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DevelopmentIntroducing DVD-R ToolsThe DVD-R Tools project has been formed by Bernhard Rosenkraenzer to fill a void in the Linux DVD authoring landscape:
dvdrtools is a fork of cdrtools, with the primary goals of remaining 100% Free Software (dvdrtools is a fork of the last version of cdrtools without any "you are not allowed to modify this section" comments), and adding support for DVD-R/DVD-RW drives and media.
![[DVD-R Tools]](/images/ns/dvd-rtools.png)
For a bit of history on issues surrounding the cdrecord code, see, for example, some comments about that code's author (Jörg Schilling) by Danny O'Brien in his To Evil! column, and a comment from Linus Torvalds regarding cdrecord and SCSI device numbering issues. In a classic open-source software move, the solution for dealing with personality issues involving the author of some extremely useful code was to fork the project and move on. Version 0.3.1 of DVD-R Tools and the associated dvdrecord utility was announced on February 25, the description further clarifies the goals of the project:
It is a fork of cdrtools that
(as the name indicates) adds support for writing to DVD-R and DVD-RW disks
using purely Free Software, that tries to do things the Linux way ("dvdrecord
dev=/dev/cdrom whatever.iso") without suggesting to use 2.4 kernels or even
other operating systems, uses a standard make system, is maintained in a
public svn repository, and does away with a lot of the libc
functionality-clones found in cdrtools.
The NEWS file from the software distribution details the progress that has been made since the project's inception. The code is available for download here. The DVD-R Tools project aims to clean up the cdrecord code, remove support for obsolete compilers, remove duplication of code and in general, produce a more typical open-source software collection. Instead of the typical "standing on the shoulders of giants" concept, this code fork adds ".. in order to to grab the bottom rung of a new ladder".
System Applications Clusters and Grids Linux Cluster Manager 2.21-1 Released (SourceForge)Version 2.21-1 of Linux Cluster Manager is out with a number of new features. "LCM is a graphical tool for monitoring and managing multiple Linux systems from a central location. Features include real time monitoring and status information, remote command execution, and a range of imaging features."
Database Software PostgreSQL Weekly NewsThe February 26, 2006 edition of the PostgreSQL Weekly News is online with the latest PostgreSQL database articles and resources.
Interoperability Samba 3.0.21c availableVersion 3.0.21c of Samba has been released. "This is the latest stable release of Samba. This is the version that production Samba servers should be running for all current bug-fixes."
LDAP Software LAT 1.0 releasedVersion 1.0 of LAT, the LDAP Administration Tool, has been released. This is a stable release, an unstable development branch has been created.
Libraries CILib 0.5.3 Released (SourceForge)Version 0.5.3 of CILib is available. "CILib is a framework for developing Computational Intelligence software in swarm intelligence, evolutionary computing, neural networks, artificial immune systems, fuzzy logic and robotics. This version includes dataset support for all problems, if required, as well as the new skeleton framework for niching algorithms. The packages within the source tree have been refactored and renamed to conform to specifications. Many bug fixes and feature additions have been completed."
Networking Tools Help Network Clients Help ThemselvesM. Tim Jones discusses SLP on IBM developerWorks. "The Service Location Protocol (SLP) is an Internet Standard RFC and software framework that allows networking applications to discover and configure network services. You can use SLP to develop zero-configuration applications and simplify administration of networked devices. This article introduces SLP and its architecture, and then demonstrates the protocol's use with an open source implementation."
Web Site Development axoloTLS 0.93 releasedVersion 0.93 of axoloTLS has been announced. "axoloTLS is an embedded SSL library that comes with a small HTTPS server. The web server is around 50-60kB in size and comes complete with CGI capabilities."
