Development

The first alpha release of Python 2.5

The first Alpha release of version 2.5 of the Python language has been announced.

This is the first release in a series of alpha and beta releases. The final Python 2.5 will not arrive until August of 2006, according to the Python 2.5 Release Schedule. The document also lists the completed features, possible features and open issues for Python 2.5.

A series of Python Enhancement Proposals (PEPs) detail the new features. Some of them include:

• Conditional Expressions similar to those found in C.
• Partial Function Application for passing variable argument lists.
• Metadata for Python Software Packages for documentation extensions.
• Absolute and Relative Imports for extending the import statement functionality.
• Executing modules as scripts which extends the -m command line option.
• Unifying try-except and try-finally for improving the syntax of the try statement.
• Coroutines via Enhanced Generators allows generators to be used as coroutines.
• The "with" Statement a simplified replacement for try/finally statements.
• Required Superclass for Exceptions for providing more standardized exception handling.
• Using ssize_t as the index type which allows 64 bit element indexes.
• Allowing Any Object to be Used for Slicing to loosen the slice index data type requirements.

The above announcement also lists some new modules: "New major modules added include hashlib, ElementTree, sqlite3 and ctypes. In addition, a new profiling module cProfile was added."

A.M. Kuchling's What's New in Python 2.5 document lists the above enhancements, and details some other modifications to the language. See the Python 2.5 release notes for more details on the new features and bug fixes in Python 2.5.

Downloads and more information are available on the Python 2.5 page.

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Bizgres 0.9 released

Version 0.9 of Bizgres has been announced. Changes include a merge with the PostgreSQL 8.1.3 source code, new bitmap-on-disk indexes, sort improvements and more. A commercial support program is also available.

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Firebird 2.00 Release Candidate 1

Version 2.00 Release Candidate 1 of the Firebird database has been announced "Firebird 2 contains a large number of new features, including derived tables, support for Execute Block, increased table sizes, new improved index code (the 252-byte index length limit is no longer applicable), expression indices, numerous optimiser improvements, enhanced security features, support for on-line incremental backups, new international language support, along with numerous other improvements and bug fixes."

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PostgreSQL Weekly News

The April 2, 2006 edition of the PostgreSQL Weekly News is online with new PostgreSQL articles and resources.

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Samba 3.0.22 is available

Samba version 3.0.22 has been announced. "This is a security release of Samba. The Samba 3.0.21 release series (including the patch releases a through c) has been discovered to expose the clear text of the server's machine account credentials in the winbind log files when the log level is set to 5 or higher."

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GnuPG 1.4.3 released

Stable version 1.4.3 of GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG), a tool for secure communication and data storage, is available with a long list of new features.

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httplib2: HTTP Persistence and Authentication (O'Reilly)

Joe Gregorio discusses HTTP persistence and authentication in an O'Reilly article. "In this latest Restful Web column, Joe Gregorio explains HTTP persistent connections, pipelining, and the sad state of HTTP authentication."

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LASH 0.5.1 released

Version 0.5.1 of LASH is out with bug and usability fixes. "LASH is a session management system for GNU/Linux audio applications. It allows you to save and restore a complex setup of many applications connected together (via Jack and Alsa sequencer) with a single click of a button."

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MusE 0.8.1 released

Version 0.8.1 of MusE, a multi-track virtual studio, is out. "It is basically a bug fix release for a note-off bug that crept into 0.8."

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Snd-ls V0.9.5.5, Das_Watchdog V0.2.2 and Ceres V0.44

The audio utilities Snd-ls V0.9.5.5, Das_Watchdog V0.2.2 and Ceres V0.44 have been released.

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GNOME Software Announcements

The following new GNOME software has been announced this week:

• cairomm 0.6.0 (new features, examples and bug fixes)
• Fluendo MPEG2 demuxer for GStreamer 0.10.3 (new features and bug fixes)
• Glom 1.0 (new features)
• GParted 0.2.4 (new features, bug fixes and translation work)
• GQ LDAP client 1.0beta2 (new features and bug fixes)
• GNOME Colorscheme release 0.3.91 (new features, bug fixes and translation work)
• GSwitchIt Plugins 0.5 (new features and bug fixes)
• MonoDevelop 0.10 (new features and bug fixes)
• PyGTK 2.8.5 (bug fixes, improved examples)
• PyGTK 2.9.0 (unstable development release)
• Winefish 1.3.2 (new features and translation work)

