MESSAGE
DATE | 2005-08-12 |
FROM | From: "Inker, Evan"
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SUBJECT | Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] Debian Vendors Launch Common Core Alliance
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Debian Vendors Launch Common Core Alliance Publication Date: 11 August 2005 http://www.computerwire.com/industries/research/?pid=7F439355-9450-4C50-8B4A -F331BA33991E By Matthew Aslett
One of the worst kept secrets in the Linux industry was revealed at LinuxWorld this week with the announcement that a group of Debian-based Linux vendors have formed an alliance to promote the enterprise use of the Debian GNU/Linux package.
The Debian Common Core Alliance has been formed by leading Debian-based Linux distributors including Progeny Inc, Linspire Inc, Xandros Inc, and Sun Wah Linux Ltd, to create a common core and structured release schedule that will make Debian more attractive to enterprise users.
Founding members of the DCC Alliance also include open source consulting and services firm credativ GmbH, the gnuLinEx project of the regional government of Extremadura, Spain, the Knoppix Live CD Linux project, custom Linux solutions firm Mepis LLC, and Bruce Perens's UserLinux project.
The DCC Alliance sees all these companies committing to use the Debian Common Core as the basis for their own Linux products and services. While they will be able to add their own additions to the core code base, the DCC Alliance will serve as a single point for contact for ISVs and IHVs wanting to ensure their products work with Debian-based distributions.
The aim is to make Debian more suitable for enterprise adoption by providing a standard core that will be compatible with the Free Standards Group's Linux Standards Base and also has a more predictable release cycle. The first version of the DCC will be based on Debian 3.1, and is expected to be delivered in September.
"By aligning around a common core, we make Debian more viable in the commercial world," said Ian Murdock, Debian founder, Progeny chairman and chief strategist, and leader of the DCC Alliance. Through the combined strength of its members the Alliance will fill in the gaps, such as LSB compliance, necessary to attract major industry partners and propel Debian to its rightful place in the enterprise space."
Debian is a community-led Linux distribution project, and so lacks the marketing power of Red Hat and Novell's SUSE Linux, but one thing it is not short of is users. It is the second most popular Linux distribution for web serving behind Red Hat, according to Netcraft's March 2005 Linux web server survey.
It is also the basis for a number of commercial Linux distributions, and another aim of the DCC Alliance will be to combine the commercial strengths of vendors such as Linspire, San Wah, Progeny, and Xandros to accelerate the commercial adoption of Debian-based Linux distributions while cutting their development costs.
Aside from a number of smaller community-led projects, the only other major Debian-based project missing from the list of DCC Alliance members is Canonical Ltd's Ubuntu Linux. Also missing, of course, are likes of Red Hat Inc, Novell Inc, and Mandriva SA, which use the RPM package management system as opposed to Debian's DEB.
Plans for the DCC Alliance were leaked in mid-July, although the group was incorrectly identified as the Debian Core Consortium.
Meanwhile, Beijing, China-based Sun Wah is claiming to have launched the first Debian-based Linux server distribution in Asia with the release of RAYS ES. The new server distribution is designed for X86-based servers with support for PowerPC and 64-bit servers lined up for the end of the year.
Sun Wah is predicting that the distribution will pick up more than 10,000 users this year based on feedback from customers, driving it towards its stated goal of becoming the leading Asian Linux distributor by 2006. RAYS ES is available for download now with prices starting at $849.
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