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Linux Standard Base 1.1

Staili writes: "Zdnet is reporting that The Free Standards Group released version 1.1 of the Linux Standard Base (LSB) as well as the first version of the Linux Internationalization Initiative standard to deal with Linux language barriers."

162 comments

  1. Post 200 by Tasty+Beef+Jerky · · Score: -1
    My personal experience with Linux

    My first experience with installing Linux was early in my college career. I'd heard great things about Linux, about how stable and powerful it was. That was just what I was looking for in an OS. I wanted something that would stay up longer than my old Windows system. I decided to go ahead and experiment with installing a totally different OS, so I decided to go for Linux. I am disappointed to say that my first attempt failed miserably. I was just too intimidated by the process. Linux seemed so complicated and I was only starting out in the alternative OS scene. I became scared, and my desire to install Linux was quickly shelved.

    All throughout my college career though, my friends kept telling me about the power and stability of Linux. When I got out, I was again ready to attempt installing Linux. This time, however, I found the process much smother and easier. Linux was ready to be installed, and I was ready to install and I did so with pleasure. I found that except for a few minor differences involving my video card and sound card, Linux was the powerhouse my friends had talked about. I decided to go ahead and keep Linux for my web-server.

    Little did I know how complicated Linux would continue to be. I was naïve, I was stupid, and I was ignorant. I didn't know that there were many people out there who had no desire except to take control of my web-server. I had no clue that Linux was so easily attacked. I didn't keep up with maintaining Linux's security, and in the end my system was taken away from me. Evil hackers took over my Linux and flaunted their control by changing my root password right under my nose!

    I still miss my old system, but I am too afraid to install Linux again. I'm afraid it'll just be hacked again, and I'll look like an idiot one more time.

    Now my friends are telling me about the strength, power, and security of FreeBSD. They say it's much less hackable, and it's just as rock-solid stable as Linux. Perhaps one day I'll be ready to experiment again, but until then I feel better with my easy Windows system.

    Damn it, did I do it again? That's not at all what I meant. Please replace the above words as follows:

    • Password - asshole
    • Security - faithfulness
    • Hackers - homosexual MBAs
    • Video card - love of butter
    • Strength - horniness
    • Something - someone
    • FreeBSD - Michael
    • system - boyfriend
    • Stability - manliness
    • root - lover's
    • Install - seduce (Modify tense as appropriate)
    • An - a (Where necessary)
    • Windows - Golden Shower loving
    • alternative - plushophile (An explanation is available here)
    • Hacked - tempted away
    • OS - lover
    • It - he/him (as appropriate)
    • Changing - screwing
    • Linux - CmdrTaco
    • Web-server - beautiful arm and ass candy
    • Attacked - swayed
    • Stable - manly
    • Sound card - distaste of Taco-Snotting
    • Hackable - easily tempted
    Propz to everyone who has helped me along the way. I couldn't have done it without you guys!

    --

    I'm the tasty treat nobody can resist!
    IM Me! AOL IM:Tasty Beef Jerky

    1. Re:Post 200 by neal+n+bob · · Score: -1

      Props to you sir - 200th post and fp. A fine accomplishment that any troll or crapflooder should be proud of.

    2. Re:Post 200 by Fucky+the+troll · · Score: -1

      Congratulations mate. Glad to see such a great first post as your 200th, and may there be many more :D

      More congratulations are in order too - the missus got a job today, after scabbing off me for 3 years! Woooo!

      --






      Roadkill is yummy.
    3. Re:Post 200 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

      dude, the OS rule should be placed before the homOSexual mbas rule, and your It rule interferes with words as 'with'

    4. Re:Post 200 by Tasty+Beef+Jerky · · Score: -1
      Haha, using Word "replace" to take care of things?

      Rather than relying on software to make your decisions for you, why don't you try this new thing called "thinking?" It doesn't require electricity, so all the communist "We shouldn't pollute the environment because that blue-green algae is so cute!" idiots dance and sing and don't wear deodorant in support of it.

      Become a planetary activist too. Go hug a tree today (I'd recommend a Honey Locust.)

      But yeah, in all honesty I knew about these things. Just use the leading spaces in your replace rules... (Replace " it" with " he") that should make things a bit easier.

      --

      I'm the tasty treat nobody can resist!
      IM Me! AOL IM:Tasty Beef Jerky

    5. Re:Post 200 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      You stopped posting for an entire day to give us that...um, okay...yeah, um, that's great...dumbass...

    6. Re:Post 200 by BankofAmerica_ATM · · Score: -1

      A bold strike in the struggle against Project Faustus. On behalf of all free nations in the universe, I thank you, Tasty Beef Jerky.

    7. Re:Post 200 by Tasty+Beef+Jerky · · Score: -1
      Actually, I didn't stop posting, I just used a different account.

      But just for you, I'll post another story

      Once upon a time there was a guy that was never satisfied. All day long he went around and complained about everything.

      "This coffee isn't strong enough!" shouted our villian. "Brew another pot!"

      Obviously someone didn't get up on the right side of the bed. Perhaps if the space next to him hadn't been empty for the past 20 years of his miserable existance, he'd be a bit more chipper.

      "My shift is about to end and I need to zero out my tab. Here's your bill." stated the waitress, bringing a new pot of coffee.

      "You think I'm paying for this swill? The eggs were runny, the toast was burnt, and this coffee still tastes like ass! I want a manager."

      "I'll see if I can find him."

      Our villian waits in his booth burning with anger. Such a big man he is, he can push around a sub-minimum-wage employee of a cheap breakfast joint. He doesn't care about the 3 children she's struggling to feed with her two jobs. All he cares about is proving his obvious superiority over everyone.

      "I've heard that your dining experience was unpleasant sir. What can I do to rectify that?" asks the manager. In his mind he's thinking "What can I do to placate this asshole so he doesn't disturb the other customers."

      "I've never tasted such filth in all my life!" exclaims our villian for the fifth time this week. "The eggs were cold and runny again, and this toast looks like it was cooked over a charcoal flame. I do not like char-grilled bread!"

      The manager sighs as he picks up the bill and tears it up. "I'm sorry sir, this meal is on the house. We'll talk with our cook again."

      "I'll give you all one more try. If I weren't late, I'd talk to him myself." our villian states as he grabs his briefcase and jacket. In actuality, the fact that the cook is 6'4" and a muscular 250 lbs is enough reason not to talk to him. It's much safer to criticize his work from in front of the counter. No need to understand the fact that his wife filed for divorce on Monday and won't let him see his kids. No need to understand the fact that this man served in Vietnam and has gotten nothing from his country except spit and anger. No, the only thing that matters is his inability to time the toaster properly.

      Rushing out the door, Mr. Coward just manages to grab the bus. As he sits down, an old woman who was right behind him sighs. Behind her is an old metal cart with two bags of groceries. From the looks of her wardrobe and the contents of her bags, it's obvious her life is not easy. Her Social Security check doesn't cover much anymore, and ever since her husband died the pension has gotten much smaller. "May I have that seat sir? I'm only riding two blocks." she asks sweetly.

      "Fuck you." Mr. Coward bluntly states, "I got here first. If you're only riding two blocks, it shouldn't be that difficult to stand. I'm riding downtown, and I have a lot of reading to do before I get there."

      Another rider stands up to give the old woman a seat. Mr. Coward opens his paper to the comics section. That Dilbert sure is funny!

      ...More to come

      How's this Mr. AC? Keep checking my journal, I'll have more for you later.
      --

      I'm the tasty treat nobody can resist!
      IM Me! AOL IM:Tasty Beef Jerky

    8. Re:Post 200 by Guns+n'+Roses+Troll · · Score: -1

      Where's that story from? It's entertaining and sad at the same time. I want more!

    9. Re:Post 200 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I hate you all. If you weren't so far beneath my contempt, I would be forced to destroy you.


      Speaking of which, don't you have some masturbation to do now? After that's done you can go back to crying in your parents basement.


      - Anonymous Commander ][, esq.

  2. Thrust Past by ringbarer · · Score: -1

    Hat-trick! w00t!

    And Linux is gay.

    --
    "Why did they cancel my favorite Sci-Fi show? I downloaded ALL the episodes!"
  3. Creamed corn feels good... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    when it's dripping from my anus.

  4. suck my salty balls by neal+n+bob · · Score: -1

    have a fine friday

  5. posix? by Pharmboy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Pardon me, as someone who uses linux, but is not a guru...isn't this the whole idea of "posix compatible"? seems redundant to me.

    --
    Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
    1. Re:posix? by bourne · · Score: 5, Informative

      isn't this the whole idea of "posix compatible"?

      I'm no expert, but I believe that POSIX compatibility only involves things like system calls and library interfaces. LSB includes things like filesystem layout and recommended locations, so that (for example) you don't have /usr/bin/sendmail on one distribution but /usr/sbin/sendmail on another distribution.

      POSIX is an OS standard, LSB is a distribution standard.

    2. Re:posix? by keiferb · · Score: 1

      You know, I've been using Linux for about four years now, and I still have no idea what POSIX is. Anyone care to risk being modded off-topic to explain? =)

    3. Re:posix? by The+G · · Score: 5, Informative

      POSIX is a documentation of minimal standards for the things we all take for granted in UNIX and UNIX-like systems. Things like "time is represented as seconds since the epoch" and "regular expressions are available through the regcomp() function, which returns an opque object to be passed to regexec()" and "all POSIX systems will provide threads, mutexes, etc. that meet the following interface, in addition to whatever platform-specific threading they may have."

      Linux is almost, but not quite, POSIX compliant -- I don't recall why it isn't, but in practice you're unlikely to run across the boundary cases.

      POSIX, however, does not speicify things like the difference between /bin, /sbin, /usr/sbin, etc. It provides only a fairly minimal set of tool requirements (for instance, .tar files aren't guaranteed to be cross-platform compatible, iirc).

      This is the hole that the LSB is trying to address -- creating a standard that actually provides real consistancy not only to programmers but to users.
      --G

    4. Re:posix? by PoiBoy · · Score: 1

      Look at the post about a dozen spaces above yours. Since I'm such a nice guy, just click here instead: What is the point of this?

      --
      Sig (appended to the end of comments you post, 120 chars)
    5. Re:posix? by CofWheat · · Score: -1, Flamebait

      will you nerds just face reality? linux sucks!

    6. Re:posix? by ScumBiker · · Score: 2

      Linux isn't quite Posix compatible yet. Don't worry about it though, I think it's some esoteric thing like a couple of totally obscure function calls. Not something simple like "ls".

      Oh yea, this organization gives us the opportunity to say, "All your Linuxbase are belong to us!". (ducks and runs...) OUCH! Hey! quit throwing shit at me!

      --
      --- Think of it as evolution in action ---
    7. Re:posix? by jaavaaguru · · Score: 1

      So do vacuum cleaners, and they soon replaced brushes for cleaning the floors of most modern houses. They just took a little time before everyone accepted them.

    8. Re:posix? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Just adding to what you are saying -- POSIX is a US Government standard where some level of conformance is required to get certain contracts. That's why Windows NT has a useless minimal POSIX subsystem tacked on, and the Linux boot sequence has a "POSIX certification by so-n-so" message. There's different levels of the standard, so MS and Linux can get away with advertising some POSIX conformance.

      As pointed out, POSIX is all about making it easy to port source code and has nothing to do with binary compatibility or runtime issues like paths and libraries.

      POSIX is also part of a greater set of standards called the Single UNIX Specification (SUS). If you meet the SUS specs and pay a fee, you can advertise your product as "UNIX", even if it's entirely reverse engineered.

    9. Re:posix? by BrookHarty · · Score: 2

      Which is a damn good thing when your calling /usr/bin/perl or maybe /usr/local/bin/perl from a script.

    10. Re:posix? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't remember which sales brochure I saw (it's either lineo or montavista) --- linux is said to be 30-40% POSIX compliance. And that's from a sales brochure --- so that number already exaggerates a little.

      The lack of full POSIX comformance is going to hurt linux's chance in the embedded market. Take the most cost conscious auto industry for instance in their search of an OS for telematics systems (hey the auto industries [and not Dell Computers] are the ones invented just in time inventory, supply chain management).

