Mailman 3 November 2006 - Python-announce-list

ANN: New Python User Group Cologne mailing list (German)
by Christopher Arndt 25 Nov '06

25 Nov '06

Patrick Holz from the computing centre of the University Cologne has kindly created a mailing list for the emerging Python User Group in Cologne (Köln), Germany. You can find further information and subscribe to the list under the following URL: https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/python-users The conversation on this list is conducted in the German language. The list interface is in German too by default, but you can switch it to English if you like. Posting, subscribers list and archives are currently for list members only, though the latter may change after proper consideration of privacy issues. There is also some basic information about the new Python User Group on the German Python Wiki: http://wiki.python.de/User_Group_K%C3%B6ln You'll find the dates for our regular meetings there, but we will also announce them on the relevant Python mailing lists. Regards, Christopher Arndt

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[ANN] pylint 0.12.2 / astng 0.16.3
by Sylvain Thénault 23 Nov '06

23 Nov '06

Hi there ! I'm pleased to announce new bugs fix releases of pylint and astng. Most bug discussed more or less recently on the python-projects mailing list should be fixed by those releases, and astng inference capability has been enhanced for some construction, so upgrade is recommended. Visit the respective projects'page of our fresh new .org site to get the latest source distribution :o) http://www.logilab.org/project/name/pylint http://www.logilab.org/project/name/logilab-astng Enjoy ! -- Sylvain Thénault LOGILAB, Paris (France) Formations Python, Zope, Plone, Debian: http://www.logilab.fr/formations Développement logiciel sur mesure: http://www.logilab.fr/services Python et calcul scientifique: http://www.logilab.fr/science

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Sydney Python Users Meetup
by hex-dump 23 Nov '06

23 Nov '06

Tonight November 23 from 6:30-8:30 pm, there will be a social gathering of Sydney Python Users Group and any individuals interested in discussing Python, Web, Zope, Plone, Ruby, Perl etc over drinks. Laptops, code review etc allowed. We will meet on the ground floor next to the internal entrance of P.J. O'Briens Pub at the Grace Hotel, corner of York and King Streets. To help find us, look for me, I am similar to the individual in this photo, http://osdc2006.cgpublisher.com/proposals/22/index_html but now a little older and even less hair. Regards Mark

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ANN: PyVISA 1.1 -- GPIB, USB, RS232 instrument control
by Torsten Bronger 22 Nov '06

22 Nov '06

Hallöchen! At http://pyvisa.sourceforge.net you can find information about the PyVISA package. It realises Python bindings for the VISA library functions, which enables you to control GPIB, USB, and RS232-serial measurement devices via Python. Yesterday I released version 1.1, which works much better together with older VISA implementations. Moreover, we finally have reports from Linux users. They successfully used PyVISA with Linux + NI/Tektronix GPIB hardware. Tschö, Torsten. F'up to comp.lang.python -- Torsten Bronger, aquisgrana, europa vetus ICQ 264-296-646 (See http://ime.webhop.org for Jabber, MSN, etc.)

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What Guido does for his day job
by Neal Norwitz 22 Nov '06

22 Nov '06

Ever wonder what Guido has been doing at Google? Now is your chance to find out! Guido has worked at Google for nearly a year. He splits his time between working on Python and working on Google projects. He will be giving a presentation and demo on Nov 30, 2006. I won't spoil it, but this talk will touch on some aspects of Google's development process and what Guido has done to improve it. He did such a good job, engineers voted his project one of the top 10 accomplishments! The talk will be at 7.00pm on Nov 30, 2006 at Google Headquarters in Mountain View, CA in Building 43, room: Tunis. The talk is targeted towards anyone interested in software development. It's not Python specific. For updates, check http://code.google.com/ I believe the talk will be videotaped and put on Google video. I hope to see lots of new faces! n

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ANN: DrPython 162
by Franz Steinhaeusler 21 Nov '06

21 Nov '06

Hello, I have the honour for the next time to make bug fixes and updates for DrPython. I am not intended to make any crucial changes, only make it run for wxPython 2.7 and 2.8. Because the last version is about 1 year old, I made this Announce posting. http://sourceforge.net/projects/drpython/

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Dr. Dobb's Python-URL! - weekly Python news and links (Nov 20)
by Paul Boddie 20 Nov '06

