Development

The Sylpheed-Claws Email Client

Sylpheed-Claws is a branch of the Sylpheed project, a light weight email client which we explored last August on the LWN development page.

Sylpheed-Claws is being developed by this group of programmers. The Features document contains a lengthy list of capabilities that have been added to Sylpheed-Claws, here is a sampling of some of the more interesting additions:

• A plugin mechanism.
• Sorting, filtering, spell checking, and improved search capabilities.
• Automatic message saving.
• Font configuration.
• More sophisticated color support.
• Hiding of previously seen messages.
• Support for IMAP over an SSH tunnel.
• Extended folder properties.
• An ignore thread option.
• Online and offline modes.
• A built-in man page.
• Numerous GnuPG encryption capabilities.
• SSL certificate management abilities.
• Support for multiple attachments.
• Import functions for Mutt and Pine address books.
• LDAP dynamic query support.
• Much more.

Some of the plugin extensions include: AntiVirus, HTML viewer, image viewer, MathML viewer, PGP, SpamAssassin, tool scripts and more.

The Sylpheed-Claws users manual and FAQ explain the project's features in more detail.

Version 2.0.0 of Sylpheed-Claws was announced on January 30, it includes:

• A rewritten manual.
• An icon legend window.
• Support for printing of attached images.
• Several new command line features.
• GUI improvements.
• A quick mail retrieval feature.
• Improvements to the compose window.
• Better quick search capabilities.
• Support for wildcard searches in the LDAP address book.
• The merging of redundant plugins.
• New tool scripts.
• New translations.
• A long list of bug fixes.

Sylpheed-Claws shows how an open-source project such as Sylpheed can be used as a starting point for an improved application. those wishing for a more full-featured email client can use Sylpheed-claws, and the original Sylpheed project can benefit from the back porting of desired enhancements.

Source code and packages for a number of Linux distributions and other platforms are available here.

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System Applications

Database Software

Firebird 2.0 Update

A status update is available for version 2.0 of the Firebird database. "Currently we are preparing the Beta 2 release. The CVS tree has been tagged and the Release Notes are being updated. The binaries will be packaged soon. It was intended to release it earlier, but there were a few issues that needed fixing first. Also the final V1.5.3 release also needed to be done. If nothing critical is reported in the near future, we expect that the next official build will be Release Candidate 1."

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PostgreSQL Weekly News

The January 29, 2006 edition of the PostgreSQL Weekly News is online with the latest PostgreSQL database information.

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Interoperability

Samba 3.0.21b Available for Download

Version 3.0.21b of Samba has been announced. "This is the latest stable release of Samba. This is the version that production Samba servers should be running for all current bug-fixes. This release addresses several crash bugs in smbd and over 30 fixes for bugzilla reports."

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Libraries

libcmml 0.9.1 released

Version 0.9.1 of libcmml is available, it is a maintenance release. "libcmml is a C library that provides a complete programming interface including functions, data structures, and sloppy or strict error handling to parse a XML file in CMML. CMML is the Continuous Media Markup Language defined as part of the Continuous Media Web project."

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Networking Tools

iptables 1.3.5 released

Version 1.3.5 of iptables has been announced. "The netfilter coreteam proudly presents: iptables version 1.3.5. The 1.3.5 version contains accumulated bugfixes to the last 1.3.4 version. It also fixes some compilation problems with old kernel headers."

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Nmap 4.00 Released

Version 4.00 of the Nmap Security Scanner has been announced. "Nmap has undergone many substantial changes since our last major release (3.50 in February 2004) and we recommend that all current users upgrade." See the ChangeLog file for more information. SecurityFocus also has a recent interview with the Nmap author. (Thanks to Fyodor.)

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OpenSSH 4.3 released

OpenSSH 4.3 is out. This is primarily a bugfix release, and it deals with one security-related issue (which has already been addressed by most distributors). There is a new, experimental tunneling feature as well, however, which can be used to construct true virtual private networks with OpenSSH.

