See also: last week's Development page.

Development projects

News and Editorials

• SkunkWeb 3.1 beta 2 released A new beta 2 release of the SkunkWeb 3.1 web applications framework is available. This version features performance improvements, support for FastCGI, and improvements to PyDO.
• ASPSeek version 1.2.5 released ASPSeek is a web search engine that is designed to provide similar capabilities to Google, but with a lower traffic volume. Version 1.2.5 has been released, and features UTF-8 characters for storage. This version also includes lots of bug fixes.
• New mnoGoSearch development branch A new development branch of the mnoGoSearch web site search engine has been started. The history page lists a number of new features, including support for multiple databases, operation on clusters, extended fuzzy search possibilities and more.
• PikiePikie 0.3 released Version 0.3 of PikiePikie, a Python based Wiki project, has been announced. This release features performance improvements, tables in text pages, plugin support, web log searches, and more.

Audio

mpg321 0.2.0 released. A new version of mpg321, a free replacement for mpg123, has been announced. This release adds better compatibility with mpg123 flags, better Alsa and esd support, and bug fixes. (Thanks to Joe Drew)

Browsers

Mozilla license change. Mozilla has relicensed their project code to fall under the Netscape Public License (NPL), the GPL and the LGPL. "We are also repeating and reinforcing mozilla.org's policy that the NPL (either alone or in the form of an NPL-based dual or triple license) should not be used for new source files checked into the Mozilla source tree. Instead the new MPL/GPL/LGPL triple license described below should be used for all new files checked into the tree, unless you have specific instructions from mozilla.org to do otherwise."

Cryptography

How to install GnuPG (LinuxWorld). Joe Barr tells us why encryption is necessary, how it works, and how we can use it as individuals. "Traditional cryptographic schemes use secret keys. This is called symmetric-key cryptography since both the encoding and decoding use the same key. One problem with secret-key cryptography is that everyone must have access to the same key. Not only are there logistical problems getting the secret key to all concerned, but there is always the chance that it will be compromised. A relatively new type of encryption, based on public keys, largely avoids those pitfalls."

Embedded Systems

Embedded Linux Newsletter for Sept. 20, 2001. LinuxDevices weekly summary of the embedded Linux market includes notes on the RTLinux vs FSF confrontation, the release of ColdFire as GPL, and Fujitsu's Linux-based humanoid robot.

Device profile: FIC AquaPAD (LinuxDevices). The FIC AquaPAD is a handheld webpad that runs Midori Linux. LinuxDevices provides the details on this device.

CNN is also carrying a short story on this device as well.

FreeIO.org releases ColdFire uClinux SBC under GPL (LinuxDevices). LinuxDevices reports on the release under GPL of the design of the Toast ColdFire, a controller board with built in dual ethernet NICs. "The Toast board is the fifth design which FreeIO.org has released under GPL. Past designs have included programmable I/O boards for both PC and PC/104 bus interfaces. In each case the complete design files have been released, including all CAD files, programmable logic source files, manufacturing and programming files."

Mail Software

TMDA 0.37 Spam Reduction System. Version 0.37 of the TMDA Spam Reduction System is available. TMDA is written in Python and works with the Qmail mail delivery system. This version improves the ability to pass mail from legitimate, but unknown senders.

Printing Systems

LPRng 3.7.7 available. Version 3.7.7 of the LPRng print system has been released. This version fixes several bugs, and adds a new French translation.

Writing Input Filters for Apache 2.0 (O'Reilly). Ryan Bloom discusses Apache Input Filters in an O'Reilly ONLamp article.

Building Web Sites with Mason: Part I (Dr. Dobb's). Brent Michalski talks about installing Mason in part one of a series on Dr. Dobb's. "Mason is a tool for building web sites. There are hundreds of tool for building websites, but Mason is different. Mason gives you the full power of the Perl programming language without the bloat of unnecessary features."

The latest ZopeNews. The latest ZopeNews includes discussions on exUserFolder, Graph Method 0.1.0, Latex Method 0.1.0, the MatLab DA and Method, ZBabel 2.0.0 beta 1, My Media Manager 0.9.2, and more.

Miscellaneous

GSView Beta 4.0.2 available. A new version of GSView Beta is available. GSView is a PostScript/PDF file viewer that is based on AFPL GhostScript, it is licensed under the Aladdin Free Public Licence. Version 4.0.2 features Greek and partial Dutch translations, bug fixes, and more.