Five 1.2.1 and 1.3.2 releasedTwo bug fix versions of Five have been announced. "Five is a Zope 2 product that allows you to integrate Zope 3 technologies into Zope 2, today. Among others, it allows you to use Zope 3 interfaces, ZCML-based configuration, adapters, browser pages (including skins, layers, and resources), automated add and edit forms based on schemas, object events, as well as Zope 3-style i18n message catalogs."
mod_python 3.2.8 releasedVersion 3.2.8 of mod_python, the Apache Python language extension, is out with a security fix. See the online documentation for information on this version.
Desktop Applications Audio Applications The grad_Boxster Mic-In-Room SimulatorThe grad_Boxster microphone simulation project has been announced. "Announcing grad_Boxster for creating impulse response functions (IR's) for rectangular parallelepipeds --- for example concert halls modelled as giant boxes --- but using the *gradient* of the solution field projected on a direction specified by the user, similar to the operation of a pressure-gradient microphone --- in a room."
Jokosher adds Cairo-based waveformsJokosher is a relatively new multi-track audio editor. "Jokosher is a multi-track non-linear audio editor with a prime focus on usability. It is developed in Python and is Open Source." The latest additions to the project include Cairo-based waveforms which brings smooth visualizations of audio data.
Snd-ls V0.9.5.4 and Das_Watchdog V0.2.1 announcedA dual announcement for Snd-ls V0.9.5.4 and Das_Watchdog V0.2.1 has been made. Snd-ls is a distribution of the sound editor Snd and Das_Watchdog is a watchdog for the linux operating system.
Desktop Environments GARNOME 2.12.3.1 announcedVersion 2.12.3.1 of GARNOME, the bleeding edge GNOME distribution, is out: "It includes updates and fixes after the GNOME 2.12.3 freeze, together with a host of third-party GNOME packages, Bindings and the Mono(tm) Platform -- this release irons out yet-more bugs, hopefully adds yet-more stability and ships with the latest and greatest stable releases."
GNOME Software AnnouncementsThe following new GNOME software has been announced this week:
KDE Software AnnouncementsThe following new KDE software has been announced this week:
KDE partners with Catalan Government (KDE.News)KDE.News covers a collaboration between the KDE Catalan l10n team and the Catalan Government. "It was announced on Tuesday that the KDE Catalan l10n team will work together with TERMCAT (Catalan link), the organisation that standarises new words, usually technology related, in the Catalan language."
Q and A About The KDE Usability Project (KDE.News)Celeste Lyn Paul answers some common questions about the KDE Usability Project on KDE.News. "The KDE Usability Project reports I posted last week received a lot of feedback. There were several motivations for posting the reports, and I think it was a success. They are a useful reference for developers and other usability specialists as well as provides a public appearance for what the project does. Some of the feedback included questions about the project and reports. So, as webmaster of usability.kde.org and a project representative, let me answer some of these questions for you."
GUI Packages pyFltk 1.1 announcedVersion 1.1, the initial release of pyFltk, has been announced. "This is to announce the first official release of pyFltk-1.1, the Python bindings for the cross platform GUI toolkit fltk-1.1 This release candidate has been tested with fltk-1.1.7 and requires Python2.4. pyFltk is a lighweight, easy-to-use GUI toolkit for Python. It can be used where simplicity, speed, small footprint, and ease-of-use are important."
Interoperability Wine Weekly NewsletterThe February 26, 2006 edition of the Wine Weekly Newsletter is out with the latest coverage of the Wine project.
Office Suites OpenOffice.org build oob680.1.0 announcedBuild oob680.1.0 of OpenOffice.org has been announced. It adds some new features, bug fixes, and build improvements.
OpenOffice.org NewsletterThe February, 2006 edition of the OpenOffice.org Newsletter is online with the latest OpenOffice.org office suite developments.
