Introduction

The LSB defines a binary interface for application programs that are compiled and packaged for LSB-conforming implementations on many different hardware architectures. A binary specification must include information specific to the computer processor architecture for which it is intended. To avoid the complexity of conditional descriptions, the specification has instead been divided into generic parts which are augmented by one of several architecture-specific parts, depending on the target processor architecture; the generic part will indicate when reference must be made to the architecture part, and vice versa.

This document should be used in conjunction with the documents it references. This document enumerates the system components it includes, but descriptions of those components may be included entirely or partly in this document, partly in other documents, or entirely in other reference documents. For example, the section that describes system service routines includes a list of the system routines supported in this interface, formal declarations of the data structures they use that are visible to applications, and a pointer to the underlying referenced specification for information about the syntax and semantics of each call. Only those routines not described in standards referenced by this document, or extensions to those standards, are described in the detail. Information referenced in this way is as much a part of this document as is the information explicitly included here.

The specification carries a version number of either the form x.y or x.y.z. This version number carries the following meaning:

1. The first number (x) is the major version number. Versions sharing the same major version number shall be compatible in a backwards direction; that is, a newer version shall be compatible with an older version. Any deletion of a library results in a new major version number. Interfaces marked as deprecated may be removed from the specification at a major version change.

2. The second number (y) is the minor version number. Libraries and individual interfaces may be added, but not removed. Interfaces may be marked as deprecated at a minor version change. Other minor changes may be permitted at the discretion of the LSB workgroup.

3. The third number (z), if present, is the editorial level. Only editorial changes should be included in such versions.

Since this specification is a descriptive Application Binary Interface, and not a source level API specification, it is not possible to make a guarantee of 100% backward compatibility between major releases. However, it is the intent that those parts of the binary interface that are visible in the source level API will remain backward compatible from version to version, except where a feature marked as "Deprecated" in one release may be removed from a future release. Implementors are strongly encouraged to make use of symbol versioning to permit simultaneous support of applications conforming to different releases of this specification.

LSB is a trademark of the Linux Foundation. Developers of applications or implementations interested in using the trademark should see the Linux Foundation Certification Policy for details.