Development
p0f, the Passive OS Fingerprinter
p0f, the passive OS fingerprinting tool, is a networking utility application that runs from a standard command line interface. It was written by Michal Zalewski, William Stearns, and others. p0f has been released under version 2.1 of the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL). p0f is cross-platform code, it runs on all of the major Unix variants and Windows.The project's README file explains how p0f works:
The passive OS fingerprinting technique is based on analyzing the
information sent by a remote host while performing usual communication
tasks - such as whenever a remote party visits your webpage, connecs to
your MTA - or whenever you connect to a remote system while browsing the
web or performing other routine tasks. In contrast to active
fingerprinting (with tools such as NMAP or Queso), the process of passive
fingerprinting does not generate any additional or unusual traffic,
and thus cannot be detected.
Captured packets contain enough information to identify the remote OS, thanks to subtle differences between TCP/IP stacks, and sometimes certain implementation flaws that, although harmless, make certain systems quite unique.
Some of the uses of p0f include profiling, policy enforcement, network troubleshooting, and seeing through a firewall.
Version 2.0.4 of p0f was announced this week, it features bug fixes, performance enhancements, and fingerprinting support for several additional network protocols including RST+ACK, SYN+ACK, masquerade and IP sharing. The README file has more information on what's new in this version. It is also a good place to read about the many command line options that p0f supports.
Building p0f 2.0.4 was a breeze, it involved downloading the code, un-tarring, and typing make. It built and ran with no trouble on several machines that were tested. If you are interested in improving the accuracy of p0f, click on the fingerprint submission page and give the developers some feedback on whether it identifies your system correctly.
System Applications
Audio Projects
Planet CCRMA Changes
The latest changes from the Planet CCRMA audio utility packaging project include updates to the CMT LADSPA Plugins, Xmms-ladspa, and the addition of the Planet CCRMA application meta packages for Fedora Core 2.vorbis 1.1 rc 1 now tagged in SVN
Version 1.1 rc 1 of the Vorbis audio codec is out. "We're gearing up to the next full release of the Vorbis codec; I've just tagged a release candidate in SVN in order to encourage wider testing toward final 1.1 release."
Database Software
Glom 0.8.7 released
Version 0.8.7 of Glom, a database table definition GUI, is out with field definition changes, bug fixes, and improved translations.Knoda 0.7 stable released
Stable version 0.7 of Knoda, a database frontend for Mysql, Postgresql, SQLite and ODBC, is out. Changes include a new GUI, a query by example GUI, an SQLite driver, storage for queries, forms, and reports, and bug fixes.phpPgAdmin 3.4.1 released (SourceForge)
Version 3.4.1 of phpPgAdmin, a web-based PostgreSQL database server admin tool, is out with several bug fixes.PostgreSQL Weekly News
The July 12, 2004 edition of the PostgreSQL Weekly News is available with the latest PostgreSQL database news.
Interoperability
dosemu 1.2.2 announced
Stable version 1.2.2 of dosemu, the DOS emulator, is out. Changes include backported features from the development version, support for GCC 3.4 and Fedora Core 2, and lots of bug fixes.dosemu 1.3.1 released
Developer version 1.3.1 of dosemu, the DOS emulator, is out with many changes and bug fixes.Samba 3.0.5rc1 Available for Download
Version 3.0.5rc1 of Samba is available. "There have been several bug fixes since the 3.0.4 release that we feel are important to make available to the Samba community for wider testings."
Security
logcheck 1.2.23 announced
Version 1.2.23 of logcheck, a logfile security checker, is available. Changes include non-root operation, new rules, a testing mode, bug fixes, and more.
Web Site Development
eGroupWare 1.0 RC7 released (SourceForge)
Version 1.0 RC7 of eGroupWare, a multi-user, web-based groupware suite, is available. "RC7 will be the last release candidate for eGroupWare 1.0. When we don't have critical bugs in RC7, eGroupWare 1.0 will be released in the next days. Testing is encouraged."
mnoGoSearch 3.2.19 released
Version 3.2.19 of the mnoGoSearch web site search engine is out with several bug fixes. See the Change Log for details.
Desktop Applications
Accessibility
gnopernicus 0.9.6 released
Version 0.9.6 of gnopernicus, a GNOME screen reader for the visually impaired, is available. Changes include new and improved translations, improvements to the magnifier, speech, and presentation sections, and more.
Desktop Environments
Announcing KDE 3.3 Beta 1 (KDE.News)
The Beta 1 release of KDE 3.3 has been announced. "As another step towards the aKademy in late August, this release is named Klassroom. This beta release shows astonishing stability, so the KDE team asks everyone to try the version and give feedback through the bug tracking system. For packages, please visit the KDE 3.3 Beta 1 Info Page and browse the KDE 3.3 Requirements list. The Konstruct build toolset has been updated for this release."