      You may see the occasional linux-powered telematics concept cars in car shows for PR purposes --- but lately all the production design wins are going to QNX.

      What the auto industry want is the lowest hardware requirements, lowest production costs and lowest source code maintainence costs. So they pick the embedded OS with the most POSIX comformance and the lowest hardware requirements --- and then add java applications on top of it.

      If the car companies don't like the fact that QNX raise the price of the OS license by a nickel, they just pick another POSIX comformance OS. Same thing for the java vm --- if IBM raise the price of their java vm, then the car companies will just pick another java vm from another supplier.

  6. Thats all well and good by steve.m · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I see all the major players are involved too.

    so, how many of the major distros are/will be compliant ?

    when will I be able to buy a book on administing an LSB 1.1 system ?

    1. Re:Thats all well and good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      not redhat, they have a history of making the filesystem layout as incompatable as possible.

      Only in the last release did they finally put /var/www in there....

      sorry but /home/httpd was the stupidest idea ever.. and only served to confuse people. Just like all the other non standard things they do.

      I just pray it's not redhat's model they follow but slackware or Mandrake.

  7. Shit! by ringbarer · · Score: -1

    I hang my ring in shame. Where once the master of the first, I now languish in the ignomity of second.

    Give us a cuddle.

    --
    "Why did they cancel my favorite Sci-Fi show? I downloaded ALL the episodes!"
    1. Re:Shit! by Tasty+Beef+Jerky · · Score: -1
      Sorry for stealing your thunder, but I had some thunder of my own to make.

      You can still get a hat-trick. A hat-trick is defined as 3 FPs in one day, not 3 FPs in a row.

      I'd cuddle you, but I'm afraid I'd get lost in your bare ring.

      --

      I'm the tasty treat nobody can resist!
      IM Me! AOL IM:Tasty Beef Jerky

  8. All your Linux Standard Base are belong to us by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    what you say !!

  9. Wired Article by L-Wave · · Score: 4, Informative

    Here[wired.com] is an article on wired that i had jsut submitted before I saw this go up...its pretty good, lists some big players. =)

    --
    I SURVIVED THE GREAT SLASHDOT BLACKOUT OF 2002!
  10. would be great by aoty · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The LSB is, in my opinion, crucial for the adoption of linux by the average Joe. But who actually follows the LSB? We can create system guidelines all we want, but until they are widely followed, they aren't "standards."

    1. Re:would be great by gazbo · · Score: 0, Troll

      I agree that standards are nice, but surely until hardware architectures are standardised as well, forcing a standard LSB will break if you change from little-endian to big-endian?
      Surely I'm not the only person to have seen this problem?

    2. Re:would be great by staili · · Score: 2, Informative

      Go to LSB's website and you can see the Contributors. If they all follow it it'll be a standard.

    3. Re:would be great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      Surely you're the biggest idiot.

    4. Re:would be great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      exactly, which is why BSD will always be the choice for those who love unix, and linux is just for people that hate windows.

    5. Re:would be great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      oh shutup with that stupid, *BSD elitist quote, asshole.

  11. Distros are in but... by MosesJones · · Score: 1, Interesting


    Linus and Alan Cox aren't mentioned. Surely having the distros agreeing is one thing but if Linus and Alan change things within the kernel this would render the LSB pointless.

    Windows manages to have some compatibility between 95/98/2000/XP because the control all of the OS, the distros don't control the kernel.

    Interesting to see how often LSB has to be updated to keep up with the kernel.

    --
    An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
    1. Re:Distros are in but... by jamesidm · · Score: 3, Informative

      they both give it their 'virtual blessing' accroding to an article on the register

    2. Re:Distros are in but... by Aglanor · · Score: 1

      I really don't get it... IIRC the linux standards guy was sometime ago here on /. bitching and quarreling with Free Sofware advocates because you all complained that having to pay to get a vote was agains the principles of Free Software. Now I see "ooohs" and "aahs", why?

      Why in hell do we need standards based on what paying corporations say? Isn't it the whole point of Free Software, not depending on corporations?

      LSB "may?" be useful, but surely is annoying. And I don't think we really need it. We develop by darwinistic evolution of code, and not by commitee!

    3. Re:Distros are in but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually the register http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/23908.htmli s reporting that Linus and Alan blessed the project.

    4. Re:Distros are in but... by smooc · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Linus and Alan Cox aren't mentioned. Surely having the distros agreeing is one thing but if Linus and Alan change things within the kernel this would render the LSB pointless.


      You are forgetting that the Linux which to
      which you are referring is actually GNU/Linux.
      Linus and Alan have nothing to do with the
      GNU part (ok, they have something to do with it but not in this particular case). The LSB doesn't describe the API of
      the kernel; it describes for example how
      files are being layed out across the filesystem

      --
      - In Memoriam: Jeroen de Bruin (1972-2004), bye bro
    5. Re:Distros are in but... by the_2nd_coming · · Score: 3, Informative

      you don't get it.........the structure of how the distro is layed out is not based on code (other than that of the installer) it is based on where the distrobution creaters what to put stuf, and how they want to link things, and how they want the directories layed out.....it is the structural placment of the programs......code is darwinian, but you need to have certain aspects remain the same.......the lattest stable glib, the latest stable KDE/Gnome, etc.....that is all...this will just put all the distrobutions at the same base at the same time......and the LSB will update as frequently as needed when a new stable library comes out.....

      --



      I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
    6. Re:Distros are in but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you have got to be kidding....right?

    7. Re:Distros are in but... by dvdeug · · Score: 2

      Look at LSB mailing list, and see how many times Alan Cox has posted in just the last month. I count 23, myself.

  12. Cunniligus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    INTRODUCTION

    Eating a woman's pussy is about the most wonderful thing you can do for her. It makes her feel loved, admired, sexy, and of course it makes her cum like crazy. Many women prefer it to intercourse, and for most, it is the easiest way to cum with a man. You may have the littlest dick on the planet, but if you give great head, you will be appreciated as a fabulous lover. Yes, it's that important. Besides, lots of women expect it these days - you might as well know what your doing.

    First off, guys seem to have a strange love/hate relationship with women's genitalia. Guys that can't wait to get their dick into one are often reluctant to put their face "down there". For every guy who says he loves to eat pussy, there's another one who's squeamish. Women know this, and it affects their ability to lay back and enjoy the experience. There is nothing more exciting to a woman than to know that her partner finds her delicious. Don't be coy; tell her. When a guy fingers a lady and then smells, licks, sucks the juice off his finger and sighs as if in heaven, she knows this is her lucky day.

    What if your sweet lady doesn't smell or taste very sweet? Don't suffer. (Don't complain, either.) Take a nice hot shower or bath together. Lather up both of your bodies and slide them together. It's like a whole body fuck. Soap up her vulva, washing between her outer and inner lips. Spread her lips apart and gently wash her clitoris. Hey, don't stop - this feels great! Run your soapy hand down the crack of her ass, and rub a finger all around her anus. You can stick one finger in and wash around inside too, if you anticipate any anal play, and I suggest you do. But don't put those soapy fingers up her vagina. Instead, rinse them off well and stick one or two inside, making a circular motion. Think about washing the inside of a tall glass - same thing. Now wasn't that fun? And now you can feel free to let your tongue wander anywhere it pleases...

    So now what? You've found a comfy spot to play, you've been kissing passionately, your tongues darting around each other's mouths like playful otters. You've moved down to nibble one of her hardening nipples and she's starting to groan, grinding her pelvis against your stomach. STOP. I know it was just starting to get good. But was she really groaning and humping you, or was it your own excitement you were detecting? I strongly prefer to be excited before a guy starts plunging his tongue into my inner recesses. Use your judgement, and kiss, lick, and fondle your way down her stomach, up her thighs, until she's arching up her back trying to get you to eat her. Of course, if she really was groaning and grinding, go for it...I also don't particularly enjoy a guy endlessly nibbling my inner thigh while my clit is quivering in anticipation.

    POSITIONS

    If the woman you are with is somewhat hesitant about your going down on her, start off with her lying on her back, perhaps half-sitting. Lay down between her legs, with her legs over your shoulders. She may enjoy laying or sitting at the edge of the bed with you kneeling. She can also straddle your face, but be prepared to get very wet. There are endless varieties of positions where you can press your face up to her cunt, some of which strike me as more acrobatic than erotic, but feel free to experiment. And then there's 69...

    69 is one of my favorite positions. On the plus side, you both get to enjoy the sublime sensations of getting head, simultaneously. The upside down positioning of a woman's pussy and your mouth is an easy fit and there's more room for your hands. On the negative side, it's a less than ideal position for a woman to give head. Plus, if you need to read this article, you may be better off concentrating your energies on pleasing her, without too much distraction. But even for experienced 69'ers, it's easy to short-change your partner. "It feels soooo good, I'm just gonna stop for a second and concentrate on what you're...aaaarrrgghhh". Get the picture? Some show of will-power is in order.

    69 can be done male on top, female on top, or side by side. The latter two are easier, though it's more restful with both partners laying down. Some women love being licked on all fours, so if female-on-top 69 drives her wild, take the hint and find some other ways to eat her in this position. I happen to enjoy male on top, but for many women this is a sure choking position. If a woman can, or wants to try, to deep-throat you, this is THE position. When her head is thrust back you can really slide your cock all the way down her throat. But don't forget what you're supposed to be doing!

    So there you are staring at it - the mysterious hole from whence you came, and into which you hope to cum again... First, an anatomy lesson...

    THE CLITORIS

    Before I go any further, a few words about the clitoris, accent on the first syllable. Most of you know it, but for those who don't, it is THE woman's sex organ, period. It may feel great to be fucked vaginally, anally or otherwise, but if the stimulation is not right there, on the clitoris, you're ignoring the place that's going to make her cum, and presumably that's why you're reading this, right? It's right there at the top juncture of her inner lips, a small knob of pink flesh. This is where it's at boys, and don't forget it. Almost any licking and sucking of the labia or vaginal entrance is going to feel just dandy; just remember that this is pleasurable teasing, not the main event. I can't tell you how many guys have thrust their tongues up my vagina thinking that this was going to make me cum. They were wrong. Of course, with a little manual stimulation....but I'm getting ahead of myself.

    Women feel differently about how much direct stimulation they can take on their clitoris. Some women will adore it if you suck hard on their exposed clits, others will shriek in pain. You may encounter a woman who is completely unable to take direct stimulation of her clit; the goal is still the same, but you'll have to stimulate it indirectly, such as through her labia. IMPORTANT NOTE: Often, what is unacceptably rough at first may be fine after she's very excited. The fact is, most women really need a good bit of stimulation before a targeted attack on their clitoris, but once they're there, that's where you want to devote your attention.

    The key here is go slow, ask questions, and if she's comfortable with it, leave the lights on and really explore. Body language often does tell what feels best, but I promise, she will appreciate your attentiveness if you ask outright. If she seems shy, get her to guide your hands and mouth with her own hand, and pay attention. If she starts bucking up against your mouth and gasping in ragged little breaths, for God's sake, don't use this opportunity to try something different. Just keep doing exactly what you're doing.

    THE TONGUE

    I want to reiterate, there is almost nothing you can do that won't feel terrific, so relax! I promise, you may be confused and uncertain, but she's in heaven. Any licking and sucking of the labia, vaginal entrance, clitoris, or anal area is going to feel just great, and I'd no sooner tell guys to "do it exactly like this" than I would tell every chef to follow the same recipe. But for those who are compelled to RTFM, here are a few techniques that you might like to try:

    Try lapping her pussy from vaginal entrance up to her clit, leaving your tongue soft and jaw relaxed. This is a good way to start your tonguing.
    Run your tongue between the inner and outer labia on one side, while holding the two together with your lips. Good job, now do the other side.
    Fuck her pussy with your tongue - in and out, around and around, etc. This feels nice. Not wonderful or incredible or earth-shaking; nice.
    Spread her outer lips with your hand. Then, with your tongue pointed and stiff, gently flick here and there. Feel free to roam, but keep coming back to her clit. This drives some women wild, and others can't take it. Some may prefer that you always leave your tongue soft, so when you try this, pay attention to whether those moans are ecstacy or pain.
    The following techniques should not be introduced until your partner is really hot (i.e. she's no longer coherent). These are very intense actions which may be "too much" for some women, even when nearing orgasm.

