October 21, 2004, ISO version of LSB 2.0, which included specification for all hardware architectures. 2.1: Released March 11, 2005. 3.0: Released July 1, 2005. Among other library changes: GNU C Library version 2.3.4 C++ ABI is changed to the one used by gcc 3.4 The core specification is updated to ISO POSIX Technical Corrigenda 1: 2005 3.1: Released October 31, 2005.
This version has been submitted as ISO/IEC 23360. 3.2: Released January 28, 2008. This version has been submitted as ISO/IEC 23360. 4.0: Released November 11, 2008. This version contains the following features: GNU C Library version 2.4 Binary compatibility with LSB 3.x Easier to use SDK Support for newer versions of GTK and Cairo graphical libraries Java Simpler ways of creating LSB-compliant RPM packages Crypto API 4.1: Released February 16, 2011:Java removed "Trial Use" modules from LSB 4.0, covering multimedia and desktop miscellaneous have been promoted as required submodules Updated GTK+, Cairo and CUPS libraries Three new test suites added 5.0: Released June 2, 2015 First major release that breaks backward compatibility with earlier versions Incorporates the changes made in FHS 3.0 Qt 3 library has been removed Evolved module strategy. The main parts of it are: ISO/IEC 23360-1:2006 Linux Standard Base core specification 3.1 – Part 1: Generic specification ISO/IEC 23360-2:2006 Linux Standard Base core specification 3.1 – Part 2: Specification for IA-32 architecture ISO/IEC 23360-3:2006 Linux Standard Base core specification 3.1 – Part 3: Specification for IA-64 architecture ISO/IEC 23360-4:2006 Linux Standard Base core specification 3.1 – Part 4: Specification for AMD64 architecture ISO/IEC 23360-5:2006 Linux Standard Base core specification 3.1 – Part 5: Specification for PPC32 architecture ISO/IEC 23360-6:2006 Linux Standard Base core specification 3.1 – Part 6: Specification for PPC64 architecture ISO/IEC 23360-7:2006 Linux Standard Base core specification 3.1 – Part 7: Specification for S390 architecture ISO/IEC 23360-8:2006 Linux Standard Base core specification 3.1 – Part 8: Specification for S390X architectureThere is ISO/IEC TR 24715:2006 which identifies areas of conflict between ISO/IEC 23360 and the ISO/IEC 99
Debian is a Unix-like operating system consisting of free software. Ian Murdock started the Debian Project on August 16, 1993. Debian 0.01 was released on September 15, 1993, the first stable version, 1.1, was released on June 17, 1996. The Debian stable branch is the most popular edition for personal computers and network servers, is used as the basis for many other distributions. Debian is one of the earliest operating systems based on the Linux kernel; the project's work is carried out over the Internet by a team of volunteers guided by the Debian Project Leader and three foundational documents: the Debian Social Contract, the Debian Constitution, the Debian Free Software Guidelines. New distributions are updated continually, the next candidate is released after a time-based freeze. Debian has been developed and distributed according to the principles of the GNU Project, this drew the support of the Free Software Foundation which sponsored the project from November 1994 to November 1995; when the sponsorship ended, the Debian Project formed the nonprofit Software in the Public Interest to continue financially supporting development.
Debian has access to online repositories that contain over 51,000 packages Debian contains only free software, but non-free software can be downloaded and installed from the Debian repositories. Debian includes popular free programs such as LibreOffice, Firefox web browser, Evolution mail, K3b disc burner, VLC media player, GIMP image editor, Evince document viewer. Debian is a popular choice for servers, for example as the operating system component of a LAMP stack. Debian supports Linux having offered kFreeBSD for version 7 but not 8, GNU Hurd unofficially. GNU/kFreeBSD was released as a technology preview for IA-32 and x86-64 architectures, lacked the amount of software available in Debian's Linux distribution. Official support for kFreeBSD was removed for version 8, which did not provide a kFreeBSD-based distribution. Several flavors of the Linux kernel exist for each port. For example, the i386 port has flavors for IA-32 PCs supporting Physical Address Extension and real-time computing, for older PCs, for x86-64 PCs.
