Why LSB?

What do ISVs stand to gain from the LSB? The LSB was created to eliminate much of the heavy lifting required by the peculiarities of the Linux market. For ISVs, LSB is a means to reduce the cost of supporting multiple distributions and multiple versions within a single distribution.

The promise of LSB for ISVs is that they can lower their costs of developing and supporting their applications on Linux while expanding the market opportunity for their software and satisfying customer demands. What does this mean to ISVs?

1. A decrease in development and testing costs associated with porting to multiple Linux distributions

2. Less complexity in their support of Linux, reducing support costs

3. Greater reach in more geographic markets (where a specific distribution is dominant)

4. The ability to add Linux distributions with only a small increase in support costs

5. Support from the Linux Foundation and its Linux Developer Network to make their development process easier and their marketing more effective

Is Compliance the Only Goal?

Many application vendors may not wish to or may not be able to certify to the LSB. That does not mean, however, that those applications have nothing to gain from following LSB guidelines. In fact, the LSB eliminates many of the complex moving parts that face those ISVs today. The Linux Application Checker for instance can help those ISVs optimize their applications for portability. The Linux Developer Network can also help them optimize their application for Linux and reach end users interested in Linux applications.