Initial LSB activities

Daniel Quinlan quinlan at transmeta.com
Tue Aug 25 21:04:50 PDT 1998


I would like the three sub-projects to start running now that they
officially exist.  Here are some thoughts on where each group might
begin work.  I don't believe any of these items is a waste of time.

My strategy is for us to begin with simple tasks, especially
informational and exploratory tasks that encourage discussion between
the three sub-projects.

Also note I am mailing the public list and only Cc'ing the private
one.  My hope is that we'll have most of our discussion in the open,
with non-members *lurking* as requested.

1. Sample Implementation

Develop a list of source packages ABSOLUTELY required for ISV
applications, including version numbers.  Try to move as many items
from that list as possible into another list of nice-to-haves (that we
will ignore for now).  For example, a compiler shouldn't be required
to run most applications.

For example,

  - kernel 2.0.x (already on list)
  - glibc 2.0.x (already on list)
  - util-linux 2.x
  - tar 1.11.8
  - sh-utils-1.12
  - gawk 3.0.0 (already "probably" on list)
  - sed 2.05 (already on list)
  - bash (for POSIX sh, which is already on list)

Only a list for now.  I think we should also worry if the list gets
much longer than a few dozen items.  Also, I think we've pretty much
decided that Perl is not on the list.

Each item should be scrutinized to make sure it's really needed.  Some
items (like util-linux) will have a lot of stuff not needed, and maybe
that should be documented.

Items left off the list aren't forbidden or ignored, just not part of
the base that LSB-compliant software can really count on.

2. Test Suite

More than one or two people should begin active work on existing Unix
test suites.  We should at least find out where we stand with respect
to POSIX, for example.  Initially, this will be just for our own
information, but stands a reasonable chance of becoming part of our
own testing.

We also need to determine if there are license problems with either
NIST and TOG's POSIX test suites.  If there are, we need to decide
what we could use, and what we want to use.

3. Written Standard

Start document framework, continue Alan's work on the library
reference, help the test suite group with the POSIX.1 testing, start
thinking about what pre-existing standards should be referenced (ties
into the initial test suite work).

- Dan



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