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RMS: The GNU GPL Is Here to Stay Though some in the open source world claim that the GPL is now unnecessary, RMS and the Free Software Foundation are still working night and day to promote the idea of software freedom. Part of that is a revision to the popular GNU General Public License. Federico Biancuzzi recently chatted with Richard Stallman about the goals and plans and successes of the GPL. [ONLamp] FreeBSD Basics Security Alerts
What Is Open Source Answering the question What is open source? used to be a lot simpler than it is today. Dan Woods provides some insight by first explaining how open source software is developed, then delving into how different groups define the term, and closing with a look at how open source institutions continue to advance the cause. Dan is coauthor of Open Source for the Enterprise. [ONLamp] Understanding MVC in PHP The most popular "proper" way to build a web application seems to be to use the Model-View-Controller design pattern. While it sounds complex, the concepts are sound and the ease of development it provides are compelling. Joe Stump shows how MVC can work in PHP by walking through working, example code. [PHP] Big Scary Daemons Security Alerts Processing XML with Xerces and the DOM It's rare to write an application these days and not run into the use of XML as a data interchange format. Perl, Java, Python, C#, Ruby, JavaScript, and PHP all have good XML processing libraries. Where's the love for C++ applications? It's in Xerces, a capable and open source library. Ethan McCallum shows how to use Xerces and C++ to process, manipulate, search, and write valid XML. [ONLamp.com] A Day in the Life of #Apache Rich Bowen is back with another installment in his occasional series based on conversations on #apache. In this article, Rich discusses a particular Apache Web Server annoyance, the Options directive, and he explains how it works and why it does what it does. Rich is a coauthor of O'Reilly's Apache Cookbook [Apache DevCenter] EuroOSCON: Podcast Preview Nat Torkington is the conference co-chair of O'Reilly's upcoming European Open Source Conference. In this podcast Nat talks to us about what you can expect in Amsterdam at the October debut of EuroOSCON. conference. (7 minutes, 9 seconds) [ONLamp.com] Review: Fervent Software Studio To Go! Pop this CD-ROM into any recent PC and it will boot up as a powerful Linux music workstation with tons of cool software. Eject the CD, and you're back to normal. Linux music expert Brad Fuller takes the world's roundest and flattest portable studio for a spin. [DigitalMedia.oreilly.com] How to Decide What Bugs to Fix When, Part 2 In part 1 of this two-part essay on making smart bug decisions, Scott Berkun covered triage and making smarter piles. In part 2, Scott covers establishing an exit criteria and early planning, as well as exceptions to all of the rules, frequently asked questions, and some bug-fixing resources. Scott is the author of The Art of Project Management. [ONLamp.com] Interactive Debugging in Python Debugging with print statements is alive and well. It's not the only way to do it, though. Python has a powerful interactive debugger that can let you get to the heart of your problem faster and more easily--if you know how to use it. Jeremy Jones shows off the features you absolutely must know. [Python DevCenter] Improving Network Reliability with Keepalived No matter how good the software, hardware eventually fails. Redundancy is an important way to keep your important services running smoothly. With the right software, you can even sleep through otherwise catastrophic network failures. Philip Hollenback demonstrates how to make your network robust by using Keepalived on multiple Linux routers. [LinuxDevCenter.com] Michal Zalewski on the Wire What motivates a hacker? Perhaps curiosity, the pursuit of knowledge, and the simple joy of saying "Hmm, that's funny! What happens if I ...?" Eccentric security researcher Michal Zalewski exhibits these traits. Fearless interviewer Federico Biancuzzi recently talked with Zalewski about his curious approach to computer security, the need for randomness, and how the hacker mind works. [ONLamp.com] Distributing Content with BitTorrent You have good software, or audio or video, and you want to make it available to the public. If you get really popular, though, you'll spend all of your money and bandwidth being popular--and then what? Consider P2P distribution with BitTorrent, which allows your users to share pieces of your file with each other, giving them faster transfers and you fewer headaches. Robert Bernier explains. [LinuxDevCenter.com] Perl Needs Better Tools Perl is a fantastic language for getting your work done. It's flexible, forgiving, malleable, and dynamic. Why shouldn't it have good, powerful tools? Are Perl development tools behind those of other, perhaps less-capable languages? J. Matisse Enzer argues that Perl needs better tools, and explains what those tools should do. [Perl.com] What Is the X Window