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Desktop Applications

Audio Applications

Ecasound 2.4.4 released

Version 2.4.4 of Ecasound, a multi-track audio processing package, is available. "A severe bug related to audio routing in the engine has been fixed. It is now possible to set initial values for any MIDI-CC controlled effect parameters. Many minor bugfixes and improvements have been made to the Ecasound Control Interface implementation. Some improvements have been also made to the ecasignalview utility."

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Rivendell version 0.9.65 announced

Version 0.9.65 of the Rivendell radio automation system has been released. "This is a bugfix release of Rivendell. Among the issues corrected are: RDLogManager issues, including a problem with autofill events when the associated traffic or music import source has no matching events. Problems with Services whose name contained one or more spaces."

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Sweep 0.9.1 Released

Version 0.9.1 of Sweep, an audio file editor, is available. "The previous release (0.9.0) had a bug that prevented sweep from populating the ALSA devices in settings. The bug was only apparent when you built with ALSA and didn't have a previous installation of sweep that used ALSA. If you installed sweep 0.9.0 and had problems getting any sound output then please upgrade to 0.9.1."

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Desktop Environments

GNOME Software Announcements

The following new GNOME software has been announced this week:

• Beagle 0.2.1 (bug fixes)
• control-center 2.13.90 (new features, bug fixes and translation work)
• Dasher 3.99.2 (new features and bug fixes)
• Epiphany 1.9.6 (new features and bug fixes)
• Eye of GNOME 2.13.90 (new features, bug fixes and translation work)
• Gaim Beta 2 (beta release)
• Gazpacho 0.6.5 (new features and bug fixes)
• gcalctool v5.7.28 (translation work)
• GDM2 2.13.0.7 (new features and bug fixes)
• gedit 2.13.90 (new features, bug fixes and translation work)
• glade 3 (new features and bug fixes)
• GLib 2.9.5 (unstable development release)
• gnome-backgrounds 2.13.90 (new features and translation work)
• gnome-games 2.13.6 (new features, bug fixes and documentation work)
• GNOME Nettool 2.13.90 (bug fix)
• gnome-terminal 2.13.90 (bug fixes and translation work)
• Gnome-utils 2.13.90 (new features, bug fixes and translation work)
• Gnome-utils 2.13.91 (bug fix)
• gparted 0.2 (new features, bug fixes and translation work)
• GTK+ 2.8.11 (bug fixes)
• Gtk2-Perl 2.13.90 (new features)
• gtk-engines 2.7.4 (unstable development release)
• gucharmap 1.5.1 (bug fixes and translation work)
• kiwi 1.9.4 (bug fixes)
• kiwi 1.9.5 (bug fix)
• libgnomeui 2.13.3 (bug fixes)
• libwnck 2.13.90 (new features, bug fixes and translation work)
• Mercurial 0.8 (new features)
• Metacity 2.13.55 (new features, bug fixes and translation work)
• Muine 0.8.4 (bug fixes and translation work)
• OSGEdit 0.6.1 (new features)
• Pango-1.11.3 (unstable development release)
• Revelation 0.4.6 (new features and bug fixes)
• Sabayon 2.12.3 (bug fixes)
• Tomboy 0.3.4 (new features and bug fixes)
• VTE 0.11.17 (bug fixes)
• Zenity 2.13.90 (documentation and translation work)

You can find more new GNOME software releases at gnomefiles.org.

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Announcing KDE 3.5.1

The KDE project has announced the immediate availability of KDE 3.5.1. This is a maintenance release. "KDE, including all its libraries and its applications, is available for free under Open Source licenses. KDE can be obtained in source and numerous binary formats from http://download.kde.org/ and can also be obtained on CD-ROM or with any of the major GNU/Linux."

