Development

Back Up to CD with Cedar Backup

Cedar Backup is a backup package that has been written by Kenneth J. Pronovici, it works on POSIX-compliant operating systems and has been released under the GNU General Public License (GPL).

The code is a second-generation effort, according to the project history. It started out as a Perl application, and was later changed to Python and renamed.

Unlike more traditional tape-based backup systems, Cedar Backup is squarely aimed at the use of common and inexpensive CDR media. A big advantage of CD-based backups is the ability to read the backup media on just about every computer that one can buy today.

The online manual describes the numerous Cedar Backup features:

• Supports master/client machines on a network.
• Uses ssh-based encryption for moving backup data between machines.
• Runs with a four-stage backup process.
• The backups are fired off from a series of cron scripts.
• Writes backups to CDR and CDRW media types.
• Supports multi-session disks.
• Writable DVD support is planned for a future release.
• Performs daily, weekly and incremental backup types.
• Backups are initiated from a command line interface.
• Configuration information is stored in an XML-formatted file.
• Sends error messages via email.
• Stores directories as tar files with optional compression.
• Comes with extensions for backing up subversion and MySQL data.
• Allows user-supplied extensions for backing up other types of data.
• Restore operations work on any machine.

Version 2.6.0 of Cedar Backup was released last week, it adds minor feature enhancements and bug fixes: "This release is focused around a wide-ranging set of enhancements, bugfixes, and documentation updates. The list of changes is fairly large, although not much of the core functionality was touched."

The software is available as a Debian package, or an easily installed Python script. Installation on a Fedora Core 3 system was simply a matter un-tarring the source and running the install script. The dependencies of the package include the Python language on all machines, and a number of CD-specific utilities on the master machine.

If you need to back up a single machine, or a group of machines, Cedar Backup is worth investigating.

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Release 2.0.1 of Linux-HA is available

Release 2.0.1 of Linux-HA, a cluster management application, has been announced. "This release provides support for monitoring of resources (services) and support for larger clusters. In Release 2, simple clusters are simple to create, and more complex clusters can take advantage of our rule-based resource placement methods to ensure that the cluster does exactly what is desired when failures occur. In addition, it supports the OCF standard resource model, the SAF membership API, and provides command line, web-based and SNMP-based cluster monitoring tools."

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PostgreSQL 8.1 Beta 2 available

Version 8.1 Beta 2 of the PostgreSQL database has been released. Testers are needed.

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PostgreSQL Weekly News

The September 18, 2005 edition of the PostgreSQL Weekly News is online with the latest PostgreSQL database resources and articles.

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Sendmail 8.13.5 released

Version 8.13.5 of the Sendmail mail transfer agent has been released. "It fixes some bugs and adds support for various newer operating system versions." The detailed change information is available in the release notes.

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Setting up a repository server with yum-pull

William Stearns has announced his yum-pull script. "Yum, apt, up2date and other package management tools have helped reduce the amount of manual labor involved in installing new rpms, but don't address the issue of bandwidth used in patching a large collection of machines or applying updates when ones Internet line is down. *smile* I've put together a script called yum-pull that pulls down collections of rpm packages off Internet servers and stores them locally, creates apt, yum and up2date indexes for them, and shares the files with client machines."

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John the Ripper 1.6.39 released

Version 1.6.39 of John the Ripper, a fast password cracker, is out with feature enhancements and bug fixes.

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SSL-Explorer 0.1.13 released (SourceForge)

Version 0.1.13 of SSL-Explorer, a browser-based SSL VPN, has been announced. "With release 0.1.13 of SSL-Explorer, 3SP has introduced a new reverse proxy feature that provides a far more robust web forwarding facility. This feature is currently touted by a number of tier-one vendors as a solution for the provision of intranet access to remote VPN users. As a welcome byproduct of the reverse proxy feature, SSL-Explorer now fully supports the enhanced ActiveX user interface of Microsoft Outlook Web Access 2003."

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Mod_python 3.2.2b (Beta) is out

Beta version 3.2.2 of mod_python, the Python language module for the Apache web server, has been announced. See the online manual for details.

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NAJAX 0.4.0.0 released (SourceForge)

Version 0.4.0 of NAJAX is available with bug fixes and new features. "NAJAX is a package that can be used to call PHP classes on the Web server side from Javascript code in Web pages. It uses AJAX technology to submit HTTP requests from Javascript to pass call parameters and collect and process the responses."

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LASH 0.5.0 released

Version 0.5.0 of LASH, the LASH Audio Session Handler, has been announced. "LASH (formerly LADCCA) is the LASH Audio Session Handler. It allows you to save, restore, and distribute sessions consisting of many interconnected Jack/Alsa applications." Changes include a new GTK control panel, bug fixes, and more.