20 Nov '06

QOTW: "I think you've got the wrong intuition about the balance between the amount of bandwidth and the amount of computation a given numer [sic] of dollars would buy. You've hundreds of CPU cycles available per bit transmitted; space enough to stick in even Python." - Thomas Womack (on comp.lang.lisp, earlier this year, so it's not a true QOTW) http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.lisp/msg/453239d7b8e0ef72 "I'm a recent, belated convert from Perl. I work in a physics lab and have been using Python to automate a lot of measurement equipment lately. It works fabulously for this purpose." - Dan Lenski On the subject of Python and large volumes of data, it would seem that maps and data visualisation are a natural combination for the pydap treatment: http://taoetc.org/27 "MIT to try Python ...": http://www.amk.ca/diary/2006/11/mit_to_try_python_for_introduc.html A treatment of many different domains can be found in the itools package (and the 21 subpackages of the 0.14.5 release!): http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python.announce/browse_frm/thread/… http://www.ikaaro.org/itools Problems with Python 2.5 portability? Or, more precisely, with extension modules not working with the new release? http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2006-November/069967.html BaseHTTPRequestHandler accesses POST data through rfile: http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/browse_thread/thread/c928f2… pyparsing and itertools: wise coders ready to move past RE know 'em both: http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/browse_thread/thread/85646f… Is comparing Python and PHP a "fair comparison"? The debate focuses on many things that make languages popular for Web applications: http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/browse_frm/thread/4156e7f6d… The big news outside the Python community last week was the surprising GPL-licensing of many of Sun's Java technologies. So, will GPL-licensed Java eat into Python's market share? http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/browse_frm/thread/e52bf7ac8… All these comparisons whet the appetite for some real advocacy, coordinated by the Python Software Foundation's own man: http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python.announce/browse_frm/thread/… Advocacy applies at all levels, of course, backed up by comparisons, tests, benchmarks... In the Web opinions shootout it's TurboGears vs. Django: http://groups.google.com/group/turbogears/browse_frm/thread/a37037677b067872 And Django vs. Rails: http://groups.google.com/group/django-users/msg/328151a262c00eb0 The conflict (good natured, of course) extends to literature as the TurboGears book hits the shelves: http://groups.google.com/group/turbogears/msg/318bfff14bcf0ef3 Whilst the Django book - still a work in progress - is readable in its evolving form: http://www.djangobook.com Decide between the Web programming options yourself, but without really installing anything. Be prepared for quite a choice, as noted by a Django lead developer on the TurboGears discussion group! http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/appliances/directory/289 And even if you're a disinterested observer, the battle of these big frameworks still provides benefits to those just looking for decent Web hosting (and bringing us full circle to that PHP vs. Python discussion): http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/browse_frm/thread/17718e04a… Secure Python: is running untrusted code a good idea, and is it Python or the operating system who can offer the most help? http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/browse_frm/thread/fb27c42ee… And what about "untrusted" contributors to your blog's comments. There's SpamBayes for e-mail, but can one filter blog comments in the same way? http://www.larsen-b.com/Article/244.html As people continually note, as CPython motors onward with many new features, Jython struggles to keep up. Could the biggest motivational force behind its revival really be the principal developer of JRuby? http://headius.blogspot.com/2006/11/jython-alive-and-well-and-looking-for.h… But don't start to think that old releases of Python don't see any action. Here, Python 1.5.2 makes an appearance on Telit's GSM/GPRS telecoms/networking modules: http://www.telit.co.it/modules.asp?lang=1 ======================================================================== Everything Python-related you want is probably one or two clicks away in these pages: Python.org's Python Language Website is the traditional center of Pythonia http://www.python.org Notice especially the master FAQ http://www.python.org/doc/FAQ.html PythonWare complements the digest you're reading with the marvelous daily python url http://www.pythonware.com/daily Mygale is a news-gathering webcrawler that specializes in (new) World-Wide Web articles related to Python. http://www.awaretek.com/nowak/mygale.html While cosmetically similar, Mygale and the Daily Python-URL are utterly different in their technologies and generally in their results. For far, FAR more Python reading than any one mind should absorb, much of it quite interesting, several pages index much of the universe of Pybloggers. http://lowlife.jp/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/PythonProgrammersWeblog http://www.planetpython.org/ http://mechanicalcat.net/pyblagg.html comp.lang.python.announce announces new Python software. Be sure to scan this newsgroup weekly. http://groups.google.com/groups?oi=djq&as_ugroup=comp.lang.python.announce Python411 indexes "podcasts ... to help people learn Python ..." Updates appear more-than-weekly: http://www.awaretek.com/python/index.html Steve Bethard continues the marvelous tradition early borne by Andrew Kuchling, Michael Hudson, Brett Cannon, Tony Meyer, and Tim Lesher of intelligently summarizing action on the python-dev mailing list once every other week. http://www.python.org/dev/summary/ The Python Package Index catalogues packages. http://www.python.org/pypi/ The somewhat older Vaults of Parnassus ambitiously collects references to all sorts of Python resources. http://www.vex.net/~x/parnassus/ Much of Python's real work takes place on Special-Interest Group mailing lists http://www.python.org/sigs/ Python Success Stories--from air-traffic control to on-line match-making--can inspire you or decision-makers to whom you're subject with a vision of what the language makes practical. http://www.pythonology.com/python/success The Python Software Foundation (PSF) has replaced the Python Consortium as an independent nexus of activity. It has official responsibility for Python's development and maintenance. http://www.python.org/psf/ Among the ways you can support PSF is with a donation. http://www.python.org/psf/donate.html Kurt B. Kaiser publishes a weekly report on faults and patches. http://www.google.com/groups?as_usubject=weekly%20python%20patch Although unmaintained since 2002, the Cetus collection of Python hyperlinks retains a few gems. http://www.cetus-links.org/oo_python.html Python FAQTS http://python.faqts.com/ The Cookbook is a collaborative effort to capture useful and interesting recipes. http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Cookbook/Python Among several Python-oriented RSS/RDF feeds available are http://www.python.org/channews.rdf http://bootleg-rss.g-blog.net/pythonware_com_daily.pcgi http://python.de/backend.php For more, see http://www.syndic8.com/feedlist.php?ShowMatch=python&ShowStatus=all The old Python "To-Do List" now lives principally in a SourceForge reincarnation. http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=355470&group_id=5470&func=browse http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0042/ The online Python Journal is posted at pythonjournal.cognizor.com. editor(a)pythonjournal.com and editor(a)pythonjournal.cognizor.com welcome submission of material that helps people's understanding of Python use, and offer Web presentation of your work. del.icio.us presents an intriguing approach to reference commentary. It already aggregates quite a bit of Python intelligence. http://del.icio.us/tag/python *Py: the Journal of the Python Language* http://www.pyzine.com Archive probing tricks of the trade: http://groups.google.com/groups?oi=djq&as_ugroup=comp.lang.python&num=100 http://groups.google.com/groups?meta=site%3Dgroups%26group%3Dcomp.lang.pyth… Previous - (U)se the (R)esource, (L)uke! - messages are listed here: http://www.ddj.com/topic/python/ (requires subscription) http://groups-beta.google.com/groups?q=python-url+group:comp.lang.python*&s… http://purl.org/thecliff/python/url.html (dormant) or http://groups.google.com/groups?oi=djq&as_q=+Python-URL!&as_ugroup=comp.lan… There is *not* an RSS for "Python-URL!"--at least not yet. Arguments for and against are occasionally entertained. Suggestions/corrections for next week's posting are always welcome. E-mail to <Python-URL(a)phaseit.net> should get through. To receive a new issue of this posting in e-mail each Monday morning (approximately), ask <claird(a)phaseit.net> to subscribe. Mention "Python-URL!". Write to the same address to unsubscribe. -- The Python-URL! Team-- Dr. Dobb's Journal (http://www.ddj.com) is pleased to participate in and sponsor the "Python-URL!" project.