    With her clit still exposed, give it a quick little suck - pulling it into your mouth briefly and letting it go. This is a lot like licking a bit of cake batter off of your pinky. This feels incredible, and is a fine thing to do if you feel like torturing her (see PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER below).
    Take her exposed clit into your mouth and gently (at first, anyway) suck on it, simultaneously flicking your tongue over and around it. This can be done very lightly or very aggressively, and combined with fingering, will usually rapidly produce an intense orgasm.
    Another choice technique involves rolling your tongue into a tube. If you can't do this with your tongue, you can't learn it - it's genetic. For those who can, this works best in an inverted or 69 position. Roll your tongue into a tube around the shaft of her clitoris. Slide it up and down; in effect, your tongue makes a tiny pussy for her clit to fuck. This also is likely to bring her over the edge.
    FINGERS
    Fingers are a valuable adjunct to eating pussy. Most women masturbate by pressing a finger or fingers over their clit, possibly "thru" the skin of their inner or outer lips, and vigorously rubbing in a circular or back-and-forth direction. You can do this too, and it is most helpful to ask, or better yet, have her show you how she likes it done. You will never be a good lover until you can bring your woman to climax with your hands. When you fuck her from behind, or up her ass, or really in any position which doesn't allow her to simultaneously rub her vulva against your body, reach down or around and rub her clit. I know it's distracting, but just do it anyway. One important point to note: make sure that your fingers are well lubricated. There is nothing more uncomfortable (and sometimes downright painful) than a dry finger roughly rubbed across one's clitoris.

    Of course, that's not all you can do with your fingers. One technique which is very exciting is to spread her lips wide apart with one hand, and with your index finger straight like a pencil, flick the side of it rapidly across her clit. This motion alone will often bring a woman to orgasm. Combining this with the addition of some tongue action elsewhere is nothing short of bliss.

    Sticking one or more fingers inside her vagina is also wonderful. You can simply move them in and out (this feels best with at least two or three fingers, pushed in hard), or wriggling them around. A particularly intense motion is to face your hand so that you have two fingers inside her with your palm facing the front of her body. Now move your fingers rapidly, as if waving hello. You are aiming to stimulate a particular part of the woman's vagina - namely the lower anterior (front) part. When combined with sucking her clit, this is nearly certain to bring her to a fast and intense climax.

    An excellent way to begin manual stimulation is to stick one (and later two) fingers inside her, with your palm cupped over the mons area. I'm talking about that fleshy "mound" over her pubic bone. Your finger goes in and out and the ball of your hand is pressed hard against her vulva. You may want to rub or even shake the entire area with your palm.

    Fingers also do nice things to tight little butt holes, but that's a whole other story...

    ANAL PLAY

    This stuff is purely optional. If anal play doesn't turn you on, don't do it. If you're uncomfortable, she'll pick up on your feelings and start wondering if it's her pussy that's turning you off. Don't feel that you can't be a good lover without anal play; you can.

    Cleanliness is of the essence. (remember that nice soapy shower?) Scoop out some luscious juices (from a very wet pussy) with your finger and rub it around her anus. (If she isn't well lubricated, saliva works too.) If that's all you or she feels comfortable with, fine - it still feels great. But I think most women enjoy the feel of a finger pushed up their ass while they're being fucked or eaten. You need to be gentle, possibly even leaving your finger still. Try moving it in and out a little, or around in a circle. If she starts moaning, you know you're doing something right.

    It's really fun to feel a woman's anus rhythmically squeezing your finger as she cums. (And it's great for her, too) You're probably thinking about what that would feel like around your dick, and it's something you should certainly explore. Ass-fucking is somewhat out of the scope of this article, but suffice to say, if she doesn't like a finger up her butt, she sure as hell won't want your big dick up there. Even if she does enjoy this sort of play, she may still be somewhat apprehensive about putting something so large up there. The keys to success are sufficient (i.e. copious amounts of) lubrication (a water-soluble type such as K-Y, which is safe for condoms), relaxation on her part, and a slow, gentle, approach. She'll certainly tell you if she wants you to thrust harder or deeper. And remember, if you want to feel that delicious squeezing around your cock, reach around and diddle that clit!

    As for anallingus - why not? Don't feel like you HAVE to do it to satisfy your woman. But if the idea turns you on, great. Let your tongue rove as it pleases. It's not necessary to actually put your tongue inside her butt to stimulate the area. Back and forth, around and around, you get the picture.

    One hygiene note: once that finger (or your penis) has been inside her ass, don't even think about putting it anywhere else. Carelessness in this regard can cause a horrendous infection.

    MENSTRUATION

    I haven't met a lot of men who are completely comfortable going down on a woman when she has her period. But some are. Most women are at their horniest before and sometimes during their period. You should definitely find a way to make her cum when she's bleeding, be it thru intercourse, manual, or oral stimulation. If you feel comfortable going down on her, great. It's perfectly safe. You may suggest that she insert a tampon, and then wash up. (As you now know, you don't need to get anywhere near her vagina to make her cum.) Or you could lay down a few old towels, turn out the lights, and forget about it.

    PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

    I think variety is crucial. Some guy posted an article detailing a road map of kissing and licking (first here, then here, etc.) Much better to do the unexpected; sometimes a hungry, aggressive approach, other times a laid-back, leisurely one. You can even even include your nose, or your chin into the act. Start slow, that's the key, and let your lover guide the speed of the crescendo. In all cases, start gently. Roughness and clumsiness are big turn-offs. As she gets more and more excited, pay more attention to her clitoris. When she's three breathes away from cumming, moving your mouth off or away from her clit is agony. That's fine if you're intentionally torturing her, just understand that this is what you are doing. The only prohibition is to be reasonably gentle with her clit. Nibbling or biting is fine elsewhere, but we're talking about a sensitive spot.

    Speaking of prolonging the agony... I think this is great fun. Bring your partner just to the edge of orgasm, and stop. This is not easy unless you really know your lover well. Instead, just have her help you. Say, "Grab my head and stop me just before you think you're gonna cum." Then take your sweet time. Blow on her clit, take it into your mouth just briefly, flick it just the very slightest bit. You will have this woman squirming and moaning like she's dying. Finger her deeply, enjoy the ecstasy you are imparting, and finally, have pity. Let the poor woman cum.

    UUUUNNNNGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!! (or, I'M COMING!!!)

    Okay, she's practically suffocating you, she's pressed so hard against your face; she's screaming and bucking up in the air; you feel her pussy contracting wildly - how long should you keep it up?? The simple answer is, until she makes you stop. Some women may stop you after five seconds from the start of their climax, others may be able to roll right into another orgasm if you keep going. Do come up for air, but remember, her excitement does not drop off as sharply as yours does. Play it safe by continuing the stimulation.

    How many times does she need to cum? Some women are very content to have one orgasm. A whole lot of women would really like to cum again, but need about five minutes to recoup. Many women are so sensitive right after they cum that they may push your head violently away. This doesn't necessarily mean they've had enough, only that you need to stop for a few minutes. In fact most women, given a short rest between, are capable of cumming again and again. A smaller percentage of women are able to cum repeatedly with continued stimulation. This is the much-touted multiple-orgasm that is experienced by a minority of women. I know this makes it difficult to know when enough is enough, but there's a simple answer: ask her.

    GODI'MSOEXCITEDITFEELSGREATBUTIJUSTCAN'TCOME

    It happens to all of us sometimes - distraction, embarrassment, anxiety, or just an inability to "let go". What do you do about it? The first question is, can she easily bring herself to a climax in the privacy of her own home. If the answer is no - then she needs to do some homework. There are two books on the subject that I know of: For Yourself: The Fulfillment of Female Sexuality by Lonnie Barbach, and Sex for One: The Joy of Selfloving by Betty Dodson; pick up one. Then tell her to read it, study it, and practice, practice, practice!

    Now if your partner is orgasmic only when alone - ask her point blank: "Is there something different I can do?" Many women are shy about criticizing their lovers, but if asked outright will surprise you with a very specific answer. It may be a simple matter of mechanics, like a little to right please, or not so rough, or more pressure and faster. Ah... perfect.

    But suppose everything is wonderful. She says you're doing everything right but she just can't cum. There are two probable causes: selfconsciousness and/or self-loathing. For women who can't help watching themselves, the best approach is to eliminate anything that focuses her attention on what the two of you are doing. This is a "be here now" kind of thing - definitely not an introspective activity. Get that mirror off the ceiling. Dim the lights or turn them off completely. Put on some soft music. Share a glass of port. (I said A glass - getting drunk will definitely not help). Have her lay on her back, or propped up comfortably with some pillows. This is not the time for her to sit on your face, or the edge of the bed, or standing up against a wall. Arrange a time when you can devote a long period to eating her pussy, and then just keep it up. Forget everything I said about asking her questions - just close your eyes and get into it. I know this can be a difficult and exhausting exercise, but she will be extravagantly thankful for your efforts. It gets easier each time. If all else fails, get accustomed to masturbating together. Gradually begin to add your stimulation to her own, right before she's about to cum anyway. Over time, you can take over completely.

    For women who themselves feel that their cunts are dirty or distasteful, all of the above methods may be helpful, but the underlying issue must also be addressed. I am amazed at how many women are ambivalent about their own genitals. They don't love "that part" of their body, and they can't believe that you would either. Yes, it is important to be clean. But clean means a daily shower which includes washing the vulva. It doesn't mean vainly attempting to remove every trace of smell or taste. The natural fragrance and secretions of a healthy woman are beautiful and erotic. Hopefully you agree (and if not, try hard to cultivate this attitude). When she learns to love her pussy, she will be infinitely more comfortable with your loving it too.

  13. This article is pointless! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Ill troll instead

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  14. This whole page widening thing is getting boring.. by CmderTaco · · Score: -1
    But then again, so is Slashdot...
    2Lameness has filtered me!
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    --
    - Marco
  15. Someone please kill Linus! by Evil+Inside · · Score: -1

    Kill him and forget about this penguin shit!

  16. Package format by d-rock · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How much does standardizing on RPM as the package format affect systems like Debian? From my understanding the whole apt (.deb) system has a lot of nice features that RPM doesn't... Not that it's a bad thing, I just wonder how much debate went into this particular aspect.

    Derek

    --
    Don't Panic...
    1. Re:Package format by staili · · Score: 1

      Debian is one Contributor to the LSB. I don't think they would've agreed with it if it would harm them.

    2. Re:Package format by Cpyder · · Score: 5, Informative

      Both package formats have their (dis)advantages. Standardizing on RPM does not mean you can't get the advantages of apt, however: Apt has been adapted for RPM. It's used in Connectiva. More on apt-rpm at this site, or at a search engine near you. I hope that with the wider adoption of LSB and FHS standards it will be easier for both users and programmers to use "cross-distro" packages. Nowadays too many packages are wrongly linked to libraries, making them hard to use on other distros than the ones they were made for. Try to install a SuSE package on a RedHat system and you'll know what I'm talking about.

    3. Re:Package format by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They didnt really think about it all.

      The power block in the LSB where from rpm based distro's, so they concluded that rpm is more better.

      They didnt choose rpm based on technical merit, it was literally a poluarity contest (more distro's use it)

      LSB is irrelevent to free software anyway, its merly to assist in the commercialisation of linux.

    4. Re:Package format by segfaultdot · · Score: 1

      IIRC, RPM was mandated as the package format in LSB for downloading packages. Distros can still use whatever format they want for internal packages.

    5. Re:Package format by Scott+BaioWulf · · Score: 1

      So what are some disadvantages of .debs? I hear statemts like yours all the time but I don't think anyone ever points out a downside to the .deb format.
      Care to enlighten me?

