2002.03_G-Tools-Console Concentrator, Aricalc.pdf

BEGINNERS

COVERING

G-tools

THE BASE

This month GNOME

tools looks at

Moleskine to help you

code and Procman to

watch your system

Gstreamer

GStreamer allows the construction of graphs of

media-handling components, ranging from

simple MP3 playback to complex audio (mixing)

and video (non-linear editing) processing.

Applications can take advantage of advances in

codec and filter technology transparently.

Developers can add new codecs and filters by

writing a simple plug-in with a clean, generic

interface.

GStreamer is released under the LGPL, with

many of the included plug-ins retaining the

license of the code they were derived from,

usually GPL or BSD. Version 0.3.2 is now

released from http://gstreamer.net/ . Applications

that so far have fair status for GStreamer

include mjukplay, gstmediaplay and

ZStreamCaster for icecast streams.

gstmediaplayer in action with the Gstreamer library

G-tools

In this column we

feature a monthly

round-up of some of

the best tools available

from the gnome.org

Web site. Whether they

be essential tools for

everyday GNOME users

or interesting

curiosities, you’re sure

to find them here.

Procman

Procman is a GNOME process viewer and system

monitor. This allows you to see what is happening on

your system and notice any anomalies. The unstable

version is 1.1.1 but the stable version is 1.0. Hurrah !

It requires libtop 1.0.6 and gal 0.19.0 or greater.

Available from http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/k/

f/kfv101/procman/ and GPL licensed.&

Moleskine

Moleskine by Michele Campeotto is a source code

editor for the GNOME desktop. Moleskine is

developed in Python and uses Scintilla as its text-

rendering engine. Moleskine takes its name from

the artists’ notebook of the same name, which so

many of the world’s favourite books started out on.

The latest version, 0.7.7, has been released

which now accepts word wrapping and multiple

files can be dragged from the file manager. It has

a GUI configuration tool and auto-completion for

words, capable of matching braces and syntax

highlighting. Because it uses Scintilla, many

programming languages are fully supported in the

default configuration. As long as Scintilla supports

a language you want then you can also add your

own. Three modules are required – Moleskine,

PyGtkScintilla and GtkScintilla. Available from

http://www.sourceforge.net/ projects/moleskine .

Monitoring usage

LINUX MAGAZINE

Issue 18 • 2002

BEGINNERS

Conc

Conc is a console concentrator for Linux

and GNOME. It features remote

maintenance of systems over IP, and

concurrent connections to consoles. Serial

lines on multiple machines may be pooled

into one system allowing a virtually

unlimited number of consoles to be

managed – ideal for large server farms,

clusters or off-site server rooms.

The systems consist of three

components. The first is concserv – the

central daemon that keeps logs from all

the consoles and co-ordinates the rest of

the system. When it starts, concserv

spawns a number of termserv processes

that control the serial lines to which the

console lines are connected. The link

between a termserv and concserv is

encrypted and termservs may run on

separate machines to concserv,

communicated over TCP/IP.

The final component, conc, is the user

interface. It connects to concserv over an

encrypted TCP/IP link, and allows the

system administrator to view the logs of a

particular machine, connect to its console,

add and remove consoles etc. There is also

a small, text-based interface called console

that allows connection to a single console.

Any number of user interface programs

may run concurrently and multiple

connections to the same are possible,

allowing groups to work on one system.

Having all the components communicate

by TCP/IP allows administration of

machines from off site or unifying

management of co-located and local

equipment. Tested with Comtrol’s Rockpot

card to give a reliable 16 channel serial

card. Available from http://www.jfc.org.uk/

software/conc.html

Configuring Conc

Conc overview

Aricalc

Gnect

Gnect is a four in a row board game for GNOME. The

object is to build a line of four of your counters while

trying to stop your opponent (human or computer)

building a line of his or her own. A line can be

horizontal, vertical or diagonal. Gnect has two

computer-driven players. One’s very simple – it’s

included to provide a fun opponent for young

children. The other is Giuliano Bertoletti’s Velena

Engine. The Velena Engine takes a much more

sophisticated approach – its strongest level is

unbeatable if it makes the first move.

Velena is “A Shannon C-type program which plays

connect 4 perfectly”. A beautiful SVGA DOS version

is available, as is the Velena Engine source. It has now

reached version 1.4.3. Available from

http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~trmusson/gnect.html

Yet another project

that has made it to

version 1.0 this year.

Aricalc is a simple

calculator for people

who have to work

with imperial values

– dimensions given

in feet, inches and

fractions of inch. It

can do all the

standard math

functions with those

kinds of values. It

can also work with

square or cubic

values (for area or volume dimensions). It can also

calculate all the parameters of a slope (pitch, run,

rise and diagonal). All the people working in the

construction industry will appreciate Aricalc plus a

few others.

Available from http://www.total.net/~harrych/

aricalc/aricalc.htm and as usual under the GPL.

There is also a link for the online help pages, which

also give the keyboard shortcuts and simple

examples of using the calculator.

Designed for construction

Velena Engine at work

Issue 18 • 2002

LINUX MAGAZINE

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