Abstract: This paper presents the Linux Application Checker tool designed for automated analysis of cross-distribution compatibility of Linux applications. The need for such a tool comes from the well-known problem of incompatibilities between Linux distributions that prevent running an application on distributions which it was not designed for. This situation brings problems both to users (because they cannot run applications they need) and developers (because they need to develop “clones” of their applications for different distributions). Linux Application Checker is designed to largely simplify development of portable cross-distribution applications.

The tool analyses the application component external dependencies, takes into account inter-component relations and creates a detailed report with the list of external libraries and interfaces required by the application along with the information about which distributions provide these libraries and interfaces and which do not. In addition, Linux Application Checker executes the tests for compliance to the Linux Standard Base (LSB) standard and provides a simple way for certifying applications.

At the moment, Linux Application Checker is an official tool approved by the Linux Foundation for checking applications for LSB compliance, and it is also recommended to use by any developers interested in writing portable Linux applications.