OSDL and Bull Cooperate on Open Source POSIX Test Suite

BEAVERTON, Ore. and PARIS, Dec. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The Open Source Development Labs (OSDL), a global consortium of leading technology companies dedicated to accelerating the adoption of Linux (r) and Bull, a leading developer of servers and software for an open environment, today announced that OSDL, in cooperation with Bull, has integrated the Open POSIX Test Suite (OPTS) into its library of tests that run against new kernel builds.

OPTS is an open source community project designed to make it easier to port applications from other POSIX platforms to Linux. POSIX is a widely-used standard of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) that promotes portability among operating systems, primarily UNIX operating systems such as AIX, HP-UX and Solaris. In addition to making significant test contributions to the OPTS project, Bull led the effort to integrate the tests into STP to enable POSIX-compliance feedback in a manner that is timely to Linux/OSS developers. Currently, the Open POSIX Test Suite has developed tests for threads, message queues, semaphores and signals.

"As part of our mission to accelerate Linux adoption in the enterprise, OSDL is constantly testing the Linux kernel to ensure enterprise-class reliability," said Tom Hanrahan, director of engineering for OSDL. "We're pleased to work with our members and leading open source test projects to add the Open POSIX Test Suite into the OSDL Scalable Test Platform."

"POSIX compliance and testing are valued by enterprise Linux customers who are often porting applications from other POSIX-compliant systems," said Sebastien Decugis of the NPTL Test and Trace Project at Bull. "The automatic testing capability of the OSDL Scalable Test Platform is a huge benefit in Linux testing, making it the perfect platform to run the Open POSIX Test Suite."

The Open POSIX Test Suite is freely available for use through a remote web interface to OSDL's lab facilities, running on up to eight-CPU systems. Tests can be run and compared on different Linux kernel builds automatically. Source code for both the Open POSIX Test Suite, and for the OSDL STP (under GPL license), is available for download on the Web.

As part of its efforts to improve Linux testing for enterprise customers, Bull hosts the NPTL Tests and Trace project, a project that focuses on enhancing the quality of the Linux Native POSIX Threads Library. When possible, tests from the NPTL project are integrated into the Open POSIX Test Suite.

Information on the NPTL Test and Trace Project is available at: http://nptl.bullopensource.org .

Information on the Open POSIX Test Suite project is available at: http://posixtest.sourceforge.net .

Information on the OSDL Scalable Test Platform, including instructions on requesting for free test runs and access to previous Linux kernel test reports is available at: http://www.osdl.org/lab_activities/kernel_testing/stp/ . About Bull

Bull designs and develops servers and software for an open environment, integrating the most advanced technologies. In this respect, Bull's range of NovaScale servers combines the openness of standards with the robustness of mainframes. It brings to its customers its expertise and know-how to help them in the transformation of their information systems and to optimize their IT infrastructure and their applications.

Bull is particularly present in the public sector, banking, finance, telecommunication, utilities and manufacturing sectors. Capitalizing on its wide experience, the Group has a thorough understanding of the business and specific processes of these sectors, thus enabling it to efficiently advise and to accompany its customers. Its distribution network spreads to over 100 countries worldwide Bull has been an active contributor to a number of international Open Source projects, such as the Atlas Consortium to strengthen the Linux kernel and development of the Java Application Server, JOnAS, within the ObjectWeb Consortium, of which Bull is a founding member.

For more information: http://www.bull.com . About Open Source Development Labs (OSDL)

OSDL -- home to Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux -- is dedicated to accelerating the growth and adoption of Linux. Founded in 2000 by CA, Hitachi, HP, IBM, Intel and NEC, OSDL is a non-profit organization at the center of Linux supported by a global consortium of more than 40 of the world's largest Linux customers and IT industry leaders. OSDL sponsors industry-wide initiatives around Linux in telecommunications, in the enterprise data center and on corporate desktops. The Lab also provides Linux expertise and computing and test facilities in the United States and Japan available to developers around the world. Visit OSDL on the Web at http://www.osdl.org/ . NOTE: OSDL is a trademark of Open Source Development Labs, Inc. Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds. Third party marks and brands are the property of their respective holders