    6. Re:Package format by ahde · · Score: 1

      its only used on one major distribution

      Its easier to add RPM to Debian (for those packagers that only want to supply one binary) than the add .deb to RedHat, SuSE, Mandrake, Connectiva, Turbo Linux, Caldera, etc.

    7. Re:Package format by Alan · · Score: 4, Interesting

      IIRC .deb doesn't have some of the nice error checking that rpm has, like signing. Also compare files on a system to the originals in an .deb to check for tainted files (though while looking I see that debsums(1) might do the trick.

      Other problems is the PITA it is to do an non-interactive install of debs. One of the biggest bitches I hear about debian is that when doing an initial install, and you've gotten to the part where packages are installing it goes something like this:

      *install*
      *install*
      *install*
      *ask question via debconf*
      *install*
      *install*
      *ask another question*
      *install*
      *install*
      *install*
      *ask same question again*
      *install*
      *install*
      etc...

      Also .deb's inadequate logging is mentioned, as well as keeping the install messages somewhere, or keeping previous versions of a package (what happens when you find out that libfoo is completely b0rked in the latest version, and have to run around searching for a mirror site that hasn't been updated yet. This generally only happens in unstable, but it's still a PITA :)

      There were a couple of other features that .deb didn't have, but I don't recall them right now.

      Some references and info is here though that's a lot more pro-deb than discussing this exact issue, but there's good info there.

      Oh, and before you start flaming, I'm a long time debian user :)

    8. Re:Package format by Scott+BaioWulf · · Score: 2, Informative

      I'm pretty sure that .debs have error checking. FWICT apt checks md5sums to verify the package is intact and dpkg will verify the signature. I don't know for certain that it actually does this but thats what the man pages say.

      The bugging questions is another issue. Personally I don't mind the questions. It IS possible however (as im sure your aware) to set the importance level of the questions. I don't know how many that could eliminate but it probably couldnt' be worse. dpkg probably also has a setting to always assume defaults.

    9. Re:Package format by Scott+BaioWulf · · Score: 1

      Thats an argument for choosing one over the other not a measure of one package against the other. By your reasoning we should all use windows because its already used by so many people.

      Choose the right thing because of its own merit not because it is already pervasive.

    10. Re:Package format by Dwonis · · Score: 2

      Actually, most of those deficiencies are actually fixed.

    11. Re:Package format by obi · · Score: 1

      IIRC, there is a way to sign packages, and there's also a way to do all the questions up front with debconf (apt-utils? not sure) - debconf also has a noninteractive mode, but i don't know if that's any good, never tried it.

      You're right about the logging. I disagree about the previous versions of packages, i sometimes have four previous packages in apt's cache. Do you apt-get clean every time you upgrade?

    12. Re:Package format by Arker · · Score: 2

      It affects it not at all, since this so-called standards organisation has no authority over anyone, and everyone who matters has already decided to ignore them.

      --
      =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
      Friends don't let friends enable ecmascript.
    13. Re:Package format by Tuross · · Score: 1

      It won't affect Debian at all.

      This is the Redhat Linux Standard Base, as witnessed by the complete stacking of board members in favour of Redhat, hence Debian and other non-rpm-based distributions can completely ignore this so-called "standard" and continue to distribute their technically superior distributions in peace while Redhat make the Redhat Linux Standard Base their next marketing tool. "Hey, we're compliant with our own standards, aren't we cool!". Hmm, sounds very familiar *cough*Microsoft*cough*

      --
      Matt
      1. Read Slashdot
      2. ???
      3. Profit
    14. Re:Package format by Menthos · · Score: 2
      .deb doesn't allow for different versions of the same package to be installed at the same time. This is useful for packages that are explicitly designed to be parallell-installed.

      .rpm-based distributions usually make use of this for the kernel. It's perfectly valid to have two or more versions of the "kernel" package installed.

      --

      GNU/Linux. The Freshmaker.

  17. What is the point of this? by phoenix_orb · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I mean, honestly, don't we already have POSIX? Isn't this what this is really all about? i.e getting a standard out that all unixes can use, with the reliability and scalability to boot?

    I believe that linux has partial POSIX compatiblity, but if the kernal was 100% compatible, would we have this "group" of large companies wanting to add features to "ensure" compatibility?

    From whatis.com

    POSIX (Portable Operating System Interface) is a set of standard operating system interfaces based on the UNIX operating system. The need for standardization arose because enterprises using computers wanted to be able to develop programs that could be moved among different manufacturer's computer systems without having to be recoded. UNIX was selected as the basis for a standard
    system interface partly because it was "manufacturer-neutral." However, several major versions of UNIX existed so there was a need to develop a common denominator system.

    Informally, each standard in the POSIX set is defined by a decimal following the POSIX. Thus, POSIX.1 is the standard for an application program interface in the C language. POSIX.2 is the standard shell and utility interface (that is to say, the user's command interface with the operating system). These are the main two interfaces, but additional interfaces, such as POSIX.4 for thread management, have been developed or are being developed. The POSIX interfaces were developed under the auspices of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

    ________________________

    So basically, we have a standard, not just for Linux, but for all *NIX's (BSD, IRIX, Solaris, etc) And this geat consortum wants to make a new standard. Hmm, I hope it doesn't break the thousands of programs already out there. I mean, I could live with a re-compile for quite a bit, but this Linux consortum is honestly going to have to come up with something pretty convincing to show me that this compatibility is not going to be broken.

    From the Linux Base website:

    A lot has been said of late regarding the possibility that Linux will fragment into incompatible versions. Some of the speculation has been well reasoned, some not.

    The least credible argument has been that Linux will fragment because UNIX did. This completely ignores the market dynamics that caused UNIX to fragment, and
    consequently why these dynamics do not apply to Linux. UNIX was a means to an end, and the end was to sell unique hardware solutions. Linux is the means to a
    completely different end - a free (as in free speech), reliable, scalable open source solution. Linux is, in a sense, an end unto itself.

    _________________________________

    Ok, I can get that, but UNIX (as long as it was POSIX compatible) never split up to the point that it was completely unusable across platforms(and I am talking about CLI, not window managers)

    --
    Blah Blah Blah.
    1. Re:What is the point of this? by the_2nd_coming · · Score: 2, Insightful

      here is the most credible argument.....

      we want computer stores to start to carry software for Linux, with out the LSB, we will not see this or will see things such as, "made for RedHat x.y"

      that is why the LSB is needed, so _consumer_ application makers will make software for Linux.

      --



      I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
    2. Re:What is the point of this? by saider · · Score: 1

      Informally, each standard in the POSIX set is defined by a decimal following the POSIX. Thus, POSIX.1 is the standard for an application program interface in the C language. POSIX.2 is the standard shell and utility interface (that is to say, the user's command interface with the operating system). These are the main two interfaces, but additional interfaces, such as POSIX.4 for thread management, have been developed or are being developed. The POSIX interfaces were developed under the auspices of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

      Is there a POSIX definition as to where packages go in the filesystem and what libraries are to be included? If so then I would say that your post is on target. If not then perhaps the LSB and FHS should be rolled into the POSIX standard. One stop standards shopping.

      --


      Remember, You are unique...just like everyone else.
    3. Re:What is the point of this? by Diabolical · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The LSB tries to standardize something completely different then POSIX does. It tries to standardize the minmum aspect that a distro must have to be compatible with others. Like mentioned in an earlier post, try to install a SuSE RPM on a RedHat system to see what the LSB means and tries to standardize.

      POSIX is more on a programmers level where LSB and the FHS are more on the disk layout and library standardization.

      For example: If i have a program for Linux it needs to use some libraries. There are different kind of these with every distro.. which library to include/use.. What is the disk layout? Do i install my package in /opt or in /usr/whatever. These problems are difficult to tackle when you write a linux program. If FSB and FHS are widely used and are really a standard one wouldn't have to worry about these trivial things..

    4. Re:What is the point of this? by Pussy+Is+Money · · Score: 1, Insightful
      Without actually having read the LSB, I would figure it addresses things like whether it is /etc/init.d or /etc/rc.d/init.d, or whether it is glibc 2.1 or glibc 2.2, or whether bash or csh is the standard shell, whether /sbin is part of your PATH or not, or whether /opt is optional or not, or whether perl lives in /usr/bin/perl or /usr/local/bin/perl or someplace else again.

      POSIX is not a standard in the sense that LSB is a standard. Even Windows NT can claim some degree of "POSIX compatibility", which should tell you something.

      --
      Pushin' 'n dealin', shovin' 'n stealin'
    5. Re:What is the point of this? by Random+Feature · · Score: 1

      And what about development packages?

      Where about standard include directories?

      Trying to compile something on SuSE is a bitch.

      It would be nice to have this addressed in a standard too, at least for kernel headers and "standard" include files.

      --
      I don't have a solution, but I certainly admire the problem.
    6. Re:What is the point of this? by ductape_pro · · Score: 1

      How does this differ from the various *NIX flavors who attempt to mimic (for instance) System V behaviors?

      FS layouts are part of SysV Layout (of course you also have BSD Layout).

      I understand that *NIX variants with Sys V behaviors are largely inherited (Just their branch of the *NIX tree) but doesn't standarding on this behavior address some of this already. (Although maybe not libraries) I'm not arguing the points above -- I'm just looking for clarification

  18. Wee by NiftyNews · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    I installed it and it took over my computer! But then again, I should have known better.

    After all, everyone knows that All your Linux Standard Base are belong to us.

    1. Re:Wee by discogravy · · Score: 2

      well, maybe this won't happen on this release: since this is the .1 release instead of .0, it'll be mainly bug fixes; everyone knows .0 releases suck ass.

  19. I don't get it... by routerwhore · · Score: 1

    Okay, I may be the only one on the short bus today, but I simply don't see the value in the details of the document. It seems to be very vague and incomplete. For instance, under filesystem, in which the question of where to put things is something that many people think about at some point. It makes three references to some special files in /dev. And for shell it just says to use a posix compliant one, well no shit sherlock. I'm personally not impressed by making rpm the standard packet format since in my 7 years of linux usage I haven't ever used a distro that used rpm. Like I said, maybe I'm missing the big picture here.

    1. Re:I don't get it... by praedor · · Score: 2

      As for the RPM part, I would assume it is because it is
      almost a de-facto standard (sorry Debian people/deb-users).
      The number of RPM users outnumbers by a fair margin the
      number of deb users. Instead of driving all the RPM users and
      RPM-based distros from all jumping into deb, they call for a smaller
      number of users and distros to take up RPM.


      Yes, I like virtually all other RPM users, have been in RPM-dependency
      hell. This shouldn't be a problem inherent in RPM. Surely there is a way to
      "apt-get" RPMs and handle their dependencies just as well as with apt-get
      and deb?


      Overall I like the spec. I'd like ANY standard spec, particularly for the filesystem
      layout. I would like to know that no matter what distro I install I will ALWAYS find file x in
      /etc or binary y in /usr/bin instead of /usr/local/bin (or vis versa).

      --
      In Bushworld, they struggle to keep church and state separate in Iraq as they increasingly merge the two in America.
    2. Re:I don't get it... by routerwhore · · Score: 1

      "Overall I like the spec. I'd like ANY standard spec, particularly for the filesystem layout. I would like to know that no matter what distro I install I will ALWAYS find file x in /etc or binary y in /usr/bin instead of /usr/local/bin (or vis versa)." I agree with that. The question is are you getting that from this spec?

    3. Re:I don't get it... by shaka · · Score: 2

      "Yes, I like virtually all other RPM users, have been in RPM-dependency hell. This shouldn't be a problem inherent in RPM. Surely there is a way to "apt-get" RPMs and handle their dependencies just as well as with apt-get and deb?"

      Yes, there is. Apt can handle rpms as aptly as debs, as shown in Connectiva's apt-rpm. The thing people always seem to forget, though, is that, while apt is a wonderful tool, it's not the (only) thing that makes installation of packages on Debian so sweet. What makes apt really, really good is the blood, sweat and tears of the Debian package maintainers, who are amazing when it comes to handling dependencies in packages. Sure, the dependencies sometimes break in testing and unstable, but on the whole it works amazingly great.