RSS Software ROME in a Day: Parse and Publish Feeds in JavaMark Woodman explores ROME in an O'Reilly XML.com article. "Knowing that RSS and Atom feeds are "just" XML, you might think that parsing and creating syndicated feeds in Java should be a snap. Pick any one type of RSS, and you might be right. Unfortunately, there are at least ten flavors of RSS and Atom out there: RSS 0.90, RSS 0.91 Netscape, RSS 0.91 Userland, RSS 0.92, RSS 0.93, RSS 0.94, RSS 1.0, RSS 2.0, Atom 0.3, and the newest addition to the bunch, Atom 1.0. Then there are all the namespace modules, like Dublin Core, Media, and so on. It's all messy enough to make a grown programmer cry. Wipe those tears, Java developers, and say hello to ROME."
Web Browsers Minutes of the Firefox Team Status Meeting (MozillaZine)The minutes from the February 21, 2006 Firefox Team Status Meeting have been announced. "Issues discussed include Alpha 1 status, blockers, release requirements and status updates on Firefox 2 features."
Minutes of the Firefox Team Status Meeting (MozillaZine)The minutes from the February 28, 2006 Firefox team meeting have been announced. "Issues discussed include Alpha 1 status, blockers and status updates on Firefox 2 features."
Languages and Tools C GCC 4.1.0 has been releasedVersion 4.1.0 of GCC, the GNU Compiler Collection, has been released. A recent GCC 4.1 Status Report has some preliminary information on the release, the GCC 4.1 Changes, New Features, and Fixes document has more information on the series.
Caml Caml Weekly NewsThe February 21-28, 2006 edition of the Caml Weekly News is out with new Caml language articles.
Java Asynchronous Messaging Made Easy With Spring JMS (O'ReillyNet)Srini Penchikala writes about SpringJMS on O'Reilly. "Java Messaging Service (JMS) requires a lot of work to set up sessions and manage messages, work that can distract you from your application-specific logic. The Spring framework's SpringJMS offers a simpler solution that keeps the JMS administration out of your face. Srini Penchikala takes a look."
Lisp SBCL 0.9.10 releasedVersion 0.9.10 of Steel Bank Common Lisp has been announced. "This version makes it possible to deliver standalone executables on some of the supported platforms, provides a new garbage collector, provides a larger dynamic heap size under Linux/PowerPC, and fixes some bugs."
Perl Advanced Subroutine Techniques (O'Reilly)Rob Kinyon discusses advanced Perl subroutine techniques on O'Reilly. "In "Making Sense of Subroutines," I wrote about what subroutines are and why you want to use them. This article expands on that topic, discussing some of the more common techniques for subroutines to make them even more useful. Several of these techniques are advanced, but you can use each one by itself without understanding the others. Furthermore, not every technique is useful in every situation. As with all techniques, consider these as tools in your toolbox, not things you have to do every time you open your editor."
PHP PHP OpenID 0.9.2 ReleasedVersion 0.9.2 of the PHP OpenID library has been announced. "JanRain, Inc. is proud to announce the release of our OpenID library for PHP! This release includes improved documentation, bugfixes, a reorganized package structure, improved example code, and many other improvements."
Python Dr. Dobb's Python-URL!The February 27, 2006 edition of Dr. Dobb's Python-URL! is online with a new collection of Python article links.
Tcl/Tk Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL!The February 27, 2006 edition of Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL! is online with new Tcl/Tk articles and resources.
Build Tools Prebuild 1.3.0 announcedVersion 1.3.0 of Prebuild is out with support for several new targets and some bug fixes. "Prebuild is an XML-driven pre-build tool allowing developers to easily generate project or make files for major IDE's and .NET development tools including: Visual Studio 2005, Visual Studio 2003, Visual Studio 2002, SharpDevelop, MonoDevelop, and NAnt."
IDEs Integrating Ant with Eclipse, Part 2 (O'ReillyNet)O'Reilly is running part two of a series on Integrating Ant with Eclipse. "It's one thing to be able to run Ant builds from within Eclipse, but the integration of the top Java build tool and IDE goes deeper than this. In this excerpt from Ant: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition, Steve Holzner shows how to customize your Ant/Eclipse integration."
Page editor: Forrest Cook |
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