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Electronics

gEDA Suite CDROM 20060124 released

A new CDROM ISO image of the gEDA Suite, a collection of electronics tools, is available. See the change log for details.

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Layout Editor 20060125 released

Version 20060125 of Layout Editor, an IC fabrication CAD package, is available.

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Robowerk Robot Simulator V1.0.rc1b released

Version 1.0.rc1b of the Robowerk cross-platform Robot Simulator has been announced. "Robowerk is an application that simulates and controls robots. Robowerk specializes in walking robots with two or more legs."

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Graphics

New features on the way for Inkscape (GnomeDesktop)

GnomeDesktop details the next wave of changes that are being added to Inkscape, an SVG editor. New features will include a new outline mode, a selected style indicator, removal of overlaps, snapping improvements, connector improvements, a move of swatches to the main interface, improvements to the transformation dialog, retention of transformation rotation centers between sessions, rendering speed improvements, and more.

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Imaging Applications

Create mosaic images with Perl and ImageMagick (IBM developerWorks)

Nathan Harrington uses Perl scripts and ImageMagick to create mosaics in an IBM developerWorks article. "Use simple Perl scripts to automate the image manipulation, text creation, and compositing of arbitrary mosaic images. Learn how to use ImageMagick, GD, and The Gimp to create your own mosaic images suitable for static display and dynamic content. Explore the capabilities of ImageMagick and open source graphical editing tools."

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Interoperability

Wine Weekly Newsletter

The January 29, 2006 edition of the Wine Weekly Newsletter is available. Topics include: WineTools & Wine, SCSI Tape Drive Support, JACK Audio Driver, Overriding Executables With Winecfg and Hook Problems.

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Music Applications

liblo 0.23 announced

Version 0.23 of liblo is out with bug fixes and more. The code is being managed by a new maintainer. "Liblo, the Lite OSC library, is an implementation of the Open Sound Control protocol for POSIX systems*. It is written in ANSI C99 and released under the GNU General Public Licence. It is designed to make developing OSC applictions as easy as possible."

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Office Applications

SeaMonkey 1.0 Released (MozillaZine)

MozillaZine covers the release of SeaMonkey 1.0. "Robert Kaiser writes: "The SeaMonkey Council is proud to announce SeaMonkey 1.0, the first end-user release of their internet suite. SeaMonkey is available as a free download from its mozilla.org-hosted website, features a state-of-the-art web browser, a powerful email client, a WYSIWYG web page composer and a feature-rich IRC chat client. For web developers, mozilla.org's DOM inspector and JavaScript debugger tools are included as well.""

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Office Suites

KOffice 1.5 beta 1 Released (KDE.News)

KDE.News announces the release of the first KOffice 1.5 beta. 1.5 is a major release, adding OpenDocument as the default file format, much improved accessibility features, a new scripting framework, Kexi 1.0 (a database access application), and more.

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tcluno release 0.2 announced

Release 0.2 of tcluno has been announced. "Tcluno is a set of Tcl packages, which provide acccess to OpenOffice.org using the urp socket interface. Since release 0.1 the C/C++ part has been eliminated and the packages are Tcl only now."

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OpenOffice.org Newsletter

The January, 2006 edition of the OpenOffice.org Newsletter is online with the latest OpenOffice.org news.

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PDA Software

GPE 2.7 released (Handhelds.org)

Version 2.7 of GPE, a GTK+ environment for PDA devices, is available. "It took a little bit longer than expected, but now all important bits are in place: GPE 2.7 is finished. This is the first release of a new - more strictly defined - type."

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Web Browsers

Mozilla Newsgroups Migration Completed (MozillaZine)

MozillaZine covers the migration of Mozilla Newsgroups to Giganews. "The previously announced Mozilla Newsgroups Migration has been completed. The new newsgroups are hosted by Giganews. For more information, refer to the FAQ and the list of new newsgroups."