The Linux kernel does not contain firmware without sources, although such firmware is available in non-free packages and alternative installation media. Debian offers CD images built for Xfce, the default desktop on CD, DVD images for GNOME, KDE and others. MATE is supported, while Cinnamon support was added with Debian 8.0 Jessie. Less common window managers such as Enlightenment, Fluxbox, IceWM, Window Maker and others are available; the default desktop environment of version 7.0 Wheezy was temporarily switched to Xfce, because GNOME 3 did not fit on the first CD of the set. The default for the version 8.0 Jessie was changed again to Xfce in November 2013, back to GNOME in September 2014. Several parts of Debian are translated into languages other than American English, including package descriptions, configuration messages and the website; the level of software localization depends on the language, ranging from the supported German and French to the hardly translated Creek and Samoan. The installer is available in 73 languages.
Debian offers CD images for installation that can be downloaded using BitTorrent or jigdo. Physical disks can be bought from retailers; the full sets are made up of several discs, but only the first disc is required for installation, as the installer can retrieve software not contained in the first disc image from online repositories. Debian offers different network installation methods. A minimal install of Debian is available via the netinst CD, whereby Debian is installed with just a base and added software can be downloaded from the Internet. Another option is to boot the installer from the network. Installation images can be used to create a bootable USB drive; the default bootstrap loader is GNU GRUB version 2, though the package name is grub, while version 1 was renamed to grub-legacy. This conflicts with e.g. Fedora, where grub version 2 is named grub2; the default desktop may be chosen from the DVD boot menu among GNOME, KDE Plasma, Xfce and LXDE, from special disc 1 CDs. Debian releases live install images for CDs, DVDs and USB thumb drives, for IA-32 and x86-64 architectures, with a choice of desktop environments.
These Debian Live images allow users to boot from removable media and run Debian without affecting the contents of their computer. A full install of Debian to the computer's hard drive can be initiated from the live image environment. Personalized images can be built with the live-build tool for discs, USB drives and for network booting purposes. Debian was first announced on August 16, 1993, by Ian Murdock, who called the system "the Debian Linux Release"; the word "Debian" was formed as a portmanteau of the first name of his then-girlfriend Debra Lynn and his own first name. Before Debian's release, the Softlanding Linux System had been a popular Linux distribution and the basis for Slackware; the perceived poor maintenance and prevalence of bugs in SLS motivated Murdock to launch a new distribution. Debian 0.01, released on September 15, 1993, was the first of several internal releases. Version 0.90 was the first public release, providing support through mailing lists hosted at Pixar. The release included the Debian Linux Manifesto, outlining Murdock's view for the new operating system.
In it he called for the creation of a distribution to be maintained in the spirit of Linux and GNU. The Debian project released the 0.9x versions in 1994 and 1995. During this time it was sponso
Ian Ashley Murdock was an American software engineer, known for being the founder of the Debian project and Progeny Linux Systems, a commercial Linux company. Although Murdock's parents were both from Southern Indiana, he was born in Konstanz, West Germany, on 28 April 1973, where his father was pursuing postdoctoral research; the family returned to the United States in 1975, Murdock grew up in Lafayette, beginning in 1977 when his father became a professor of entomology at Purdue University. Murdock graduated from Harrison High School in 1991, earned his bachelor's degree in computer science from Purdue in 1996. While a college student, Murdock founded the Debian project in August 1993, wrote the Debian Manifesto in January 1994. Murdock conceived Debian as a Linux distribution that embraced open design and support from the free software community, he named Debian after his then-girlfriend Debra Lynn, himself. They married, had three children, divorced in January 2008. In January 2006, Murdock was appointed Chief Technology Officer of the Free Standards Group and elected chair of the Linux Standard Base workgroup.
He continued as CTO of the Linux Foundation when the group was formed from the merger of the Free Standards Group and Open Source Development Labs. Murdock left the Linux Foundation to join Sun Microsystems in March 2007 to lead Project Indiana, which he described as "taking the lesson that Linux has brought to the operating system and providing that for Solaris", making a full OpenSolaris distribution with GNOME and userland tools from GNU plus a network-based package management system. From March 2007 to February 2010, he was Vice President of Emerging Platforms at Sun, until the company merged with Oracle and he resigned his position with the company. From 2011 until 2015 Murdock was Vice President of Platform and Developer Community at Salesforce Marketing Cloud, based in Indianapolis. From November 2015 until his death Murdock was working for Inc.. Murdock died on 28 December 2015 in San Francisco. Though no cause of death was released, in July 2016 it was announced his death had been ruled a suicide.
