4.2.6  Web proxy interface

The protocol that is used to talk to a Web proxy is independent of OS. This 

means that talking to a Windows Web proxy is as easy as setting the correct 

settings in the Web browser.

This means that interfacing the Linux client with an existing Web proxy is one of 

the easiest tasks of the migration.

4.3  Standardizing the desktop

In this section we discuss some issues regarding a standardized Linux desktop. 

We discuss Linux standards in general, the different desktop environments with 

their underlying component models and lockdown mechanisms, and also more 

general topics like corporate identity guidelines, themes, application menu 

design, and overall usability.

Related to desktop standardization is the topic of 

client personalization.

 In this 

context, 

personalization

 is a general term for all client side data that is created 

and used to personalize the look and feel, presentation of functions, and other 

user interface customizations that are specific to the individual end user. See 

Appendix D,  Client personalization  on page 217, for more details.

4.3.1  Linux standards

In the past years a lot of effort has been put into standardizing Linux and 

higher level subsystems. Organizations like the Free Standards Group, 

FreeDesktop.org, and the Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) started 

working on many different projects in this area. These projects use and extend 

existing standards like POSIX, the Single UNIX Specification, XML, DOM, 

CORBA, and many more. Some example projects are:

File system Hierarchy Standard (FHS)

Linux Standard Base 

(

http://www.linuxbase.org

)

Internationalization (OpenI18N)

Printing (OpenPrinting)

Accessibility

Clustering (Open Cluster Framework)

Data Center Linux

Carrier Grade Linux

 Chapter 4. Technical planning 

51