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DevelopmentSSL-Explorer: an open-source VPN SSL-Explorer is a cross-platform open-source SSL-based (Secure Sockets Layer) VPN (Virtual Private Network) solution that has been released by 3SP. SSL-Explorer is mainly aimed at organizations that are running a Windows environment, some Linux-specific support is also included. The product description states:
SSL-Explorer is the world's first open-source SSL VPN solution of its kind. This unique remote access solution provides users and businesses alike with a means of securely accessing network resources from outside the network perimeter using only a standard web browser.
SSL-based VPNs have become a hot topic in recent years. The benefits to productivity and the low maintenance overhead that comes with browser-based VPN solutions are something that cannot be overlooked by most businesses, though implementation costs can often be prohibitive.
The 3SP Product Vision document clarifies the company's stance on making money:
Like all corporate open source ventures, driving forward the development of SSL-Explorer there is a full-time development team assigned to the production and delivery of the features outlined in these pages. Of course, we require capital to invest into the continued development of SSL-Explorer.
In order for us to continue to provide cutting edge solutions to the open source community, a range of enterprise features will be marketed that will extend further upon the foundation provided by the GPL product. The GPL SSL-Explorer product is aimed at smaller businesses and the more tech-savvy personal users, while the enterprise modules will cater for larger companies that will require dedicated support, full endpoint security and other advanced features.
Features of SSL-Explorer include:
Version 0.18 of SSL-Explorer was announced this week. "This release includes many new features, most importantly the support for role based access control and the proxying of Outlook Web Access over the VPN. Several new improvements have also been made to the secure application deployment feature. The 0.1.8 release also contains a number of important security enhancements, general bugfixes and performance enhancements." The project roadmap shows where the design of the system is headed, a long list of new features is planned. Those of you who work in cross-platform environments should find SSL-Explorer to be a tool that is worth examination, the software is available for download here.
System Applications Clusters and Grids An eagle-eye view of the Condor project (IBM developerWorks) Jeff Mausolf reviews Condor on IBM developerWorks. "Condor is an open source tool that can manage a cluster of dedicated compute nodes and effectively harness otherwise wasted cycles from idle desktop workstations. This article will provide a high-level overview of Condor and introduce some of its unique features."
Database Software MySQL 4.0.24 has been released Stable version 4.0.24 of the MySQL database has been released. "This is a bugfix release for the recent production version. It also includes fixes for recently reported potential security vulnerabilites in the creation of temporary table file names and the handling of User Defined Functions (UDFs)."
MySQL 4.1.10a has been released Version 4.1.10a of the MySQL database has been released. "This MySQL 4.1.10a release just includes the additional patches for recently reported potential security vulnerabilites in the creation of temporary table file names and the handling of User Defined Functions (UDFs)."
PostgreSQL Weekly News The March 13, 2005 edition of the PostgreSQL Weekly News is online with the week's PostgreSQL database information.
Embedding Perl in database tables (IBM developerWorks) Teodor Zlatanov embeds Perl in a database table on IBM developerWorks. "In this installment, Ted looks at Perl and databases. Specifically, he works with the Class::DBI CPAN module and MySQL to introduce you to embedding Perl in database tables."
Interoperability Samba 3.0.12rc1 Available for Download Release Candidate 1 for Samba 3.0.12 is out. "This is a release candidate of the Samba 3.0.12 code base and is provided for testing only. While close to the final stable release, this snapshot is *not* intended for production servers. If all goes well, this this version (or something very similar) will become the final 3.0.12 stable release."
Web Site Development Quixote 2.0a5 released Version 2.0a5 of Quixote, a Python-based web development platform, is out. See the Changes document for details.
Miscellaneous A moment of Xen: Virtualize Linux to test your apps (IBM developerWorks) Bryan Clark works with Xen on IBM developerWorks. "Xen is a paravirtualization technology available for the Linux™ kernel that lets you enclose and test new upgrades as if running them in the existing environment but without the worries of disturbing the original system. This article shows you how to install a Xen system that will give administrators a valuable sandbox for testing system upgrades (as well as a playground for running multiple virtual machines on the same Linux box). Take a look at virtualization on Linux and see the benefits that come from using Xen in that space."
Desktop Applications Audio Applications Ardour 0.9beta28 released Version 0.9 beta 28 of Ardour, a multi-track audio recording application, is out. Changes include numerous bug fixes and more.
Ecasound 2.4.0 released Version 2.4.0 of Ecasound, a multi-track audio processing application, has been released. The changes include: "An annoying bug with handling filenames with whitespace has been fixed. Integration with libsamplerate and other resamplers has received a lot of attention and many bugs have been fixed. Error reporting has been improved when loading invalid chainsetups. A new sum-mixdown mode has been added to the engine. Some minor cosmetic changes have been made to the output produced by the console ecasound interface. A log message history mechanism has been added to the engine to help ECI app and script development."
