Perl: My Favorite Quotes
I recently found a few Perl quotes that I particularly like. I thought I would share them with you too. I hope you like them.
– Keith Bostic
– Jon Ribbens
- Randall Munroe
Review: Programming Python by Mark Lutz
It has been a long time coming, but finally this book has been updated. With the 4th edition comes a big change. This edition has been updated to ONLY cover Python 3.x. This is a great book and will make a great addition if you want to learn more about developing applications with Python.
You should note however, that this book is not a Python reference guide. It is written primarily as an advanced tutorial that is a follow-up to the Learning Python book. Therefore it does not cover any aspects of core Python. For that you would be better of looking at Learning Python.
This book is over 1600 pages long. This makes it particularly heavy. I do not recommend that this book be kept anywhere that it can fall from. It will hurt if you happen to get in its way.
There are a couple of omissions that surprised me. In the chapter on GUI programming. I expected there would be more on using either PyGTK or PyQt. They are mentioned, but that is it. tkInter is covered instead. Personally I have not seen TK used for quite some time. Most of the applications that I have seen use PyGTK (mostly because I use Ubuntu). Another omission is that there is no mention of Quickly. Which is a framework that allows you to develop applications quickly.
Please note: I did receive a free copy of this book via the O’Reilly Blogger review programme.
Ubuntu Manual Project Progressing… Slowly.
It is now almost the middle of December and the Ubuntu Manual Project has yet to release the Maverick edition of the manual. The project leader has stepped down. I guess there are a lot of people who are questioning whether this project is dead? Personally I can understand why anyone would think that. I have even wondered that myself. Yet, the project is still here, it is still moving forward, albeit slowly.
It seems the biggest problem that the project is facing is the lack of time. As this is a community driven project, it effectively takes a back seat to everything else that is going on in people’s lives. Personally, I do not know what can be done to change the situation. I too have limited time as well, but I do my best, as do many others involved in the project. Thank you to all those people. Your help is greatly appreciated.
So, what is the current status of the project…
All the writing is complete and now the proof reading is being finalised. After that, we need to begin collecting new screen-shots. Hopefully it won’t be that much longer until we can get the Maverick manual out.
There are still a few outstanding questions with the project. Who is going to take charge of the project? How often are we going to release new versions of the manual? How can we make things better with the next version?
Only time will tell…
…if you have suggestions, please let us know. If you would like to help, please let us know.
Contact us via http://www.ubuntu-manual.org
Ubuntu 10.10 Released
Another 6 months have passed and now another iteration of Ubuntu has been released. There have been a great number of changes. Apart from the usual array of package upgrades there are a number of key features in this latest release.
What’s New
- The Ubuntu Font – In Ubuntu 10.04 all the artwork received a makeover. Most of the logos were created with a new typeface. In 10.10 this typeface has been made available to everybody. For more information on the Ubuntu Font take a look here.
- Music Streaming to your phone – The Ubuntu One Music Store has been improved and now includes some new features. You can now stream music from your Ubuntu One file store direct to you iPhone or Android phone.
- Ubuntu One on Windows – Another new feature that is coming soon is the ability to sync files with your Windows pc’s as well as your Ubuntu pc’s. This is a feature that brings Ubuntu One closer to the functionality of Dropbox.
- Sound Indicator – The sound indicator has been improved and now includes music player controls. This means that you no-longer have t switch back to Rhythmbox to Play, Pause, skip tracks or adjust the volume. The menu even includes an image of the album cover.
- Software Centre – The Ubuntu Software Centre has also been improved. Now there includes an additional menu that enables you to purchase non-free software. There is not much there at the moment, but I fully expect to see this market place grow.
For more information take a look at the new features pages on the Ubuntu Website.
Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Released
Finally, after 6 months of development the next iteration of Ubuntu has finally been released. Much has changed in that period. This is not just your average version of Ubuntu. This is the next long-term support (LTS) version. It has been 2 years since the last LTS version of Ubuntu.
What’s New
Social from the start: The new ‘Me Menu’ in Ubuntu 10.04 LTS consolidates the process of accessing and updating social networks including Facebook, Digg, Twitter and Identi.ca. The Me Menu also integrates with instant messaging clients so users can talk with friends on Google Talk, MSN, IRC and various other networks.- Software Centre 2.0: The Software Centre has been improved and now includes software from partners.
Ubuntu One Music Store: The Ubuntu One Music Store is a new plug-in that is integrated into Rhythmbox that allows you to purchase DRM free music. It integrates with the Ubuntu One service to ensure that you always have a backup of your music.- Boot Speed: Improvements have been made to the boot-up speed of Ubuntu.
- Ubuntu Manual: The Ubuntu Manual project has been working on a getting started with Ubuntu guide for new users to Ubuntu.
For more information take a look at the new features pages on the Ubuntu Website.
Lucid changes default Firefox search provider to Yahoo!
It has come to light that in the next release of Ubuntu (Lucid), the default search provider in Firefox will change to Yahoo!
My first thought on this matter was to shout Noooooo!!!!
This might have been a little extreme, but not expected on my part. I don’t like it when things that I like, change. Especially when it is my default search provider. I am quite fond of the Google search and I want it to stay.
After my trauma had subsided, I thought about it for a moment. Why shouldn’t companies make money in this way. It was only last week that we heard that Bing was going to be the default search provider on the iPhone after a deal with Microsoft. The change in Ubuntu is not vastly dissimilar. I am sure that the extra cash will be welcomed by Canonical.
I wonder what the future has in store? How many more distributions will change their default search for some cold hard cash.
Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Lucid Lynx Release Schedule
On the 14th January the second alpha of the next long term support version of Ubuntu Linux will be released.
I thought I would post the current release schedule for all the milestones of Lucid Lynx.
Timeline
- Alpha 1 – 10th December 2009
- Alpha 2 – 14th January 2010
- Alpha 3 – 25th February 2010
- Beta 1 – 18th March 2010
- Beta 2 – 8th April 2010
- Release Candidate – 22nd April 2010
- Final Release – 29th April 2010
For more information on this upcoming release look at the following links.
Wiki – https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LucidLynx
Lucid Testing – http://www.ubuntu.com/testing