      --
      :wq!
    4. Re:I don't get it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The first thing it says under Chapter 17. File System Hierarchy is

      An LSB conforming system must adhere to the FHS 2.2.

      It can be found here and involves rather more than a few files in /dev

  20. LSB is about deployment by dybdahl · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A Linux distribution can consist of 90% software not covered by the LSB. Therefore, it makes no sense to discuss "administering an LSB system".

    LSB is about minimum requirements for a distribution in order to make distributions more compatible, i.e. it's about deployment. If you distribution is LSB 1.1 compliant, then you should be able to install all software that only requires LSB 1.1. compliance. For a start, this will not cover ordinary GUI software.

    In order to create a long-lasting standard, you cannot cover issues that are constantly changing or under development, so don't expect LSB to cover a whole distribution anytime soon. But LSB is an important step to make sure that distributions don't fork into something incompatible.

  21. Don't be surprised... by ringbarer · · Score: -1

    Linux is now written and maintained entirely by the "next generation" of programmers. Pudgy, acne-faced virgins living in their mothers basements.

    POSIX arose from the need in the late 1970's, when Unix was under the edict of "Big Business", to have compatible standards.

    Ask ANY teenager, not just a Linux Jockey, to listen to something a suit-wearing grown-up has said, and he'll laugh in your face.

    So, like Windows, Linux is now doomed to repeat the same mistakes that were made by programmers 20+ years ago.

    This is why there are many different desktops available for Linux. Each is more or less the same in functionality, but incompatibilities between the environments have been deliberately coded in. A teenager's ego is pathetic in this regard.

    And if you think I'm trolling, remember how Linux started. Torvalds stuck his fingers up at the developers of Minix and decided to go his own way. This self-deterministic ego-centric behaviour is what is tearing Linux apart as you read this.

    Too many children coding the same things, (such as, yes, Clock Applets) without any overall plan.

    --
    "Why did they cancel my favorite Sci-Fi show? I downloaded ALL the episodes!"
  22. Oxymoron? by TrollBridge · · Score: -1

    Linux Standards is as self-contradicting as Microsoft Security.

    --
    There's a Mercedes gap too. I want one and can't afford one, but it's not government's job to do anything about it.
  23. Only a little off topic by americanFatCat · · Score: 1

    As far as standardization goes, is there any word as to when gcc will be able to compile ANSI C++ standard code? As in: using namespace std; and fun jazz like that. Or, contrariwise, is no one planning to do that with gcc as borland can already? Just asking to know, not trolling, honest.

    1. Re:Only a little off topic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      GCC can already do that, or at least it does an reasonably OK job. It's really more a question of having a good STL implemenation, IMHO. Here are a couple of links (shamelessly ripped from the compilers part of Bjarne Stroustrup's C++ FAQ):

      C++ conformance roundup and boost.org's compiler status page.

  24. RSB (RPM Standards Base) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Call it what it is

    1. Re:RSB (RPM Standards Base) by praedor · · Score: 3, Funny

      Would it actually be "GNU/RSB"?

      --
      In Bushworld, they struggle to keep church and state separate in Iraq as they increasingly merge the two in America.
  25. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to my anus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    The Hitch Hiker's Guide to my anus

    Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of my anus lies a small unregarded yellow poo.

    Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue green penis whose ape- descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think anal watches are a pretty neat idea.

    This penis has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the faggots on it were full of cum for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green Taco snots, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green Taco snots that were full of cum.

    And so the problem remained; lots of the faggots were mean, and most of them were miserable, even the ones with anal watches.

    Many were increasingly of the opinion that they'd all made a big mistake in coming down from the giant dildos in the first place. And some said that even the giant dildos had been a bad move, and that no one should ever have left the gay bars.

    And then, one Thursday, nearly two thousand years after one man had been nailed to a giant dildo for saying how great it would be to be nice to faggots for a change, one anal bitch sitting on her own in a small gay club in Rickmansworth suddenly realized what it was that had been going wrong all this time, and she finally knew how the world could be made a good and full of excrements place. This time it was pervert, it would work, and no one would have to get nailed to anything.

    Sadly, however, before she could get to a backroom to tell anyone about it, a terribly stupid gay gang rape occurred, and the idea was lost forever.

    This is not her story.

    But it is the story of that terrible stupid gay gang rape and some of its gang Taco snottings.

    It is also the story of a anal probe, a anal probe called The Hitch Hiker's Guide to my anus - not an blueboy disco anal probe, never published on blueboy disco, and until the terrible gay gang rape occurred, never seen or heard of by any blueboy discoman.

    Nevertheless, a wholly remarkable anal probe.

    in fact it was probably the most remarkable anal probe ever to come out of the great punishing houses of OSDN - of which no blueboy discoman had ever heard either.

    Not only is it a wholly remarkable anal probe, it is also a highly successful one - more popular than the Celestial Home Care Vibrator, better selling than Fifty More Things to do in gay bars, and more controversial than Oolon Colluphid's trilogy of philosophical blockbusters Where CmdrTaco Went Anal, Some More of CmdrTaco's Greatest Gang Rapes and Who is this CmdrTaco Faggot Anyway?

    In many of the more relaxed civilizations on the Outer Eastern Rim of my anus, the Hitch Hiker's Guide has already supplanted the great Encyclopedia Analitica as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, for though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate, it scores over the older, more pedestrian work in two important respects.

    First, it is slightly cheaper; and secondly it has the words Don't Panic inscribed in large friendly letters on its cover.

    But the story of this terrible, stupid Thursday, the story of its extraordinary gang Taco snottings, and the story of how these gang Taco snottings are inextricably intertwined with this remarkable anal probe begins very simply.

    It begins with a butt-plug.

  26. LSB 1.1....great....now someone... by Chanc_Gorkon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ANYONE start using it! Preferably everyone.

    Some people will say well what does this does to debian/apt. I say nothing. Apt is not dependant on using deb as evidenced by apt-rpm. Debian can adapt the Connectiva apt-rpm package and switch to rpm's rather easily (unless they are too pig headed). Also, does LSB compliance not allow you to use other packages as well as accepting RPM's?? That way debian can stick to debs for the short term, and switch to RPM's in the long term. Then at some point in the future, LSB can change the spec and require RPM only.

    I would also like to see apt or some advanced package manager included in the spec as well. Apt kicks major booty and takes away the dependency hunt.

    --

    Gorkman

    1. Re:LSB 1.1....great....now someone... by markyd · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      RPM is utter crap. Kill it ASAP, as far as i'm concerned.

    2. Re:LSB 1.1....great....now someone... by GauteL · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "Some people will say well what does this does to debian/apt. I say nothing. Apt is not dependant on using deb as evidenced by apt-rpm. Debian can adapt the Connectiva apt-rpm package and switch to rpm's rather easily (unless they are too pig headed)."

      They don't _need_ to switch to RPMs. I've earlier argued that there is no point in switching from RPM to Deb-packages, but the reverse is equally true.

      All they need to do is make sure "alien" works as it should, and let Debian-users install lsb-based RPM-packages easily. Internally they can and should keep using debs. Debs is what they can, debs is what they do, and switching to RPMs will earn them nothing except a lot of work. Besides I'm willing to bet that at least some of their volunteers would leave the Debian project if someone forced this change.

      In addition Debian should make sure that their debs are easily converted into lsb-rpms.

      I _really_ want to see software distributors start to offer packages looking like this: gnome-core-2.0.386.lsb.rpm

      .. instead of .mdk.rpm, SuSE-rpms, Red Hat-rpms, Connectiva-rpms.. etc..

    3. Re:LSB 1.1....great....now someone... by TrixX · · Score: 2

      Also, Debian has the RPM tool available for installing. DPKG and RPM are not mutually exclusive, you can have both packaging systems at once.

    4. Re:LSB 1.1....great....now someone... by lessthan0 · · Score: 1

      SuSE has been tracking the LSB for a couple of releases now. In fact, all of their boot scripts moved to the LSB defined locations in 7.3. As far as I can tell, SuSE comes the closest to LSB compliance today.

      Red Hat has a long way to go.

      Mandrake not only has problems with LSB, but mangles core packages like Apache.

    5. Re:LSB 1.1....great....now someone... by Malc · · Score: 2

      Any why should Debian switch from .deb packages to Red Hat Package Management packages? Why shouldn't other distros switch .debs?

    6. Re:LSB 1.1....great....now someone... by AmirS · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Everyone is missing a big point that the .deb package format has many more features than .rpm. I'm not saying this to start a flamewar, but .debs have more advanced dependancy information such as depends, suggests, conflicts, replaces, provides etc, many scripts to run pre/post install, the scripts look after package config files well, also installation ordering, smooth upgrades between different versions of the same package etc. etc.

      I would not not want to take a step back by switching to .rpms (unless RedHat or Connectiva hack in all these extra features, which would make them incompatible anyway and need everyone to upgrade so what's the point?)

    7. Re:LSB 1.1....great....now someone... by SubtleNuance · · Score: 2

      DPKG and RPM are not mutually exclusive, you can have both packaging systems at once.

      Wont they step all over one another? If i rpm -i xyz-1.0.0.rpm && apt-get install xyz; Who's to say I wont kill a dep. for xyz1.0.0?

    8. Re:LSB 1.1....great....now someone... by Enahs · · Score: 2
      No more crap than a .deb. In some ways, less so.



      Before you flame me, bother to learn a bit about the two packaging formats. More flexibility in applying patches (as many people can tell you, once you start mixing software from other distros/OSes, it's unavoidable), more robust in dependency handling (yes, rpm is better than deb in that respect. no, it's not rpm; it's the package maintainers. Get a clue. :-) Other than a couple of minor superiorities in the RPM format, Deb and RPM are pretty much the same.



      And if you don't like Deb either, what do you prefer? A Ports tree? Well, me too, but I don't see it happening in the Linux world anytime soon...and I'm typing this on a Gentoo Linux machine, which has its nice Portage tree. The darn system is too far off from "standard" for stuff like StarOffice/prebuilt OpenOffice to run, as well as other prebuilt/binary-only apps.



      I'd switch back to FreeBSD, but I like the possibility of running stuff like win4lin, and 3D. :-)

      --
      Stating on Slashdot that I like cheese since 1997.
    9. Re:LSB 1.1....great....now someone... by GooberToo · · Score: 1

      I _really_ want to see software distributors start to offer packages looking like this: gnome-core-2.0.386.lsb.rpm

      Man, I agree with that!!!

      Someone mod his comment up!!!

    10. Re:LSB 1.1....great....now someone... by iomud · · Score: 2

      I agree with this, as debian is not a corporately controled entity there is no incentive for them to make money, only to create a distro people wish to use. dpkg is a mature solution though it could be better in many ways just as rpm. Either way they'll have to pry my deb's from my cold dead fingers or demonstrate that rpm has come at least as far as deb's and apt.

    11. Re:LSB 1.1....great....now someone... by Dwonis · · Score: 2

      Yep. That's why Debian users use Alien to install foreign (non-deb) packages.

    12. Re:LSB 1.1....great....now someone... by markyd · · Score: 1

      Who said I liked .deb? The FreeBSD ports tree is exactly what I was suggesting. As for flamebait, get a clue moderators.

  27. Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The LSB standardizes on RPM and GNOME. That's going to sit well with the apt and KDE zealots.

    1. Re:Wow by GauteL · · Score: 3, Informative

      They do NOT standardize on GNOME. GNOME is mentioned ONE time in the entire LSB-document, and that is as an example for a packagename ("lsb-gnome-gnumeric").

      They DO however standardize on RPM, which is fine, because almost all distributions use it. Debian probably only have to make sure they support RPMs as well as debs, something they already do through "alien". RPM is also in the Debian-repository.

  28. Too Redhat-controlled. by Penguinoflight · · Score: 0

    The problem with this LSB thing is, it's too controlled by redhat. Redhat has been one of the biggest problems in putting things in the wrong place and using dumb formats.

    If LSB is going to work, they're going to have to start doing things right, instead of how they feel like. Of course LSB can't really be bad, the worst that could happen is just redhat joining it, but I'm afraid that's about all that will happen.

