If you had doubts of enterprise support for the Debian GNU/Linux distribution, rest easy.
Thanks to HP’s support, The community-based distribution is now certified compliant with the OSDL Carrier Grade Linux (CGL) 2.0.2 specification.
Debian GNU/Linux is a community effort that does not have explicit enterprise offering or formal support on its own, though there are Debian-derived distributions that do have commercial backing, notably Ubuntu which
just last week launched its enterprise support play.
Deployment of Linux in Carrier operations is a goal of the Open Source
Development Labs (OSDL), which together with its membership has been driving
development of the CGL spec for a number of years.
CGL defines a set of carrier requirements
that registered CGL products are measured against for use in carrier
applications and environments.
With HP’s help, Debian is now certified compliant with the 2.0.2 version of
CGL. HP has also created a Debian-CGL subproject, which may lead to a telco-Debian custom
distribution.
The CGL certification applies to the Sarge
release of Debian, which came out nearly a year ago.
The CGL 2.0.2 version that HP has got Debian certified for is not exactly
New, either.
The 2.x CGL specification was first rolled out in 2003 and is not the most
current version of the CGL specification.
CGL version 3.2 is the most recent version of the specification, though it was just released earlier this year.
Alan Meyer, WW R&D manager of Open Source and Linux Organization for HP,
explained that HP is actively involved with the CGL working group and the
requirements process for the CGL 3.x specification.
“Once the 3.x specification finalizes, we will evaluate the best timing for
registering Debian,” Meyer told internetnews.com.
Though it may be news to some, HP has been supporting
Debian in the telecom space for over three years, according to Meyer.
“While Debian has included CGL functionality for several years, HP’s
customers are becoming more interested in seeing the official CGL
registration,” Meyer said.
“With the growth of interest in CGL and Debian,
the timing was right to more visibly acknowledge the CGL capabilities in
Debian.”
In an interview earlier this year, HP’s top Linux executive Christine Martino vice president of Open Source and Linux Organization (OSLO) said it was a good possibility that HP’s Linux distribution strategy could expand beyond just Red Hat and Novell.
“We actually do quite a bit with other distributions besides Red Hat and
Novell that we don’t even give ourselves enough credit for,” Martino said in
the interview.
As for HP’s support for Debian does not necessarily undermine HP’s partnerships
with either Red Hat or Novell.
Meyer explained it as being a matter of
customer choice. HP customers now have the choice and confidence of being
able to deploy Debian and get HP’s mission-critical support for both the
hardware and the Debian distribution.
CGL certification of Debian is just one component of HP’s overall
involvement with the community GNU/Linux distribution.
“This partnership involves HP donation of equipment to Debian, sponsorship
of Debian events, and numerous HP employees who are registered Debian
developers,” Meyer said.
“Within the telecom space, HP sees growing interest
in the additional choice of Debian, and HP will continue to offer
fully supported Debian solutions.”
