DCC Alliance
{{lead too short|date=August 2012}}
The DCC Alliance (DCCA) was an industry association designed to promote a common subset of the Debian Linux operating system that multiple companies within the consortium could distribute. It was founded by Ian Murdock in 2005 and was wound up in 2007.
History
The main force behind the DCC Alliance was Ian Murdock, the original founder of the Debian project. The DCC Alliance was formed whilst Murdock was CEO of Progeny Linux Systems, and he remained the key spokesperson for the consortium during their visible existence. The founding of the DCC Alliance was announced at LinuxWorld San Francisco on the 9 August 2005, following a number of pre-announcements.
The stated intention was to assemble a standards-based core of Debian, provide a predictable release cycle and Linux Standards Base compliance.ZDNet News, [http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,39210798,00.htm Consortium to push Debian to the fore] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070818053946/http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,39210798,00.htm |date=2007-08-18 }}, 2005-07-26.
DCC Alliance shipped their first code 6 months after the original pre-announcements, providing a Linux Standards Base (LSB) 3.0 compliant set of program packages based on those available from Debian.Eweek, [https://archive.today/20120904060328/http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1898116,00.asp DCC Alliance Leads Way to Linux Standard Base 3.0 Compliance], 2005-12-08.
The Alliance's primary goals were to:{{Citation needed|date=November 2007}}
- Assemble a 100 percent Debian common core that addresses the needs of enterprise business users
- Maintain certification of the common core with the Free Standards Group open specification, the Linux Standard Base
- Use the Alliance's combined strength to accelerate the commercial adoption of Debian
- Work with the Debian project to ensure predictable release cycles and features important to commercial adoption
Membership
There were two classes of membership in the DCC Alliance:
- Members, those organisation creating products based on the DCC-provided core subset of packages.
- Knoppix, LinEx, Linspire, MEPIS, Progeny, Sun Wah Linux, Xandros
- Associate Members, Independent software vendors, hardware vendors, OEMs and community partners providing related support or business.
- credativ, Skolelinux, UserLinux
Membership remained open to additional organizations with an interest in Debian-based solutions. The most visible absent from any involvement was the Ubuntu distribution who declined to join the Alliance. The Ubuntu founder, Mark Shuttleworth, stated in 2006 that he did not believe that the DCC Alliance had any future.Ubuntu "Sounder" mailing list [https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/sounder/2006-January/003630.html Mark Shuttleworth: Debian Common Core Alliance] [sic], 2006-01-03.Linux-Watch, [http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS8432548714.html Debian, Ubuntu, and the DCC, oh my!]{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, 2006-01-05.
One of the founding members, MEPIS, later left the DCCA, citing "creative differences". MEPIS transitioned their SimplyMEPIS Linux distribution from a Debian Unstable/DCCA-provided core to an Ubuntu-based one.Desktop Linux, [http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS6045116609.html MEPIS founder plots transition to Ubuntu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071029201505/http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS6045116609.html |date=2007-10-29 }}, 2006-03-21.
In 2006 Ian Murdock left the DCC Alliance to chair the Linux Standard Base workgroupLinux-Watch, [http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS4876054750.html Debian founder takes over LSB leadership]{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, 2006-02-02. and later moved his employment to Sun Microsystems.CNET News.com, [https://archive.today/20120914122839/http://www.news.com/2100-7344_3-6168567.html Sun hires Debian Linux founder], 2007-03-19. In 2007, Progeny, the original driver behind the consortium was wound up.Linux.com, [http://www.linux.com/feature/114289 Progeny Linux ceases operation], 2007-05-02.Linux Journal, [http://www.linuxjournal.com/node/1000223 Remembering Progeny], 2007-05-17. In 2006, Xandros was still claiming that Xandros "leads the engineering team at the DCCA".[http://www.xandros.com/partners/pik.pdf Xandros Partner Information Kit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070714075114/http://www.xandros.com/partners/pik.pdf |date=2007-07-14 }}, published 2006.
Name
When originally formed, the names given to the media were that of the "Debian Core Consortium", and then "Debian Common Core". Following trademark notification from the Debian project, the name was withdrawn and replaced—without a formal announcement—by "DCC Alliance".Linux.com, [http://www.linux.com/feature/49084 Ian Murdock responds to Debian-DCC Alliance trademark dispute], 2005-10-09. Ian Murdock explained that the D should no longer be treated as an abbreviation of Debian, but of DCC—becoming a recursive acronym for "DCC Common Core".Ian Murdock, blog: [http://ianmurdock.com/?p=274 What’s in a name?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060525113100/http://ianmurdock.com/?p=274 |date=2006-05-25 }}, 2005-10-05.
Notably, the "Debian" trademark that was being denied to Mr. Murdock and the DCC Alliance originates from a combination of the -ian part of Mr. Murdock's own given name, concatenated to that of his wife's name; Debra Murdock, and the decision over the infringement of the trademark fell to Branden Robinson, then Debian Project Leader (DPL), who was an employee of Progeny Linux Systems (and of Mr. Murdock) during the time at which the decision was made. Mr. Robinson stated that this would not represent a conflict of interest.SPI (Legal owner of Debian trademark) [http://spi-inc.org/meetings/minutes/2005/2005-08-16/ Board Meeting, August 16th, 2005], "Debian Core Consortium issues".