Open LINA

Q: What does the current version of LINA include?
A: LINA 0.72 includes easy to download install binaries for a number of platforms as well as a mechanism for creating platform-specific installers that enable Linux applications to easily be installed on a variety of operating systems.
Q: What does the official Open Source release include?
A: With version 0.70, Lina Software announces the official Open Source release of LINA. This release includes source code for the LINA Runtime Environment which has been tested on Fedora7, OpenSUSE 10.2, Ubuntu 7.04, Mac OS X v. , Windows Vista, Windows XP and Windows 2003.

Q: What license is LINA released under?
A: The type of license you need depends on how you plan to use LINA. If you simply wish to run code packaged for LINA, the LINA platform is available under the GNU General Public License, Version 2. If you wish to use the LINA programming libraries and the LINA compiler to create applications that run on our platform, LINA is also available under the GPL, as long as you make any code you write using our tools available to the public under the terms of the GPL. If you wish to create LINA applications without making your source code available to the public, the LINA programming libraries and compiler may be used under the terms of our commercial license. Please contact us directly for more information.

Q: How long have you been developing LINA?
A: LINA is now in its fourth year of development.

Q: Do you have any patents on LINA technologies?
A: We have several patents pending on LINA. In accordance with the GPL, Open Source users of LINA will be able to use LINA without obtaining a patent license.

Q: Can I get help using LINA?
A: Our company will happily help you learn to use LINA to create cross-platform Linux binaries with native look and feel. In addition, the OpenLINA community and developer pages on this site contain documentation, a forum, and mailing lists.

Q: What programming languages can I use to write applications for LINA?
A: We currently support C and C++. We are planning to add modules for Python, Perl, Ruby, and other dynamic languages.

Q: Can existing Linux code run on LINA?
A: Linux command line programs and web applications can currently run on LINA, as can GUI applications that use the LINA library. We plan to support Qt in the near future as well as development using the GTK+ libraries.

Q: You say code needs to be "packaged for LINA" in order to make the *.lina files that run on LINA. What does that really mean?
A: The *.lina packages that run on LINA are Linux binaries packaged in a zip file. This file also contains configuration files and a small executable with operating-system-specific instructions to start the application appropriately on each platform. The LINA development platform includes the simple tools needed to create these packages.

Q: How well do applications running on LINA perform, as compared to running on their native platforms?
A: There is a 2X performance hit for running applications in LINA. In the short-term, GUI applications take an additional performance hit. We will eliminate the additional slowdown when we optimize the mechanism by which we make operating system calls. In coming versions of LINA, LINA applications will run with near-native speed on Linux systems.

Q: How big of a download is the LINA platform?
A: Approximately 75MB -- a couple of minutes to download with a high-speed connection.

Q: Can LINA run on other UNIX platforms such as Solaris and AIX? What about BSD?
A: LINA is capable of running on all versions of UNIX, including Solaris and BSD operating systems. Our initial release is tested on Fedora7, OpenSUSE 10.2, Ubuntu 7.04, Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista, and Mac OS X.

Q: Can LINA run on 64 bit processors? What about PowerPC Macs?
A: LINA is capable of running on 64 bit processors, but this architecture is not supported in our initial release. Our initial release for Mac OS X supports both the PPC and Intel versions.

Q: Will LINA offer 3-D graphics support?
A: 3-D graphics support is not a short-term focus, but given the demand and the fact that LINA is an open platform we expect support will emerge.

Q: How can I contribute to the LINA project?
A: LINA is a community-driven project. Contributions can include anything from documentation, to bug fixes, to brilliant new features. We will launch the community site at www.openlina.org in June 2007 when we release the LINA source code.

Q: What languages is LINA written in?
A: For performance reasons, we've written LINA in C and C++. One of our code generation tools used to build LINA is written in Python. LINA can be built with free software tools on all major platforms including Windows.

Q: Does LINA use X11 over SSL?
A: No. After careful research we rejected that approach for usability reasons. Instead, LINA directly calls and creates the native widgets on the operating system it is running on as well as directly calling operating system services.