The police confirmed that the cause of death was due to asphyxiation caused by hanging himself with a vacuum cleaner electrical cord. The last tweets from Murdock's Twitter account first announced that he would commit suicide said he would not, he reported having been accused of assault on a police officer after having been himself assaulted by the police declared an intent to devote his life to opposing police abuse. His Twitter account was taken down shortly afterwards; the San Francisco police confirmed he was detained, saying he matched the description in a reported attempted break-in and that he appeared to be drunk. The police stated that he became violent and was taken to jail on suspicion of four misdemeanor counts, they added that he was medically examined prior to release. Police returned on reports of a possible suicide; the city medical examiner's office confirmed. List of Debian project leaders Official website Murdock, Overview Of The Debian GNU/Linux System, LinuxJournal. "Interview", tlltsarchive.org, The Linux Link Tech Show, 11 May 2005 "Interview", jeffratliff.org, The Linux Link Tech Show, 4 July 2006 https://archive.org/details/IanMurdockHomepage.tar https://archive.org/download/AutopsyIanMurdockDebianLinuxFounder/Autopsy-Ian-Murdock-Debian-Linux-Founder.pdf
Linux is a family of free and open-source software operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is packaged in a Linux distribution. Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy. Popular Linux distributions include Debian and Ubuntu. Commercial distributions include SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. Desktop Linux distributions include a windowing system such as X11 or Wayland, a desktop environment such as GNOME or KDE Plasma. Distributions intended for servers may omit graphics altogether, include a solution stack such as LAMP; because Linux is redistributable, anyone may create a distribution for any purpose. Linux was developed for personal computers based on the Intel x86 architecture, but has since been ported to more platforms than any other operating system.
Linux is the leading operating system on servers and other big iron systems such as mainframe computers, the only OS used on TOP500 supercomputers. It is used by around 2.3 percent of desktop computers. The Chromebook, which runs the Linux kernel-based Chrome OS, dominates the US K–12 education market and represents nearly 20 percent of sub-$300 notebook sales in the US. Linux runs on embedded systems, i.e. devices whose operating system is built into the firmware and is tailored to the system. This includes routers, automation controls, digital video recorders, video game consoles, smartwatches. Many smartphones and tablet computers run other Linux derivatives; because of the dominance of Android on smartphones, Linux has the largest installed base of all general-purpose operating systems. Linux is one of the most prominent examples of open-source software collaboration; the source code may be used and distributed—commercially or non-commercially—by anyone under the terms of its respective licenses, such as the GNU General Public License.
The Unix operating system was conceived and implemented in 1969, at AT&T's Bell Laboratories in the United States by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Douglas McIlroy, Joe Ossanna. First released in 1971, Unix was written in assembly language, as was common practice at the time. In a key pioneering approach in 1973, it was rewritten in the C programming language by Dennis Ritchie; the availability of a high-level language implementation of Unix made its porting to different computer platforms easier. Due to an earlier antitrust case forbidding it from entering the computer business, AT&T was required to license the operating system's source code to anyone who asked; as a result, Unix grew and became adopted by academic institutions and businesses. In 1984, AT&T divested itself of Bell Labs; the GNU Project, started in 1983 by Richard Stallman, had the goal of creating a "complete Unix-compatible software system" composed of free software. Work began in 1984. In 1985, Stallman started the Free Software Foundation and wrote the GNU General Public License in 1989.
By the early 1990s, many of the programs required in an operating system were completed, although low-level elements such as device drivers and the kernel, called GNU/Hurd, were stalled and incomplete. Linus Torvalds has stated that if the GNU kernel had been available at the time, he would not have decided to write his own. Although not released until 1992, due to legal complications, development of 386BSD, from which NetBSD, OpenBSD and FreeBSD descended, predated that of Linux. Torvalds has stated that if 386BSD had been available at the time, he would not have created Linux. MINIX was created by Andrew S. Tanenbaum, a computer science professor, released in 1987 as a minimal Unix-like operating system targeted at students and others who wanted to learn the operating system principles. Although the complete source code of MINIX was available, the licensing terms prevented it from being free software until the licensing changed in April 2000. In 1991, while attending the University of Helsinki, Torvalds became curious about operating systems.
