A framework for the quick development of websites is a structure of files and folders of standardized code (HTML, CSS, JS documents, and more) which can be used as a reference to help approach and resolve new problems of a similar nature. By providing a common structure, frameworks offer developers the opportunity to reuse code and avoid starting projects from scratch.
Read moreRoundup: Best Free Open Source BASIC Tools
BASIC (an acronym for Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use.
Read moreStingRay – simple chess graphical user interface
StingRay is a new entry in the field of Linux-based chess software. It’s billed as a simple chess graphical user interface with basic functionality to run against UCI and XBoard engines.
The software is designed to be lightweight and not burden the chess player with features they’ll never use.
Read moregPodder – podcast client written in Python
gPodder is an open source tool that downloads and manages free audio and video content (“podcasts”) for you. The software is written in Python and sports a simple GTK interface. The software package also includes a command-line interface which is called gpo. It lets you listen to podcasts on your computer or on mobile devices.
Read moreOrg mode – Life in Plain Text
Natural language processing (NLP) is an exciting field of computer science, artificial intelligence, and computational linguistics concerned with the interactions between computers and human (natural) languages. It includes word and sentence tokenization, text classification and sentiment analysis, spelling correction, information extraction, parsing, meaning extraction, and question answering.
Read morebat – super charged cat – my favorite colorizer
bat is a drop-in replacement for the cat command adding advanced syntax highlighting and Git integration to show file modifications. It’s a really useful utility that is a massive leap up from cat. bat’s written in the Rust programming language.
Read moreflameshot – simple to use screenshot program
Being able to take a screenshot comes in handy so many times. Linux is blessed with a good range of competent screenshot software. One which has recently caught our attention is Flameshot, an easy to use, open source, Qt-based screenshot utility which is adept at capturing custom areas of a desktop.
Read morecastero – command-line podcast player
If you’re tired of bloated GUI software and are looking for a capable podcast player, give castero a whirl. With a few more features, this podcast would tick all the boxes.
Read moreVocal – a modern Vala podcast player
This podcast tool has some really interesting features, but stability issues mean it’s impossible to recommend in its current state. But we’ll keep an eye on its development. If they can iron out the major bugs, this podcast player will be an interesting alternative.
Read moreReview: The Binary Times Podcast
I recently authored a detailed review of the Linux podcast scene, grilling 25 podcasts targeted at Linux and open source enthusiasts. Like any roundup of this type, it’s almost inevitable that a few podcasts missed my radar. One of these is The Binary Times Podcast. Apologies to the hosts of the show.
Read moreDocBook – markup language for technical documentation
DocBook is a semantic markup language for writing structured documents using XML (or SGML). It was originally intended for writing technical documents related to computer hardware and software but it can be used for any other sort of documentation. The language is fairly easy to learn; its strength derives from its flexibility.
Read moregoogler: Google Web and Google News from the command-line
I love working with the command line. Seriously, I think there’s hardly anything more productive and versatile for a software developer than the terminal. Maybe it’s the hacker in me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a heavy user of graphical applications, but the terminal will always have a special place.
I’ve recently come across a command-line tool that’s right up my street. It’s called googler, an open source tool to Google from the command-line. It’s written in Python, so that ticks another box for me. googler isn’t affiliated to Google in any way.
Read moreReview: The Linux Podcast Scene – all the movers and shakers
It’s been a long time since we covered Linux podcasts. Sadly, some great shows have podfaded, but there’s new ones entering the scene. We’ve therefore compiled a fairly comprehensive roundup of active Linux-related podcasts. We don’t feature in this article podcasts that have stopped releasing new shows.
Read morereStructuredText – what-you-see-is-what-you-get plaintext markup language
reStructuredText (often abbreviated as reST) is an easy-to-read, what-you-see-is-what-you-get plaintext markup syntax and parser system. It’s designed to be a simple, unobtrusive markup language.
This lightweight markup language is useful for in-line program documentation (such as Python docstrings), technical documentation, for quickly creating simple web pages, as well as standalone documents.
Read moreyoutube-dl: Download Video and Audio Files From Streaming Sites
youtube-dl is a cross-platform, open source, command-line program to download videos. Its name belies the fact it supports tons of streaming sites besides YouTube. I’d never heard of half of them.
The software is written in the Python programming language and needs the Python interpreter (2.6, 2.7, or 3.2+).
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