Development
gLabels Version 1.92.0
Version 1.92.0 (Unstable for GNOME 2) of gLabels was released earlier this month.
Essentially, gLabels is a customized drawing package with a specific purpose in mind, the creation of multiple labels that will be printed onto a sheet of adhesive labels.
To create a custom label, a specific label template is chosen, and a single label of the specified size is used as a drawing canvas. The following graphical objects are used to fill the individual label:
- Text
- Box/Rectangle
- Line
- Ellipse/Circle
- Image
- Barcode (12 different styles supported)
The application supports a huge list of label sizes and shapes, including address labels, business cards, CD/DVD labels, and more. If custom label sizes are required, documentation is available for creating new templates. Label templates are stored as XML files.
Take a look at the Screenshots page to see the application in use. System requirements and downloads of gLable are available here.
Applications like gLabels are exactly what Linux needs to become better established in the office environment. Here at LWN, gLabels is likely to find a use in the creation of labels for homebrew beer and mead.
For further reading, GnomeDesktop.org is currently running a review of gLabels.
System Applications
Audio Projects
Planet CCRMA Changes
The latest changes from the Planet CCRMA audio packaging project include new versions of Qjackctl, Gmorgan, Freqtweak, and Lilypond.Speex 1.1 Released
Version 1.1 (unstable) of Speex, an open-source speech CODEC, is out. New features include a denoiser, automatic gain control (AGC), experimental echo cancellation, a jitter buffer, and an improved narrowband mode. Testers are needed.
Database Software
iSQL-Viewer v2.1.6 Released (SourceForge)
Version 2.1.6 of iSQL-Viewer, a cross-platform JDBC 2.0-compliant database application, has been released. "Version 2.1.6 is officially out and ready for download. This version is fairly stable however there are some new features that need some time to stabilize with a bit more usage. I am however marking it as a beta release for this reason."
knoda 0.6.1-test3 released
A new test version of Knoda, a KDE-based database-frontend for Mysql, Postgresql and ODBC, is out. "The main feature of the next release will be the support of Python as scripting language, so it is possible to extend the capabilities of forms and reports. The feature has been implemented already and so it is time for testing and debugging."
PostgreSQL Weekly News
The September 18, 2003 edition of the PostgreSQL Weekly News is available with another weekly roundup of PostgreSQL database information.ZODB 3.2b3 released
Version 3.2b3 of ZODB, the Z Object Database, is out. "This release contains the last new work we plan to do before the ZODB 3.2 final release. We have fixed several bugs, including a deadlock problem that had been reported against 3.2b2."
Mail Software
milter-sender 0.38 released
A new release of milter/sender, a spam filter for sendmail, has been announced. "There have been lots of major fixes and enhancements since 0.36. Most notably a new build process using an autoconf built configure script. There is now support for plus detailed addresses, and an enhancement that allows you to block mail that resolve to Verisign's stupid wildcard domain server".
SpamAssassin 2.60 released
Version 2.60 of SpamAssassin, an email filter program, has been announced. This release features improvements to spamd, the Bayes engine, the HTML parser, the DNS blacklist system, the report system, and more.
Networking Tools
husky 1.4-RC2 released (SourceForge)
Version 1.4-RC2 of husky, a collection of Fidonet software, is available. "husky is a bunch of OS-independent software for fidonet. It consitsts of tosser hpt, fileechoprocessor htick, message editor msged TE, libraries fidoconfig, smapi etc. New Release Candidate is available now for downloading. It contains module 'husky-all' - all husky programs in one bundle."
InterMapper(R) 4.1.1 available
Version 4.1.1 of InterMapper, a cross-platform network monitoring and alerting application, is out with a number of new features.
