Development
The Rivendell Radio Automation System
A new project, known as the Rivendell Radio Automation System, has been announced. The initial beta version of the software is now available. Rivendell has been released under the GNU General Public License.
Rivendell aims to be a complete radio broadcast automation solution,
with facilities for the acquisition, management, scheduling and
playout of audio content.
The system is being developed by
Salem Radio Labs:
"This group is responsible for development of new systems and applications. With a primary focus on development of Linux-based Open Source systems, these applications are designed to be accessible and useful to the entire Christian Broadcasting community.
"
The software looks like it would also be a good fit for
community broadcast stations that operate with limited funds.
Currently, Rivendell consists of the following tools:
- RDAdmin - a tool for system configuration and management.
- RDLogEdit - a tool for editing program logs.
- RDLibrary - a tool for maintaining an audio content library.
- RDAirPlay - a live audio playback application.
- RDCatch - an automatic recorder for incoming audio feeds.
Some of the Rivendell features include:
- Designed for efficient on-the-air use by professional broadcasters.
- Support for (optional) touch screen input.
- Completely GUI-controlled configuration.
- A playback system for both live-assist and walk-away operation.
- A built-in audio file library.
- Support for cart-style (short segment) programming.
- A Cut Marker Editor for adding segues, timers, and transition features.
- FreeDB support for deriving CD track information.
- Built-in control for approved audio devices.
- Support for external broadcast switching and satellite receiver hardware.
- Support for PCM16 and MPEG Layer 2 audio file formats.
- Works with analog and AES3 (digital) audio streams.
- Integrated program log editing system with support for multiple automation logs.
The Screen Shot Gallery is worth looking over, it shows many of the capabilities of the various system tools.
In all, Rivendell looks to be a nicely designed system that could prove to be very useful for a wide range of radio broadcasters.
System Applications
Audio Projects
JACK 0.92.0 released
Version 0.92.0 of JACK, the JACK Audio Connection Kit, is out with bug fixes and other minor changes.Planet CCRMA Changes
The latest changes from the Planet CCRMA audio utility packaging project include new versions of Hydrogen, the MCP, REV, and VCO plugins, and the Alsa Modular Synth.
Database Software
MySQL Version 4.0.17 Now Available
Version 4.0.17 of the MySQL database has been announced. "This is a maintenance release for the current MySQL production version, and it is now available in source and binary form from the MySQL download pages. MySQL 4.0.17 resolves all valid bugs identified by Reasoning Inc. and reported in a press release titled, Reasoning Study Reveals Code Quality of MySQL Open Source Database Ranks Higher than Commercial Equivalents. Reasoning's inspection study shows that the code quality of MySQL is six times better than that of comparable proprietary code."
PostgreSQL 7.4.1 Released
Version 7.4.1 of the PostgreSQL database is out. "Its been almost 4 weeks since PostgreSQL 7.4 was released, and, as with all new releases, several bugs have been identified as administrators migrate their production databases up from older releases."
PostgreSQL Weekly News
The December 15, 2003 edition of the PostgreSQL Weekly News is out with the latest PostgreSQL database news.PostgreSQL Weekly News
The December 22, 2003 edition of the PostgreSQL Weekly News is out with even more PostgreSQL database news.SwingSet 0.6.0-beta released
Version 0.6.0-beta of SwingSet, "an open source Java toolkit that allows the standard Java Swing components to be made database-aware", is out. "
The latest release includes utilities for developing data grids, so that datasheet/spreadsheet/table views of database queries can be added to Java graphical user interfaces (GUI's). Version 0.6.0 also adds "masked" editing of text to provide greater control over user input."
Mail Software
milter-sender 0.49 released
Version 0.49 of milter/sender, an email spam filter, is available. "I'm releasing milter-sender/0.49 with a specific fix to block attempts to use milter-sender's callback to provide an indirect means of probing for valid email addresses, which I recent discovered being done on my server. Also provided a workaround option -H to disable the "claims to be us" test for some situations." A new version of MailShell Tool has also been announced.
