IEEE
and The Open Group Okay 'Linux Manual Pages Project' to Incorporate
Material from the POSIX® Standard
Contact:
Eva Kostelkova, The Open Group
+1 415 374-8280, e.kostelkova.org
or
Karen McCabe, IEEE Senior Marketing Manager
+1 732 562 3824, k.mccabe@ieee.org
PISCATAWAY,
NJ and SAN FRANCISCO, CA, 21 January 2004 The IEEE and The
Open Group have granted permission to the Linux Manual Pages Project
to incorporate material from the joint IEEE 1003.1™ POSIX®
standard and The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6.
This step
will allow developers using the Linux manual pages to gain a better
understanding of how to write portable programs utilizing IEEE
Std 1003.1, "Standard for Information Technology-- Portable
Operating System Interface (POSIX)". The POSIX standard,
which also forms the core volumes of Version 3 of The Open Group's
Single UNIX® Specification, defines a set of fundamental services
needed for the construction of portable application programs.
IEEE and The Open Group have granted permissions for reuse of
material in the Linux 'man pages' project (see: ftp://ftp.win.tue.nl/pub/linux-local/manpages)
covering over 1400 interfaces from the standard including the
headers, system interfaces and utilities.
"We could
not quote the POSIX standard verbatim until now because of copyright
restrictions," said Professor Andries Brouwer, who oversees
the Linux Manual Pages Project and is based at the National Research
Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science in the Netherlands.
"As a result, inaccuracies crept into pages written by volunteers,
because they had to interpret the standard in the text they wrote.
"The
approval we've received from the IEEE and The Open Group to reuse
POSIX documentation in the Linux man pages will make the exact
standard available to our volunteers. Needless to say, we're very
grateful to both organizations for the permission to do so."
Andrew Josey,
Director of Certification at The Open Group and Chair of the Austin
Group, said: "We're taking active steps to increase the adoption
of POSIX within the software community. Making POSIX more available
to Linux developers is one such step. Another was the recent decision
to make the POSIX standard freely available on the Internet."
About the
Linux Manual Pages Project
The "man pages" project provides the Linux system with
manual pages so programmers have the documentation they need to
write portable code. This documentation describes what the various
standards say about a function or program and any special properties
or deviations from the standards in the Linux libraries and kernels.
This project was started by Rik Faith and has been maintained
by Andries Brouwer for the last nine years. The "man pages"
distribution can be found at the ftp site of the Technische Universiteit
Eindhoven at ftp://ftp.win.tue.nl/pub/linux-local/manpages.
About The
Open Group
The Open Group is a vendor-neutral and technology-neutral consortium,
whose vision of Boundaryless Information Flow™ will enable
access to integrated information within and between enterprises
based on open standards and global interoperability. The Open
Group works with customers, suppliers, consortia and other standard
bodies. Its role is to capture, understand and address current
and emerging requirements, establish policies and share best practices;
to facilitate interoperability, develop consensus, and evolve
and integrate specifications and open source technologies; to
offer a comprehensive set of services to enhance the operational
efficiency of consortia; and to operate the industry's premier
certification service, including UNIX certification. Further information
on The Open Group can be found at http://www.opengroup.org/.
About the
IEEE Standards Association
The IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA), a global standards-setting
body, develops consensus standards through an open process that
brings diverse parts of an industry together. It has a portfolio
of more than 870 completed standards and more than 400 in development.
IEEE-SA promotes the engineering process by creating, developing,
integrating, sharing and applying knowledge about electro- and
information technologies and sciences for the benefit of humanity
and the profession. For further information on IEEE-SA visit:
http://standards.ieee.org/.
About the
IEEE
The IEEE has more than 380,000 members in approximately 150 countries.
Through its members, the organization is a leading authority on
areas ranging from aerospace, computers and telecommunications
to biomedicine, electric power and consumer electronics. The IEEE
produces nearly 30 percent of the world's literature in the electrical
and electronics engineering, computing and control technology
fields. This nonprofit organization also sponsors or cosponsors
more than 300 technical conferences each year. Additional information
about the IEEE can be found at http://www.ieee.org/.
###
Notes
to editors:
The
Open Group is a trademark of The Open Group.
UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the US and
other countries.
POSIX is a registered trademark of the IEEE Inc.
Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.
All
other names or product names are the trademarks, service marks
or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
|