    --
    "And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the World"
    1 John 4:14
  29. Standards, well, are needed. by oskarfasth · · Score: 1

    This is so needed. Just following a HOWTO doc can be gruelsome, at least for persons who truly needs them (the newbies), due to incompabilities in, for instance, the substructure of /etc, locations of different config files, which may be a hassle to find on your own in the often bloated directory-structures, etc.

    IMHO, anything that causes more conformity between distros is A Good Thing, though I am sure many would not agree with me. Hopefuly something will be done about the /&#!"# dependency issues that comes with far too many installs of software not especially (re)packaged for your distribution.

    --
    "Everyone who believes in telekinesis, raise my hand..." - James Randi
    1. Re:Standards, well, are needed. by Eccles · · Score: 1

      IMHO, anything that causes more conformity between distros is A Good Thing, though I am sure many would not agree with me.

      The key is having conformity where there is no advantage to non-conformity. I wouldn't want Linux to adopt DOS-style drive letters, but the big-endian/little-endian difference between PCs and Macs helps no one and makes for a lot of file conversion work. Ditto difference end of line indicators for ASCII files.

      --
      Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
  30. Mandrake by xanadu-xtroot.com · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I almost hate to do this but, I think Mandrake REALLY needs to start reading this and taking it into account. I've been using MDK for a few years now and I do really like the distro. Hell, infact, I'm burring the 8.2 beta2 right now. *BUT* one thing that makes me REALLY hate what they do is all this -mdk crap. Even something simply like the Kicker Menu icons are all stored in -mdk locations so no source that you use will get the icons right without you making symlins all over the place. And even when you DO make all the symlinks and copy stuff to MDK's locations, next time you install something, their RPM's will run "update-menus" and "fix" all their locations to their liking. THAT makes me not too happy.

    For instance Mosfet's Liquid theme. He has a kcontrol module that he uses to control his theme. You can't have it on MDK if you don't copy his module to (something like, I forget): /usrshare/applnk-mdk-simplified/.hidden/Configurat ion. Not the two big problems there. First eh mkd specifck location and then a HIDDEN dir on top of that.

    It's this sort of thing that (my understand is) the LSB is supposed to help "prevent". I wish MDK would follow it. I think it would REALLY help the newbies if they did.

    --
    I'm not a prophet or a stone-age man,
    I'm just a mortal with potential of a super man.
    1. Re:Mandrake by DusanL · · Score: 1

      Mandrake menus:
      If you don't like it why don't you switch it off (hint: menudrake).
      I actually like the menu system (it's not a Mandrake's invention, it comes from Debian). To create a menu entry you just need to add a simple description of it to ~/.menu or /usr/lib/menu and update-menus creates the menu entries for all installed GUIs (KDE/Gnome/WindowMaker/IceWM...., see /etc/menu-methods). As a Linux developer I don't need to worry about all possible GUIs. I just need to create one simple entry and update-menus takes care of the rest. (It is also much easier for Mandrake packagers to maintain one set of menu entries than to have to manage entries for all GUIs in the distribution)
      So, if you decide to keep Mandrake menus then don't create "symlinks all over the place" but just simply add one entry to ~/.menu (man menufile).

      Mosfet's Liquid theme:
      Get a Liquid Mandrake rpm from PLF.

    2. Re:Mandrake by ShavenYak · · Score: 1

      The problem with the menu system is that software coming from anyone other than Mandrake or Debian won't use it, and you end up having to create all these menu files. I wish there was just a way for update-menus to be told not to fudge up menu entries that it didn't create. Then at least Mandrake could put the KDE menus where they belong, and I could just install StarOffice and QuakeIII and have my icons. As it is, I just turned the menu thing off.

      Actually, it would be even better if KDE/Gnome/WindowMaker et al would just agree on a single location for menu entry files. Then there wouldn't be a need for another package just to update menus. Seems like that would be a good thing for a standards document to specify, actually.

      --

      Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
    3. Re:Mandrake by Tsujigiri · · Score: 2

      Firstly, at this point in time the LSB is not making any stands on issues like windows managers and desktop environments. It's all strictly back end stuff (general support libraries and installation methods and standard shell scripting languages etc).

      Secondly as far as menu items is concerned, why not just use menudrake. With this you can set menu items for either global users or just for your own login. It's all point and click and it's quite easy to use. Then when you install new software, your custom buttons are there. I've used it to add all the star office icons as well as a set of shortcuts to my more heavily used folders. Works great. BTW This is all explained on their web site.

      --

      "I'll take the red pill. No! Blue! AAAaaaahhhhhhhhh"
      - Monty Python meets the Matrix

  31. It's very strange... by joestar · · Score: 2, Insightful

    To notice that Mandrake, which is the most internationalized Linux distribution in the world, is not part of the li18nux initiative.
    Also strange to notice that the logo used at li18nux website ressembles much to the one used for years at Mandrake's i18n main page! Anybody knows why Mdk is not part of the li18nux initiative?

  32. i18n is easy. by gTsiros · · Score: 0

    EVERYTHING should be in UNICODE dammit! *EVERYTHING*: Sources, texts, executables. That is the only way for completely transparent i18n. I'm tired of having to configure/recompile every single application to display greek characters and then accept greek characters properly.

    --
    Looking for people to chat about multicopters, coding, music. skype: gtsiros
    1. Re:i18n is easy. by kubota · · Score: 1
      • Greek is relatively an easy language for softwares to support, than other language like Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Hindi, Arab, Hebrew, and so on.
      • Locale is a mechanism and framework for i18n and has been used for tens of years. (At least, every east Asian Linux users can do nothing without locale mechanism.) Unicode will be used within the framework of locale, i.e., through UTF-8 locales.
      • Your software (which needs recompile to support Greek) seems not to use locale framework. Your problem seems to be very easy and you don't even have to use Unicode to solve your problem.
  33. Implies not much about ".deb" by Christopher+B.+Brown · · Score: 3, Informative
    The notion that switching to rpms would be "rather easy" demonstrates considerable ignorance.

    There is a sizable set of tools used in the construction of Debian that are tightly tied to .deb packages.

    apt is only the start of the "advanced" aspect of package management; what's far more critical are the set of development tools, like lintian, debscripts, jablicator, deb-make, deb-helper, equivs, dpkg-dev, apt-move, and such.

    Eliminating all of that would be like telling the Linux kernel developers that they have to stop using C, and write Linux in assembly language.

    It's not simply apt-get that "eliminates the dependancy hunt;": in order for the set of packages to be kept coherent, so they're not merely a jumble of RPMs of dubious provenance strewn across the Internet, you need the development tools.

    To move Debian to RPMs would require rewriting all those tools for RPM use. There's merit to such an idea; if there were coherent tools for dealing with the development of a complete RPM-based distribution, you'd doubtless get better stability. But that's a big task, and your non-recognition of the issue doesn't make it go away...

    --
    If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
    1. Re:Implies not much about ".deb" by Brian+Knotts · · Score: 1
      I would oppose debian switching to rpm on the basis that the rpm database is more readily horkable than deb's text files.

      Yes, it has happened to me, and that is what made me finally switch to debian.

    2. Re:Implies not much about ".deb" by Chanc_Gorkon · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Hmm....how about....apt-rpm??? The things behind dpkg and all of that sure, they are nice, but how are they all that really different from RPM? I agree that I may not be totally clued in about all aspects of apt, dpkg and all of the other stuff Debian uses, but to say that it's so tied to a packaging format??? Debian is no more tied to it then Redhat is tied to RPM. If they are, then the Debian project made a major mistake! I agree alien can assist in installing RPM's on debian, but will alien, dpkg and the rest of the debian stuff scan for dependency with in the RPM? Vice versa? Also, what's with Debian losing all of these people? Developers are leaving left and right. Also, Redhat, Mandrake SUSE and several others have gotten SEVERAL releases out since Debian released Potato. I am not saying that what they are trying to do isn't noble or right, but rock stable systems are hard to do. Don't get me wrong, I like Debian, and I like the fact that it it does try to do the right thing and the technically right thing as well, but sometimes their approach, while good, adds extra time. Time that, in my opinion, they don't have to waste. Maybe now is the time for Debian to actually form a company or form a different way of making the decisions instead of democracy. Maybe they need to modify the DFSG to be more lienient? I don't know, but there has to be someone who is going to draw a line in the sand and get the volunteers in action and get Woody released (and with a 2.4 kernel as well...). In the future, Debian may die, but the project will have donated alot of stuff to the community that can be used to advance Linux as a whole. Personally, I would like to see everyone unite so Linux can move forward without critics panning it.

      LSB is a good thing and their shuld be equal input from everyone. But someone needs to push for adaptation. PHB's and Joe Sixpacks like hearing and seeing commercials like Mandrake Linux is compliant (it isn't but) with the LSB which means no matter where you buy or download your software it will work! I think the LSB folks need someone (besides Caldera or other only Linux companies.....a company with money) like IBM to put up money for a prize. The prize could be x amount of dollars go to the distro who fully complies with the LSB first. Y amount could go to the distro who is second and so on and so on. Everyone would bite, even Debian.

      --

      Gorkman

  34. Ce que je pense... by tfurrows · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    ... c'est que nous devrions decider sur une langue universelle. Alors, nous n'aurions pas besoin de standardiser sur les distro de linux.

    Au fait, maintenant que j'y pense, est-il offensif de faire des postes en une autre langue ici sur slashdot, ou est-ce que nous sommes standardise sur une langue ici?

    Juste mes 2 centimes....

    1. Re:Ce que je pense... by AnonymousNonCoward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      C'est beau un monde ideal, mais on ne peut pas forcer personne a apprendre une langue, c'est meme ridicule. Du plus, ca deviendrait une barriere... Imagine etre oblige d'apprendre le chinois pour utiliser ton OS de preference!

      D'apres moi, ce n'est pas offensif de "poster" en une autre langue que l'anglais, c'est juste qu'on va se faire ignorer en majorite, certains vont peut-etre se revolter, mais en bout de ligne... c'est notre choix =)

    2. Re:Ce que je pense... by tfurrows · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Je me suis plutôt demandé si il y avait des gens qui parlaient en français sur slashdot... volia ma reponse!

      C'etait une question assez bête je suppose, et un essai assez miniscule d'être "funny". Je ne vois pas que ca va etre "moderated".

    3. Re:Ce que je pense... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Go back to France, you hippies!

    4. Re:Ce que je pense... by Malc · · Score: 1

      I'll not attempt to respond in French. I'd like to see more non-angophone languages on /.. It makes the place more interesting ;) It also leads to interesting effects on moderation. I find it sad that some people might be offended by other languages here, which in my mind means it is more important to use other languages: this will forcibly challenge those people. Ultimately, perhaps /. needs a way of indicating posting language, and a way to either automatically include translations, or filter out stuff that one can't read. The main disadvantage that I see is that posting in an alternative language can reduce the number of readers and responses, so it's a choice of how big you want your target audience to be.

    5. Re:Ce que je pense... by Tower · · Score: 1

      To play a little Devil's Advocate...

      Since we are talking about the LSB, maybe the /.SB should include having all posts in English (still the dominant language on the Internet... for another 3-5 years or so). Standardizing on English would lead to less confusion, mis-directed anger, and would also promote the globalization of English so there in the future when we finish our warp-capable ships, we can all speak the same language (which Star Trek has shown us is English), and wear the same uniform (to present a formidable team appearance). Since the E.U. has standardized on the Euro (mirroring the U.S.$), maybe they should go ahead and formalize a standard language, too - Eurenglish. Besides, since English has been formed by absorbing other languages and terms from other languages, it is only fitting that we start standardization here on /. - most of the world's techincal elite speak English already (a completely unfounded statement), and more and more children are getting English early in their school curriculum (yes, even in Compton). Besides, "foreign" languages are just like encryption, and everyone knows that encryption is only used by criminals...