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Languages and Tools

Caml

Caml Weekly News

The January 24-31, 2006 edition of the Caml Weekly News is online with new Caml language articles.

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Lisp

GNU CLISP 2.38 released

Version 2.38 of GNU CLISP, an open-source Common Lisp implementation, is available. "This version can generate standalone executables, makes the berkeley-db module compatible with Berkeley DB 4.4, and provides a few fixes."

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SBCL 0.9.9 released

Version 0.9.9 of Steel Bank Common Lisp is out. "This version provides experimental support for the Windows operating system, adds some optimizations and fixes a few bugs."

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Perl

Perl 6 Summary

The January 1-24, 2006 edition of the Perl 6 Summary covers the latest Perl 6 development news.

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More Advancements in Perl Programming (O'Reilly)

Simon Cozens discusses the latest edition of the book Advanced Perl Programming in an O'Reilly article. "Around Easter last year, I finished writing the second edition of Advanced Perl Programming, a task that had been four years in the making. The aim of this new edition was to reflect the way that Perl programming had changed since the first edition. Much of what Sriram wrote in the original edition was still true, but to be honest, not too much of it was useful anymore--the Perl world has changed dramatically since the original publication. The first edition was very much about how to do things yourself; it operated at a very low level by current Perl standards. With the explosion of CPAN modules in the interim, "advanced Perl programming" now consists of plugging all of the existing components together in the right order, rather than necessarily writing the components from scratch. So the nature of the book had to change a lot."

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PHP

PHP OpenID 0.9 Released

Version 0.9 of the PHP OpenID library, an OpenID consumer library for PHP, is available. "This release completes the port and includes an OpenID server implementation and much-improved example code."

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Python

Building Recursive Descent Parsers with Python (O'ReillyNet)

O'ReillyNet looks at the Python class library, Pyparsing. "Pyparsing provides a basic framework for creating recursive-descent parsers, taking care of the overhead functions of scanning the input string, handling expression mismatches, selecting the longest of matching alternatives, invoking callback functions, and returning the parsed results. This leaves developers free to focus on their grammar design and the design and implementation of corresponding token processing. Pyparsing's nature as a combinator allows developers to scale their applications from simple tokenizers up to complex grammar processors. It is a great way to get started with your next parsing project!"

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Dr. Dobb's Python-URL!

The January 30, 2006 edition of Dr. Dobb's Python-URL! is out. Take a look for new Python language article links.

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Ruby

Ruby Weekly News

The January 29th, 2006 edition of the Ruby Weekly News looks at the latest discussions from the ruby-talk mailing list.

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Scheme

Metaprogramming using Scheme

developerWorks covers metaprogramming. "Metaprogramming -- programming with code generators or writing programs that themselves write code -- has numerous useful attributes, such as simplifying code maintenance and making it easier to craft boilerplate code. The first article of this series explained why metaprogramming is necessary, looked at some of the components of metaprogramming, showed how to build a code generator, and introduced language-sensitive macro programming. In this article, learn techniques and applications of metaprogramming in the Scheme programming language, and see how macros are programmed and how they can make your large-scale programming tasks significantly easier."

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Tcl/Tk

Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL!

The January 30, 2006 edition of Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL! is online with the latest Tcl/Tk news and resources.

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XML

Scripting Flickr with Python and REST (O'Reilly)

Uche Ogbuji works with Flickr on O'Reilly. "Flickr probably needs no introduction for readers of this column. It's a hugely popular social-network site owned by Yahoo, focusing on sharing of photographs. It embodies most of the the current web buzzwords, including tagging, web feeds, AJAX, and accessibility to scripts. Flickr provides a set of HTTP-based APIs for accessing features both as a publisher and as a viewer of pictures. You get to choose between XML-RPC, REST (simple XML over HTTP), or SOAP, and the available functions cover every corner of the core Flickr service. In this article I'll look at some Python libraries for integrating with Flickr (all code tested with Python 2.4.2)."

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