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Zenoss Launches Version 1.0 Python-based IT Monitoring Product
by Drew Bray 20 Nov '06

20 Nov '06

Zenoss Launches Core 1.0 Product Breakthrough Solution Sets New Standard for Open Source IT Monitoring Annapolis, MD — November 14, 2006 — Zenoss, Inc., a leading provider of enterprise network and systems monitoring software, today announced the availability of Zenoss Core version 1.0. Zenoss Core is an integrated IT monitoring product that allows IT administrators to manage the status and health of their entire infrastructures through a single web-based console. As a free, open source software product, Zenoss provides organizations world-wide with a new alternative for enterprise-grade IT monitoring that is substantially less expensive and easier to deploy than traditional solutions. “Zenoss Core has been downloaded more than 50,000 times in the last 120 days; many organizations rely on the product every day to monitor their mission critical IT infrastructure,” said Bill Karpovich, CEO and Co-Founder of Zenoss, Inc. “The solution has already been proven in demanding environments and today we’re launching it for mainstream adoption.” Zenoss is focused on helping medium-sized organizations more effectively manage their rapidly growing IT infrastructures. Zenoss Core provides these organizations with the rich, integrated functionality previously available only through proprietary solutions that were too expensive and complex. “Systems Management 2.0 companies, like Zenoss, are lowering the barriers to entry for systems management,” said RedMonk analyst Michael Coté. “These companies and projects are typically characterized by open source development and an overall, positive simplification of the systems management space especially for the mid- market.” “We looked at several alternatives—including the large enterprise suites—and narrowed the selection down to BMC and Zenoss,” said Jim Stalder, CIO of Mercy Medical Services in Baltimore, MD. “Zenoss was the best choice in terms of ease-of-deployment and price. With Zenoss, we have improved our responsiveness and availability, and we are saving 80% over the cost of a proprietary solution.” Zenoss monitors the entire infrastructure including network devices, server hardware, operating systems, applications, software versions, and environmental controls. Zenoss Core 1.0 builds significant advancements in scalability, a richer user interface, and a high level of stability on top of the Zenoss Core features. The key features of Zenoss include: Cross-Layer Monitoring–Inventory and Configuration Model: Zenoss populates (using auto-discovery) and maintains a complete database of the IT infrastructure, including configuration details, dependencies, and logical views. Availability Monitoring: End-to-end, active testing of infrastructure elements and application services, including process monitoring, simple ping tests, and more sophisticated “synthetic transactions.” Performance Monitoring: Zenoss tracks and graphs over time a virtually unlimited set of performance metrics across all infrastructure components. Alerts are generated when Zenoss detects breaches of end-user thresholds. Event Management: Zenoss collects events and alarms from throughout the infrastructure into a central repository where they are correlated, prioritized, and archived for historical analysis. Rules are configured by end users to generate pages and/or emails as matching conditions are discovered. Zenoss 1.0 also includes many new features that augment the Zenoss Core modules. Remote Management: Securely manage remote servers through the use of Zen Plug-ins. Sophisticated Alerting: Version 1.0 offers a complex alerting faculty that enables alerts to be sent to pagers or email and can even adhere to an “on call” schedule. Automated Update Checking: A new automatic software update feature makes it easy to keep up with the latest Zenoss Core security and feature updates. Red Hat Enterprise Linux Support: Zenoss Core 1.0 is officially supported on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.0 and has received Red Hat Ready Certification. In addition, Zenoss has committed to support future versions of the commercial Linux operating system. Zenoss Core 1.0 is available for download at http://www.zenoss.com/ download/. About Zenoss, Inc. Recently named one of the “Top 10 Open Source Companies to Watch” by Network World, Zenoss is an open source network and systems management software company based in Annapolis, MD. Zenoss provides the most complete open source monitoring platform as a lower cost and easier-to-deploy alternative to traditional proprietary solutions. For more information, please visit www.zenoss.com. Project Blurb Zenoss is Python/Zope-based, network/systems monitoring application that has been in development since 2002. The goal of Zenoss is to “Simplify Systems Management” with a Python, open source alternative to the big commercial management suites (e.g. IBM Tivoli, HP OpenView, etc.).

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[ANN] rpncalc-2.5 RPN Calculator for Python
by Raymond L. Buvel 19 Nov '06

19 Nov '06

The rpncalc package adds an interactive Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) interpreter to Python. This interpreter allows the use of Python as an RPN calculator. You can easily switch between the RPN interpreter and the standard Python interpreter. Home page: http://calcrpnpy.sourceforge.net/ Changes in 2.5 * Update the included clnum package. * Added ratapx and unique_roots commands.

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[ANN] ratfun-2.4 Polynomials and Rational Functions
by Raymond L. Buvel 19 Nov '06

19 Nov '06

The ratfun module provides classes for defining polynomial and rational function (ratio of two polynomials) objects. These objects can be used in arithmetic expressions and evaluated at a particular point. Home page: http://calcrpnpy.sourceforge.net/ratfun.html Note: If you are using rpncalc-1.2 or later, this module is already included. This release is for folks who don't want rpncalc. Changes in 2.4 * Updated the included clnum package. * Added uniqueRoots to handle polynomials with multiple roots.

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