KDE-CVS-Digest (KDE.News)
The July 9, 2004 edition of the KDE-CVS-Digest is online. "In this week's KDE CVS-Digest: Query designer in Kexi now has the ability to switch between visual and SQL mode. KPresenter improves page effects. Krita adds computing histograms. amaroK adds support for streaming over any supported KIO protocol. Many bugfixes in aKregator, Kopete and Umbrello."
Quickies: Logical Desktop, KDE-apps.de, Qt/Mac Dev Contest, Digikam (KDE.News)
The latest KDE Quickies article looks at the Logical Desktop, Digikam, and more.KDE Configuration Tamers (KDE.News)
KDE.News looks at three new GUI-based configuration tools, Kiosk Admin Tool, KConfigEditor, and KCfgCreator. "We introduce three applications which let administrators and developers take full control over their desktops."
XFce 4.0.6 released (SourceForge)
Version 4.06 of the lightweight XFce desktop environment has been announced. "This is a maintenance release, aimed at bug-fixing."
Financial Applications
SQL-Ledger 2.4.0 is out
Version 2.4.0f of SQL-Ledger, a web-based accounting package, has been announced. A long list of improvements are included in this release.
Games
mapacman 0.90 released (SourceForge)
Version 0.90 of mapacman, a multiplayer online pacman clone, is out. "This is the last release of mapacman because as you know our goal is to create a real online multiplayer RPG and not a pacman game :)"
GUI Packages
Bakery 2.3.8 announced
Version 2.3.8 of Bakery, a C++ Framework for creating document-based GNOME applications, is out with one bug fix.Fl_PlotXY V1.0.4 released
Version 1.0.4 of Fl_PlotXY, an XY plotting widget for FLTK, has been released. The changes are: "Has Major bug fixes, and some added features. Development will now slow as it is suitable for what I designed it for."
GLib 2.4.4 released
Version 2.4.4 of GLib, the low-level core library for GTK+ and GNOME, is out. Changes include bug fixes, documentation updates, and improved translations.GTK+ 2.4.4 released
Version 2.4.4 of GTK+ is available with lots of bug fixes and other improvements.pygtk 0.6.12 announced
Version 0.6.12 of PyGTK, the Python bindings to GTK, is available. "This version includes a small number of bugfixes and two API additions which have been incorporated during the last two years of stability."
Qt 4 technology preview release
Trolltech has announced a "technology preview" release of the Qt 4 libraries. Qt 4 has a lot of new stuff, including the "Arthur" painting framework, a new Unicode text renderer, more container class templates, and "a modern action-based mainwindow/toolbar/menu and docking architecture."
Instant Messaging
Initial Release of Gaim-RSS-Reader (SourceForge)
A new project, the Gaim-RSS-Reader, has been announced. "This is the initial beta release of gaim-rss-reader, a RSS feed reading plugin for the popular multi-protocol chat client GAIM."
Interoperability
Music Applications
BEAST/BSE v0.6.2 is available
Version 0.6.2 of BEAST/BSE, the BEdevilled Audio SysTem and the Bedevilled Sound Engine, is out. "This new development series of BEAST comes with a lot of the internals redone, many new GUI features and a sound generation back-end separated from all GUI activities. Outstanding new features include support for skins, many sample file formats, MIDI file import abilities, an improved piano roll widget, the track editor which allows for easy selection of synthesisers or samples as track sources, loop support in songs and unlimited Undo/Redo capabilities."
libgig 0.7.1 announced
Version 0.7.1 of libgig is available. "libgig is a C++ cross-platform file loader library for Gigasampler and DLS Level 1 and 2 files."
Office Applications
criawips 0.0.6 is available
Version 0.0.6 of criawips, a presentation application for GNOME, is available. "This version improves the text handling for people who are using the main window to preview presentations. The text scales with other elements when zooming and the text is automatically resiyed to the correct size when opening a presentation."
Planner 0.12 released
Version 0.12 of Planner, a project management application for GNOME, is out. Changes include undo support, better printing and HTML export, usability fixes, bug fixes, and more.
Office Suites
KOffice 1.3.2 available
KOffice 1.3.2 is out; see the release notes for details and downloads. This is mostly a bugfix release, but there are also some filter enhancements and a translation for the Upper Sorbian language.
