Linux Standard Base (LSB)
LSB defines what 'Linux-compatible binary' means in practice. Critical for ISVs shipping pre-compiled software across distros and for understanding minimum glibc version requirements in cross-distro deployments.
What It Defines
Defines a binary-compatible standard for Linux distributions: required ELF ABI (glibc version floor), mandatory shared library set, filesystem hierarchy (FHS 3.0), RPM and dpkg package format requirements, and required command-line utilities. Ensures that LSB-certified binaries run without recompilation on any LSB-conformant distribution (RHEL, SLES, Ubuntu LTS with LSB package).
Canonical (Normative)
Convenient (Practical)
Non-profit hosting Linux kernel development and hundreds of open-source projects. Maintains the Linux Standard Base (LSB) for binary-compatible Linux distributions, hosts the ELF reference specifications and System V ABI documents, and stewards ELISA, OpenEmbedded, Zephyr, and other embedded/safety-critical Linux initiatives.
Related Specs
Every compiled binary on Linux is ELF. Understanding ELF is essential for debugging, reverse engineering, dynamic linking, build toolchains, binary patching, and tools like readelf, objdump, ldd, and patchelf.
POSIX defines the lingua franca of Unix/Linux systems programming. Every system call pattern, signal handler, file descriptor idiom, and shell script convention in the Linux/macOS world comes from this spec.
Every C/C++/Rust/Go/Swift program on x86-64 Linux follows this ABI. Understanding it is essential for FFI bindings, inline assembly, debugger step-over logic, and compiler backend development.