Linux Leaps Toward KDE/GNOME Compatibility

The Open Source Development Labs, the consortium dedicated to the adoption of Linux, and freedesktop.org, the open-source project focused on interoperability for X Window System desktops, announced the technology preview of the first set of common interfaces for the GNOME and KDE Linux desktops, on April 4 at LinuxWorld in Boston.

The Portland Projects technology preview is focused on two sets of interfaces—a suite of command-line tools and a set of library APIs called DAPI.

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The DAPI APIs are part of a service-oriented architecture that Linux developers can use to provide customized services while maintaining a common set of interfaces across desktops.

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The software was developed by the “Portland Project.”

Portland was the project started by open-source desktop Linux leaders with the mission of dramatically simplifying the process of porting and integrating applications on GNOME and KDE Linux desktops.

The new common protocols are being released to ISVs for testing, and the first beta is expected in May.

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The final set of the interfaces is slated for inclusion in the LSB (Linux Standard Base), the Linux industrys standard of record for interoperability between applications and the Linux platform.

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