Group releases new Linux testing tools

The Open Source Development Lab, a collaboration by IBM, Hewlett-Packard and others to improve Linux on high-end computers, has released a new version of software for testing whether changes to Linux improve the operating system's performance. Version 2 of the Scalable Test Platform has a new installation process, is more easily controlled from a remote computer, and can report more details about a test, the organization said Tuesday.

The software is used to test the speed of computer functions such as writing information to memory, running database software and juggling multiple tasks. OSDL says that use of its software can help offer proof that its improvements work better and therefore should be incorporated into the "mainline," or standard, Linux software.