Vendors launch Linux standardization effort

IDG News Service - Four Linux vendors today unveiled plans to pool their resources to create and sell a standardized version of Linux to try to drastically increase its adoption for business computing.
In an announcement today, Caldera International Inc., SuSE Linux AG, Conectiva SA and Turbolinux Inc. joined with more than a dozen hardware and software vendors, including IBM, Hewlett-Packard Co., AMD Corp. and Intel Corp., to offer a uniform Linux distribution by year's end.
However, the dominant player in the Linux marketplace, Raleigh, N.C.- based Red Hat Inc., isn't involved in the new initiative, although the four charter UnitedLinux partners insist that the project is open to all Linux vendors.
As UnitedLinux partners, Lindon, Utah-based Caldera, Germany-based SuSE, Brisbane, Calif.-based Turbolinux and Brazil-based Conectiva will collaborate on the development of one common, global Linux core operating system to encourage application development by software vendors. By standardizing the operating system, software vendors would have fewer certification hoops to jump, making it more likely that they could find it profitable to build applications for fewer versions of Linux, said the group.
The operating system, to be called UnitedLinux, will be sold, branded and packaged by each of the individual companies, along with support and services. Availability is scheduled by the end of the year for server-based products.
The operating system will comply with the Linux Standard Base and the Free Standards Group's Linux Internationalization Initiative, which are intended to increase the standardization of Linux to ensure compatibility across hardware and software.
Other hardware and software vendors included in the initiative are Borland Software Corp., Computer Associates International Inc., Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Fujitsu Japan, NEC, Progress Software Corp. and SAP AG.