Linux Tips #4



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*1. WANT TO SPREAD LINUX TO THE WORLD?                 
        
Linux is a worldwide phenomenon whose explosive growth lies
 partly in its promise to bring the third-world technology
 "have-nots" directly into the heart of the high-tech world--no
 artificial commercial barriers stand in the way of hands-on
 learning and working with source code. Interested in developing
 non-English language versions of Linux and creating a
 revolution in political economic relations on the side? Or just
 want to find interesting developer colleagues? Check out the
 list of more than 60 USENET national Linux news groups.
 Countries listed include Indonesia, the Philippines, Croatia,
 South Africa, Swaziland, Chile, China, and Algeria. 

http://www.linux.org/users/index.html


*2. NEW LINUX DEVELOPMENT KERNEL RELEASED                 
        
The Linux kernel version 2.3.4 was released June 1. For a
 complete list of changes in this release or to download the
 kernel, go to 

http://linuxtoday.com/stories/6396.html


*3. HELPSTUDIO 1.0 RELEASED                 
        
Looking for a comprehensive and user-friendly Java-based
 authoring environment that enables you to write online help by
 pointing and clicking? Then check out the latest release of
 HelpStudio by Singapore-based MediaMix Technologies. HelpStudio
 1.0 not only comes with a small footprint (less than 205KB), it
 also promises to shorten the process of creating online help.
 Using HelpStudio 1.0, you can incorporate online help in your
 Java applications, applets, and JavaBeans. Since it has been
 written in pure Java, you can use it on any compliant Java
 Virtual Machine.  

For details and purchasing information, go to
 http://www.mediamixtech.com.sg/helpstudio.html


*4. WEBMIN 0.72                 
        
Webmin 0.72 is a powerful Web-based administration interface for
 Unix systems. Using Webmin 2.0, you can use any browser that
 supports tables and forms to set up user accounts, Apache, DNS,
 NFS, local/remote file systems, and more. Webmin consists of a
 simple Web server and CGI programs that directly update system
 files such as /etc/inetd.conf and /etc/passwd. The Web server
 and all CGI programs are written in Perl version 5 and use no
 external modules, which means you need only a Perl binary to
 run Webmin. 

http://www.webmin.com/webmin/


*5. CHECKPOINTING WITH EPCKPT                 
        
Interested in efficient process migration? EPCKPT is a
 kernel-based checkpointing utility that enables you to save an
 image of the state of a process (or group of processes) at a
 certain point during its lifetime. Checkpoints are important to
 a wide range of applications, including fault tolerance,
 application debugging, animated playback, and process migration.
 Note that EPCKPT is restricted to the Intel x86 platform
 running Linux.  

For more information, see 
http://www.cs.rochester.edu/u/edpin/epckpt/ 


*6. QMAILADMIN-0.19 BETA AVAILABLE                 
        
Qmail is a Y2K-compliant, secure replacement package for
 sendmail. QmailAdmin is a free software package that provides a
 Web interface for managing a qmail system. In its latest beta
 version, QmailAdmin-0.19 works with both Qmail and Vchkpw
 virtual domain packages. The package supports POP-only accounts,
 adding/deleting users, aliases, forwards, mailing lists,
 and autoresponders.  

For more info on QmailAdmin, including a demo, go to 
http://www.inter7.com/qmailadmin/ 

For more details on qmail, check out 
http://qmail.area.com/top.html


*7. FINE-TUNE YOUR MEMORY                 
        
This site, run by Rik van Riel, is aimed at providing full
 documentation on the Linux memory management system and giving
 an overview of development efforts in the Linux memory
 management community. It's updated consistently, if erratically,
 and contains links to memory patches as well as other Linux
 sites useful for developers.  

Check it out at 
http://humbolt.geo.uu.nl/Linux-MM/


*8. HELP SET THE LINUX WORLD ON FIRE                 
        
Apple's new G3 desktop computers made clear that FireWire, the
 IEEE-1394 standard (trademarked by Sony as iLink), is the future
 of high-bandwidth peripherals ranging from video and digital
 cameras and typesetters to heavy-duty industrial tools. A group
 of Austrian developers is getting on the stick now to make this
 powerful technology available on Linux by coordinating a driver
 development project. Sign up on their developers' mailing list,
 or check out the archives at 

http://eclipt.uni-klu.ac.at/ieee1394/


*9. FIND THE LATEST IDEAS IN LINUX DEVELOPMENT                 
        
The Linux Project Catalogue is just that, a catalog of current
 Linux development projects. The site also hosts a discussion
 forum where people explore ideas for new projects. The site is
 cleanly organized with a decent 	search engine and
 sections on system tools, utilities, applications,
 communication, multimedia, programming, games, documentation,
 and distribution.

Find out more at  http://www.aesia.com/lpc/


*10. LINUX PROGRAMMING AND DEBUGGING TECHNIQUES                 
        
Most CPUs require that multibyte objects reside at particular
 offsets in the system's RAM. For example, 32-bit processors
 require that a 4-byte integer reside at a memory address that is
 evenly divisible by 4. This requirement is called memory
 alignment. For example, an int can be located at memory address
 0x2000 or 0x2004 but not at 0x2001. On most Unix systems, an
 attempt to use misaligned data results in a bus error, which
 terminates the process altogether. On Linux, this constraint was
 relaxed: the use of misaligned data is handled by the kernel so
 the process can continue normally, albeit at a substantial
 performance penalty. As a rule, you should avoid using
 misaligned data in your Linux apps.
