IEEE and The Open Group Okay 'Linux Man Pages Project' to Incorporate Material from the POSIX(R) Standard
Jan 22nd, 14:18 UTC
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(R) standard and
The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6 document. 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(R) standard and
The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6 document.
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 FlowTM 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/.
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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.
(Submitted by Andrew Josey of The Open Group)
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