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

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KDE Software Announcements

The following new KDE software has been announced this week:

• Beesoft Commander 2.18 (unspecified)
• cb2Bib 0.6.0 (bug fixes)
• Date Calculator 0.1 (new release)
• httpremote_amarok 0.0.3 (new features)
• Kalva 0.8.75 (code improvements and bug fixes)
• kavi2svcd 0.8.6 (unspecified)
• kchmviewer 2.5 (new features and translation work)
• KDE SSH-Agent 1.0 (unspecified)
• kdesvn 0.8.1 (new features and bug fix)
• kio_rar 0.6 (new feature and bug performance improvement)
• Kompile 0.3 beta 2 (new features and bug fixes)
• Koppermine 1.0 Stable (new features)
• KPowersave 0.5.11-rc5 (new features, bug fixes and translation work)
• KWlan 0.2 (new features, bug fixes and translation work)
• KWlan 0.2.3 (new features)
• KWlan 0.3.0 (new features)
• LabPlot 1.5.1 (new features and bug fixes)
• pdftk service menu 0.2 (new features, code rework)
• QFrameCatcher 0.2 (unspecified)
• QSClient 1.2 RC3 (new features and bug fixes)
• QtiPlot 0.8.2 (new features, bug fixes and translation work)
• Samba Scanner / Mount / Umount 1.05 (bug fix)
• Umbrello UML Modeller 1.5.2 (bug fixes)

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

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Covered 0.4 released

Stable version 0.4 of Covered, a Verilog code coverage analysis tool, is out with a long list of bug fixes.

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Security vulnerabilities in Armagetron Advanced 0.2.8 (SourceForge)

Version 0.2.8 of the game Armagetron Advanced has a security vulnerability. "All 0.2.8 beta and release candidate versions of Armagetron Advanced and 0.2.8.0 itself are vulnerable to file path related attacks. Versions 0.2.7.1 and earlier lack the features that introduce the vulnerability and are safe."

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Gaim 2.0.0 Beta 3 released

Version 2.0.0 beta 3 of Gaim, an instant messaging client, is out. "We'd like to note that none of the beta 3 RPMs include a Gadu-Gadu protocol plugin. So if you need Gadu-Gadu then you should stick with beta 2. And as my pappy always used to say: don't hitch your wagon to a stump if it has eyes. We never did know what he was talking about."

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Wine 0.9.11 released

Version 0.9.11 of Wine has been announced. Changes include: Fake dll files created in the system directory to help installers, Desktop mode now properly supports multiple processes, Better type parsing in dbghelp, Several OpenGL fixes, A bunch of Unicode functions in advpack and Lots of bug fixes.

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Wine Weekly Newsletter

The April 2, 2006 edition of Wine Weekly Newsletter is online with coverage of the Wine project. Topics include: Wine 0.9.11, Software Freedom Law Center Update, Non-Profit Status?, Using Photoshop Plugins with Gimp, Vista App Compatibility, New Kernel Option & Wine, New apt Repository, Major Changes to Desktop Mode and Finishing advpack.dll.

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Creative Commons releases ccHost 2.0

Version 2.0 of ccHost is available. "ccHost, an Open Source project that provides web-based infrastructure to support collaboration, sharing, and storage of multi-media using Creative Commons licenses and metadata, released version 2.0 today. This major feature release combines approximately six months of development, usage, and testing into packages that anyone may download, install, and use to build on-line media sharing communities."

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Khagan 0.1 released

Version 0.1 (the initial release) of Khagan has been announced. "Khagan is a live user interface builder for controlling parameters via OSC. It's mainly aimed at the Om modular synth but anything OSC can be controlled. You can create gui's using the phat widgets. The pad widget is xinput ready and if used with a graphics tablet allows 5-d control."

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Pyphat 0.1 and phat 0.4 released.

Pyphat 0.1 and phat 0.4 is out. "Phat pad is a 5-d input pad that is xinput enabled. X, y, pressure, tilt x and tilt y can returned when used with an xinput device such as a graphics tablet. Knobs and fansliders know have a log mode and an resize bug in sliderbuttons is fixed."

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kluppe 0.5.2 released

Version 0.5.2 of kluppe, a JACK-based loop player designed for live-use, is out. Changes include bug fixes and display improvements.

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OpenOffice.org Newsletter

The March, 2006 edition of the OpenOffice.org Newsletter is online with a new collection of OpenOffice.org articles.

