The Linux Standard Base (LSB) defines a system interface for compiled applications and a minimal environment for support of installation scripts. Its purpose is to enable a uniform industry standard environment for high-volume applications conforming to the LSB.

These specifications are composed of two basic parts: A common specification ("LSB-generic" or "generic LSB"), ISO/IEC 23360-1:2006, describing those parts of the interface that remain constant across all implementations of the LSB, and an architecture-specific part ("LSB-arch" or "archLSB") describing the parts of the interface that vary by processor architecture. Together, the LSB-generic and the relevant architecture-specific parts of ISO/IEC 23360 for a single hardware architecture provide a complete interface specification for compiled application programs on systems that share a common hardware architecture.

ISO/IEC 23360-1:2006, the LSB-generic document, is used in conjunction with an architecture-specific part. Whenever a section of the LSB-generic specification is supplemented by architecture-specific information, the LSB-generic document includes a reference to the architecture part.