      On the other hand, maybe a link to translate the post into $USER_PREFERED_LANGUAGE would be helpful, with a preset for the language, and a selection during the posting screen. Además, es agradable poder escribir y leer adentro otros lenguajes de vez en cuando, incluso si no son mi lenguaje primario. (Apologies to those more fluent than I, if I hacked that up a bit... I'm still a little rusty :)

      --
      "It's tough to be bilingual when you get hit in the head."
    6. Re:Ce que je pense... by Malc · · Score: 2

      Okay, I'll bite...

      "so there in the future when we finish our warp-capable ships, we can all speak the same language (which Star Trek has shown us is English)"

      You mean you didn't see the episode of Deep Space Nine where the Universal Translator (UT) took a while to figure out a new language? Star Trek isn't standardised on English, we just hear the English feed from the UT, although everybody speaks their own language. :D

      "they should go ahead and formalize a standard language, too - Eurenglish"

      No, they already have a language, it's called Esperanto. Not many people use it. The EU has official languages, three of them: Engish, French and the language of the current presidency. German translations are also normal in respect to them being the biggest country.

      "Besides, since English has been formed by absorbing other languages and terms from other languages"

      So have most languages. English has common roots with most other western European languages.

      "Besides, "foreign" languages are just like encryption, and everyone knows that encryption is only used by criminals...

      Isn't English a '"foreign" language' to most foreigners... perhaps making you a criminal! ;D

      "On the other hand, maybe a link to translate the post into $USER_PREFERED_LANGUAGE would be helpful, with a preset for the language, and a selection during the posting screen. "

      An excellent suggestion.

    7. Re:Ce que je pense... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and if they posted it from france?

    8. Re:Ce que je pense... by AnonymousNonCoward · · Score: 1

      I agree that english should be used for the simple fact that it's more common... the reason for this I believe is its basic simplicity, let's face it, english is probably one of the easiest languages to learn.

      What I don't like is people who accuse others of lack of intelligence due to the fact they don't write/speak perfect english. It's less common now, but a couple months ago every slashdot "user" was correcting everyone else's grammar and spelling and calling the person who made mistakes ignorant and what not. They didn't seem to realize that sometimes, people speak other languages and english may not be their first one.

    9. Re:Ce que je pense... by ShavenYak · · Score: 1

      English isn't one of the easiest languages to learn, actually. There are more exceptions than there are rules, both in grammar and spelling. I think Spanish or French are probably easier for a non-native speaker to learn than English.

      I only wish I remembered more of my French from high school. I could sort of follow along reading the parent posts, but I'd be lost trying to listen to a native French speaker.

      --

      Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
    10. Re:Ce que je pense... by cockroach2 · · Score: 0

      well. i think you're wrong. i learnt french, english, italian, latin and some spanish at school and english WAS the easiest of them.

      except maybe for german, but that might be due to the fact that my native, swiss language actually IS some sort of german...

    11. Re:Ce que je pense... by AnonymousNonCoward · · Score: 1

      Yeah, if you read my reply correctly you'd see that it's exactly what I said =)

    12. Re:Ce que je pense... by cockroach2 · · Score: 0

      well, i was actually replying to ShavenYak's message...

    13. Re:Ce que je pense... by ashitaka · · Score: 1

      i learnt french, english, italian, latin and some spanish at school

      What, by the way, is your native (first) language?

      --
      If you don't want to repeat the past, stop living in it.
    14. Re:Ce que je pense... by cockroach2 · · Score: 0

      it's swiss (often called swiss german), which had, some hundred years ago, the same roots as ("normal") german. there are no grammar rules btw, which makes it a REALLY great language :)

    15. Re:Ce que je pense... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      then they're already dead.

    16. Re:Ce que je pense... by Dwonis · · Score: 2

      Any linguist will tell you that English is a crappy language to standardize on.

    17. Re:Ce que je pense... by Tower · · Score: 1

      >You mean you didn't see the episode of Deep Space Nine where the Universal Translator (UT) took a while to figure out a new language?

      Actually, I did... it just wasn't going to help my argument, so it got left out :) No need to confuse the issue with the "facts" - though certainly on "Enterprise" all of the multinational crew (and the Vulcans) speak English without aid of the the UT... and I'd wager that Sulu and Chekov (despite their accents) were spoke English unaided.

      >The EU has official languages, three of them: Engish, French and the language of the current presidency.
      [snip]
      > perhaps making you a criminal! ;D

      Perhaps since the U.S. doesn't have an official national language (requiring business and public schools to use English), I am a criminal by default... then again, maybe not...

      Thanks for taking my lark of a post in such a good spirit... I tried to keep the sarcasm level down, but I'm not sure I did a good job there :)

      --
      "It's tough to be bilingual when you get hit in the head."
    18. Re:Ce que je pense... by dvdeug · · Score: 2

      Why? English's sounds aren't too hostile - the dental frictaves and affricates don't compare to the complexity of a tonal language, nor does it make distinctions on unusual properties, besides voiced/unvoiced. It's an Indo-European language, meaning more children learn a language in that language family than any other, and many people in many places already know it, a definite plus. On the downside would be the unusual spelling system, but it's survivable. Grammatically English is fairly normal, at least for an IE language. Where's the crappiness?

    19. Re:Ce que je pense... by Malc · · Score: 1

      "English isn't one of the easiest languages to learn, actually"

      I've heard this claim too. The easiest language that I've tried to learn was Latin. Pretty easy to figure out pronunciation, and much more importantly: very regular. Irregularities are in the minority, so once the rules are learnt, it becomes much easier.

      I recently saw an article in the newspaper about dyslexia. It claimed that the rate of dyslexia in Italy is far lower than Britian or France and they suspect that it is because Italian has far fewer phonetic sounds to learn. Presumably this means Italian is an easier language to learn.

      "I only wish I remembered more of my French from high school. I could sort of follow along reading the parent posts"

      I cheated and used the Babel fish.

  35. Tabs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Also, someone should tell Mandrake that a standard UNIX/printer tab is 8 spaces.

  36. About Debian by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You can already install most rpms with the alien tool. So this LSB thing will probably help alien coders a lot.

    My point is that dpkg can be used for Debian.
    And rpm for addon software.

  37. Debian's dillema by slashkitty · · Score: 2

    Sounds to me like Debian is a little too tied to it's package format. And now it'll have to support 2 package formats to be LSB complient. In addition, none of the debian .deb packages can be considered LSB complient since they are not .rpm. In my opinion, too much time has been wasted on .deb, and anymore time wasted on it is time wasted. Going forward, packages HAVE TO BE .rpm to be standard and cross LSB compatible, which is a good thing.

    --
    -- these are only opinions and they might not be mine.
    1. Re:Debian's dillema by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you ask me too much time has been spent working on .rpm

      Who gives a shit about LSB, when there is SUS and POSIX

      LSB is bullshit, Linux is (just) the kernel and the specification doesnt even mention the kernel.. ive heard it said that BSD could be LSB compliant, BSD has nothing to do with the linux kernel...

      What drugs are they on ?

  38. Standard of RPM subset by GodWasAnAlien · · Score: 1

    While the standard does narrow RPM to a subset of commands. The set of commands seems too large, and the syntax of the commands is ambiguous. Should the commands always allow all GNU options or could a subset (like busybox) be sufficient.

    The required command syntax should be complete spelled out, so you could write a portable rpm. If the command set was known, you could write rpm such that it is independent of system tools and does not require the root user to use --root option. This could be good for embedded systems.
    rpm and busybox could share a .so.

  39. I think it's time... by StarbuckZero · · Score: 3, Interesting

    For RedHat, MandrakeSoft, Lycoris (Redmond Linux), Xandros and any other distro leader out they're to get involved to make Linux a better place for the average user. It would be nice to be able to click on a ONE link to download a program/driver off the net and not have search though this list. I'm sorry but it's time for a change... It's hard for every day people install programs and It's a pain for developers to repackage there binaries over for each distro. If you have time people check out Fiorina:
    Linux not a threat to Microsoft
    on cnet. You'll it under January 30, 2002 but there Fiorina talks about how we are fighting Microsoft, but she saying what I been trying to tell my friends all this time.

    We need to build a better desktop and stop bitching about Microsoft. We need to put our time into something better besides bitching about Microsoft because the only way we can beat them is to build something cleaner, faster, easier and better then what they have now. So MandrakeSoft, Lycoris and Xandros you want the to be the king of the desktop well you better to start looking that the LSB 1.1 because you are not going to get anywhere with your just putting the newest KDE, GNOME and X11 on a CD and calling it Linux 8.x. I can tell you one thing I had a friend that switch back to Windows because it was as hell to install programs and to get his hardware configure. I was helping him maintain his system, but when I got busy with doing work on the weekends trying to help my friend out on this website I couldn't be their to help him with his system. The sad thing is I'm very happy to see that he switch back to Windows, hell I been using Linux for 2 1/2 years( no duel booting for 1 1/2 year ) and been thinking about it myself. I been paying for games/software and supporting the companies out there but it's not doing any good if you got some open source bigots are going to warez sites or newgrounds for close source software for Linux that's not GPL or FREE. Flame or mod me down if you like, I'm just saying what's on my mind. I'm a programmer for a CBT company and I love programming, but I got bills to pay. In the end it's all about money and what's the next big thing.

    --
    From Zero to Hero... Starbuck Zero
  40. Those who read the standards might have a clue by Christopher+B.+Brown · · Score: 4, Informative
    Debian packages do not HAVE TO BE .RPM.

    If you were to actually read the standards document, the requirement is:

    Distributions must provide a mechanism for installing applications in this packaging format with some restrictions listed below. [2]

    And if you were to look for note [2] you would find that it reads:

    [2] The distribution itself may use a different packaging format for its own packages, and of course it may use any available mechanism for installing the LSB-conformant packages.

    The point of LSB is to allow third party applications to be portable across distributions. That does not mandate anything about how a distribution chooses to package the Linux kernel, GLIBC, or much of anything else that it itself chooses to package.

    Indeed, nothing mandates that an LSB-compliant distribution even has its own packaging scheme. A distribution could have all the components required by LSB in all the right spots, and just plain put them there. No "packages;" just files.

    --
    If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
    1. Re:Those who read the standards might have a clue by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "third party applications" means closed source binary only application that you cant compile from source

  41. Read the standard. by Christopher+B.+Brown · · Score: 3, Informative
    Were you to read the standard, you might be able to figure out answers to these and other meaningful questions.

    The ans wer is, by the way, that it doesn't affect Debian in any meaningful way.

    • The standard does not require that Debian drop its own packaging scheme.
    • The standard does not mandate the use of RPM packaging within the distribution.

    Read the standard; it's not particularly painful to read.

    A much more entertaining thing is to think about how this might affect folks using FreeBSD It is entirely possible that this standard allows FreeBSD, which is conspicuously not Linux as well as not based on RPM packaging, to nonetheless become a nicely "compliant" Linux Standard Base platform.

    Heck, Microsoft might be able to modify the "Unix Emulation" environment they have running on Windows NT (it's sold as something; I don't recall the name...) become compliant with LSB

    This wouldn't be any stranger than when Microsoft made Windows NT a "POSIX" platform, or when IBM got OS/390 certified as a Branded Unix (tm)

    The notion that this creates some massive problem for Debian is just plain ignorant, and when the article links to the publicly-available-on-the-web standard, being so ignorant is quite inexcuable.

    --
    If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
    1. Re:Read the standard. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "The standard does not mandate the use of RPM packaging within the distribution"

      Mandate is too strong a word, it recomends distros use the RPM packaging format.

      And as far as i know RPM is the only packaging scheme that does use the RPM packaging format.

      How stupid do those LSD^HB people think we are.... if they recommend the RPM format, then that does say they thing RPM is better the DEB.

      They needed to put the above staement it to try and appease non RPM people... to guttless to stand up for there own thoughts.

      Anonymous Coward

  42. Binary standard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It appears to me that this is also defining a binary standard. For example, Posix standards ensure that a particular header file will include a symbol definition, but they don't specify exactly what that symbol's value must be. This works fine for a source code level standard, but could potentially require recompiling from source for each distribution.
    Further, if I'm reading it right, this will standardize things like specific names in /dev for specific devices, etc.
    OTOH, I don't have a feel for how often binary incompatibility issues actually show up in practice. I've hit some minor problems with ncurses.h, but that was across different o/s's (aix vrs linux). I'd be very interested in other developer's experiences.

