Open source advocates often talk about the way that source-code visibility ensures better security and freedom from lock-in, but Zemlin points out that the development model is only part of the story. "You also need 'open standards' that offer the strongest way to ensure multiple, portable, interoperable implementations with fair access to all," he says. "The hidden secret in the world of open source is that without open standards all the promises of freedom are lost."
For this to work it needs the support of distribution vendors as well as ISVs. All the major Linux distributions are now LSB-compliant -- about two-thirds of the LSB Certification Register is made up of various Red Hat and SuSE Linux versions. Not so many ISVs are in evidence. That's only to be expected, argues Zemlin. "Our standard -- like all standards of this kind -- has a common adoption cycle: once distribution vendors pledge their support and then begin certifying to the standard, ISVs begin to pledge their support," he says. "The response from the ISV community is overwhelmingly positive. This will save their organisations millions in development and testing costs."
ISVs of all sizes have something to gain from standardisation. "For large ISVs, even if they do not certify today, they will have a long term [plan] that will insure their Linux investments will be safe," he says. "For small ISVs the LSB presents a new opportunity for them to target Linux in a cost effective way."
A recent FSG survey of about 30 ISVs showed strong support for standardisation -- respondents said their biggest concern was to head off Linux fragmentation. While the survey is confidential, Zemlin says most major Linux application vendors are on the list.
The challenge is to turn that ISV interest into action. "There is lots of momentum around the LSB, with many key players in the industry supporting it, but still not enough active involvement from ISVs certifying their applications," says Dirk Hohndel, director of Linux and open source strategy at Intel, who is a member of the FSG's board of directors.
Partly, this is because ISVs have baseless fears about the cost and complexity around an LSB certification, Hohndel says. But the processes also need to be improved. "[Intel] is working with the key Linux OS vendors to include the LSB build environment and the verification tools in the software development kits, and to offer LSB certification as part of their own ISV certification efforts, to make this step easier for ISVs." Hohndel says. Intel is also providing marketing support, guidance and technical talent to help with implementation work. "After a couple of conversations, most of the ISVs see the significant value that LSB will provide to them in the long run," he says.
For application makers it comes down to a financial decision, according to Red Hat's Carr. "For many ISVs, the issue is of choosing a de facto standard versus a de jure standard. If the LSB is maturing from one release to the next, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 is already established as a de facto standard, they might just choose to port their applications to something that is a known standard," he says. "For ISVs, it's a financial investment to support Linux, and they want the biggest possible return on their investment."
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Fragmentation is not the danger, the danger is huge companies like Microsoft pouring millions of dollars into marketing campaigns and legal action to cripple linux.