Business Applications OpenWFE 1.5.0 released (SourceForge) Version 1.5.0 of OpenWFE, an open source java workflow engine, is out. "OpenWFE 1.5.0 is a major step in this open source workflow engine development : the workflow instantiation mechanism has been completely revised, making the OpenWFE process definition language even more expressive and powerful. Along with this change, functions in the process definition language have been heavily enhanced."
Calendar Software The SchoolBell calendaring server The first independent release of SchoolBell, a calendaring server for groups and organizations, has been announced. "For this release, we have managed to move most, but not all, of SchoolBell functionality to the Zope3 framework. It is now a Zope 3 component that can be instantiated via the ZMI, a stand alone calendaring server and a bunch of useful libraries for anyone interested in developing calendars in Zope 3."
Desktop Environments KDE 3.4 released KDE 3.4 has been released. There's a lot of new stuff in this release; highlights include much improved accessibility (especially built-in text-to-speech capability), DBUS/HAL support, a new RSS aggregator, KHTML improvements, and much more; click below for the details.
The GNOME Journal, March Edition The March edition of The GNOME Journal is out. This month's articles look at the 2.10 release, art.gnome.org, CD burning, Evolution 2.2, and Ubuntu Hoary package management.
GNOME Software Announcements The following new GNOME software has been announced this week:
KDE CVS-Digest for March 11, 2005 (KDE.News) The March 11, 2005 edition of the KDE CVS-Digest is online with the following content summary: "Kttsd adds support for Kiswahili, Zulu, and Ibibio Festival languages. Digikam adds undo/redo operation for the image editor. KCharts now can flip row and column data. Kexi scripting can now pass signals, slots and Q_PROPERTY's between C++ and scripting languages. Kalzium (periodic table) adds family view."
KDE Software Announcements The following new KDE software has been announced this week:
Electronics QOscC 0.2.1 released Version 0.2.1 of QOscC, a software oscilloscope application with spectrum analysis capabilities, is out. Changes include support for Serial Multimeters, datafile export, and improved documentation.
XCircuit 3.3.11 released Version 3.3.11 of XCircuit, an electronic schematic drawing package, has been released. Changes include a fix for a bug that can cause a crash.
Financial Applications SQL-Ledger 2.4.10 is out Version 2.4.10 of SQL-Ledger, a web-based accounting system, is available. Changes include inventory movement in the transaction report, a new UTF-8 option to bypass text formatting, and more.
Interoperability Wine release 20050310 Release 20050310 of Wine has been announced. Changes include an initial implementation of a true Richedit control, a shell extension for browsing Unix directories, MSI work, PBuffer support in OpenGL, and bug fixes.
Mail Clients Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0.1 Release Candidate (MozillaZine) Release Candidate build 1.0.1 of Mozilla Thunderbird has been announced. "Like last month's Mozilla Firefox 1.0.1, this new version will just fix a few security and stability bugs; it's not a major update."
Office Applications Gnumeric 1.4.3 Released (GnomeDesktop) Version 1.4.3 of Gnumeric, a spreadsheet application, is available. "This is a bug fix release for 1.4.x with various minor patches. The main point of interest is that Ivan Wong has fixed Gtk+'s large window handing on Win32 and the 1.4.3 package for that platform is now considered ready for general usage. There are still missing pieces (printing and registry connections) but the core application can display smoothly now."
Office Suites OpenOffice.org build 1.9.79.2 Build 1.9.79.2 of the OpenOffice.org office suite is available with numerous bug fixes, documentation work, and a NovellTeam easter egg.
Web Browsers Announcement of Future of Mozilla Application Suite Expected Soon (MozillaZine) MozillaZine covers an ongoing debate over the Mozilla Application Suite. "The Mozilla Foundation is expected to make a formal announcement on the future of the Mozilla Application Suite soon. Debate about the future of the suite, often known as Mozilla 1.x or by its SeaMonkey codename, has raged over the last few days following Saturday's publication of the minutes of the mozilla.org staff meeting held on Monday 28th February 2005. In reference to Mozilla 1.8 final, the minutes state that it was "To be discussed tomorrow [Tuesday 1st March] whether we do one". This led to dozens of replies about the fate of the suite from a wide variety of contributors and onlookers."
Future of the Mozilla Application Suite (MozillaZine) MozillaZine has the news: there will be no Mozilla 1.8 release. The plan, instead, calls for a shift to the standalone Firefox and Thunderbird clients. "However, the Mozilla Foundation will offer infrastructure support to a community effort to continue development of the Mozilla Application Suite, probably under a different name." See the article for various links to more information.
