======LSB 4.1 Release Notes======
=====Introduction=====

The LSB project team is proud to announce LSB Version 4.1. The specification is available for download at the [[http://refspecs.linuxfoundation.org/lsb.shtml|Specification page]].  The tools, tests and development environment are available for download at the [[https://www.linuxfoundation.org/collaborate/workgroups/lsb/download|Download page]].

LSB 4.1 contains mostly small changes and additions to LSB 4.0, and is compatible with all previous LSB releases starting with version 3.0.

The LSB consists of a number of components, or modules:

  *  The Core specification, described by a Generic specification and seven Architecture Specific supplements.
    *  Core contains the Core and Security submodules. Security is new to 4.1
  *  The C++ module (with Generic specification and seven Architecture Specific supplements)
  *  The Desktop module (with Generic specification and seven Architecture Specific supplements)
    *  Desktop contains the Graphics, Graphics Extension, Gtk, Qt(4), Qt3, Miscellaneous and Multimedia submodules. Miscellaneous and Multimedia are new to 4.1.
  *  The Languages module
    *  Languages contains the Perl and Python submodules
  *  The Printing module

The seven supported architectures for LSB 4.1 are: IA32, IA64, PPC32, PPC64, S390, S390X, X86_64.

There may be other modules or books in an LSB specification development tree but only the above are released as part of LSB 4.1.
=====Summary of Major Differences =====

In general, LSB 4.1 is a superset of LSB 4.0, with some new components added.  We expect broad compatibility between LSB 4.0 and 4.1, with most LSB 4.0-certified distributions able to certify to LSB 4.1 with very few changes.

In a number of places, the standards have been relaxed or adjusted a bit to correct errors and accommodate a larger number of use cases.
=====Sample Implementation=====

Sample Implementation development has been put on hold, and is no longer required for certification.
=====Trial Use Components=====

LSB 4.1 contains no Trial Use components.

The LSB 4.0 Trial Use submodules, Multimedia (ALSA), Security (NSS) and Desktop Miscellaneous (xdg-utils commands) are part of the LSB 4.1 as required submodules.
=====Java=====

Licensing issues for the Java compliance test suite make it impossible to include Java as a language in the LSB. Therefore, Java has been removed from Trial Use status.

The work group is investigating the feasibility of creating an LSB-compliant Java runtime environment that could become part of a future LSB-SDK release.
=====New and Upgraded Libraries=====

The following libraries have been upgraded:

  *  The GTK+ library suite has been upgraded from the 2.8 API set to 2.10.
  *  The Cairo library has been upgraded from the 1.0 API to 1.2.
  *  The CUPS library set has been upgraded to the APIs supported in CUPS 1.2.
=====New Interfaces=====

A full list of the new interfaces is too long to relate here, but can be found on the [[https://www.linuxfoundation.org/navigator/browse/status.php|LSB Navigator's statistics page]].  Besides the library upgrades mentioned above, here are some highlights:

  *  backtrace() and related functions.
  *  dl_iterate_phdr()
  *  gnu_get_libc_version() and gnu_get_libc_release()
  *  ptrace()
  *  sysinfo()
  *  dlvsym()
  *  Several pthread functions, including pthread_getattr_np()
  *  Symbol versions for libpng and libpam symbols.
=====New Tests=====

Three new test suites have been released for LSB 4.1.

First, ALSA has a new test suite, using the T2C harness; this test suite made it possible to promote ALSA to a required standard in the LSB.

Second, a new core test suite, also based on the T2C test harness, has been contributed by IBM.

Finally, ISPRAS has released a test suite for libxml2 based on the AZOV test harness.
=====New Commands=====

The xdg-utils specification, which had been a Trial Use standard in LSB 4.0, is now required.  This includes the commands "xdg-desktop-icon", "xdg-desktop-menu", "xdg-email", "xdg-icon-resource", "xdg-mime", "xdg-open", and "xdg-screensaver".

Besides the xdg-utils commands, a number of additional core commands have been added: "alias", "bg", "fc", "fg", "hash", "jobs", "string", and "unalias".
=====Bug Fixes=====

A number of bugs have been fixed as part of this release.  A complete list may be found in the [[http://bugs.linuxbase.org/showdependencytree.cgi?id=2778&hide_resolved=0|tracking bug in the LSB's bug database]].  Here are a few highlights:

  *  Several Perl and Python modules were removed that were inappropriately mentioned in previous specification versions (bugs [[http://bugs.linuxbase.org/show_bug.cgi?id=3096|3096]], [[http://bugs.linuxbase.org/show_bug.cgi?id=3019|3019]], [[http://bugs.linuxbase.org/show_bug.cgi?id=3146|3146]], [[http://bugs.linuxbase.org/show_bug.cgi?id=3147|3147]], [[http://bugs.linuxbase.org/show_bug.cgi?id=3150|3150]], and [[http://bugs.linuxbase.org/show_bug.cgi?id=3151|3151]]).
  *  A number of additional interfaces required for PowerPC and S/390 long-double support were added (bug [[http://bugs.linuxbase.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2903|2903]]).
  *  The python application battery test was removed, although it remains available as a runtime component for several tests (bug [[http://bugs.linuxbase.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2954|2954]]).
  *  Several missing headers and symbols have been added to the SDK (bugs [[http://bugs.linuxbase.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2967|2967]], [[http://bugs.linuxbase.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2968|2968]], [[http://bugs.linuxbase.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2974|2974]], and [[http://bugs.linuxbase.org/show_bug.cgi?id=3030|3030]]).
  *  The SDK now supplies per-version pkgconfig files which define the proper settings for different versions of the LSB (bug [[http://bugs.linuxbase.org/show_bug.cgi?id=3046|3046]]).
=====More Information and Feedback =====

The Linux Foundation keeps track of issues with the 4.1 specification and software on their Web site, and welcomes comments.  Issues can be found in our [[http://bugs.linuxbase.org/|bug tracker]], on the [[http://lists.linux-foundation.org/mailman/listinfo/lsb-discuss|mailing list]] at lsb-discuss@lists.linux-foundation.org, and on several [[https://www.linuxfoundation.org/en/LSB_Wiki|LSB Wiki]] pages, especially [[https://www.linuxfoundation.org/en/TestPilot41|TestPilot41]].