Printing
Common UNIX Printing System 1.1.20rc2
Version 1.1.20rc2 of CUPS, the Common Unix Printing System, has been announced. "CUPS 1.1.20 is primarily a bug fix and performance tuning release and includes fixes for 64-bit platforms, deadlock problems in the signal handling code, PDF printing issues, web interface issues, and various operating system-specific issues. The new release also adds new CUPS API functions for reading and writing files via HTTP, performing authentication, and controlling the required PPD conformance level."
Web Site Development
The GNU BIS Open Source CRM application
Version crm-0.7 of the GNU BIS web-based Contact Relationship Management (CRM) application has been released.mnoGoSearch-php 3.2.2 released
Version 3.2.2 of mnoGoSearch-php, a PHP front-end to the mnoGoSearch web site search engine, has been released. This release features some compatibility fixes.
Desktop Applications
Desktop Environments
KDE-CVS-Digest
The September 19, 2003 edition of the KDE-CVS-Digest has been published. Here's the summary of contents: "KWin rewrite merged into mainline KDE. Optimizations in KAbc, the addressbook library and the Konqueror listview. QtRuby can work with KDE classes. KJSEmbed, a javascript implementation for KDE, now has SQL database bindings. Plus a large number of bugfixes."
Alpha Code Shows a Strong KDE 3.2 Ahead (eWeek)
eWeek plays with the first KDE 3.2 alpha. "In the alpha version we tested, KDE 3.2 impressed us with improvements to its Konqueror Web browser and file manager and with the addition of a handful of new applications, including Kopete, a multiprotocol instant messaging client."
Electronics
XCircuit 3.1.24 available
Version 3.1.24 of XCircuit, an electronic circuit drawing utility, has been released. Change information is in the source code.
Games
PCGen 5.3.9 is available (SourceForge)
Version 5.3.9 of PCGen, a Java-based RPG character generator, has been announced. "Data for the core 3.5e books is being actively developed on our yahoo site. It should soon be ready for inclusion in a beta release. After that release we will move PCGen to be based upon java 1.4, which means that releases after that will require users to download java 1.4."
Graphics
GSview 4.42 beta released
Version 4.42 beta of GSview, a PostScript viewer package, has been announced. A number of bugs have been fixed. "This should be the last beta before the 4.5 release, scheduled for mid October."
PyX 0.4.1 was released
Version 0.41 of PyX, a Python graphics package for creating encapsulated PostScript, has been released. See the CHANGES document for more information.
GUI Packages
Gtk2-Perl 1.00rc2 Released (GnomeDesktop)
GnomeDesktop.org has an announcement for version 1.00rc2 of Gtk2-Perl. "Gtk2-Perl allows Perl developers to write GTK+ 2.x applications. Handlers for the "response" signal of Gtk2::Dialog now receive proper enum values, thanks to infrastructure in Glib that now allows per-signal custom marshalers. Glib::PkgConfig has been broken out into a separately-distributed module, ExtUtils::PkgConfig. A code sweep to quell compiler warnings resulted in several other minor bugfixes."
SPTK 2.0 is released
Version 2.0 of SPTK, the Simply Powerful ToolKit, is out. "The major change is: the license changed from GPL to LGPL. Several people asked about it, and I don't see - why not :)"
wxWindows 2.4.2 has been released
Version 2.4.2 of wxWindows, a C++ GUI framework, has been released. "This is a bug fix release."
Interoperability
Wine Traffic
Issue #188 of Wine Traffic is online. Take a look to see what's happening in the world of WINdows Emulation (WINE).
Medical Applications
ODDB.org-Source ready for download. (LinuxMedNews)
LinuxMedNews reports on the release of the Open Drug DataBase source code. "The interesting part of our publication is that we are actually building our business model on OpenSource, giving away our code under the LGPL. Somehow it feels strange but on the other hand it feels really good."
Music Applications
Lilypond 1.9.8 released
Version 1.9.8 of Lilypond, a musical typesetting program, is out. "Relative to 1.9.7, it has a number of small bugfixes and sports dotted hairpin crescendos. However, this release also marks the end of my 2.0 release TODO list. In other words, 1.9.8 is the first (and hopefully only) LilyPond 2.0 release candidate."
