The [[Free Standards Group]] iswas an organization formed by major software and hardware vendors that aims to improve interoperability between different distributions. Among their proposed standards are the [[Linux Standard Base]], which defines a common [[Application binary interface|ABI]] and packaging system for Linux, and the [[Filesystem Hierarchy Standard]] which recommends a standard filenaming chart, notably the basic directory names found on the root of the tree of any Linux filesystem. Those standards, however, see limited use, even among the distributions developed by members of the organization.{{Citation needed|date=June 2014}}
The diversity of Linux distributions means that not all software runs on all distributions, depending on what libraries and other system attributes are required. [[Linux package formats|Packaged software]] and software repositories are usually specific to a particular distribution, though cross-installation is sometimes possible on closely related distributions.{{Citation needed|date=June 2014}}