Minutes of the mozilla.org Staff Meeting (MozillaZine) MozillaZine has announced the availability of the minutes from the March 7, 2005 mozilla.org staff meeting. "Issues discussed include Mozilla Firefox 1.0.1 rollout, Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0.1, Mozilla 1.7.6, Mozilla 1.8b2, Mozilla Firefox 1.1, Mozilla Thunderbird 1.1 and update.mozilla.org load."
Mozilla for GroupWise Beta Released (MozillaZine) Version 0.1b of Mozilla for GroupWise has been announced. "MozNGW, as it's known, is a cross-platform client for the Novell GroupWise corporate communication and collaboration solution. MozNGW installs as a Mozilla Firefox extension and completely replaces the standard GroupWise client. The software is compatible with GroupWise 6.02 and above, though it will "probably" work with version 5.5 Enhancement Pack."
First Community SeaMonkey Project Meeting Held (MozillaZine) MozillaZine reports on the first meeting of the new community-driven SeaMonkey project. "Chaired by Alex "WeirdAl" Vincent, the hour-long meeting took place in #seamonkey on irc.mozilla.org and focussed on various project management issues, with several volunteers appointed to leadership roles."
Languages and Tools Caml Caml Weekly News The March 8-15, 2005 edition of the Caml Weekly News is out. Take a look for the latest Caml Language information.
Groovy Go server-side up, with Groovy (IBM developerWorks) Andrew Glover explores Groovy frameworks on IBM developerWorks. "The Groovlet and GroovyServer Pages (GSP) frameworks are built on the shoulders of the Java™ Servlet API. Unlike Struts and JSF, however, Groovy's server-side implementation isn't meant for all occasions. Rather, it's a simplified alternative for developing server-side applications quickly and easily. Follow along with Groovy advocate Andrew Glover as he introduces these frameworks and demonstrates their use."
Java A Look at Commons Chain, Part 2 (O'ReillyNet) Bill Siggelkow explores chains under Jakarta Struts in part two of an O'Reilly series. "In part one of this two-part series, Bill Siggelkow showed Java programmers how certain design patterns help Commons Chain to define and execute sequential sets of steps. In part two, Bill shows how Struts uses Chain to add custom behavior to request processing."
Perl This Fortnight in Perl 6 (O'Reilly) The Feb. 23 - March 7, 2005 edition of This Fortnight in Perl 6 is online with the latest Perl 6 development news.
Python Python 2.4.1, release candidate 1 Release Candidate 1 of Python 2.4.1 has been announced. "According to the release notes, several dozen bugs have been fixed, including a fix for the SimpleXMLRPCServer security issue (PSF-2005-001)."
Ruby Ruby Weekly News The March 13, 2005 edition of the Ruby Weekly News is available with the latest news and discussion from the ruby-talk mailing list.
Tcl/Tk Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL! The March 15, 2005 edition of Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL! is online with the week's Tcl/Tk articles and resources.
XML State of the art in XML modeling (IBM developerWorks) Uche Ogbuji discusses semantic transparency and XML on IBM developerWorks. "The running theme of the column has been semantic transparency: the ability to correctly interpret the contents of XML documents. Semantic transparency might be the most important aspect of XML modeling. This is first in a series of articles that review the many different approaches to semantic transparency and discuss what they mean to developers using XML."
Comparing XSLT and XQuery (O'Reilly) J. David Eisenberg compares XSLT and XQuery on O'Reilly. "XSLT has been the main XML technology for transformations for some time now, but it’s not the only player in the game. Although XQuery is designed for retrieving and interpreting information, it is also, according to the specification, “flexible enough to query a broad spectrum of XML information sources, including both databases and documents.”"
Models with Character (O'Reilly) Micah Dubinko writes about Unicode and XML on O'Reilly. "Yet, one topic is sacrosanct: that one of the smartest and best design decisions underlying XML was to define it on the foundation of characters, specifically the Universal Character Set and Unicode. As such, a working knowledge of Unicode is not optional. Practitioners of XML need to be, at a minimum, conversant in the basics of Unicode as described in the first few sections of Mike J. Brown's excellent write-up."
Editors Nvu 0.90 Released (MozillaZine) Version 0.90 of Nvu, an HTML editor, has been announced. "This latest version of the standalone Linspire-backed Mozilla-based Web page editor includes an improved Link dialogue, a new default theme and printing fixes. There's also performance improvements (switching between the HTML Source view and Normal Edit Mode should now be much faster), better support for PHP code and HTML comments and several minor bug fixes."
IDEs FLDev 0.5.2 released Version 0.5.2 of FLDev has been announced. "FLDev is an IDE designed for older systems and small C/C++ Applications and is based on the Editor described in the FLTK Manual."
Miscellaneous GNU Tar 1.15.1 released. Version 1.15.1 of GNU Tar has been announced. "This version fixes an important flaw introduced with the previous version. The bug caused tar to refuse unpacking archives piped from standard input." (Thanks to Dan Stromberg.)
Page editor: Forrest Cook |
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