System Developed at MIT in 1984, the X Window System, now up to X11 release 6, or X11R6, has been the standard environment for Unix windowing systems. Ellen Siever provides some historical context for X's staying power, then discusses its major features: working with X and the X server and X clients; configuring X; and much more. Ellen is a coauthor of Linux in a Nutshell, 5th Edition. [LinuxDevCenter.com] Security Alerts Python and XML: Should Python and XML Coexist? In his latest Python and XML column, Uche Ogbuji claims that the costs of using XML as a little language in a Python application may outweigh the benefits of doing so. [XML.com] Remote Scripting with AJAX, Part 2 In part one of this two-part series, Cameron Adams created an example application that showed how to use remote scripting to implement the AJAX XMLHttpRequest protocol. Now, in part two, he shows how to create a usable interface for the example app. [XML.com] Linux for Video Production Linux and open source software is traditionally good for developers and system administrators, and recently good for business users. When will it be good for multimedia users? A handful of projects are making video production and editing possible (and useful)--PiTiVi and GStreamer among them. Jono Bacon examines the present and future of video production with Linux and open source software. [LinuxDevCenter.com] Big Scary Daemons Remote Scripting with AJAX, Part 1 In this two-part series, Cameron Adams demonstrates the advantages of using remote scripting with the AJAX XMLHttpRequest protocol to create web apps and improve website functionality. Here in part one, he creates an example application that shows how to implement XMLHttpRequest. Stay tuned for part two next week, where he'll show how to create a usable interface for the example app. [XML.com] What Is the GNOME Desktop Nope. It's not a garden garnish. GNOME is a desktop software project designed to look familiar to anyone who has ever used a computer. Aaron Weber distills what the GNOME desktop is, what apps users will find as well as what platform development tools developers will find, and the resources to help you get started using it. Aaron is a coauthor of Linux in a Nutshell, 5th Edition. [LinuxDevCenter.com] How to Decide What Bugs to Fix When, Part 1 There are two challenges to making smart bug decisions: first, understanding how to make good bug-fix decisions; and second, creating and following rules that makes it easy to stick to those decisions when the pressure is high. In this first installment of a two-part essay, Scott Berkun, author of The Art of Project Management, provides the core ideas you need to make your own bug-fixing rules. [ONLamp.com] The Ur-Quan Masters Star Control II is one of the most beloved space exploration games. When its original developers released a version of the source code under the GPL, members of the fan community began to port it to modern operating systems. Howard Wen recently interviewed the developers about their goals, their progress, and how open source works for them. [LinuxDevCenter.com] FreeBSD Basics Security Alerts The Virtual Internship: Taking Control of Your Future by Becoming an Open Source Developer Looking for a job fresh out of college, and finding the competition thick? Brian Fitzpatrick recommends you create your own virtual internship by contributing to an open source project. You'll get real-world experience, and advice and criticism from talented programmers. More importantly, from a career perspective, you'll start building a publicly visible portfolio of your work that you can show to any prospective employer. Wondering how to choose an open source project to contribute to? Come to OSCON 2005 this week and rub elbows with just about everyone connected to the community. [ONLamp.com] How to Schmooze at OSCON OSCON is next week and you have people to meet, questions to ask, and assistance to offer. Where should you spend your time, and how should you start your valuable hallway, BOF, and party conversations? Robert Bernier offers a schmoozer's guide to effective conference attendance. [ONLamp.com] The Practicality of OO PHP PHP is an easy language for doing practical things immediately. The easiest ways to begin aren't always the best ways to stay productive, though. PHP's support for object orientation requires a little more learning and a little more discipline, but it has many benefits for larger projects. David Day explains the basics of OO in PHP 4. [ONLamp.com] Important Notice for ONLamp Readers About O'Reilly RSS and Atom Feeds O'Reilly Media, Inc. is rolling out a new syndication mechanism that provides greater control over the content we publish online. Here's information to help you update your existing RSS and Atom feeds to O'Reilly content. [ONLamp.com] Security Alerts The Commons Doesn't Have a Business Plan The commons used to be a grassy area in the center of town where anyone could graze animals. Now it's a metaphor for anything available to everyone without restriction. Andy Oram argues that this is the