OSDL Issues First Release of Desktop Linux Capabilities Document

BEAVERTON, Ore., Feb. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The Open Source Development Labs (OSDL), a global consortium dedicated to accelerating the adoption of Linux(R), today announced the availability of Desktop Linux Capabilities, version 1.0, a document created with the participation of key industry vendors, large end user customers and leaders in the development community that defines a target for what will make Linux desktops successful in the enterprise.

"OSDL is committed to accelerating use of Linux on desktop computers in the enterprise," said Tim Witham, CTO of OSDL. "We're fostering an open forum where IT vendors, IT managers, and the Linux development community can discuss and define the capabilities required in future Linux desktops. We invite the Linux community and the rest of the industry to participate."

The OSDL Desktop Linux Capabilities document was developed by current OSDL member companies after reviewing the requirements of enterprise desktop users. The document defines capabilities that address the needs of four types of desktop Linux users: -- Basic office

-- Transaction worker

-- Technical workstation, and

-- Fixed function "The OSDL Desktop Linux Working Group found that Linux operating system adoption in the enterprise is directly tied to the number of ISV applications available for Linux" said J. Craig Manning, senior manager, IT for Cisco and chair of the Desktop Linux Working Group Steering. "We are releasing the first version of the capabilities document to support an open process to solicit feedback on capabilities which we will incorporate into our future work."

Desktop Linux capabilities are grouped into eight application layers: hardware support, operating system services, application services, system security, network services, browser, installer, and accessibility.

"In keeping with our customer-centric approach, AMD supports the Desktop Linux Capabilities document and encourages our enterprise Linux customers and ISV partners to review the document and provide feedback," said Joe Menard, corporate vice president, Software Strategy and Alliances, AMD. "We will continue support of OSDL and the open source community in their efforts to develop software solutions that meet the needs of the enterprise"

The Desktop Linux Capabilities document is necessarily forward looking and describes capabilities which may or may not be present, or may not be fully developed on any current system. For this reason the capabilities document should not be regarded as any form of desktop specification which can be used to evaluate a current desktop implementation, rather it captures the needs of the enterprise.

"Novell's support for the OSDL Desktop Linux working group effort further demonstrates our focus on the needs of enterprise customers who are increasingly looking at Linux as a viable desktop choice," said Alan Nugent, chief technology officer of Novell. "We will continue to work closely with the Linux community as the Linux desktop matures."

"We are seeing widespread worldwide demand for Linux based desktop and client systems," said Michael Evans, VP of Partner Development at Red Hat, "We believe efforts like OSDL DTL that can help gather end user and market input for capabilities in future Desktop Linux versions can be very helpful to the overall market".

The OSDL Desktop Linux Capabilities document is freely available online from OSDL at http://www.osdl.org/URL . About Open Source Development Labs (OSDL)

OSDL -- home to Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux -- is dedicated to accelerating the growth and adoption of Linux. Founded in 2000 by CA, Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP, IBM, Intel and NEC, OSDL is a non-profit organization at the center of Linux supported by a global consortium of more than 60 of the world's largest Linux customers and IT industry leaders. OSDL sponsors industry-wide initiatives around Linux in telecommunications, in the enterprise data center and on corporate desktops. The Lab also provides Linux expertise and computing and test facilities in the United States and Japan available to developers around the world. Visit OSDL on the Web at http://www.osdl.org/ . NOTE: OSDL is a registered trademark of Open Source Development Labs, Inc. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Third party marks and brands are the property of their respective holders.