Sendmail 8.12.0.Beta0 released
Version 8.12.0.Beta0 of Sendmail has been announced. The description says: "It contains several enhancements for the handling of queue ids, and fixes for problems when creating qf files (which were introduced in 8.12.10)."
TMDA 1.0 final available
Version 1.0 final of TMDA has been announced. "After nearly three years of collaborative hacking, TMDA 1.0 has been released. This release is highly stable, and is in production level use at many locations. TMDA is a pure-python open source anti-spam system and local mail delivery agent for Unix and Unix-like systems. TMDA fights spam using a combination of whitelists, blacklists, challenge/response system, and tagged addresses, which are special-purpose e-mail addresses such as time-dependent addresses, and addresses which only accept certain kinds of communication."
Security
Sussen 0.7 Released (GnomeDesktop)
Version 0.7 of Sussen, and new versions of related software are available. "After a brief hiatus, we're back, just in time for Christmas. MMG Security is pleased to announce the release of sussen v0.7, sussen-sensor v0.2, and sussen-plugins v0.2. Sussen is a security scanner which remotely tests computers or other devices and provides a report on their vulnerabilities. It features Python-based security tests, a GNOME interface, a GNOME-DB backend, and customizable reports."
Web Site Development
Araneida 0.83 and CLiki 0.4.2 released
New versions of Araneida and CLiki are available. "CLiki is a Wiki-style collaborative authoring environment with which the popular Lisp community site with the same name is implemented. Araneida is the HTTP server on which the CLiki infrastructure is based. Both CLiki and Araneida are written in Common Lisp."
Roll your own secret Santa Web application (IBM developerWorks)
Merlin Hughes shows how to build a Secret Santa application on IBM's developerWorks. "For the uninitiated (as I was just a short time ago), a secret Santa is a solution to the excesses of holiday gift-giving in a large family. Instead of each family member giving a gift to every other family member, each person picks a name from a hat and anonymously gives a gift to that one recipient. Each person therefore gives and receives just a single gift. This article presents a J2EE implementation of a secret Santa."
Miscellaneous
gmodconfig 0.6 released (GnomeDesktop)
Version 0.6 of gmodconfig has been announced. "gmodconfig aims to provide a simple way for end-users to download, install, configure and update Linux kernel modules, in the language of their choosing, through an easy-to-use graphic interface. This release provides the core of gmodconfig as a Bonobo control. On Linux this enables applications to easily provide a driver configuration and installation interface to their users."
Desktop Applications
Audio Applications
Tkeca 3.2.1 released
Version 3.2.1 of Tkeca, a gui-frontend to the Ecasound multitrack audio utility, has been released. This version fixes several bugs.
Desktop Environments
A Preview of Qt/KDE Accessibility
KDE.News looks at new accessibility features for Qt and KDE. "With the new Qt-ATK bridge, Qt/KDE applications will integrate seamlessly with existing assistive technologies on GNU/Linux desktops as well as other Unixes that support Sun's accessibility framework."
KDE-CVS-Digest
The December 19, 2003 KDE-CVS-Digest is out with another round of KDE news. The KDE.News summary says: "In this week's KDE-CVS-Digest: KImageMapEditor, an HTML image map editor is now part of Quanta. KConfEdit now supports editing remote KDE configurations over a network. KChart gets update from KD Chart. Kapture, an APT frontend for KDE and KDebConf, a Debian configuration front-end, were imported into the repository."
XFce 4.0.2 is out!
Version 4.0.2 of XFce, a lightweight desktop environment, has been announced. The Change Log says: "Xfce 4.0.2 is the third release of the stable 4.0 tree. This tree will only see bug fixes and new translations added. No new feature will be added to the 4.0 tree."
XFree86 4.4.0 RC 2 available
The second release candidate for XFree86 4.4.0 has been announced. "We have another Release Candidate for the 4.4.0 release. The last one, well she did not make it. It was a glorious death though, and she should be proud. This next one though, Candidate Number 2, it's got potential. It's better than the first. It's stronger, with more fixes. We think this one looks good! On the downside of things, we are slightly off-track for making the original Release Target, as we have to through the whole cycle again to see if this Candidate is as good as we think. So a lot of checking, poking, probing and testing to make sure that this Candidate is stable and secure enough to be marked with the highest accolade that this Project can bestow Release."
