Thizlinux today announced that they support the newly announced Linux Standards Base (LSB) 2.0. By supporting the LSB, Thizlinux announces the intent to certify to the standard, thereby delivering interoperability between its value-added version of Linux and application software written to the standard. Most importantly, it ensures Linux will not fragment and will continue to be the fastest growing operating system in the industry.

The Linux Standard Base is developed and maintained by the Free Standards Group (FSG), a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing and promoting open source software standards. The next version of the specification offers an answer to the most pressing issue facing Linux today: fragmentation. A large assortment of industry leaders have pledged their support to the new standard and the Free Standards Group to prevent this from happening. The Standard is supported by major players in the Linux Community including IBM, Hewlett-Packard, AMD, Dell, Intel, Conectiva, MandrakeSoft, Red Hat, Sun, Novell's SUSE LINUX, and Turbolinux, as well as Thizlinux. The FSG has developed LSB along with a number of tools and test suites to facilitate the creation of a standard Linux.

"As the major Linux distributor in Greater China, we shall contribute to the healthy development of Linux in the region through safeguarding the core principles of openness and access," said Mr Albert Wong, CEO, Thiz Technology group. "The Free Standards Group balances the interests of everyone in the Linux community. The LSB standard gives our customers assurance that their applications will work with our value-added distribution of Linux."

"We are pleased to see the support for the LSB from Thizlinux," said Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Free Standards Group. "Their participation is crucial to the standard's - and ultimately Linux's - success. We applaud their proactive vision and their actions to safeguard the openness and interoperability of Linux."

The Linux Standard Base specification contains a base set of Application Binary Interfaces (ABI's), libraries and interoperability standards. It also includes test suites, development environments, sample implementations and developer documentation. More information on the standard can be found on the FSG's Web site and in a press release announcing the specification issued at LinuxWorld.

LSB 2.0 features the revision of the core specification to support modules that are built on the foundation of the core LSB. This will accommodate future growth, as Linux standards for different vertical markets, for example, are developed as extensions to the core LSB. LSB 2.0 also introduces an ABI for C++ -- a long-awaited feature. The LSB 2.0 also incorporates updates to many of the specifications and implementations underlying the LSB, such as the Single Unix Specification.

Finally, LSB 2.0 introduces support for new architectures, including PPC64 and AMD64. Other CPU architectures supported by LSB 2.0 include IA32 and IA64 architectures, as well as PPC32, S390 and S390X.

In addition to providing a written specification, LSB 2.0 includes a wide range of tools for Linux, such as test suites, a development environment, a sample implementation and developer documentation.

About the Free Standards Group
The Free Standards Group is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the use and acceptance of free and open source software by developing and promoting standards. Key Free Standards Group projects include the Linux Standard Base (LSB), OpenI18N, LANANA and the new Accessibility Workgroup. Supported by leaders in the IT industry as well as the open source development community, the Free Standards Group fulfills a critical need to have common behavioral specifications, tools and ABIs across Linux platforms. More information on the Free Standards Group is available at www.freestandards.org.

About Thizlinux
ThizLinux Laboratory Limited ('ThizLinux') is the R & D and sales flagship of the Group. As a major Linux player in the greater China region, a Hong Kong based Linux application software developer and provider, ThizLinux is highly customer driven and focuses on developing new technologies and Linux application solutions. It has been devoted to the development and promotion of Linux operating system and web-based applications for years. Through software bundling, OEM partnership, training courses and enterprise solutions, ThizLinux offers comprehensive support and services to governments, private enterprises, educational institutes as well as individual users in the Greater China region. For more product information, please visit the website of Thiz Group at www.thizgroup.com.