Frustrated by the licensing of MINIX, which at the time limited it to educational use only, he began to work on his own operating system kernel, which became the Linux kernel. Torvalds began the development of the Linux kernel on MINIX and applications written for MINIX were used on Linux. Linux matured and further Linux kernel development took place on Linux systems. GNU applications replaced all MINIX components, because it was advantageous to use the available code from the GNU Project with the fledgling operating system. Torvalds initiated a switch from his original license, which prohibited commercial redistribution, to the GNU GPL. Developers worked to integrate GNU components with the Linux kernel, making a functional and free operating system. Linus Torvalds had wanted to call his invention "Freax", a portmant
A Linux distribution is an operating system made from a software collection, based upon the Linux kernel and a package management system. Linux users obtain their operating system by downloading one of the Linux distributions, which are available for a wide variety of systems ranging from embedded devices and personal computers to powerful supercomputers. A typical Linux distribution comprises a Linux kernel, GNU tools and libraries, additional software, documentation, a window system, a window manager, a desktop environment. Most of the included software is free and open-source software made available both as compiled binaries and in source code form, allowing modifications to the original software. Linux distributions optionally include some proprietary software that may not be available in source code form, such as binary blobs required for some device drivers. A Linux distribution may be described as a particular assortment of application and utility software, packaged together with the Linux kernel in such a way that its capabilities meet the needs of many users.
The software is adapted to the distribution and packaged into software packages by the distribution's maintainers. The software packages are available online in so-called repositories, which are storage locations distributed around the world. Beside glue components, such as the distribution installers or the package management systems, there are only few packages that are written from the ground up by the maintainers of a Linux distribution. Six hundred Linux distributions exist, with close to five hundred out of those in active development; because of the huge availability of software, distributions have taken a wide variety of forms, including those suitable for use on desktops, laptops, mobile phones and tablets, as well as minimal environments for use in embedded systems. There are commercially backed distributions, such as Fedora, openSUSE and Ubuntu, community-driven distributions, such as Debian, Slackware and Arch Linux. Most distributions come ready to use and pre-compiled for a specific instruction set, while some distributions are distributed in source code form and compiled locally during installation.
Linus Torvalds developed the Linux kernel and distributed its first version, 0.01, in 1991. Linux was distributed as source code only, as a pair of downloadable floppy disk images – one bootable and containing the Linux kernel itself, the other with a set of GNU utilities and tools for setting up a file system. Since the installation procedure was complicated in the face of growing amounts of available software, distributions sprang up to simplify this. Early distributions included the following: H. J. Lu's "Boot-root", the aforementioned disk image pair with the kernel and the absolute minimal tools to get started, in late 1991 MCC Interim Linux, made available to the public for download in February 1992 Softlanding Linux System, released in 1992, was the most comprehensive distribution for a short time, including the X Window System Yggdrasil Linux/GNU/X, a commercial distribution first released in December 1992The two oldest and still active distribution projects started in 1993; the SLS distribution was not well maintained, so in July 1993 a new distribution, called Slackware and based on SLS, was released by Patrick Volkerding.
Dissatisfied with SLS, Ian Murdock set to create a free distribution by founding Debian, which had its first release in December 1993. Users were attracted to Linux distributions as alternatives to the DOS and Microsoft Windows operating systems on IBM PC compatible computers, Mac OS on the Apple Macintosh, proprietary versions of Unix. Most early adopters were familiar with Unix from school, they embraced Linux distributions for their low cost, availability of the source code for most or all of the software included. The distributions were a convenience, offering a free alternative to proprietary versions of Unix but they became the usual choice for Unix or Linux experts. To date, Linux has become more popular in server and embedded devices markets than in the desktop market. For example, Linux is used on over 50% of web servers, whereas its desktop market share is about 3.7%. Many Linux distributions provide an installation system akin to that provided with other modern operating systems. On the other hand, some distributions, including Gentoo Linux, provide only the binaries of a basic kernel, compilation tools, an installer.
Distributions are segmented into packages. Each package contains service. Examples of packages are a library for handling the PNG image format, a collection of fonts or a web browser; the package is provided as compiled code, with installation and removal of packages handled by a package management system rather than a simple file archiver. Each package intended for such a PMS contains meta-information such as a package description, "dependencies"; the package management system can evaluate this meta-information to allow package searches, to perform an automatic upgrade to a newer version, to check that all dependencies of a package are fulfilled, and/or to fulfill them automatically. Alth