Financial Applications
SQL-Ledger 2.2.2 released
Version 2.2.2 of SQL-Ledger, a web-based accounting system, has been announced. The What's New page documents the changes.
Games
Marauroa 0.11 released (SourceForge)
Version 0.11 of Marauroa is available. "Marauroa wants to be a massive multiplayer role playing game that you can access through your internet connection. It is a virtual world, and you have an unprecedented degree of freedom to shape your own destiny. Social interaction, combat, or just hanging out with friends will all be parts of your experience." This version features lots of bug fixes.
NetHack 3.4.3 Release (SourceForge)
Version 3.4.3 of the game NetHack is available. "With the November tournament period now over it is time for the NetHack DevTeam to release NetHack 3.4.3, the third bugfix release for NetHack 3.4."
Atari800 1.3.2 released (SourceForge)
Version 1.3.2 of Atari800, an Atari game platform emulator, is available.
GUI Packages
FLTK Updates
New versions of FLU, a small collection of FLTK Widgets, and flPhoto, an image archive, have been announced on the FLTK site.
Imaging Applications
gThumb 2.2.0 released (GnomeDesktop)
Version 2.2.0 of gThumb, an image viewing application, has been announced. "Since the development version 2.1.4 was released, August 9 2003, I've not added any new features, but fixed as many bugs as possible trying to make the 2.2.0 release a very stable version."
LinPHA 0.9.1 released (SourceForge)
Version 0.9.1 of LinPHA, the Linux PHoto Archive, has been announced. "This release adds a Web-based filemanager with upload capabilities and a much more cleaner CSS layout which allows you to create your own styles by changing just one file. A new theme called iLinPHA, a new fullscreen slideshow, and support for viewing 360 degrees panorama images (PTViewer) were added. Support for "vservers" was improved, and many other fixes and improvements were made."
Interoperability
Vstserver 0.3.0 released
Version 0.3.0 of Vstserver, a library for running windows vst audio plugins under Unix, is out with a number of bug fixes.Wine Traffic
Issue #201 of Wine Traffic has been published. Take a look to see the latest Wine discussions.
Multimedia
GStreamer 0.7.3 released
Version 0.7.3 of the GStreamer streaming multimedia framework is available. "The goal of this release series is to stabilize it towards a 0.8 release series which will be part of the GNOME 2.6 releases and hopefully eventually KDE 4.x. The 0.7 series is a development series and is aimed at developers."
RTMix 0.76 released
Version 0.76 of RTMix, an interactive multimedia performance system, is out. The main change involves RTMix joining the AGNULA project.
Music Applications
gmorgan 0.19 released
Version 0.19 of gmorgan, a rhythm station, is out. "This version is internationalized with gettext. French and Spanish languages and full documentation in pdf and Open Office formats has been added."
horgand 1.04 released
Version 1.04 of horgand, an FM synthesis organ application, is available and features a number of bug fixes as well as work on the default bank system.Hydrogen 0.8.1 released
Version 0.8.1 of Hydrogen, an advanced drum machine, is out with a pile of new features.
Office Suites
KOffice 1.3 Christmas Preview
A preview release of KOffice 1.3 has been announced. "The official release of KOffice 1.3 was originally planned for this week but since many people are already preparing themselves for the upcoming end-of-year festivities we are afraid that binary packages may not become available for all platforms in time. For that reason we have decided to release a special KOffice 1.3 Christmas Preview for all of you who can't wait to give this new KOffice a try over the upcoming holidays."
Video Applications
PupuEdit 0.0.2 Released (GnomeDesktop)
Version 0.0.2 of PupuEdit is available. "Pupuedit is a non-linear video editor for atleast Linux. Written in C++ and it is using OpenGL, Gtkmm, hopefully GStreamer(mm) or OpenML, libGlade. Features intuitive user interface, channel based editing of video and audio. Offline editing is the first aim."