Section Editor: Forrest Cook

Application Links
GIMP
Mozilla
Galeon
High Availability
ht://Dig
mnoGoSearch
MagicPoint
Wine
Worldforge
Zope

Open Source Code Collections
Berlios
Freshmeat
OpenSourceDirectory
Savannah
Le Serveur Libre
SourceForge
Sweetcode

Programming Languages

C

C/C++ developers: Fill your XML toolbox (IBM developerWorks). Rick Parrish informs us about XML tools for C and C++. "It seems as if everywhere you look there is some new XML-related tool being released in source code form written in Java. Despite Java's apparent dominance in the XML arena, many C/C++ programmers do XML development, and there are a large assortment of XML tools for the C and C++ programmer. We'll confront XML library issues like validation, schemas, and API models. Next, we'll look at a collection of generic XML tools like IDEs and schema designers. Finally, we'll conclude with a list and discussion of libraries either usable from or actually written in C and/or C++."

Caml

Caml Weekly News for September 19, 2001. The latest Caml Weekly News is out. Topics include the new OCamlODBC 2.5, configuring the O'Caml garbage collector, and updates to the Caml Hump, a collection of Caml projects.

Erlang

Erlang Workshop Proceedings Online. The proceedings from the September 2, 2001 Erlang Workshop in Florence, Italy are now online. Eight different sets of notes are available covering many topics.

More Erlang News. The Erlang Site also features a number of new articles on Erlang including writeups on STL, the Simple Template Language, a Unix domain socket driver, and more.

Haskell

The (Interactive) Glasgow Haskell Compiler Version 5.02. A new major release of the Glasgow Haskell Compiler has been released. GHC 5.02 features new interactive capabilities, compatibility with the Revised Haskell 98 Language and Library Reports, and more. (Thanks to Jens Petersen).

Perl

1st CfP German Perl Workshop 4.0, 2002 (use Perl). A call for papers has been issued for the 4th German Perl Workshop to be held near Bonn in February 2002.

How to interoperate between UTF-8, UTF-16, and UTF-32 (IBM developerWorks). Ken Lunde discusses conversions among character encodings on IBM's developerWorks. Example conversion algorithms are presented in Perl.

Changing Hash Behaviour with tie (O'Reilly). Dave Cross looks at the uses of tied objects in an O'Reilly Perl.com article. "Tied objects are, in my opinion, an underused feature of Perl. The details (together with some very good examples) are in perltie and there are some extended examples in the ``Tied variables'' chapter of Programming Perl. Despite all of this great documentation, most people seem to believe that tieing is only used to tie a hash to a DBM file. The truth is that any type of Perl data structure can be tied to just about anything."

Gartner: Java more than Perl?. A posting to use Perl suggests that both Gartner and Forrester cover Java far more than Perl. Does this mean Java is more important to business?

PHP

PHP Weekly News for September 20, 2001. The September 20, 2001 edition of the PHP Weekly News covers a new OpenSSL API, versioning and management of extensions, the Pcntl extension, more work on rand(), and other PHP developments.

PHPReview 0.9.1 available. A new release of the PHPReview online reviewing system is available. The WHATSNEW file lists some security fixes, new support for InnoDB Support, and some page layout additions.

Python

Dr. Dobb's Python-URL!. This week's Python-URL! includes discussions on instance and class attributes, recursive generators, and bundled modules ala-Jars.

What's So Special About Python 2.2? (Unix Review). Cameron Laird and Kathryn Soraiz take a look at Python 2.2 on Unix Review. "Part of what makes 2.2 excellent for newcomers is the enhancement of Python's longstanding strength as a "batteries included" language. When you install a Python distribution, you get not only the language in a narrow sense, but also a collection of libraries, utilities, and documentation that encompasses a large portion of working programmers' daily needs. Python seldom requires you to "go outside" its standard distribution to complete such common tasks as construction of a GUI, access of standard networking protocols, Unicode processing, or management of XML texts."

Universal Serial Port Python library. Version 0.1 of the USPP library, the Universal Serial Port Python library has been announced. USPP allows Python to connect to serial ports using RS-232 mode and RS-485 is in the plans.

Narval 1.1b1 announced. Version 1.1b1 of Narval has been released. "Narval is a framework (language + interpreter + GUI/IDE) dedicated to the setting up of intelligent personal assistants (IPAs)." This version drops support for Python 1.5.2 in lieu of Python 2.1, adds speed improvements, and a fully functional setup.py script.

Pychecker 0.8.4 announced. A new version of Pychecker, the Python code checker, has been announced. This version finds even more bugs, and includes a couple of bug fixes.

Smalltalk

September Squeak News. The September issue of Squeak news is out. This month features a focus on multimedia, a monthly digest of the Squeak mailing list, and more.

Tcl/Tk

Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL!. The weekly Tcl-URL! is out. Topics include discussions on threads, compilers, extreme programming, server sockets and more.

Section Editor: Forrest Cook

Next: Commerce