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GNOME Software Announcements

The following new GNOME software has been announced this week:

• GARNOME 2.12.0.1 (new features and bug fixes)
• Serpentine 0.6.2 (new features and bug fixes)
• Sysprof 1.0 (new features)

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

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The GNOME Journal, September Edition (GnomeDesktop)

GnomeDesktop.org has announced the September, 2005 edition of The GNOME Journal. "It features a look at GNOME's Summer of Code participation by Julien Gilli and Akbar Pasha, Peer to Peer document collaboration with GOCollab by Claus Schwarm and Martin Sevior, an introduction to the Banshee Music Player by Ken VanDine, the description of a GNOME deployment in Austria by Murray Cumming, Remote Desktop Administration using Vino by Marcus Bauer, and notes on translating GNOME by Runa Bhattacharjee."

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Preliminary Gnome 2.14 Schedule

The release schedule for GNOME 2.14 and preceding point releases is being worked on. Look for the next stable release around March, 2006.

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Scribes 0.1 Released (GnomeDesktop)

GnomeDesktop announces the release of Scribes 0.1, yet another text editor for GNOME. "It is simple and easy to use. Scribes allows you to focus entirely on your tasks. It ensures monotonous operations, such as saving your files regularly, are handled automatically and properly. With Scribes, your workflow is never interrupted, and your files are always safe." A number of screenshots are available.

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KDE Software Announcements

The following new KDE software has been announced this week:

• amaroK 1.3.2 (new features and bug fixes)
• eric3 3.7.2 (bug fixes)
• iList 0.4.7 (new features and bug fixes)
• KAlgebra 0.3 (new features and bug fixes)
• KDE Asciiquarium 0.3.2 (new features)
• KEnigma 0.5 (new features and bug fixes)
• Kalva 0.8.0 (new features)
• Konstruct 20050921 (installs KDE 3.5 Beta)
• kradview 0.5.3 (bug fixes)
• nokuake 0.1 (kuake replacement)
• xik 0.5 (initial release)

You can find more new KDE software releases at kde-apps.org.

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KDE 3.5 beta 1 released

The first beta for the upcoming KDE 3.5 release is out; see the announcement and the info page for details.

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Don't Install, Just Copy with klik (KDE.News)

KDE.News takes a look at Klik. "Klik is a system which creates self-contained packages of programmes installable over the web with a single click. In the article below Kurt Pfeifle discusses the potential uses of this technology for helping the non-coding contributors to KDE. He also looks at how the system works and the obvious security issues involved."

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Gadgetboard 1.0 announced

For those of you who like playing with microcontroller hardware, OpenCollector.org has an announcement for version 1.0 of Gadgetboard. "The Gadgetboard is a user friendly Atmel proto board on steroids. The ATMEGA32 comes programmed with a command-line interface which runs over the serial port, allowing the user to read the 8 analog inputs and set the 8 outputs. Four of the high current MOSFET outputs optionally drive 15-amp relays, while the other 4 MOSFETS are driven by the Atmel's 4 onboard PWM channels. All inputs and outputs are ESD-protected, and are connected to screw terminals. Prototype your gadget in three easy steps." The design is free, and the support software is Linux-compatible.

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XCircuit 3.3.36 released

Version 3.3.36 of XCircuit, an electronic schematic drawing application, is out with bug fixes.

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Block Rage version 0.2.1 Released (SourceForge)

The initial release of Block Rage, a falling-blocks game with animated plasmatic backgrounds, has been announced. "The game is already fully playable (and higly addictive, I think), but the graphics and sounds are only temporary, and there is no music yet."

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Wine Traffic

The September 16, 2005 edition of Wine Traffic is available. Topics include: We're Back, To Do List Update, Device Drivers Still Suck, Wine's Development Model, HTML Help, DirectX Update, Safedisc Begins to Work, WineHQ Server Upgrade, SMP Safe?, and Wine's MSI - Help Us Break It.

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CMS Releases Beta VOE (LinuxMedNews)

LinuxMedNews covers the release of an evaluation version of the Vista Office Electronic Health Record system by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). "Highlights of the press release are that apparently CMS is going to evaluate how implementations are working at a limited number of beta test sites, then consider standards for 'certification criteria and process' through WorldVistA."

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Jackbeat 0.5.3

Version 0.5.3 of Jackbeat, a JACK-enabled drum machine, is out with new features and bug fixes.

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KMiditracker 0.5.13 released

Version 0.5.13 of KMidiTracker, a MIDI Step Sequencer, has been released. "New features includes a midi thru KAction (midi thru is easily accessed) follow song, copy & paste, .mid export and input selection."

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Patchage 0.2.3 Released

Version 0.2.3 of Patchage, a modular patch bay for Jack and Alsa (MIDI) applications, has been released. "This release features updated LASH support (optionally depends on the recent LASH 0.5.0 release). Patchage will restore module locations, and it's window size/location along with a session."

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PyVISA 0.9.6 released

Version 0.9.6 of PyVISA is available. PyVISA is: "A Python package with bindings to the "Virtual Instrument Software Architecture" VISA library, in order to control measurement devices and test equipment via GPIB, RS232, or USB."