ground from which new businesses spring--and that open source and free software are the wellspring for new software and technology. [ONLamp.com] Security Alerts Calculating the True Price of Software Businesses have long viewed support and maintenance as essential components of software. Open source business models often focus on charging for support and customization. Is there an economic model that can demonstrate the true worth of a piece of software and the option for support, maintenance, and upgrades? Robert Lefkowitz argues that open source exposes the true value of software itself as, essentially, worth less in comparison to support and maintenance. [ONLamp.com] Big Scary Daemons The Virtual Referral: Mitigating Risk by Hiring Open Source Developers Hiring a new employee is almost always a risk, and hiring the wrong employee can prove a costly mistake for managers. Brian Fitzpatrick suggests you hire an open source programmer. Find out why doing so mitigates the risks involved in hiring. Meet Brian at O'Reilly's Open Source Convention, where he'll be leading a Subversion tutorial and a session on switching from CVS to Subversion. [ONLamp.com] Building an OpenBSD Live CD Linux isn't the only operating system that boots and runs off a CD. OpenBSD does as well. Kevin Lo uses his for didactic purposes, but this is a good example for taking your desktop or firewall along with you. Here's how to build and customize an OpenBSD installation on a CD. [ONLamp.com] OSDL's Linux Initiatives OSDL is a somewhat vague entity in the minds of many in the Linux community. Beyond employing several top kernel hackers, the company spearheads several initiatives designed to improve the GNU/Linux operating system for use in business and industry. Here's what it's doing, what it's done, and why. [LinuxDevCenter.com] How to End Wars Between Testers and Programmers There's a natural conflict between testers and programmers because of the difference in perspective each role has. The best way to end struggles is to redefine the goals of the work so that their roles can be collaborative, not adversarial. In this article, Scott Berkun draws upon his years of project-leading experience to provide some inside tips for managing your development team. [MacDevCenter.com] Apache's eXtended Server Side Includes In the early days of web publishing, SSI was an easy way to include dynamic content in pages. Though large server-side application frameworks have more popularity, SSI lives on--especially in Apache XSSI. Kostas Pentikousis demonstrates how XSSI makes it possible to build powerful, clean, maintainable, and fast web sites. [ONLamp.com] Custom-Compiling Apache and Subversion Subversion is a useful, powerful, and modern revision-control system that builds on well-understood and powerful tools including Apache. This layering has many benefits--and drawbacks, if the defaults aren't quite right for you. You can compile them yourself, though; Manni Wood demonstrates how. [ONLamp.com] Art and Computer Programming One of the great theoretical debates in computer programming is "Is programming art?" There are creative components certainly, and aesthetic aspects occasionally, but do programming's functional concerns push it more toward craft or engineering? John Littler recently cornered several well-known hackers for their opinions on the subject. [ONLamp.com] ESR: "We Don't Need the GPL Anymore" During a recent Brazilian conference on free and open source software, hacker, writer, and speaker Eric Raymond stated that open source would see more rapid success if the GPL didn't make people nervous. Federico Biancuzzi recently interviewed ESR to gain more context for the statement and to explore these views more fully. [ONLamp.com] Security Alerts Calling SOAP Servers from JS in Mozilla Interacting with web servers through forms and user actions alone seems so dry and boring. The full-fledged SOAP client built into the Mozilla family of browsers can make your applications more active and useful. Zachary Kessin shows how to write a simple SOAP server in PHP that communicates with Mozilla through JavaScript. [ONLamp.com] What Developers Want Regardless of the language and platform you choose for development, you likely share some goals with your fellow developers: to be productive, to use good tools, and to keep your tools and processes out of your way while you create good software. Murugan Pal, CTO of SpikeSource, explains ten attributes he thinks developers want. [ONLamp.com]
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Visit the Novell Learning Channel and learn more about how to migrate to Linux and incorporate open source into your working environment. Check out their: • Free White Paper and Product Downloads
The total cost of using PHP? [Dan Zambonini] del.icio.us Social Bookmarking - Creating a reusable copy of a 'tagged' RSS file [M. David Peterson] Human relations engineering [Kevin Shockey]  STARWEST (Software Testing Anaylsis & Review) Anaheim, CA Nov. 14, 2005
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