Cliff’s List Filter – April 15 – 21

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Author: Ian Palmer

It’s an Open Source mantra: “Release early, and release often.” So, we come to you again with another weekly release of our condensed version of tips, patches, and information, pulled from mailing lists that are a part of the open source world. In this addition: a load of GNOME software releases, including Wilbur’s favorite project, a new release of the KDE desktop, and quite a few tidbits from everyone’s favorite upstart operating system. As always, if you feel we’re missing a list to sift through, please drop us a line with your suggestion.

Linux Kernel

  • The Virginia Astronomical Instrumentation Laboratory introduced a new framework this
    week    , called the Astronomical Instrumentation Software Framework (AISF). AISF is a set
    of routines for modular instrument control and data acquisition . Also released
    is a program called ASTRIX, which is built on the AISF framework. ASTRIX is a graphical
    image acquisition system that is designed to extract data from CCD devices such as
    digital cameras. Developers interested in assisting the development of this
    project can stop by the project Web site on
    SourceForge.
  • Andy Chou mentions a new resource for Linux kernel developers. Coverity has graciously opened up a new
    bug tracking database for the Linux
    kernel. The bugs contained in this new knowledgebase were found by the code analysis
    tool, formerly known as the “Stanford Checker.” Access to the database is available to all,
    but requires that you register.
  • Another resource that C developers (especially Linux kernel developers) might be
    interested in has been provided by Denis Vlasenko. His inline_hunter, which is designed
    to find large inlines in code, is now up to version 0.2.
  • For those of you running 2.4.26 in SMP mode with a Gigabit Ethernet card supported under the
    e1000 driver, please be aware that if you are experiencing a substantial amount of packet errors on your card, try toggling the CONFIG_ACPI option.
  • Enterprising users who would prefer a clean boot screen (maybe with an attractive logo,
    even) might be interested in this terse little tidbit about the “quiet” kernel boot parameter. This will prevent
    most boot messages, except for those of the “really bad news” variety, to appear on the
    console while booting. It will be up to the administrator to quiet those pesky init
    scripts, however. If you are interested in other gems that might be available from the
    Linux Boot Prompt, take a look at this useful reference.
  • IRDA users, who are experiencing weird issues with IRDA support, should try applying
    these
    updates to the Linux kernel documentation    , and re-reading the irda.txt file in the Networking documentation (Documents/Networking directory), to see if the new information may help you out of your bind.
  • Mariusz Mazur announces the 2.6.5 release of the linux-libc-headers package on April 19. This package is designed to replace the headers that come with the Linux kernel, and is more compatible with various libc implementations. Included in the previously mentioned announce message is a mini-FAQ.
  • PS/2 mouse users on the bleeding edge of the 2.6 kernel trail may be interested in
    some fixes from Kim Holviala.
  • Eamonn Hamilton wrote into the mailing list noticing problems with his Ethernet
    connection, which was being reset by the watchdog every 30 minutes. If anyone else has been noticing a similar problem, Scott Feldman has a few changes you may want to apply.
  • Linux 2.4 users who are interested in the state of SATA support in future 2.4.x
    releases might be interested in reading this
    piece on KernelTrap    , as passed along from
    Ann Pearlstein.
  • Linux
    2.6.6-rc2     is born on April 20.
  • Fans of high resolution clocks will appreciate this
    announcement     from George Anzinger.
  • Sam Hopkins announces his AoE (ATA over Ethernet) driver for Linux 2.4, and is currently in the process of porting it to 2.6. Hopefully the driver will be included in the distribution of 2.4.27, but
    if you can’t wait, you can find the driver
    here.

GNOME

  • Every Windows power user has probably heard of, and dived into, the Windows registry
    at least once. Well, it looks like Linux may be getting its own version, according
    to theseseparatediscussions. While some of you may be more comfortable with an /etc directory, you may want to take a look at the ideas that are being discussed and see what you think.
  • Ted Gould passed the torch of the GNOME-media maintainership last week. Thanks for the good work, Ted, and let’s all welcome Ronald and Thomas to their roles as the new maintainers of the project.
  • GNOME users who have multimedia-keys (like CD controls) that don’t work should try
    applying this enhancement from Nigel Horne and see if they can’t start making use of those
    currently dead controls.
  • The Software Gnomes left these goodies on our doorstep, this week:

KDE

Mozilla

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