Free computing software for linux

The Pawn Project aims to make computing easy for anyone with an easy-to-use desktop environment.

How often have you felt that your computer could be smarter ? Arent you tired of the old drag and drop style desktop and the horribly command promps.

Well Open Pawn Projekt (OPP) is about to change all that. The Pawn shall make it possibly for you to command your computer exactly what you would like it to do.

Order it in plain and simple english or whatever your natural language is.

Pawn is written in Perl, TCL TK and C++. Just to make it so portable as possible. Currently it will run on any Unix/Linux system.

KHdRecord is an audio recorder which writes directly to the harddisk.

This enables recording of LPs.

Encoding MP3-files uses a lot of computing resources. This program requires a 350 MHz CPU minimum to run. Encoding Ogg/Vorbis-files uses even more resources. On my 1.4GHz Pentium it takes half of the CPU time.

The program directly accesss the sound and the mixer device. If you use it as non-root, these devices must be accessible for the user.

Because /dev/dsp and /dev/mixer are symbolic links on the most systems, the devices behind the links must be accessible.

On most machines this are /dev/dsp0 and /dev/mixer0. To give the devices accessible log in as root. Enter chmod 777 /dev/dsp0 and chmod 777 /dev/mixer0 .

ICHTHUX is a Christian Linux Distribution based on Debian GNU/Linux. We have chosen to develop ICHTHUX as a Custom Debian Distribution, so that we can benefit from the evolution of the core system of Debian while focusing on our goal : providing a Christian computing environment.

libGlass is a library for distributed computing that makes its programming easy.
The Glass framework is a scalable set of components that can be used by applications to perform distributed computing. Applications are built reusing the available components as needed.
One of the major goals of libGlass is to be a user-friendly framework, not only suitable for new applications, but also for legacy code.
This is an important feature, as most available solutions for distributed computing require a substantial amount of rewrite of legacy code; some of them require a complete change of the application design.
libGlass was designed to achieve the following goals:
- User transparency: the library must be as transparent as possible. Any tasks that are repetitive or that can be done automatically should be done by the library, without user intervention.
The API (Application Programmers Interface) should be simple and intuitive, with a smooth learning curve and provide high level primitives that can be easily used to solve any problems. Legacy code should be easy to port.
- Extensibility: the library must be easily extensible, requiring no recompilation or any other modification to support new features; they must work as plug-ins.
- Performance and efficiency: since the library is for distributed computing, it has to be efficient, consuming as little processing time as possible.
- Network protocol independence: an abstraction layer makes it possible to change the underlying network protocols easily. The application can use the network protocol most efficient for its needs.
- Portability and interoperability: heterogeneous clusters and grid computing being every day more common, the library must be not only portable, but allow different architectures to interoperate seamlessly, something that is not true for most implementations of distributed computing solutions.
- Scalability: there is no use for a distributed solution that does not scale well. Glass has to work well in all sorts of environments, from small clusters to huge grids, and be able to adapt itself to achieve best results.
- Reconfigurable network architecture: most existing solutions are based on a fixed network architecture, usually Master/Slave or Client/Server.
Given the requirements of scalability and performance, and the fact that peer-to-peer applications are everyday more common, its unreasonable to fix the network architecture: the developer should be free to define how nodes will connect with each other.
- Reliability and fault tolerance: distributed computing often requires reliability. Its not acceptable that the misbehavior or crash of a single node crashes the entire computation.
As clusters grow in size and grid computing becomes more common, the MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) shrinks to a point that it cannot be ignored.
libGlass must be able to handle node crashes gracefully, keeping the application running and avoiding deadlocks and other problems that could arise from the node crash. Nodes should be allowed to join or leave at anytime.
- Thread support: the library must be completely thread-safe.
With clusters of symmetric multiprocessors (SMP) computers becoming more common and new technologies such as HyperThreadingTM, its unacceptable for a distributed computing framework to have thread issues.
Main features:
Plugins:
- Synchronous shared memory
- Distributed asynchronous events
- Synchronization barriers
- Remote aliases
Protocols:
- TCP/IP
- UDP/IP (unfinished)
Architectures:
- Client/Server
- Pure peer to peer (planned)
- Hierarchical (planned)
- Anonymous peer to peer (planned)
Bindings for:
- Java (mostly finished)
Enhancements:
- Fixed packaging problems that could abort compilation

SImg is a software for astronomical image processing. It contains a tool for visualization of highly dynamic images.
The package consists of a library and applications which use it. Some of the features are deconvolution (various methods), Video4Linux support, PSF computation, approximation by linear combination of images and polynoms, various color transforms, automatic shifting of image sets (for addition and color composition), and more.
Main features:
- Support for Firewire cameras (including support for longtime exposure modifications)
- GUI for control of Firewire cameras (with real time sharpness computation for simplifying focusing) [Screenshot]
- Support of many raw data formats for digital cameras (dcraw)
- Several methods for generating false color images
- Support of bayer color pattern images
- Multi time exposures (to increase the dynamic by combining different exposure times, e.g. to avoid blooming)
- Computing of read out noise and AD resolution
- Removing interferences
- Visualization tool [Screenshot]
- Deconvolution (Wiener, van Citterts, Richardson Lucy and a new method)
- Video4linux support (for cameras)
- Computing of the PSF
- Many routines for color composition
- Algorithms for removing gradients
- Denoising
- