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Open Source Blog
The Portland Project and the false dichotomy of choice and standards
April 05, 2006
One of the great things about open source is that it offers users a huge amount of choice. In all areas of the open source software stack there are at least two choices, and if you don't like what's available, you are free to modify it to make it fit your needs.
From an enterprise point of view, of course, this causes problems. ISVs and IHVs would rather have fewer choices to make, and fewer operating systems to port to. This is why many of them have embraced Linux as the potential successor to the multiple flavours of Unix.
However, for Linux to fulfil that potential, there needs to be a limit on the choices available. The apparent dichotomy between maintaining choice and standards explains why initiatives like the Portland Project to develop common interfaces for the Gnome and KDE desktops need to exist.
A new Free Desktop initiative that developed from the Open Source Development Labs' Desktop Architects meeting in December the Portland Project is designed to overcome a significant barrier to the adoption of Linux on the desktop: the fact that it can run either the Gnome or KDE desktops.
Clearly this choice is a good thing as far as the Linux developer and individual user is concerned, but it clearly causes problems in terms of hardware and software certification. Choice and standards are not mutually exclusive and the answer is not to let the market choose one over the other, but to enable both to co-exist.
''The Portland Project protocols are a godsend for ISVs like CodeWeavers,'' notes Jeremy White, CodeWeavers CEO. ''It makes basic desktop integration tasks much simpler, slashing development time and reducing development hassle. Further, as it becomes commonly adopted, it will allow ISVs to ship a single product that will nicely integrate with whatever environment the user chooses.''
The Portland Project is focused on two sets of interfaces: a suite of command line tools and a set of library Application Program Interfaces (APIs) known as DAPI. Both are being released to ISVs for testing, while the first beta is expected next month. The final set of the interfaces are slated for inclusion in the Linux Standard Base.
The first Portland beta will be released in May 2006 with final release of Portland 1.0 expected in June 2006.
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