LSB as it relates to Debian

This document compares the LSB written specification to Debian. This changes on a continual basis so check the date at the bottom for when this comparison was last updated. This is a work in progress. Please point out any errors you may find.

Package lists last updated using woody on 2001-09-13

Required by the Specification

First we review the spec and see what that means in terms of Debian packages.

Mapping of LSB to Debian packages[1]
Mapping of those Debian packages back to the LSB[2]
List[3] of Debian packages required by LSB

Creating a Debian system plus LSB

Now that we know what packages the spec requires we

Install a "base" Debian system(including everything "required" by Debian).
This results in,
- the following[4] packages on the system
- these[5] are in common with [3].
- these[6] are in the LSB but not on the system
- these[7] are on the system but not in LSB
Now install the packages from [3] that aren't already installed(which were identified above as [6])
Allow all dependencies of those packages to be fulfilled
This results in,
- the following[8] packages on the system
- the entire list([3]) of Debian packages required by LSB have been installed
- this[9] is the list of packages on the system but not in LSB

Observations

List [8] is The Debian LSB Sample Implementation
[7] is the list of packages that Debian considers "Required, Important, and Standard" which are not in the LSB. Some of these may deserve consideration for a future version of the LSB.
[8] minus [4] yields the packages needed in the Debian base install to make it more LSB compliant[10]
[9] minus [7] yields the packages pulled in as dependencies as a result of adding [6] to the system[11]

Matt Taggart <taggart@debian.org>
Last updated September 13, 2001