Development
Control instrumentation devices with PyVISA
PyVISA is a cross-platform Python package that has been written by Torsten Bronger:
The PyVISA package enables you to control all kinds of measurement equipment through various busses (GPIB, RS232, USB) with Python programs.
PyVISA is used to interface with electronic devices that adhere to the VISA specification. VISA is defined by the Interchangeable Virtual Instrument (IVI) Foundation, and is used to create a standardized interface to a variety of instrumentation control buses. Electronic devices such as voltmeters, oscilloscopes, temperature sensors, power supplies, motors and much more can be accessed by VISA.
PyVISA includes the vpp43 VISA library implementation, which deals with the low-level VISA functions. PyVISA can work with a number of adapters such as those from National Instruments, Agilent, and Tektronix.
Assuming one has the required hardware and driver installed, the software appears to be fairly easy to use. The PyVISA manual has some simple and more complex examples for performing data acquisition from Python. More complex applications, such as pyvLab, an open-source instrumentation control and display program, have been built around PyVISA.
Version 1.1 of PyVISA
was recently announced:
"Yesterday I released version 1.1, which works much better together
with older VISA implementations. Moreover, we finally have reports
from Linux users. They successfully used PyVISA with Linux +
NI/Tektronix GPIB hardware.
"
PyVISA looks to be an important tool for those who wish to perform instrumentation control functions from a Linux machine.
System Applications
Audio Projects
Rivendell 0.9.76 announced
Version 0.9.76 of Rivendell has been released, it includes many new features. "Rivendell is a full-featured radio automation system targeted for use in professional broadcast environments."
Database Software
MySQL 4.1.22 has been released
Version 4.1.22 of the MySQL DBMS is available. "This is the final planned binary bugfix release for the MySQL 4.1 production family. Per the MySQL Product Life Cycle policy, active support of version 4.1 will end on December 31, 2006."
PostgreSQL 8.2 release candidate 1 announced
Release candidate 1 of the PostgreSQL 8.2 DBMS is out for testing. "This is the last chance to find bugs before our release next week. Please test 8.2 now, especially any exotic functionality, and test porting your applications to it. It's your efforts that make PostgreSQL bulletproof."
PostgreSQL Weekly News
The November 26 2006 edition of the PostgreSQL Weekly News is online with the latest PostgreSQL DBMS articles and resources.
Libraries
Cairo snapshot 1.3.4 now available
Snapshot 1.3.4 of Cairo, a 2D graphics library with support for multiple output devices, has been announced. "This is the second development snapshot in the 1.3 series. It comes one week after the 1.3.2 snapshot. This snapshot has a couple of significant performance improvements, and also adds new support for producing multi-page SVG output, (when targeting SVG 1.2)---thanks to Emmanuel Pacaud."
libX11 1.1 announced
Version 1.1 of libX11 has been announced. "It's not pinin', it's passed on! This library is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late library! It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to the perch it would be pushing up the daisies! It's rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible! This is an X-lib! After two candidate releases, the XCB developers have nailed libX11 1.1 to the perch. This release includes the Xlib/XCB work, which uses XCB as the Xlib transport layer, and allows a client to use both Xlib and XCB on the same connection. This allows clients to transition from Xlib to XCB incrementally."
XCB 1.0 now available
Version 1.0 of XCB, the replacement for the Xlib X Window System interface, is out. "Now that XCB has received widespread testing via three release candidates, we have provided a 1.0 release to form a stable base on which to build other software. All future versions of libxcb will preserve compatibility with libxcb 1.0."
libpthread-stubs 0.1 announced
Initial version 0.1 of libpthread-stubs has been released by the XCB developers. "This library provides weak aliases for pthread functions not provided in libc or otherwise available by default. Libraries like libxcb rely on pthread stubs to use pthreads optionally, becoming thread-safe when linked to libpthread, while avoiding any performance hit when running single-threaded."
