FredPod 101011 – OpenDisc

http://marwalk.podomatic.com/

This program was produced on October 11^th, 2010. And today’s topics will include:

• Recent releases on SourceForge.
• Selections from “yum info recent” on the Fedora Linux project.
• The Latest from FredLUG, including a humorous sound bite from
  Software Freedom Day 2010.
• Today’s feature is the OpenDisc project. We’ll look at some of the apps and utilities you can yum install on your Fedora machine.

• And we’ll close with a Creative Commons licensed work by the
  Josh Estrada Project entitled “Down and Blue.”
  

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FredPod by Mark Caldwell Walker is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Here are some projects with recent releases on SourceForge :

• Goanna Assignment Organizer—Goanna is an organization assistant for class assignments, research papers, and other writing projects. Goanna helps you manage multiple assignments or projects in an easy-to-use user interface.
  http://goanna-org.sourceforge.net
• Claibu—Open Source Web Applications that combines Cloud Computing and
  e-Books.
  http://claibu.sourceforge.net
• cwtbk—A free Morse (CW) decoder for Unix-like systems (and Windows).
  Uses the SDL framework—as in Simple DirectMedia Layer—for graphics.
  http://cwtbk.sourceforge.net
  
  
• PrivacyFRONT—which is a Linux only graphical frontend for the GPG encryption and security tools. The software provides an easy way to manage key pairs and encrypt, decrypt, and sign files and emails.
  http://gpgprivacyfront.sourceforge.net  

• GEODOC—this is a document management and sharing system for the scientific community. Users can also search and share documents from various projects across its network without a web server. It can be ran under MacOS, Linux and Windows.
  http://geodoc.sourceforge.net

 

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Here are some recently updated items in yum at the Fedora project:

 

libpath_utils
Utility functions to manipulate filesystem pathnames

publican
Publican is a DocBook publication system, not just a DocBook processing tool. 
It’s used by the Fedora Docs project. 
As well as ensuring your DocBook XML is valid, publican works to ensure your XML is up to publishable standard.

rubygem-rerun
Launches an app, and restarts it whenever the filesystem changes

sssd as in System Security Services Daemon
Provides a set of daemons to manage access to remote directories and authentication mechanisms. It provides an NSS and PAM interface toward the system and a pluggable backend system to connect to multiple different account sources. It is also the basis to provide client auditing and policy services for projects like FreeIPA.

sssd-client, which is SSSD Client libraries for NSS—as in Name Service Switch—and   PAM—as in Pluggable Authentication Module.
Sssd-client provides the libraries needed by the PAM and NSS stacks to connect to the SSSD service.

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You can find additional information on these, and many other recently updated packages, by typing yum info recent at the command line.

 

The Fredericksburg Linux Users Group, meets on the third Monday and last Saturday of each month. The meetings take place at the main Library in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on Caroline Street in Meeting Room 2:

• You can find the FredLUG calendar by going to Google Groups and searching on F-r-e-d-L-U-G. Near the top of the page is a link to the Google calendar containing the meeting schedule. Feel free to import the .ics calendar files from the Files section into your own calendar.
• Besides the FredLUG Google Group, you’re also welcome on the IRC channel pound FredLUG on irc dot freenode dot net.

We in FredLUG had a great time on Software Freedom Day this year. While telling people about the advantages of FOSS, we enjoyed the worldwide solidarity of that worthy cause. So to share some of the fun, travel back with us now to Fredericksburg, Virginia, September 18, 2010, and enjoy this little impromptu skit that took place at our location.

skit.flac

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Today’s feature item is look at some of the OpenDisc apps and utilities.

The following are programs on the OpenDisc you can yum install on your Fedora machine.

The first category is Design

Blender is an advanced 3D graphics modeling program capable of producing high quality animations, performing rendering, post-production, interactive creation and playback. It is the only 3D creation suite which allows the artist to model, texture, animate, render, and export the finished product in a package less than 10 MB. Blender natively exports to a multitude of 3D formats such as VRML, Cal3d, AC3D.

