Portland Project
Encyclopedia
The Portland Project is an initiative taken to establish a greater Linux
foothold in the desktop market. It aims at resolving a number of key factors that are believed to reduce the adoption rate of Linux distribution
s as desktop operating systems
.
While the Tango Desktop Project
was started to give users a more unified graphical experience, the Portland Project is intended to ease the porting of desktop applications to Linux for independent software vendor
s (ISVs). The project goal is to let software developer
s worry less about the desktop environment
a distribution is using, and thus bring it on more common ground with Microsoft Windows
and Mac OS X
in this particular area.
In 2006 the project released Portland 1.0 (xdg-utils), a set of common interfaces for desktop environments .
The project has Alex Graveley (GNOME
) and George Staikos (KDE
) as two of the task force leaders, who will look to gain feedback from ISVs, integration possibilities, and possibly create a draft implementation as well.
The initial Portland Project meeting, held in Portland, Oregon
, was sponsored by the Desktop Linux Working Group of OSDL
. At the start of that initial meeting, Nat Friedman
of Novell
came up with the project name: "well, we are here in Portland... how about the Portland Project?"
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
foothold in the desktop market. It aims at resolving a number of key factors that are believed to reduce the adoption rate of Linux distribution
Linux distribution
A Linux distribution is a member of the family of Unix-like operating systems built on top of the Linux kernel. Such distributions are operating systems including a large collection of software applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, media players, and database applications...
s as desktop operating systems
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
.
While the Tango Desktop Project
Tango Desktop Project
]The Tango Desktop Project is an open-source initiative to create a set of design guidelines and to provide a consistent user experience for applications on desktop environments. The project has created a set of icons known as the Tango Icon Library, which is described as a "proof of concept"...
was started to give users a more unified graphical experience, the Portland Project is intended to ease the porting of desktop applications to Linux for independent software vendor
Independent software vendor
Independent software vendor is a business term for companies specializing in making or selling software, designed for mass marketing or for niche markets...
s (ISVs). The project goal is to let software developer
Software developer
A software developer is a person concerned with facets of the software development process. Their work includes researching, designing, developing, and testing software. A software developer may take part in design, computer programming, or software project management...
s worry less about the desktop environment
Desktop environment
In graphical computing, a desktop environment commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface derived from the desktop metaphor that is seen on most modern personal computers. These GUIs help the user in easily accessing, configuring, and modifying many important and frequently accessed...
a distribution is using, and thus bring it on more common ground with Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
and Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
in this particular area.
In 2006 the project released Portland 1.0 (xdg-utils), a set of common interfaces for desktop environments .
The project has Alex Graveley (GNOME
GNOME
GNOME is a desktop environment and graphical user interface that runs on top of a computer operating system. It is composed entirely of free and open source software...
) and George Staikos (KDE
KDE
KDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X systems...
) as two of the task force leaders, who will look to gain feedback from ISVs, integration possibilities, and possibly create a draft implementation as well.
The initial Portland Project meeting, held in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, was sponsored by the Desktop Linux Working Group of OSDL
OSDL
Open Source Development Labs was a non-profit organization supported by a global consortium tasked to "accelerate the deployment of Linux for enterprise computing." Founded in 2000, its goals included "to be the recognized center-of-gravity for the Linux industry."On January 22, 2007, OSDL and the...
. At the start of that initial meeting, Nat Friedman
Nat Friedman
Nathaniel Dourif Friedman , known as Nat, is a programmer who co-founded Ximian along with Miguel de Icaza in 1999, a company that was later bought by Novell in 2003....
of Novell
Novell
Novell, Inc. is a multinational software and services company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group. It specializes in network operating systems, such as Novell NetWare; systems management solutions, such as Novell ZENworks; and collaboration solutions, such as Novell Groupwise...
came up with the project name: "well, we are here in Portland... how about the Portland Project?"