Open source supporters were preparing to redraw the battle lines against Microsoft last week after Linux distributors pledged to support a unified standard for the operating system.

The standard, dubbed United Linux, will help independent software vendors to support products from different suppliers. United Linux will also become a brand name and a non-profit organisation.

Although Linux distributor Red Hat has opted out of the group, the move has been largely welcomed by the channel.

Supporters include Caldera, SuSE, TurboLinux and the Latin American supplier Connectiva. They join IBM, Hewlett Packard, Computer Associates, Intel, AMD, Borland, Dell, Fujitsu-Siemens and SAP.

Caldera, TurboLinux, SuSE and Connectiva will be the initial shareholders of the new organisation, and the first version of the software will be based on a release of SuSE Linux version 8.

"Linux is the fastest growing server operating system," said Scott Handey, director of Linux software solutions at IBM.

"A single distribution means that a tremendous amount of applications will become available. This will reduce the amount of testing for independent software vendors and expand their reach."

The move should allay fears that Linux might fragment into many flavours, in the same way that Unix did in the early 1970s, and ease concern over a lack of support.

Nigel Wright, sales director at Linux partner Abtech, said: "The only obvious value for us is when we train up people in Linux.

"At the moment we have to get accreditation for each flavour. The exception of Red Hat makes things a little more difficult."

Shoban Patel, managing director of Open Minds, was more positive.

"This is excellent news. We've proven Linux for the enterprise. But multiple distributions add to the 'fudge' factor," he said. "If enough momentum is built up, Red Hat won't have much choice but to join."