======Linux Distribution Checker and App Checker betas======

The LSB Workgroup has now released beta-test versions of the Linux Application Checker and the new Linux Distribution Checker.  These are based on the ISPRAS releases of the Application Checker (4.0.8.0) and the Distribution Checker (4.0.1.9).

This is a beta-test program, meaning that the new packages may have bugs or other inconsistencies that may affect their results.  If you just want to test your application or distribution, we continue to encourage the use of the released LSB DTK Manager and Linux Application Checker, found here:

[[http://ftp.linuxfoundation.org/pub/lsb/bundles/released-4.0.0/|http://ftp.linuxfoundation.org/pub/lsb/bundles/released-4.0.0/ ]]

Besides bugfixes and data updates, there are two major changes with this release.

First, the Linux Distribution Checker is the new name for what we have called DTK Manager in previous releases.  The Distribution Checker has basically the same interface and functionality as DTK Manager, but with some new features, including a new system for updating its Problem Database that makes the data there more accessible.

Second, the new Application Checker is now distributed in two modes: as a tarball of packages to be installed, as before, and as a "local install" tarball, that can be run directly from its unpack directory without an install step.  Notably, this latter tarball can be used without root privileges, making it ideal for developers on locked-down workstations.

You can get the new Application Checker and Distribution Checker directly from these directories:

Distribution Checker: [[http://ftp.linuxfoundation.org/pub/lsb/test_suites/beta/binary/distribution/|http://ftp.linuxfoundation.org/pub/lsb/test_suites/beta/binary/distribution/]]

Application Checker: [[http://ftp.linuxfoundation.org/pub/lsb/test_suites/beta/binary/application/|http://ftp.linuxfoundation.org/pub/lsb/test_suites/beta/binary/application/]]

These contain the base App Checker and Dist Checker packages.  For the bundles, look here for the Distribution Checker:

[[http://ftp.linuxfoundation.org/pub/lsb/bundles/beta/dist-testkit/|  http://ftp.linuxfoundation.org/pub/lsb/bundles/beta/dist-testkit/]]

The Application Checker bundles are here:

[[http://ftp.linuxfoundation.org/pub/lsb/bundles/beta/app-testkit/|http://ftp.linuxfoundation.org/pub/lsb/bundles/beta/app-testkit/]]

The "lsb-app-checker" bundles contain the traditional package-based bundles, while the "lsb-app-checker-local" bundles contain the Application Checker ready to unpack and run, with no install step necessary.

Please test these new releases, and send us feedback, either to our mailing list (lsb-discuss@lists.linuxfoundation.org) or to our [[http://bugs.linuxbase.org|bug tracker]].