LINUX NEWS FROM O'REILLY NETWORK
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The Latest from http://www.linuxdevcenter.com and http://ONLamp.com
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Hello, everyone. This is the weekly Linux Newsletter, a glimpse
into the worlds of open source administration, development,
and usage. Here's what's new on ONLamp and the O'Reilly
Network this week:
One of the newer ideas in computer programming is the idea of
Design by Contract, by which you specify what your functions
will take and provide. If calling code doesn't match the
contract, you know there's an error somewhere. Though the
original idea came from Eiffel, there are implementations for
other languages now--even C. Charlie Mills' "Using Design by
Contract in C" shows one sample implementation. The GNU nana
library is another:
<http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2004/10/28/design_by_contract_in_c.html>
BSD fans probably already know that the OpenBSD team released
version 3.6 right on schedule (or even a little early). What's
new? Who better to describe the bugfixes and new features than
the core developers? Federico Biancuzzi's "OpenBSD 3.6 Live"
talks to several developers about the new release:
<http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/bsd/2004/10/28/openbsd_3_6.html>
With all the talk of the Linux and open source desktop, some
of the most vital software goes unpraised--at least until
something goes weird. Yep, the X Window System has done its
job quietly. With the recent kerfuffle over licensing, the
newly revamped X.org group has positioned itself to carry
graphical goodness to liberated computers everywhere. Andy
Oram recently spoke with X.org and reports on his findings:
<http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2004/10/28/x_org.html>
This week's book excerpt again comes from the new Gaming Hacks.
Your editor thinks that half the fun in the gaming world comes
from writing games! Don't know how to program? No problem.
"Gaming Hacks for Geeks, Part 2" demonstrates how easy it is
to learn to write games with Python, PyGame, and SDL. Don't
worry, though. The principles are the same everywhere:
<http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/excerpt/gmhks2_1004/>
In this week's weblogs, Timothy Appnell cries "Atom is not RSS":
<http://weblogs.oreilly.com/pub/wlg/5808>
Nathan Torkington praises text above multimedia:
<http://weblogs.oreilly.com/pub/wlg/5814>
Derek Sivers points to an essay about removing things from
designs:
<http://weblogs.oreilly.com/pub/wlg/5817>
Brian Jepson argues that Firefox probably doesn't ruin Bill
Gates' sleep:
<http://weblogs.oreilly.com/pub/wlg/5817>
Preston Gralla warns Linux users about impending malware and
phishing:
<http://weblogs.oreilly.com/pub/wlg/5828>
Derrick Story claims a little credit for introducing drummer
Stewart Copeland to GarageBand:
<http://weblogs.oreilly.com/pub/wlg/5836>
Uche Ogbuji offers proof that web services are poison to XML:
<http://weblogs.oreilly.com/pub/wlg/5841>
Carla Schroder lambasts IE-only web design:
<http://weblogs.oreilly.com/pub/wlg/5852>
Steve Mallett takes Steve Ballmer's words to heart for his
Halloween costume:
<http://weblogs.oreilly.com/pub/wlg/5855>
John Sequeira applies Star Trek to e-mail viruses:
<http://weblogs.oreilly.com/pub/wlg/5854>
This week's Open Source Project of the Week is Lucane, a
groupware application intended to help people collaborate
effectively.
<http://osdir.com/Downloads+index-req-viewdownloaddetails-lid-468-ttitle-Lucane_Groupware.phtml>
That is all. Keep watching to learn how to start writing
interactive fiction.
Take care,
chromatic
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Technical Editor
O'Reilly Network
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ONLamp.com and Linux Devcenter Top Five Articles Last Week
1. A Firm Foundation for the Linux Desktop
Nearly every advance of Linux, open source, and free software
on the desktop owes a debt to the X Window System. Too often,
this debt goes unacknowledged. With the birth of X.org earlier
this year, a foundational but once-stagnant project prepares
to improve itself and its code to help free desktops everywhere.
Andy Oram reports.
<http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2004/10/28/x_org.html>
***
2. OpenBSD 3.6 Live
Right on schedule, the OpenBSD team plans to release version
3.6 on November 1. Federico Biancuzzi recently interviewed
several members of the core team about new features and changes
in the code and the project.
<http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/bsd/2004/10/28/openbsd_3_6.html>
***
3. Using Design by Contract in C
Design by Contract is a programming approach that formalizes
the interface between callers and callees, leading to more
robust and disciplined code. If your language lacks formal
support for DBC, though, are you stuck? No--Charles Mills
describes the design and implementation of Design by Contract
for the C programming language.
<http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2004/10/28/design_by_contract_in_c.html>
***
4. Secure Your Wireless with IPsec
Wireless can make your life much, much easier, but those pesky
radio waves won't stay put. Sometimes this is good, but sometimes
you want to lock down your network. WEP and MAC address filtering
aren't secure enough. IPsec, the same approach used to secure
VPNs, is much better. Dan Langille explains how to configure
Wifi with IPsec.
<http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/bsd/2004/10/21/wifi_ipsec.html>
***
5. Speeding up Linux Using hdparm
Instantly double the I/O performance of your disks or, in some
cases, show 6 to 10 times your existing throughput!
<http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2000/06/29/hdparm.html>
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