The Free Standards Group released two tools on Thursday intended to ensure that all Linux applications can run on any Linux Standard Base-compliant version of the open source operating system: LSB 1.1 and Li18nux 1.0.

Some commercial application developers, including Microsoft, have slammed open source development, saying that it lacks the necessary controls to define the common programming standards that need to be used across different projects to ensure compatibility.
Linux has proven itself as a reliable server OS, but its less than user-friendly interface has hindered its appeal to people accustomed to having wily wizards and perky paper clips lead them through the technical labyrinth.

The Rosetta Stone of Linux has been forged," said Free Standards Group Executive Director Scott McNeil. "With written guidelines, test suites and build environments, the LSB and Li18nux will give application developers the tools they need to easily reach users worldwide.

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And even dedicated Linux users say they can't delete Windows until their favorite application runs on Linux. Open-source coders have created many applications for Linux, but even they will admit these programs don't have the features to match up with Photoshop, Word or Macromedia Flash.

"It seems that many people have their pet program, the one application that holds them to Windows OS," said István Lebor, a systems administrator at OTP Bank Limited, the National Savings and Commercial Bank of Hungary. "You can have a dual boot computer, with Linux on one partition and Windows on the other, but there are technical issues there as well, and that's more complex than most people want their machine to be."

But CodeWeavers, WINE's primary corporate backer, promises great things when it releases version 1.0 in a few months.

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