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Mozilla Firefox 1.0.7 Released (MozillaZine)

Version 1.0.7 of the Mozilla Firefox web browser has been announced. "Fixes are included for the international domain name (IDN) link buffer overflow vulnerability and the Linux command line URL parsing flaw. There are also other security and stability changes, including a fix for a crash experienced when using certain Proxy Auto-Config scripts. In addition, some regressions introduced by previous 1.0.x security updates have been resolved."

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SeaMonkey 1.0 Alpha Released (MozillaZine)

The SeaMonkey Council has announced the release of SeaMonkey 1.0 Alpha. "Developed from the codebase of the previously successful Mozilla Application Suite, SeaMonkey 1.0 Alpha contains lots of new features, and numerous enhancements and bugfixes compared to the last Mozilla suite versions."

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Boost C++ library 1.33.0 released

Version 1.33.0 of the Boost C++ libraries was announced. Several new libraries were added and existing ones were updated. "Boost provides free peer-reviewed portable C++ source libraries. We emphasize libraries that work well with the C++ Standard Library. Boost libraries are intended to be widely useful, and usable across a broad spectrum of applications. The Boost license encourages both commercial and non-commercial use. We aim to establish "existing practice" and provide reference implementations so that Boost libraries are suitable for eventual standardization."

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Caml Weekly News

The September 13-20, 2005 edition of the Caml Weekly News is online with the latest discussions about the Caml language.

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AndroMDA 3.1 Release Candidate 1 has been released (SourceForge)

Release Candidate 1 of AndroMDA 3.1 is out. "AndroMDA is a code generation framework that follows the Model Driven Architecture (MDA) paradigm. It takes a UML model from a CASE-tool and generates classes and deployable components (J2EE or other) specific for your application architecture."

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This week on harmony-dev

The September 11-17, 2005 edition of This week on harmony-dev covers the latest developments on the Harmony open-source Java implementation.

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What Is a Portlet (O'ReillyNet)

Sunil Patil introduces Portlets in an O'Reilly article. "The Portlet specification defines a portlet as a "Java-technology-based web component, managed by a portlet container that processes requests and generates dynamic content." That's not the easiest thing to understand, is it? This article will explain what portlets are and what they do."

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This week in perl6-compiler (Perl.org)

The August 24 - September 11, 2005 edition of This week in perl6-compiler is out with the latest Perl 6 development news.

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Understanding MVC in PHP (O'Reilly)

Joe Stump looks at the use of the MVC (Model-View-Controller) framework from PHP. "This article series demonstrates how to build an MVC web framework using PHP 5. This article covers the basics of MVC web frameworks, building the foundation classes for a framework that the other three articles in this series will build."

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Dr. Dobb's Python-URL!

The September 19, 2005 edition of Dr. Dobb's Python-URL! has been published. Take a look for lots of Python language discussions and software releases.

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PyInstaller 1.0 released

Version 1.0 of PyInstaller has been announced, it includes major bug fixes. "PyInstaller is a program that packages Python programs into stand-alone executables under Windows, Linux, and Irix. This is similar to the famous py2exe, but PyInstaller supports several platforms. It is able to build fully-contained (single file) executables."

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Ruby Weekly News

The September 18th, 2005 edition of the Ruby Weekly News looks at the latest discussions from the ruby-talk mailing list.

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Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL!

The September 19, 2005 edition of Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL! is out with the week's Tcl/Tk news and resources.

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Processing Atom 1.0 (XML.com)

Uche Ogbuji works with Atom 1.0 on XML.com. "In the fast-moving world of weblogs and Web-based marketing, the approval of the Atom Format 1.0 by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as a Proposed Standard is a significant and lasting development. Atom is a very carefully designed format for syndicating the contents of weblogs as they are updated, the usual territory of RSS, but its possible uses are far more general, as illustrated in the description on the home page".

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The More Things Change (XML.com)

Micah Dubinko looks back at topics from the the XML-Deviant column. "In this column, Micah Dubinko concludes XML.com's longest running column, XML-Deviant, by looking back at how things have changed and how they've stayed the same. It's time for XML.com to evolve, now that the classic era of core XML specifications is ending."

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Eric3 3.7.2 released

Version 3.7.2 of Eric3, an IDE for Python and Ruby, has been announced. Here is the change summary: "A possible security exploit was fixed. Compatibility changes for PyQt 3.15 were made. Many other fixes were done."

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Mercurial v0.7 released

Version 0.7 of the Mercurial distributed SCM has been released. This release features numerous usability improvements, performance enhancements, and bug fixes over previous releases. See also the article on Mercurial in the current Weekly Edition (for subscribers only).

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XPlanner 0.7 beta 1 released (SourceForge)

Version 0.7 beta 1 of XPlanner has been announced. "XPlanner is a web-based project planning and tracking tool for eXtreme Programming (XP) teams. XPlanner is implemented using Java, JSP, and Struts, and MySQL (user contributed support for other databases). XPlanner 0.7 provide many improvements."

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