  43. The standard ISN'T about Linux by Christopher+B.+Brown · · Score: 3, Informative
    Look for the section entitled Kernel Requirements.

    You won't find one. There isn't one.

    This actually has a really entertaining implication, namely that despite saying "Linux" a lot, the standard hasn't anything forcibly to do with Linux.

    • I'm fairly sure that the FreeBSD folks are likely to be able to take this standard and make some changes to conform their "Linux compatibility" subsystem with it.
    • I'll bet that SCO (A division of Caldera) could take this standard and make SCO UNIX, with some layering of GLIBC, compatible with it.
    • Ditto for BSDi, AIX, HP/UX, and Solaris. I'd almost bet anything Sun will do some work to get Solaris "conformant," at least looking ahead to Solaris/IA-64
    • It would be quite the shock if Microsoft were to throw some effort into their "Linux Emulation Environment" (it exists; I don't recall the name...) to make it "LSB-Conformant."

    The notion that this standard has much of anything to do with the Linux kernel is desparately ignorant of a reading of the standard.

    --
    If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
  44. Which are the most conformant by Malc · · Score: 1

    Which Linux distros are the most conformant, or most closest to conformance with the LSB?

    I've seen comments that Mandrake is the most internationalised. Is this true. How do other distros such as Debian compare?

    On the issue of internationalisation, how is that accomplished from a programming perspective? Most of my development work occurs under Windows, where it is very easy to switch between single byte, multi byte and Unicode at compile time (based on TCHAR definitions). It is also very easy to switch resource DLLs. How is this achieved under Linux? And, does Linux make use of code pages, or something similar when it's not using Unicode?

    1. Re:Which are the most conformant by GlowStars · · Score: 1

      SuSE.

    2. Re:Which are the most conformant by MobyTurbo · · Score: 1

      SuSE is the most conformat with LSB and the FHS, and from an internationalization perspective it too is one of the best.

  45. Ok does that mean... by ACK!! · · Score: 2

    I will no longer be able to design my software to install in /usr/local//bin/

    if I wanted it included in a major distro?

    Or does that mean that the distros will have to adapt the software to the standard?

    --
    ACK /ak/ interj. 2. [from the comic strip "Bloom County"] An exclamation of surprised disgust, esp. i
    1. Re:Ok does that mean... by Dehumanizer · · Score: 1

      They already do. In fact, distros can't distribute Dan Bernstein's software (like qmail) because its licence doesn't allow it to be distributed in a different place than DJB wants it.

      When you install a Red Hat or a Mandrake, /usr/local/bin is empty. In my case, I use /usr/local for software I compile from source, but RPMs always go in /usr.

      --
      The Tlog - a technology blog
  46. Have you read the standard? by Christopher+B.+Brown · · Score: 3, Informative
    Debian doesn't have to change package managers in order to comply with LSB.

    For that matter, FreeBSD could comply with LSB without either:

    • Using a Linux kernel

      Look at the standard; it specifies nothing about what OS kernel you are using.

    • Using RPMs instead of pkgs and Ports

      Again, look at the standard. The set of package names to be managed by RPM, which runs on FreeBSD, is intentionally completely disjoint from any set of package names being managed "natively" by the distribution.

    Careful reading of the standard shows that there is no requirement to be running Linux in order to conform with the standard. You could conceivably run some other kernel, like those from FreeBSD, NetBSD, Sun, SCO/Caldera. I'll bet it's at least theoretically possible that Windows NT with the "Unix emulation environment" could be made LSB-compliant.

    --
    If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
  47. I think you've missed the point of Debian by smcv · · Score: 1

    The things behind dpkg and all of that sure, they are nice, but how are they all that really different from RPM? I agree that I may not be totally clued in about all aspects of apt, dpkg and all of the other stuff Debian uses, but to say that it's so tied to a packaging format??? Debian is no more tied to it then Redhat is tied to RPM. If they are, then the Debian project made a major mistake!

    Debian's primary advantage is that its packages are consistent. When you select a package, it comes with a very specific set of dependencies. That, and the fact that Debian is the source of the vast majority of .deb packages (especially the sort of "core" packages likely to come up in a dependency), mean they can get away with a lot of splitting up components, compiling platform-independent bits once and binaries many times (Debian isn't just an i386 distro like many others), shared libraries that get shared properly, and all sorts of other consistency stuff. Where a release-focused distro might concentrate on making all the packages in version 9.2 (say) work together nicely and consistently, Debian does a pretty good job of keeping all the packages consistent, all the time. (OK, so it doesn't always work 100% on 'unstable', but if you wanted stability you wouldn't be running that version anyway).

    Maybe now is the time for Debian to actually form a company or form a different way of making the decisions instead of democracy.

    The democracy/meritocracy structure is exactly what Debian is about - it's run by a non-profit org. called Software in the Public Interest. They don't exist to make a profit, or to make themselves popular - they exist to make a distribution of good software freely available.

    Maybe they need to modify the DFSG to be more lienient?

    And that would help how?

    If it's free (free as in DFSG), it goes in 'main' and goes on the official CDs. If it's free as in DFSG but requires non-free software (like a GPLed "helper" application for PGP for instance), it goes in 'contrib'. If it's not free-as-in-DFSG (this includes shareware and closed-source freeware), it goes in 'non-free' - contrib and non-free are easily available over ftp or as the last CD in the set. If it's not in non-free, either nobody's tried packaging it, or Debian aren't sure if it would even be legal for them to distribute it.

    Again, things like the DFSG are why Debian exists.

    I don't know, but there has to be someone who is going to draw a line in the sand and get the volunteers in action and get Woody released (and with a 2.4 kernel as well...).

    It looks like it'll be installed with a 2.2 kernel by default, and a 2.4 kernel as an option (fairly easy to install thanks to the magic of apt/dpkg - install, reboot, Lilo offers you a choice of kernel). Woody already includes precompiled 2.4.17 kernels for 386, Pentium, 686 (PPro/P2/P3/Celeron), K6 and K7 (Athlon/Duron), and that's just the i386 builds.

    OTOH, if Debian was a company, where would all those volunteers be? Probably starting their own distro or doing Linux from Scratch.

    PHB's and Joe Sixpacks like hearing and seeing commercials like Mandrake Linux is compliant (it isn't but) with the LSB which means no matter where you buy or download your software it will work!

    This is why volunteer efforts like Debian have a niche. They don't like hearing and seeing commercials, they like giving people a stable OS. They're not trying to make a profit, which is why they can get away with doing what they feel is The Right Thing.

    1. Re:I think you've missed the point of Debian by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fine if you like using software behind the curve, your welcome to it. Personally, I have had no problems with Mandrake with stability. I got it for free also. Why is Debain better then Mandrake or Redhat? I thought Linux was Linux. I am sorry, apt is cool and all and so are some other things about Debian, but, and I don't mean this as an insult to the Debian folks...they still rock very much, but I need the new stuff. Right now, if I want to install Debian I have to use Woody. Potatoe won't install on my system because my only HD I have is a ATA/100 HD. There are no iso's of Woody (snapshotted or otherwise) available. There are only those raw images (which I have yet to figure out how to burn, so that may be only my problem....for a little while). It's taking too frickin long to wait on Woody, so I am sticking with Mandrake, for now. When Woody comes out, I may try it. I do believe it is a good distro and that it can conform to LSB as well. I admire the volunteers workng Debian and Linux in general as well, but not being a licensing bigot, I could care less about the DFSG,GPL, or BSD. I just want software that works (I ain't saying I am totally happy with Mandrake either....it's got it's bugs too...like enabling vesafb booting without asking! Never mind if it works with your system or not.....). Also, and I am sure everyone will agree, dselect SUCKS and so doe sthe installation. I do like selecting every package, but I also like selecting groups of packages and dselect baffels the hell out of me their. I usually just install the default set then apt-get install everything.

      Also, on another note, why is it so popular now a days for people to say that gaining a profit is evil or bad? Isn't that how we provide for our family? What is so bad about making money?? Why would the volunteers at Debian have to stop working on it if they were to establish a company? They could be PAID volunteers. Give everyone who works on a package some money, even if it isn't what a Red Hat developer would be paid. All I am saying is that the good feeling of making a good OS will only last so long. Maybe this is why some of the programmers are leaving now?

    2. Re:I think you've missed the point of Debian by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Why is Debain better then Mandrake or Redhat?"

      Because its based on free software ideals.

      "I thought Linux was Linux."

      Linux is JUST A KERNEL, debian is endevouring to assimilate other kernels, GNU/Hurd, Free BSD, even windows

      "I need the new stuff"

      I use the unstable release (codenamed sid, remeber in toy story, sid gets locked up never to be released.. or was that toy story2?)

      I agree the install does have problems, there are people working on it... its not happening fast ,but it will happen.

      dselect has a steep lurning curve, there are 5 or 6 alternative frontends now, but i still prefer dselect now that i have memorised the commands.

      There is nothing wrong with making a profit, but if something CAN be done for free, then why not do it that way. RedHat, Mandrake, Suse, etc, do have to pay people wages, so they have to get money of their customers somehow..

      People will always be leaving and joining, there are 850 - 900 members now, 2 people resigned recently in a very public way... debian still has a lot of people behind it and always will because its based on the smae ideals as the software it packages.

      I would resign rather than listen to the thread deciding on how to split up the money if debian did pay its volunteers

  48. /usr/local by smcv · · Score: 2, Informative

    That's exactly what /usr/local is for - locally compiled software. On most GNU and GNUish software the author sets it up to install to /usr/local by default, but you can do ./configure --prefix=/usr if you're building a distro package.

    I don't know what other distros are like about this (I've only ever used Mandrake and Debian, and I didn't get experienced enough with Mandrake to know any of the internals), but Debian source packages come in two parts - a tarfile of original, unmodified source, plus a .diff.gz file containing the changes ("Debianizations") the Debian package maintaniner made to make it fit in with Debian conventions (moving all documentation to /usr/share/doc/name-of-the-package, for instance). If the original author's makefile or other code doesn't conform to Debian conventions, the maintainer will change it so it does.

    For a program like you describe where (presumably) /usr/local/bin is hard-coded somewhere, the diff would include replacing that with /usr/bin - you, as an "upstream" developer, can probably make this easier by defining PREFIX to /usr/local and always referring to "$PREFIX/bin" and so on.

  49. ha ha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wishful thinking that you can get all the *linux
    distributions to agree on one standard. You
    might as well hope everyone packs up and just
    run RedHat, the market leader.

  50. Who cares?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There's already a standard..it's called RedHat!
    ( sorry debian, no lead core developers means you are losers anyways)

  51. big names by FunnyJoey · · Score: 1

    * Caldera Inc * Compaq * Corel Corporation * The Debian Project * Enhanced Software Technologies, Inc. * Hewlett Packard (sponsor) * IBM (sponsor) * Linuxcare * Linux for PowerPC * MandrakeSoft * Metro Link, Inc. * Olliance * The Open Group * Oracle * SGI * Turbolinux Inc. * Red Hat Software * Software in the Public Interest, Inc. * SuSE GmbH * The USENIX Association * VA Linux * WGS Inc

    1. Re:big names by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Joey, you're not very funny. Maybe I am confusedd here. Does the "Funny" part of your name indicate that there is something not-quite-normal about yourself?

  52. Sigh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I see someone keeps his 6th grade creative writing assignments around...

  53. systems w/ Linux Standard Base 1.1 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Imagine a Beowolf Cluster of THESE!!!

  54. Re-read the standard. by Nailer · · Score: 2

    The ans wer is, by the way, that it doesn't affect Debian in any meaningful way.

    I disagree.

    * The standard does not require that Debian drop its own packaging scheme.
    * The standard does not mandate the use of RPM packaging within the distribution.


    The standard mandates that RPM is the preferred packaging system for people creating applications to run on Linux. Debian;s LSB support is based on the existence of Alien. I don't know too many Debian people who would trust alien to install large parts of their system.