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First release of DIVA (GnomeDesktop)

GnomeDesktop.org mentions the initial release of DIVA, a mono-based video editing tool. "This is the initial, ALPHA release of Diva. Please do bear in mind it contains bugs and is not meant for general usage (yet). In particular, this software has received very little testing with NTSC video. Although theoretically things should work fine, they might not and be prepared for that."

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JBidwatcher 1.0pre6 released (SourceForge)

Version 1.0 pre 6 of JBidwatcher is available. "JBidwatcher, a high quality, popular open source, cross-platform eBay bidding/sniping/monitoring application, announces the release of 1.0pre6. This version is a stepping stone to a major 1.0 release, but includes fixes for recent eBay changes that made JBidwatcher non-functional. Many UI cleanups and enhancements have been added as well."

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Speech and Debate Timekeeper 1.4 Released (SourceForge)

Version 1.4 of Speech and Debate Timekeeper has been announced. "Debate Timekeeper and IE Timekeeper, collectively called Speech and Debate Timekeeper, version 1.4 has been released for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux/Unix, PalmOS, and Pocket PC platforms. Speech and Debate Timekeeper is a collection of two multi-platform timer programs for all debate formats and individual events. They give visual and vocal time signals at user defined intervals. The debate timer has preprogrammed speech order and time limits for each debate format and keeps track of prep time for both sides. It is written in Java and uses SuperWaba."

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Caml Weekly News

The March 28 - April 4, 2006 edition of the Caml Weekly News is out with new Caml language articles.

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Python 2.4.3 final is out

Version 2.4.3 final of Python is available. "Python 2.4.3 is a bug-fix release. See the release notes at the website (also available as Misc/NEWS in the source distribution) for details of the more than 50 bugs squished in this release, including a number found by the Coverity Scan project."

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wxPython 2.6.3.2 is out

Version 2.6.3.2 of wxPython, a cross-platform Python GUI toolkit, is available with bug fixes. See the recent changes document for details.

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Dr. Dobb's Python-URL!

The April 4, 2006 edition of Dr. Dobb's Python-URL! is online with a new collection of Python article links.

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Ruby Weekly News

The April 2nd, 2006 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 April 5, 2006 edition of Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL! is online with new Tcl/Tk articles and resources.

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Maven 2.0: Compile, Test, Run, Deploy, and More (O'ReillyNet)

Chris Hardin reviews Maven 2.0, a cross-platform Java project creation and management tool. "Maven is the new kid on the block, much like Ant was just a few short years ago. Maven 1.0 has been around for a few years and it was accepted by a wide audience of developers as an Ant replacement, but it offered very little relief from the old Ant build.xml file. Maven 1.0 was slow and clunky and using it was almost as difficult as getting started on a project with Ant. In fact, it was Ant at its core, and after an almost complete rewrite, Maven 2.0 was born."

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Remake 0.61 released

Stable version 0.61 of Remake has been announced. "remake is a patched and modernized version of GNU make utility that adds improved error reporting, the ability to trace execution in a comprehensible way, and a debugger. The debugger lets you set breakpoints on targets, show and set variables in expanded or unexpanded form, inspect target descriptions, see the target call stack, and even execute arbitrary GNU make fragments (e.g. add a dependency to an existing target)."

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Aegis 4.22 announced

Version 4.22 of Aegis is out with new functionality and bug fixes. "Aegis is a transaction-based software configuration management system. It provides a framework within which a team of developers may work on many changes to a program independently, and Aegis coordinates integrating these changes back into the master source of the program, with as little disruption as possible."

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AMIA Open Source EMR Review Statistics (LinuxMedNews)

LinuxMedNews mentions a version control system comparison. "The AMIA Open Source EMR Review has developed a new method for studying version control systems. This is in order to make some objective statements about the development process from the three FOSS electronic medical record (EMR) projects being studied."

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lbDMF 0.7.0 released

Version 0.7.0 of lbDMF is out. lbDMF is: "A component based programming framework. This project is aimed to support various target frameworks. A wxWidgets based GUI sample app demonstrates the concept. There are additional console samples and regression tests, that shows the usage." The changes for this version include: "Added features are loading from and saving to a file. Such as configuration data. The GUI saves states like maximized or not, load or don't load last logged in application. New RPM/SRPM packages for Linux and Binary samples for all supported platforms"

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