Telecom
1bizCom 0.8.0.0 beta released (SourceForge)
Version 0.8.0.0 beta of 1bizCom has been announced. "1bizCom is next generation web-based, multi-tenant, distributed, mul[ti]-lingual, inbound, outbound Video enabled VoIP & VVoIP call/ contact center solution for Asterisk with Built-in phone, IVR, CRM, Predictive dialer, ACD, Chat, Mail, Fax, Video and other features. 1bC 0.8.0.0 beta is now available that includes major outbound call center software features."
Virtualization Software
Virtualization and the POWER5 Architecture (O'Reilly)
Ken Milberg discusses virtualization on the IBM POWER5 architecture in an O'Reilly article. "Unlike the other RISC-based hardware vendors (Sun and HP), IBM has fully implemented most of the features of its most powerful architecture into its Linux support. This is largely due to the recent developments of the Linux 2.6 kernel, which has brought Linux into the forefront. IBM added its own code to the SUSE and Red Hat kernels to provide support to the POWER5."
Web Site Development
Zope 2.10.1 released
Version 2.10.1 of the Zope web development platform has been announced. The change list includes: A ZPT implementation based on Zope 3, experimental WSGI and Twisted integration, Zope 3.3 and Five 1.5 integration, a new clock server, minor improvements and fixes and the replacement of several Zope 2 modules with their sister implementation of Zope 3.Caching Dynamic Content with Apache httpd (O'Reilly)
Rich Bowen works with mod_cache on O'Reilly. "You know that part of your website that you never update? Sure, it's "dynamic"--the content rests in a database and gets loaded with every request--but you haven't updated it since last Christmas. Yet every time someone loads that page, it hits the database, and it's slow. One thing you may not have known about your Apache web server is that it can fix that problem for you. Content that never changes shouldn't require CPU cycles to generate. mod_cache has been around for a while, but there are some new features in it that can help you make better use of your server's resources. Although people have traditionally used the caching capabilities of mod_cache with proxied content, that isn't its only feature. You can also cache your dynamic content and serve it as rapidly as on-disk files."
Miscellaneous
ZybaCafe 4.0.3 Beta 2 released
Version 4.0.3 Beta 2 of ZybaCafe is available. "ZybaCafe (formerly DireqCafe) is a next-generation free and open-source internet cafe management suite. ZybaCafe comprises a server-side administration suite, as well as clients to manage time-control on machines. The standard version uses postgresql as an RDBMS but porting it to other database systems should not be very difficult. ZybaCafe has a powerful plugin architecture allowing for easy extensibility and integration with other tools such as accounting packages and CRM systems."
Desktop Applications
Audio Applications
ghostess 20061127 released
Version 20061127 of ghostess, a lightweight Gtk+ host for DSSI audio plugins, has been released. Changes include patch list export capabilities for Freewheeling, support for the latest version of JACK, MIDI blinking lights, bug fixes and more.jack_oscrolloscope 0.1 announced
Version 0.1 of jack_oscrolloscope, a realtime waveform viewer that works with the JACK Audio Connection Kit, is out. This is the initial release.
Desktop Environments
GNOME 2.16.2 Released
Version 2.16.2 of the GNOME desktop environment is out. "This is the second release in a series of point releases for the 2.16 branch. Come and see all the bug fixing, all the new translations and all the updated documentations brought to you by the wonderful team of GNOME contributors! While development continues on the GNOME 2.17/2.18 road, we didn't forget about making a new release that is rock solid. And simply better than the previous one."
GARNOME 2.16.2 released
Version 2.16.2 of GARNOME, the bleeding edge GNOME distribution, is out. "This release incorporates the GNOME 2.16.2 Desktop and Developer Platform, fine-tuned and updated with love by the GARNOME Team. As usual it includes updates and fixes after the official GNOME freeze, together with a host of third-party GNOME packages, Bindings and the Mono(tm) Platform -- this is the third release of the current stable GNOME branch, ironing out yet-more bugs, hopefully adding yet-more stability, definitely including a bunch of security fixes and ships with the latest and greatest stable releases."
