O'Reilly News: Lamp

Low End Linux Netbook Prices Continue To Drop

2009-06-29T15:56:12-08:10

It almost goes without saying that you won't find anything that runs Windows at anywhere near these prices. Oh, and no, that doesn't mean that Linux is somehow inferior as Windows fans would want you to believe. It is, however, free of charge.

PyMOTW: pyclbr

2009-06-29T15:56:01-08:11

pyclbr can scan Python source to find classes and stand-alone functions. The information about class, method, and function names and line numbers is gathered using tokenize without importing the code.

PyMOTW: robotparser

2009-06-24T15:59:25-08:12

robotparser implements a parser for the robots.txt file format, including a simple function for checking if a given user agent can access a resource. It is intended for use in well-behaved spiders or other crawler applications that need to either be throttled or otherwise restricted.

PyMOTW: gettext

2009-06-15T11:54:30-08:13

The gettext module provides an all-Python implementation compatible with the GNU gettext library for message translation and catalog management.

PyMOTW: json

2009-05-28T14:55:03-08:14

The json module provides an API similar to pickle for converting in-memory Python objects to a serialized representation known as "JavaScript Object Notation".

MySQL faster, better, and still unified: notes about Sun, Monty Widenius, Percona, and Drizzle

2009-05-22T08:59:12-08:15

It might have seemed last week, with the announcement of the Open Database Alliance, that MySQL is forking. The ODA promises a "central clearinghouse for MySQL development" and claims to improve on areas where criticism has historically been aimed at MySQL AB/Sun: bug-fixing, performance, and community responsiveness. But what's going on behind the scenes is much more subtle and promises a much better outcome for MySQL.

Linux To Regain 50% Netbook Market Share

2009-05-21T08:26:39-08:16

The past couple of weeks saw a flurry or articles debating the future of Linux on netbooks. A report in the Taipei Times on May 9th was picked up by LinuxToday but largely ignored by the tech press and the blogosphere. Stephen Lim, the General Manager of Taiwan based Linpus Technologies, made the surprising prediction that Linux will regain 50% market share from Windows on netbooks by next year.

Data chef: SPSS Tripe Consomm

2009-05-05T14:49:55-08:17

The data chef discusses translation of data from SPSS format, for those who don't have a licensed copy at hand.

Visualizing the U.S. Senate Social Graph, 1991 - 2009 [Part 1]

2009-05-05T11:20:20-08:18

Arlen Specter's party switch was big news, but a quick visualization technique shows it was a long time coming. What other surprises might lurk in the Senate Social graph?

MySQL 2009 conference wrap-up: news flash about Flash and other notes from the experts

2009-05-01T13:20:22-08:19

MySQL conference wrap-up: Flash, cloud computing, managing large installations, the value of community, and how to fumble your way to winning the presidency.

MySQL conference begins: the resurgence of InnoDB and other current events

2009-05-01T13:20:22-08:20

I sense a bigger enterprise theme at the MySQL conference this year. The pride of putting up a PHP- or Rails-backed web site lies in the past; now people are concerned with scaling into the clouds (figuratively and literally) and ensuring absolute reliability.

Favorite Linux Book of All Time: Linux in a Nutshell

2009-05-01T11:19:45-08:21

The Linux Journal's annual Readers' Choice Awards take the pulse of the Linux community, allowing readers to choose their favorites in a number of categories, and write-ins also are accepted. This year, more than 6,000 individuals voted for their favorite Linux solutions—one of the biggest turnouts in in Linux Journal history. And Linux in a Nutshell won the award for Favorite Linux Book of All Time. Our thanks to everyone who voted for this book. We think it's a classic and we're glad that you do, too!

PyMOTW: multiprocessing, part 2 - Communication between processes with multiprocessing

2009-04-28T08:49:58-08:22

As with threads, a common use pattern for multiple processes is to divide a job up among several workers to run in parallel. A simple way to do that with multiprocessing is to use Queues to pass messages back and forth. Any pickle-able object can pass through a multiprocessing Queue. This is part 2 of coverage of the multiprocessing module. If you missed part one, you may want to start there.

PyMOTW: multiprocessing, part 1

2009-04-20T08:21:14-08:23

A look at multiprocessing basics. The multiprocessing module includes a relatively simple API for dividing work up between multiple processes based on the API for the threading module.

Simplify business research with Google Ajax Search API

2009-04-14T09:20:36-08:24

Business research usually starts with a list -- brands, competitors, people, products, whatever. This post describes a quick Python script that uses the Google Search API to automate the routine parts of the task, giving you more time to analyze and understand the results.

The App Engine Birds of a Feather at Pycon 2009

2009-04-07T12:50:17-08:25

This was my second Pycon - since the last two have been in Chicago and on a weekend it has been an easy drive for me to attend coming from Michigan. Since last year was my first time at Pycon...

A Linux Netbook Done The Right Way: the Sylvania g Netbook Meso

2009-04-01T07:50:58-08:26

In just over two months of use so far I have been very impressed with the Sylvania g Netbook Meso. None of the issues, hardware or software, that I encountered with the original g Netbook, are seen in the somewhat newer model. The Meso has proven to be an upgrade in performance, in reliability, and most definitely in the area of software.

PyCon 2009 and Looking to WSGI 2.0

2009-03-31T09:51:15-08:27

I just returned from PyCon in Chicago. During the conference open spaces there was an open space discussing potential changes for WSGI. The three basic ideas were: Return a tuple with the status, headers, and response instead using the start...

Brian Aker: What Would an IBM Buyout of Sun Mean for MySQL?

2009-03-26T11:51:01-08:28

MySQL has had a long and sometimes strange journey from an independent database project to being commercialized; then brought to Sun and now possibly moving to a new home again. Brian Aker is the director of technology for MySQL with Sun Microsystems and probably is familiar as anyone with the life history and current status of the popular open-source database. He recently discussed the current status of MySQL with us, and how it might fare if IBM were to acquire Sun.

Read an Excerpt from High Performance MySQL: Winner of a Productivity Award at the 19th Annual Jolt Awards

2009-03-18T04:20:44-08:29

We're delighted to announce that High Performance MySQL, Second Edition, was awarded a Jolt Productivity Award in the category of Technical Books. The Jolts are the Oscars of the software development industry, showcasing the books, tools, and other products that have "jolted" the industry. Congratulations to the authors of this title. To celebrate, we've posted an excerpt from the book.