Building Applications with the Linux Standard Base

r3lody (Ray Lodato) writes "Just because Linux is under the GPL, some people believe that it's pretty standardized. Actually, each distro has its own little additions and, consequently, quirks. Writing an application to work reliably under all variations is not a slam-dunk. The Linux Standard Base Specification seeks to provide the common ground that all Linux apps should adhere to, and therefore make reasonably sure that they will work as advertised. Building Applications with the Linux Standard Base is a reference manual for application developers to make sure their programs will work across the Linux map." Read on for the rest of Lodato's review. Building Applications with the Linux Standard Base author Core Members of the Linux Standard Base Team pages 246 publisher Pearson plc publishing as IBM Press rating 8 reviewer Ray Lodato (rlodato AT yahoo DOT com) ISBN 0131456954 summary Very dry reading, but a lot of useful information packed into a slim 246 pages.

I've been involved with IBM products and documentation since the late '70s, and their documentation has traditionally come in two flavors: user's guides, and reference manuals. The former are meant to be read cover-to-cover (more or less), and the latter are meant to be looked at for specific bits of information. This book falls more to the reference manual side of the spectrum. Consequently, reading it cover-to-cover was a little dry, but the information needed to get an application certified with the Linux Standard Base (LSB) was clearly laid out.

Building Applications with the Linux Standard Base (published by IBM Press and available on your favorite bookstore sites) is laid out in five large parts: Introduction, Developing LSB Applications, Certifying for the LSB, Contributing to the LSB Project, and Using LSB Resources. Except for the first part (Introduction), the book gives specific examples, and many, many references to the opengroup.org website's sections on the LSB.

It becomes obvious as you go through the book that the Linux Standard Base is still evolving. The authors (13 core members of the LSB team) frequently allude to how the project can (and should) be extended to increase its scope and sophistication. Two chapters (Adding New Interfaces..., and Adding New Architectures...) cover (albeit skimpily) what's needed to update the specification.

Backing up for a moment, Part II (Developing LSB Applications) describes in detail (with examples) the Dos and Don'ts of coding practices. It then explains carefully how an application should be packaged for distribution (RPM), and finally wraps up with a section on porting Solaris apps to the LSB. In each chapter, step-by-step instructions are given when appropriate. Differences in filesystem hierarchy, signal handling, and program options are all laid out to help you through.

Part III goes over the LSB Certification process. Both runtime environments (distros) and applications are covered. Again, the book lays out the process in a step-by-step approach.

The last part in the book talks about the various resources available: the written spec, the test suites, and various usage guides. The chapter on using the LSB test suites shows how much thought went into making sure a successful test ensures a certifiable (in a good way) application.

All in all, Building Applications with the Linux Standard Base, has what you need if you're developing a commercial-grade Linux distribution or application. Once your product has passed the testing described inside, you can be confident that it will work on almost anything Linux. Very dry reading, but a lot of useful information packed into a slim 246 pages. I'd give it a 7 for writing style, but a 9 for content: total=8/10.

You can purchase Building Applications with the Linux Standard Base from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, carefully read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.

Comments

No!

[The_DOD_player]

Come on people, that is not insightful,.. flaimbait at best.

- Java is slooooow (yes it is, just because its a fun language, doesnt make it any less slow). It's certainly not something you would want to code your browser, fps-game or webserver in.

- Every GUI Java application feels like, well,... like Java.

- Java doesnt run smoothly on all platforms. Maybe it just me, but Java has caused me trouble on all platforms I have used (Windows, RedHat, Debian and Gentoo).

TrollMod

[Doc Ruby]

Moderation +1
70% Funny
30% Offtopic

How the hell is a joke about "extract from book" in a book review thread "Offtopic"?