Press Release: The NetBSD Foundation gets permission from IEEE and The Open Group to incorporate material from the POSIX® standard

PISCATAWAY, N.J., SAN FRANCISCO, C.A., AND NEW YORK, N.Y. - 15 FEBRUARY, 2006: The IEEE and The Open Group have granted permission to the NetBSD Foundation to incorporate documentation for more than 1,400 interfaces from the joint IEEE 1003.1" POSIX® standard and The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6 into its NetBSD operating system.

This step benefits developers in the NetBSD Project and software engineers using NetBSD as their target platform. NetBSD developers can now use standard documentation to express that a NetBSD operating system conforms to the POSIX standard. The step also gives engineers who write software to run on NetBSD a better understanding of how to create portable programs using IEEE 1003.1, "Standard for Information Technology: Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX)".

The POSIX standard, which also forms the core volumes of Version 3 of The Open Group's Single UNIX® Specification, defines a set of fundamental services needed for the construction of portable application programs. The more than 1,400 interfaces from the standard the NetBSD Foundation can now use includes header files, interfaces for system and library calls, and utilities.

"One of the NetBSD Project's goals is to conform to standards when this makes sense, said Alistair Crooks, president of the NetBSD foundation. We appreciate the opportunity The Open Group has presented to us to have our documentation reflect the POSIX standard, which has been widely adopted in the IT community.

This permission will benefit our users, to whom standards compliance means a great deal. It is also a huge step forward for some of our developers, especially those whose native language is not English, in that documentation can be adopted which accurately, succinctly and clearly describes all software features and uses."

Andrew Josey, Director of Certification at The Open Group and Chair of the Austin Group said, "We're very pleased to extend this grant to the NetBSD project. It continues the momentum POSIX has built as the defacto base platform for truly open software."

For information on POSIX® visit http://posixcertified.ieee.org.

NetBSD is a free, secure and highly portable Unix-like Open Source operating system available for many platforms, from 64-bit Opteron machines and desktop systems to handheld and embedded devices. Its clean design and advanced features make it excellent in both production and research environments. It is user-supported with complete source. Many applications are easily available through pkgsrc, the NetBSD Packages Collection. More information: http://www.NetBSD.org/.

The Open Group is a vendor - neutral and technology- neutral consortium, which drives the creation of Boundaryless Information Flow™ that will enable access to integrated information within and between enterprises based on open standards and global interoperability. The Open Group works with customers, suppliers, consortia and other standard bodies. Its role is to capture, understand and address current and emerging requirements, establish policies and share best practices; to facilitate interoperability, develop consensus, and evolve and integrate specifications and open source technologies; to offer a comprehensive set of services to enhance the operational efficiency of consortia; and to operate the industry s premier certification service. Further information on The Open Group can be found at http://www.opengroup.org.

The IEEE Standards Association, a globally recognized standards - setting body, develops consensus standards through an open process that brings diverse parts of an industry together. These standards set specifications and procedures based on current scientific consensus. The IEEE-SA has a portfolio of more than 870 completed standards and more than 400 standards in development. For information on IEEE-SA see: http://standards.ieee.org/.

The IEEE has more than 375,000 members in approximately 150 countries. Through its members, the organization is a leading authority on areas ranging from aerospace, computers and telecommunications to biomedicine, electric power and consumer electronics. The IEEE produces nearly 30 percent of the world's literature in the electrical and electronics engineering, computing and control technology fields. This nonprofit organization also sponsors or cosponsors more than 300 technical conferences each year. Additional information about the IEEE can be found at http://www.ieee.org.