UK Unix freeware specialist Lasermoon Ltd, Wickham, Hampshire, already has Posix 1 compliance for its Linux-FT Rev 1.2 operating system implementation. It expects to achieve Unix-95 branding in the autumn (CI No 2,851). Posix 2 and XPG4 branding will be reached in the interim, probably in June, it says. The company thinks standards support in Linux will attract the attention of independent software vendors. Linux-FT comes with dynamic caching, multithreading and an optional controlled configuration for easy installation. Current Linux versions include a mixture of Berkeley Software Distribution and System V.4 personalities and lack formal standards compliance. Lasermoon claims a bunch of distributors in the US and Europe and expects to win academic and scientific users. The company also offers Motif for Linux and BSD and conversion technology. Other Linux versions have been developed with Posix compliance, but the term Posix displayed on some Linux boots is almost meaningless as it doesn’t define the Posix standards to which it refers, Lasermoon says. The company says it has done significant bug-fixing in the kernel, and the C library, the maths library and header files all needed modification. Instead of licensing the software, developers can buy a CD-ROM for $100 for an unlimited number of users. However, Lasermoon director Ian Nandhra is banking on developers getting fed up with passing around a single CD and expects them to order more copies. The company claims it will make its money on back-up and support. Lasermoon is an X/Open Co Ltd Independent Software Vendor Council member where it claims its presence is met with either strong support or outright hostility. Hardly surprising, observes Nandhra, when you consider that Santa Cruz Operation Inc made an $80m investment in its binary source code and we’re giving ours away.