GNOME Software Announcements
The following new GNOME software has been announced this week:- F-Spot 0.3.0 (new features, bug fixes and documentation work)
- GAlbum 0.1 (early prototype)
- Gazpacho 0.7.0 (new features and bug fixes)
- GDM2 2.16.3 (new features, bug fixes and translation work)
- gnome-pilot 2.0.15 (bug fixes)
- gtranslator-1.1.7 (new features, bug fixes and translation work)
- Planner 0.14.2 (bug fixes)
- Tomboy 0.5.1 (new features and bug fixes)
KDE Software Announcements
The following new KDE software has been announced this week:- digikam 0.9.0-rc1 (new features and bug fixes)
- K3b 1.0 beta1 (new features and bug fixes)
- KTorrent 2.1beta1 (new features and bug fixes)
KDE Commit-Digest (KDE.News)
The November 26, 2006 edition of the KDE Commit-Digest has been announced. The content summary says: "Dolphin, an alternative file manager, is imported into KDE SVN. Work on session management in Kontact becomes visible with the implementation of state remembering for tabs in aKregator. Mailody gets a better SMTP implementation, with authentication support. Many functionality improvements in Okular. An experimental generic API for integration of more online music store services (following the example of the Magnatune implementation) is proposed and developed in Amarok. Continued speed and memory optimisations in KOffice and KDE 4 (via. kdelibs)."
Xorg Software Announcements
The following new Xorg software has been announced this week:- randrproto 1.2.0 (new features)
- rendercheck 1.2 (new features and bug fixes)
- xf86-video-s3 0.5.0 (bug fix)
Encryption Software
GnuPG 2.0.1 released
Stable version 2.0.1 of GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG) has been released. "This is maintenance release to fix build problems found after the release of 2.0.0 and to fix a buffer overflow in gpg2". LWN recently looked at the new features in GnuPG 2.0.0.
Dirmngr 1.0.0 released
Dirmngr version 1.0.0 is out with bug fixes. "Dirmngr is a server for managing and downloading certificate revocation lists (CRLs) for X.509 certificates and for downloading the certificates themselves. Dirmngr also handles OCSP requests as an alternative to CRLs. Dirmngr is either invoked internally by gpgsm (from GnuPG-2) or when running as a system daemon through the dirmngr-client tool."
Financial Applications
SQL-Ledger 2.6.20 released
Version 2.6.20 of SQL-Ledger, a web-based accounting package, is out with several bug fixes. See the What's New document for change details.
Games
News on The Saga of Ryzom and Nevrax going into receivership
Quim Rovira has sent in news on the creation of the Free Ryzom Project. "A pro-opensource user community has started an initiative targeting to set one of the most popular MMORPGs free under the terms of the General Public License. It started when the company behind The Saga of Ryzom, and service provider for the online game, called Nevrax, announced on Monday 20th November on ryzom.com official web page that they are entering a liquidation process, entering negotiations with interested companies whom might take over the current project. Facing this situation, players, some old nevrax team members and other opensource sympathisers have positioned in favor of a free software alternative for the game."
Frozen-Bubble 2.1.0 released
Version 2.1.0 of the game Frozen-Bubble has been announced. "Frozen-Bubble 2.1.0 is released to fix all the bugs encountered in 2.0.0 (all reported aborts should be fixed) and add a few interesting small features."
Graphics
pycairo 1.2.6 released
Version 1.2.6 of pycairo, a set of Python bindings for Cairo graphics library, has been announced, it features bug and build fixes and a few method changes.
GUI Packages
pyFltk 1.1.1 announced
Version 1.1.1 of pyFltk, the Python language interface to the Fast Light ToolKit, has been announced. "This is a maintenance release, containing various bug fixes, improved memory management, and the fixing of several compilation issues."
Imaging Applications
giv 0.3.16 released
Version 0.3.16 of giv, the G(reat|tk|NU) Image Viewer, is out with bug fixes and other improvements. See the change log for more information.
Interoperability
Wine 0.9.26 released
Version 0.9.26 of Wine has been announced. Changes include: Better support for Unix locale settings, Improved X11 keyboard support, Various MSI fixes, Winecfg improvements and Lots of bug fixes.
