• /home : User home directories
• /root : Home directory for the root user
• /mnt : Mount point for a temporarily mounted filesystem
• /srv : Data for services provided by this system
• /opt : Add-on application software packages

lsb-base popcon graph

On other systems…

On Debian Wheezy !

For stretch

In buster

The LSB is long dead

Despite good intentions, it just didn't survive reality.

• … applications
  • FLOSS applications are not distributed this way:
    • PPA's
    • snaps, flatpak, AppImage, …
    • wget -O … | sudo sh
  • systemd is now reality
  • Containers are now reality
• … distributions
  • The standard is what is in production, not the inverse.
  • The standardization process for the LSB has always been way too slow (see Qt3).
  • Binary compatibility is a chimera! (But… see Ubuntu-on-Windows!).
  • Corporate-backed distros have a direct interest to keep their clients captive (PPAs, RedHat-certified, etc)

Debian does not need the LSB

• Debian's role in the wide FLOSS ecosystem is established.
• Ubuntu, with it's PPAs, have vastly democratized Debian packaging.
• deb & rpm worlds cohabit or circumvent.

Some closing thoughts

Giving up on LSB

• is a way to push everyone to package for Debian directly;
• but that's our view of the world!

We need to be supportive of the modern ways that are worked on to ship software to our users

• LSB is not such a modern way.
• But we are not bringing the Debian magic to vast ecosystems: npm, pip, …

Debian is not about dpkg or apt

Debian is about crafting the best technical arrangement to ship the free software that satisfies our criteria as widely as possible.