The software provides developers with a set of tools to create applications
that execute on the
KDE and
Gnome Linux
desktop environments.
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KDE and Gnome define the graphical user interface, replacing the command
prompt with a more user friendly environment similar to the interface for
Apple's
Mac OS
X or
Microsoft's
Windows.
The Portland application is available for download from the
Project
Portland website, and is supported by the
Debian,
Fedora
and
OpenSUSE
applications.
Red
Flag and
Xandros
have promised to support the tool in the forthcoming version of their
distributions, and the OSDL expects it to become integrated into the
Linux
Standard Base initiative.
"For the first time, independent software vendors [ISVs] are able to port
their applications to Linux regardless of desktop environment," said OSDL chief
executive Stuart Cohen.
"This release gives ISVs the opportunity to increase their customer base and
for users to gain access to new applications."
Project Portland was
first
unveiled at LinuxWorld Boston in May. Although Gnome and KDE are built on
top of Linux, there are subtle differences between the interfaces that require
developers to tailor software to each of the environments.
While the differences between the two platforms may seem trivial to the
outsider, they have been the subject of heated debate between backers of the
rival environments.
"The KDE guys desperately wanted to look and feel like Windows, and the other
guys desperately wanted to make it as hard to use as possible," said
Dirk
Hondel at LinuxWorld in San Francisco in August.
Hondel is the former chief technology officer at SuSE and currently heads up
Linux and open source strategy at
Intel.
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