Web Browsers
Branch Cut for Mozilla Firebird 0.8 (MozillaZine)
MozillaZine has an announcement for a new Mozilla Firebird web browser branch. "A branch has been created for the forthcoming release of Mozilla Firebird 0.8. The branch will allow Firebird 0.8 work to continue without the uncertainity caused by the daily changes made to the main Mozilla development trunk (currently frozen for Mozilla 1.6). However, critical trunk fixes will be merged into the new Firebird 0.8 branch."
Galeon 1.3.11a released (GnomeDesktop)
Version 1.3.11a of Galeon, an minimalistic web browser, has been announced. "Crispin Flowerday wrote: We are pleased to announce a brand new release of Galeon. This release contains quite a lot of bug fixes, and, all being well, will be the last bonoboui based release of Galeon. The future is libegg, and Gtk 2.4."
Mozilla Branches for Final 1.6 Release (MozillaZine)
MozillaZine has a report on the Mozilla 1.6 branch status. "Yesterday, Mozilla branched for the forthcoming 1.6 release and the trunk opened for 1.7 Alpha development. It is now expected that the final 1.6 builds will not be available before Christmas and the milestone is currently slated for an early January launch. Look for release candidates of 1.6 early next week."
mozilla.org Staff Meeting Minutes (MozillaZine)
The minutes are available for the December 15, 2003 mozilla.org staff meeting. "Issues discussed include Mozilla 1.6 final, localisations, the mozilla.org website, Mozilla Firebird 0.8, Camino 0.8 and Talkback."
Minutes of the mozdev Admin Meeting (MozillaZine)
The minutes are available for the December 19, 2003 mozdev admin meeting. "Issues discussed include the mozdev newsfeed, a standardised date format, the Board of Directors, redesigning the website and upgrading Bugzilla."
Independent Status Reports (MozillaZine)
The December 21, 2003 version of the Mozilla Independent Status Reports are available. "The latest set of status reports include updates from Forumzilla, Bugxula, MozManual, Moji, ConQuery, Launchy, Keyword Repository and Xprint."
Word Processors
AbiWord 2.1.0 (development snapshot) released (GnomeDesktop)
Version 2.1.0 of AbiWord has been announced. "Three months and 73,000 lines of code after our 2.0 release, the AbiWord team is pleased to announce the first snapshot of our new development branch, AbiWord-2.1.0. This branch will eventually become AbiWord-2.2."
Languages and Tools
Caml
Caml Weekly News
The Caml Weekly News for December 16-23, 2003 is out. Topics include SWIG-1.3.20, ChartPak 1.0a2 -- an OCaml-based Web graphics tool, and Automake support for OCaml.
Java
Top 15 Ant Best Practices (O'Reilly)
Eric M. Burke gives some tips on the use of Ant. "Before Ant, building and deploying Java applications required a hodgepodge of platform-specific scripts, makefiles, proprietary IDEs, or manual processes. Now, nearly every open source Java project uses Ant. A great number of companies use Ant for internal projects as well. The widespread use of Ant in these projects has naturally led to an increased need for a set of well-established best practices. This article summarizes several of my favorite Ant tips or best practices."
Java-Gnome 0.8.2 released (GnomeDesktop)
Version 0.8.2 of Java-Gnome, a set of libraries for creating GTK+ and GNOME applications under Java, is available. "The restructuring of the source tree was done so that we can comply with the rules of the new GNOME bindings release set. This is a new group containing gnome bindings, signifying quality of bindings; it is also the first step toward getting applications written in languages other than C accepted in the main gnome desktop."
Perl
Blosxoms, Bryars and Blikis (O'Reilly)
Simon Cozens writes about the application of Perl in the world of web logging. "Recently we heard from Kake Pugh about the OpenGuides project, a wiki-based collaborative city guide system; previously, we heard from Brian Ingerson about his Kwiki wiki implementation. Guides, wikis, blogs ... the new fashion in software engineering at the moment is the use of software to help organize, document, and facilitate collaboration -- the social software movement is gaining momentum, and Perl is one of the best languages for it. In this article we'll look not just at some of the existing social software tools in Perl (focusing, naturally, on my own Bryar blog toolkit), but we'll look at some ways to break, bend, and embed them in other tasks."