Dia can be used to draw a variety of diagrams to suit your needs, such as entity-relationship models, UML diagrams, flowcharts, network diagrams, and simple circuits.

The GIMP (or GNU Image Manipulation Program) is suitable for those wanting to manipulate digital photographs, design and export graphics for the web, convert images from one file format to another, or even produce complex high-resolution compositions for print.

Inkscape is an easy to use vector graphics editor that uses the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format. Supported SVG features include shapes, paths, text, markers, clones, alpha blending, transforms, gradients, patterns, and grouping.

Nvu is a fully featured What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (WYSIWYG) web page editor, enabling you to create compelling web pages without having to devote months to learning HTML. Nvu includes an integrated FTP site manager, a style sheet editor, tabbed workspaces, and all the features you’ve come to expect from a fully-featured web page editor.

Scribus is a professional desktop publishing application, with a combination of “press-ready” output and new approaches to page layout. With it you can create just about anything you can imagine, from brochures, magazines, bulletins, and even books!

Tux Paint is a free drawing program designed for young children (aged three and up). It has a simple, easy-to-use interface, fun sound effects, and an encouraging cartoon mascot who helps guide children as they use the program. It provides a blank canvas and a variety of drawing tools to help your child be creative.

The next category is Internet

Azureus is a powerful BitTorrent protocol client. It comes bundled with many invaluable features for both beginners and advanced users, such as multiple torrent support, speed limiting, fast resuming and more.

FileZilla is a fast and reliable FTP client and server with lots of useful features and an intuitive interface. Features include upload/download resume, site manager, keep-alive system, SSL and SFTP support, and a flexible file queuing system.

HTTrack is an easy-to-use offline web browser utility. It allows you to download a web site from the Internet to a local directory on your computer, building a perfect mirror for your personal use. Simply open a page of the website in your browser, and you can browse the site from link to link, as if you were viewing it online. HTTrack can also update an existing mirrored site, and resume interrupted downloads.

Pigdin is an Internet Messenging (chat) client that enables you to chat with others in real time using any supported network, including AOL Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, IRC and Jabber. Pigdin can be simultaneously connected to several networks, so if you have contacts on different networks you can talk to them all at the same time, from one easy to use program.

SeaMonkey is an all-in-one internet suite which uses the same engine as Firefox and Thunderbird, and also includes a newsgroup client, an internet relay chat (or IRC) client, and a flexible HTML editor.

Like the Firefox web browser, the best reason to start using SeaMonkey is its enhanced security. Built with your security in mind from the start, SeaMonkey keeps your computer safe from malicious spyware by not loading harmful ActiveX controls, and a comprehensive set of privacy tools to keep your online activity private and your computer safe.

Thunderbird is a modern email client with features such as intelligent spam filters, a built-in spell checker, a range of themes and customisable layout.

The final category is Multimedia

Audacity is a sound editing program which can record, playback, and mix sounds or apply effects using a variety of filters.

Audacity lets you edit your sounds using Cut, Copy and Paste (with unlimited Undo) and mix multiple tracks together. I’m using Audacity now to produce FredPod.

Celestia is a simulation of the entire universe, based on currently known astronomical information.

Stellarium is a planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope. Just set your local co-ordinates (or choose to look at the sky from any other place or time on Earth!) and you’re treated to a natural and accurate view of the night’s sky.

The VLC media player supports numerous audio and video file-types out of the box, so you don’t have to download individual software to play most media files. You can also encode media to a variety of formats, and streaming support for audio and video over the internet/networks is also available.

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Today’s podcast will close with a Creative Commons licensed work by the Josh Estrada Project entitled “Down and Blue,” from Mevio’s Music Alley. Check it out at ‘music.mevio.com'”

Enjoy.