Does Open Source Equal Open Standards? - Administration

Does Open Source equal open standards? Open Source can only be standard as a methodology. Linux, for example, is not a standard until people agree on a standard. In this case, the Free Standards Group developed the Linux Standard Base to try to make sure that a standard comes together for Linux.

The next tool we can look at is certification and testing. This is a big part of The Open Group life. Many people know, or are getting to know recently because of certain events, that we own the UNIX® trademark and that we certify server products and thereby enable them to use the UNIX name. People are not specifically concerned about the servers, they are concerned that if they’re using UNIX, especially in a procurement situation, that the products conform to the Single UNIX Specification and have been properly certified as such.

We also stand behind the Linux Standard Base certification. One of the things that happened there was that we donated about 95 percent of the test suites to that activity so that Linux Standard Base certification could happen. Additionally, we are involved in CORBA; Wireless Application Protocol; LDAP, which is an IETF specification; Schools Interoperability Forum, which is a completely different vertical activity; and Digital Video Broadcasting Multimedia Home Platform, another area where we’re doing testing. One more tool in the tool chest.

The final one is best practice, where our members come together and develop things like the Manager’s Guide to Information Security. It’s truly a manager’s guide, not something on a technical level. It’s another tool. Our members are now working on a Manager’s Guide to Open Source.

Open Source and standards are among the tools that we will use in order to get to Boundaryless Information Flow.

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