Music Applications
Jackbeat 0.6 announced
Version 0.6 of Jackbeat, an audio sequencer, is out. Changes include improvements to the drum machine interface, improvements to the JACK realtime thread, completion of the OS X port, and bug fixes.
Office Suites
First KOffice 1.6 Maintenance Release Available (KDE.News)
KDE.News has posted an announcement for the first KOffice 1.6 maintenance release. "Many bugs in Kexi and Krita as well as in most other components were fixed, thanks to the helpful input of our users. We also have updated languages packs."
Video Applications
ARToolKit 2.72 released (SourceForge)
Version 2.72 of the Augmented Reality Tool Kit (ARToolKit), a video capture toolkit, is out. "ARToolKit 2.72 contains a number of improvements over previous releases, with several of these focussed on the video capture libraries. Wayne Piekarski and Hartmut Seichter have substantially updated the Linux video input and added Pointgrey and Gstreamer video capture."
Schrodinger 0.3.0 released
Stable version 0.3.0 of Schrodinger has been announced. "Schrodinger is an implementation of the Dirac video codec, a modern wavelet-based video codec. It features both an encoder and a decoder and GStreamer plugins. Mappings have also been developed for putting Dirac into both the Ogg container format and the MPEG Transport stream container format."
Miscellaneous
gMobileMedia 0.1.2 released
Version 0.1.2 of gMobileMedia is out with usability improvements. "gMobileMedia is a simple gtk application used to browse and handle a mobile phone filesystem, it can handle phones with more than one memory area (thanks to gammu)." gMobileMedia is primarily targeted at Nokia cell phones.
OmegaT 1.6.1 released (SourceForge)
Version 1.6.1 of OmegaT has been announced. "OmegaT is a free and open source multiplatform Computer Assisted Translation tool with fuzzy matching, translation memory, keyword search, glossaries, and translation leveraging into updated projects. Didier Briel kindly contributed a file filter for HTML Help Compiler files. That, together with an important bug fix and a couple minor enhancements, gave us enough reason to get another release out, so here's OmegaT version 1.6.1."
Languages and Tools
Caml
Caml Weekly News
The November 28, 2006 edition of the Caml Weekly News is out with new Caml language articles.
Haskell
Haskell Weekly News
The November 22, 2006 edition of the Haskell Weekly News is online. This week a new release of the Haskell XML Toolbox, and details for the inaugural Haskell Hackathon are announced. And the HWN half century of issues is on the board!Haskell Weekly News
The November 28, 2006 edition of the Haskell Weekly News is online. Automated testing fever strikes the Haskell camp, with three new QuickCheck-related libraries and tools released.
Perl
This week on the Perl 6 mailing lists (O'Reilly)
The November 19-25, 2006 edition of the Weekly Perl 6 mailing list summary is out with coverage of the latest Perl 6 developments.
Python
Dr. Dobb's Python-URL!
The November 27, 2006 edition of Dr. Dobb's Python-URL! is online with a new collection of Python article links.python-dev Summary
The python-dev Summary is out with coverage of the python-dev mailing list for the period of October 16-31, 2006.python-dev Summary
The python-dev Summary is out with coverage of the python-dev mailing list for the period of November 1-15, 2006.The Python Papers
Volume 1, Issue 1 of The Python Papers is available for free download. "This issue covers Python programming idioms and MontyLingua, an integral part of ConceptNet which is currently the largest commonsense knowledge base."
Tcl/Tk
Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL!
The November 28, 2006 edition of Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL! is online with new Tcl/Tk articles and resources.
Build Tools
CMake 2.4.4 available
Version 2.4.4 of CMake, a cross-platform version of Make, is out with a long list of new capabilities and bug fixes.
IDEs
JasperSoft Integrates iReport into Eclipse (SourceForge)
JasperSoft Corporation has announced the integration of the iReport Plug-in with the Eclipse platform. iReport includes: "a graphical report designer that lets developers using Eclipse quickly add sophisticated reports to their applications. JasperSoft's new Eclipse plug-in, as well as the iReport designer application and the JasperReports reporting libraries are all freely available for download and use under open source licenses."
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