Web Browsers
Epiphany 1.3.2 released
Version 1.3.2 of Epiphany, a web browser for GNOME, is out with bug fixes and translation work.Epiphany Extensions 1.1.1
Version 1.1.1 of the Epiphany extensions is available with bug fixes, new translations, and more.New Firefox 1.0 roadmap
A new Firefox 1.0 roadmap has been posted. The plan calls for the first 1.0 release candidate to come out on August 10, with the final release scheduled for September 14.Mozilla Links Newsletter
The July 8, 2004 edition of the Mozilla Links Newsletter is available. Take a look for news about the Mozilla browser and related projects.Independent Status Reports (MozillaZine)
The July 12, 2004 edition of the Mozilla Independent Status Reports are available. Here's the content summary: "The latest set of status reports includes updates from deskCut, Launchy, Dictionarysearch, Citations and Mnenhy."
Word Processors
AbiWord Weekly News
Issue #203 of the AbiWord Weekly News is online. Here's the content summary: "Tables now have the ability to summarise rows & columns. The AbiMath handler has just been branched to be incorporated with 2.3/2.4. And, naturally, we have GUADEC information (no one posted picture this time :*( )"
Miscellaneous
Alexandria 0.3.1
Version 0.3.1 of Alexandria, a book collection management application for GNOME, is out. "This is mainly a bugfix release. If you are using Alexandria you should consider upgrading, since a lot of bugs have been discovered and are now fixed."
Hardware Monitor applet 1.2 released
Version 12. of the Hardware Monitor applet is available. This version now supports (and requires) Gnome 2.6.regexxer 0.8 announced
Version 0.8 of regexxer, a search/replace tool for the desktop user, has been announced. Changes include support for new libraries, UI improvements, bug fixes, and more.
Languages and Tools
Caml
Caml Weekly News
The July 6-13, 2004 edition of the Caml Weekly News is available. Take a look for the latest Caml language news.
Lisp
CL-PPCRE 0.7.8 released
Version 0.7.8 of CL-PPCRE, a Perl-compatible regular expression library written in Common Lisp, is out. "This version adds a new argument for REGEX-REPLACE(-ALL) and new compiler macro functionality."
LTK 0.8.5 released
Version 0.8.5 of LTK, the Common Lisp binding for the Tk graphics toolkit, has been released. "This version includes new generic functions for text and value widgets, new keywords, new widgets, and more."
Perl
Perl 5.8.5 RC2 is out (use Perl)
Perl 5.8.5 RC2 has been announced. "This is a regular maintenance release for perl 5.8.x, providing bug fixes and integrating module updates from CPAN."
This Week on perl5-porters (use Perl)
The July 5-11, 2004 edition of This Week on perl5-porters has been published. Here's the content summary: "Perl 5.8.5 approaches, and the two release candidates of this week prove it."
This Week on Perl 6
The July 4, 2004 edition of This Week on Perl 6 is out with another week's worth of Perl 6 development news.
PHP
Building a PHP Front Controller (O'ReillyNet)
Ethan McCallum shows how to build a PHP-based Front Controller on O'Reilly. "It's a rare web app that doesn't span multiple pages. It's also rare that such an app doesn't have some common behavior. The Front Controller design pattern can simplify processing, behavior, and the user experience. Ethan McCallum explains how to use this in your applications."
Python
Python 2.4, alpha 1
Python 2.4 alpha 1 is out, and ready for testing. "In this release we have a number of new modules, a number of existing modules that have been reimplemented in C for speed, a large number of improvements and additions to existing modules and an even larger list of bugs squished."
Dr. Dobb's Python-URL!
The July 12, 2004 edition of Dr. Dobb's Python-URL! is online with new Python language article links.python-dev Summary
The June 16-30, 2004 edition of the python-dev Summary is available with another round of Python language articles.
Scheme
Schemer's Gazette 1
Issue #1 of the Schemer's Gazette (formerly the Scheme Weekly News) is available with a new collection of Scheme language articles.
Tcl/Tk
IDEs
Beware the IDEs of July
Benlast reviews Boa Constructor, an IDE for Python. "The source Explorer is brilliance in a tabbed window, the self-building UML and Hierarchy views do just what they say on the tin. Much kudos to the developers. If I did wxWindows development, I'll warrant I'd find it even more useful; perhaps one day. But where it falls down, it falls down hard. I mean, the sort of thing that will make you scream and use words that get you Looked At by your loving spouse."
DrPython 3.1.0 released (SourceForge)
Version 3.1.0 of DrPython, an IDE for Python, has been announced. Here are the changes: "Made some changes to the menu, DrScripts can now be added to the Pop Up Menu, and organized in Folders. Lots of under the hood changes and bugfixes, including Find History and a new Scrolled Message Dialog that closes on <ENTER>. You can also add plugin functions to the pop up menu."
Miscellaneous
Two New Bugzilla Releases, Bugzilla Website Redesigned (MozillaZine)
MozillaZine reports that the Bugzilla Project has released version 2.16.6 of Bugzilla, which includes a number of security fixes. The first release candidate of Bugzilla 2.18 is also available, with additional enhancements.
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