<s>
The	O
Linux	B-Application
Standard	I-Application
Base	I-Application
(	O
LSB	O
)	O
was	O
a	O
joint	O
project	O
by	O
several	O
Linux	B-Application
distributions	I-Application
under	O
the	O
organizational	O
structure	O
of	O
the	B-Operating_System
Linux	I-Operating_System
Foundation	I-Operating_System
to	O
standardize	O
the	O
software	O
system	O
structure	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
Filesystem	B-Application
Hierarchy	I-Application
Standard	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
goal	O
of	O
the	O
LSB	O
is	O
to	O
develop	O
and	O
promote	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
open	O
standards	O
that	O
will	O
increase	O
compatibility	O
among	O
Linux	B-Application
distributions	I-Application
and	O
enable	O
software	O
applications	O
to	O
run	O
on	O
any	O
compliant	O
system	O
even	B-Operating_System
in	I-Operating_System
binary	I-Operating_System
form	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
LSB	O
specified	O
standard	O
libraries	B-Library
(	O
centered	O
around	O
the	O
)	O
,	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
commands	O
and	O
utilities	O
that	O
extend	O
the	O
POSIX	O
standard	O
,	O
the	O
layout	O
of	O
the	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
hierarchy	I-Application
,	O
run	B-Device
levels	I-Device
,	O
the	O
printing	O
system	O
,	O
including	O
spoolers	B-Device
such	O
as	O
CUPS	O
and	O
tools	O
like	O
Foomatic	B-Application
,	O
and	O
several	O
extensions	O
to	O
the	O
X	B-Operating_System
Window	I-Operating_System
System	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
standard	O
stopped	O
being	O
updated	O
in	O
2015	O
and	O
current	O
Linux	B-Application
distributions	I-Application
do	O
not	O
adhere	O
to	O
or	O
offer	O
it	O
;	O
however	O
,	O
the	O
lsb_release	O
command	O
is	O
sometimes	O
still	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
LSB	O
was	O
designed	O
to	O
be	O
binary-compatible	O
and	O
produced	O
a	O
stable	O
application	B-Operating_System
binary	I-Operating_System
interface	I-Operating_System
(	O
ABI	O
)	O
for	O
independent	B-Application
software	I-Application
vendors	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
achieve	O
backward	B-General_Concept
compatibility	I-General_Concept
,	O
each	O
subsequent	O
version	O
was	O
purely	O
additive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
LSB5.0	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
major	O
release	O
that	O
broke	O
backward	B-General_Concept
compatibility	I-General_Concept
with	O
earlier	O
versions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Added	O
hardware-specific	O
specifications	O
(	O
IA-32	B-Device
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Added	O
hardware-specific	O
specifications	O
(	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
32-bit	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Added	O
Itanium	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Added	O
hardware-specific	O
specifications	O
(	O
Itanium	B-General_Concept
,	O
Enterprise	O
System	O
Architecture/390	O
,	O
z/Architecture	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
also	O
ISO/IEC	O
TR	O
24715:2006	O
which	O
identifies	O
areas	O
of	O
conflict	O
between	O
ISO/IEC	B-Application
23360	I-Application
(	O
the	O
Linux	B-Application
Standard	I-Application
Base	I-Application
3.1	O
specification	O
)	O
and	O
the	O
ISO/IEC	O
9945:2003	O
(	O
POSIX	O
)	O
International	O
Standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ISO/IEC	B-Application
23360	I-Application
and	O
ISO/IEC	O
TR	O
24715	O
can	O
be	O
freely	O
downloaded	O
from	O
ISO	O
website	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
LSB	O
was	O
a	O
standard	O
and	O
without	O
a	O
competitor	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
followed	O
only	O
by	O
few	O
Linux	B-Application
distributions	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
LSB	O
specified	O
that	O
software	O
packages	O
should	O
either	O
be	O
delivered	O
as	O
an	O
LSB-compliant	O
installer	O
,	O
or	O
(	O
preferably	O
)	O
be	O
delivered	O
in	O
a	O
restricted	O
form	O
of	O
the	O
RPM	B-Application
Package	I-Application
Manager	I-Application
format	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
choice	O
of	O
package	O
format	O
precluded	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
other	O
existing	O
package	O
formats	O
not	O
compatible	O
with	O
RPM	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
address	O
this	O
,	O
the	O
standard	O
did	O
not	O
dictate	O
which	O
package	O
format	O
the	O
system	O
must	O
use	O
for	O
its	O
own	O
packages	O
,	O
merely	O
that	O
RPM	B-Application
must	O
be	O
supported	O
to	O
allow	O
packages	O
from	O
third-party	O
distributors	O
to	O
be	O
installed	O
on	O
a	O
conforming	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
use	O
foreign	O
LSB-compliant	O
RPM	B-Application
packages	I-Application
,	O
the	O
end-user	O
needs	O
to	O
use	O
Debian	O
's	O
Alien	B-Language
program	O
to	O
transform	O
them	O
into	O
the	O
native	O
package	O
format	O
and	O
then	O
install	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
LSB-specified	O
RPM	B-Application
format	O
had	O
a	O
restricted	O
subset	O
of	O
RPM	B-Application
features	O
—	O
to	O
block	O
usage	O
of	O
RPM	B-Application
features	O
that	O
would	O
be	O
untranslatable	O
to	O
.deb	O
with	O
Alien	B-Language
or	O
other	O
package	O
conversion	O
programs	O
,	O
and	O
vice	O
versa	O
,	O
as	O
each	O
format	O
has	O
capabilities	O
the	O
other	O
lacks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
practice	O
,	O
not	O
all	O
Linux	O
binary	O
packages	O
were	O
necessarily	O
LSB-compliant	O
,	O
so	O
while	O
most	O
could	O
be	O
converted	O
between	O
.rpm	B-Application
and	O
.deb	O
,	O
this	O
operation	O
was	O
restricted	O
to	O
a	O
subset	O
of	O
packages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
using	O
Alien	B-Language
,	O
Debian	O
was	O
LSB-compatible	O
for	O
all	O
intents	O
and	O
purposes	O
,	O
but	O
according	O
to	O
the	O
description	O
of	O
their	O
lsb	O
package	O
,	O
the	O
presence	O
of	O
the	O
package	O
"	O
does	O
not	O
imply	O
that	O
we	O
believe	O
that	O
Debian	O
fully	O
complies	O
with	O
the	O
Linux	B-Application
Standard	I-Application
Base	I-Application
,	O
and	O
should	O
not	O
be	O
construed	O
as	O
a	O
statement	O
that	O
Debian	O
is	O
LSB-compliant.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
2015	O
,	O
the	O
Debian	O
project	O
confirmed	O
that	O
while	O
support	O
for	O
Filesystem	B-Application
Hierarchy	I-Application
Standard	I-Application
(	O
FHS	O
)	O
would	O
continue	O
,	O
support	O
for	O
LSB	O
had	O
been	O
dropped	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
the	O
vendors	O
considering	O
LSB	O
certifications	O
in	O
their	O
portability	O
efforts	O
,	O
the	B-Operating_System
Linux	I-Operating_System
Foundation	I-Operating_System
sponsored	O
a	O
tool	O
that	O
analyzed	O
and	O
provided	O
guidance	O
on	O
symbols	O
and	O
libraries	B-Library
that	O
go	O
beyond	O
the	O
LSB	O
.	O
</s>