This Week on perl5-porters (use Perl)
The December 15-21, 2003 edition of This Week on perl5-porters has been published. "A year ends in the little world of the Perl 5 porters, and perl itself turns older. Hopefully this doesn't mean that the development is stalled. Read below what happened this week among the porters."
PHP
PHP 5.0 Beta 3 released!
The Beta 3 release of PHP 5 is available. "The third beta of PHP is also scheduled to be the last one (barring unexpected surprises). This beta incorporates dozens of bug fixes since Beta 2, better XML support and many other improvements, some of which are documented in the NEWS file."
Pitfalls of Transactions with PHP (O'Reilly)
Kimberlee Jensen writes about database transactions and PHP on O'Reilly. "Initially, the MySQL DBMS did not support transactions. As of version 3.23-max, MySQL supports transactions with two additional table types, InnoDB and BDB. InnoDB is recommended for its CPU efficiency and support of row-level and multiple-concurrency locking. Now that MySQL has full transaction support, PHP developers need to incorporate them effectively. Although PHP 4.x lacks native transaction functions, transaction statements can be used the same way as standard SQL queries."
Python
Python 2.3.3 released
Python 2.3.3 has been announced. "This is a bug-fix release for Python 2.3 that fixes a number of bugs, including a couple of serious errors with weakrefs and the cyclic garbage collector. There are also a number of fixes to the standard library". The release notes have all of the details.
PSF acquires python.org
Guido Van Rossum announced the acquisition of the python.org site by the Python Software Foundation. "The good news is that the PSF is now the official, proud owner of the domain, after a successful transfer from CNRI, which has taken good care of it for many years. Nothing will change operationally, with one exception mentioned below." That exception is the discontinuation of the Ultraseek-based Python search service.
Ruby
New Ruby Change Requests site
RCRchive is a new site for managing Ruby Change Requests (RCRs). Take a look to see how the language is evolving.
Shells
GUI for (shell-)script languages (GnomeDesktop)
GnomeDesktop.org covers the GTK-server project, which brings GUI development to shell scripts. "The concept of a GTK server was born. The basic idea behind this concept is a binary, which can be started from within a script. The script has to communicate with this binary by using 2-way pipes (stdin/stdout) or by using sockets (tcp). The script sends original GTK commands as plain text to the pipe or the socket, and the gtk-server sends information back which must be captured by the script."
XML
xmltramp and pxdom (O'Reilly)
Uche Ogbuji reviews xmltramp and pxdom on O'Reilly. "In this article I cover two XML processing libraries with very disjoint goals."
Content feeds with RSS 2.0 (IBM developerWorks)
James Lewin works with RSS 2.0 on IBM's developerWorks. "A lot has happened in the RSS world since developerWorks last looked at RSS: Two new specifications have come out, RSS has become one of the most popular XML standards, and tools and feeds are popping up everywhere. RSS has contributed to the explosion of weblogs, and it is becoming a standard part of other Web sites, too. This article reviews RSS 2.0, looks at new RSS developments, and jump-starts your understanding of this important format."
Atom Authentication (O'Reilly)
Mark Pilgrim covers authentication issues with Atom on O'Reilly. "I wish I didn't need to write this article. My life would be much simpler if Atom could just use existing HTTP authentication, as-is. But it can't; I'm going to tell you why and then I'm going to tell you what we're doing instead. Let's back up. Atom, in case you missed it, is a new standard that uses XML over HTTP to publish and syndicate web-based content."
Editors
Jext 3.2pre4 available
Version 3.2pre4 of Jext, a programmer's source code editor, is available. Change information is in the source code.
Miscellaneous
Synopsis 0.6 released
Version 0.6 of Synopsis, a source code documentation tool that works with IDL, C++, and Python, has been released: "I finally released synopsis 0.6 as the refactoring work stabilizes. More changes will come, but this is a major milestone that merrits a release, as everything appears to be stable and the new tutorial contains sufficient content to get users started."
Page editor: Forrest Cook
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