Lemux version 0.2 released
Version 0.2 of Lemux, "a collection of (GPL) LADSPA instruments based on devices from the openMSX emulator and other sources, is available. In this release, all of the instruments work, and volumes have been normalized.Tutka 0.10.3 Released (GnomeDesktop)
GnomeDesktop.org has an announcement for version 0.10.3 of Tutka. "Tutka is a tracker style MIDI sequencer for Linux. It is similar to programs like SoundTracker, ProTracker and FastTracker except that it does not support samples and is meant for MIDI use only. Preferences using GConf have been added into the new version."
Office Applications
Evolution 1.4.5 released (GnomeDesktop)
Version 1.4.5 of Ximian Evolution, a personal and workgroup information management application, has been announced. "This update includes bug fixes as a result of community and customer feedback received since version 1.4.4."
Web Browsers
New Mozilla 1.4.1 Release Candidates Available (MozillaZine)
A new round of Mozilla 1.4.1 release candidates are available. "These new test builds are almost identical to the last set of 1.4.1 test builds, except for the inclusion of a fix for bug 216430."
Mozilla 1.5 Release Candidate 1 (MozillaZine)
Mozilla 1.5 Release Candidate 1 has been announced. "At least one more release candidate is expected before the final release of Mozilla 1.5."
Minutes of the mozilla.org Staff Meeting (MozillaZine)
The minutes for the September 15, 2003 Mozilla staff meeting are online. The MozillaZine Summary says: "Issues discussed include the purpose of the meetings, marketing and other issues."
Minutes from mozdev admin meeting
The minutes from the September 22, 2003 mozdev admin meeting have been published.
Word Processors
AbiWord Weekly News
Issue #161 and Issue #162 of the AbiWord Weekly News are online. Take a look for the latest AbiWord word processor news.
Languages and Tools
Caml
Caml Weekly News
The September 16-23, 2003 edition of the Caml Weekly News has been published, read more to find the latest Caml language news.
Java
JPTC 0.2.2 released (SourceForge)
JPTC 0.2.2 has been announced. "JPTC is a graphical tool for testing the performance of java-classes. JPTC is written using java and java-swing. The new release fixes some smaller bugs and adds new behaviour to the existing package".
Lisp
Common Lisp Utilities
A new Lisp-based project called Common Lisp Utilities has been launched. "Version 1.0, the first public release, contains code for data and control structures, financial functions, AI algorithms, math and cryptography."
Perl
This Week on perl5-porters (use Perl)
This Week on perl5-porters is out for September 15-21, 2003. "Those weeks, the perl 5 porters are in maintenance mood. Or in maintenance mode, if you prefer. Read about the progress made in the 5.8.x and 5.6.x branches."
Parrot v0.0.11 'Doubloon' released (use Perl)
Version 0.0.11 of Parrot, the Perl 6 virtual machine, is available. "This release features direct generation of executable binaries, dramatically improved documentation, and a built-in bread maker!"
Perl 5.8.1 RC5 is Out (use Perl)
Use Perl has the announcement for Perl 5.8.1 RC5. "Unless something serious is found in a few days, the final 5.8.1 will soon be released. The RC4 was out there for seven weeks or thereabouts, so nothing too horrible is to be expected. (Famous last words?)"
Cooking with Perl, Part 3 (O'Reilly)
O'Reilly has published another excerpt from the Perl Cookbook. "In this third and final batch of recipes excerpted from Perl Cookbook, you'll find solutions and code examples for extracting HTML table data, templating with HTML::Mason, and making simple changes to elements or text."
PHP
Turck MMCache for PHP version 2.4.0 is released (SourceForge)
Version 2.4.0 of Turck MMCache, a multiple-platform PHP accelerator, has been released. "Support for incomlete classes in mmcache_get() was implemented. Checking of proper PHP version was added. include('x.php'); include_once('x.php') bug with php-4.3.3 was fixed. Improper "Cannot redeclare ()" error was fixed."
PHP Weekly Summary for September 22, 2003
The PHP Weekly Summary for September 22, 2003 is out. Topics include: PECL gets a kick start, libgda extension, Modem status (Direct IO), More 64 bit, PHP surveys.
Python
Python 2.3.1 released
Python 2.3.1 has been released. "The Python Software Foundation (PSF) announces the release of version 2.3.1 of the Python programming language. This minor release introduces a number of enhancements based on two months of experience since release of version 2.3."
Python-dev Summary
The Python-dev summary for the first half of September is out; it looks at undocumented methods, adding features to maintenance releases (and 2.3.1 in particular), ambiguous imports, and more.Dr. Dobb's Python-URL!
The Dr. Dobb's Python-URL for the week of September 22, 2003 is available, with links and news for the Python community.Interactive Python
Simon Willison's Weblog has an article on using Python in interactive mode. "I adore the Python interactive interpreter. I use it for development (it's amazing how many bugs you can skip by testing your code line by line in the interactive environment), I use it for calculations, but recently I've also found myself using it just as a general tool for answering questions."
Smalltalk
Unix Squeak 3.6g-2 available
Version 3.6g-2 of the Unix Squeak Smalltalk implementation is available. See the release notes for more information.
Tcl/Tk
This week's Tcl-URL
Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL for September 24 is out; it looks at VirtualList, file I/O performance, and several other topics.
XML
An Introduction to StAX (O'Reilly)
Elliotte Rusty Harold introduces StAX on O'Reilly. "Now it's a year later, and I am very pleased to report that the next generation API is here. BEA Systems, working in conjunction with Sun, XMLPULL developers Stefan Haustein and Aleksandr Slominski, XML heavyweight James Clark, and others in the Java Community Process are on the verge of releasing StAX, the Streaming API for XML. StAX is a pull parsing API for XML which avoids most of the pitfalls I noted in XMLPULL. XMLPULL was a nice proof of concept. StAX is suitable for real work."
Grab headlines from a remote RSS file (IBM developerWorks)
Nicholas Chase explains the mining of RSF information on IBM's developerWorks. "In this article, Nick shows you how to retrieve syndicated content and convert it into headlines for your site. Since no official format for such feeds exists, aggregators are often faced with the difficulty of supporting multiple formats, so Nick also explains how to use XSL transformations to more easily deal with multiple syndication file formats."
Cross Assemblers
8085 Simulator for GNOME (GnomeDesktop)
GnomeDesktop.org mentions the GNUSim8085 project. "GNUSim8085 is a simulator and assembler for the Intel 8085 Microprocessor. You can write assembly code which can be assembled and simulated or debugged. You can also generate machine code listing." If only there were an equivalent package for the 68HC11, 68HC05, and Microchip PIC platforms. On that note, these projects are worthy of mention: the GNU PIC Utilities and the GNU Development Chain for 68HC11 and 68HC12.
Editors
Conglomerate 0.7.2 released
Version 0.7.2 of Conglomerate, an XML editor with an emphasis on DocBook, has been released.
IDEs
EsiObjects V4.1.1 Released (SourceForge)
Version 4.1.1 of EsiObjects, an Object Oriented Programming Language and Development Evironment, has been announced. "This is the latest development environment. It contains too many new features to list."
Version Control
SourceJammer 2.1.0.0 Released (SourceForge)
Version 2.1.0.0 of SourceJammer, a Java-based open-source source control, versioning, and file sharing system, has been announced. This version adds many new features and bug fixes.
Miscellaneous
Istrice 1.3 Released (SourceForge)
Version 1.3 of Istrice, a distributed compilation environment for Unix systems, has been announced. "This version fix same bug and a new distribuited algorithm is added."
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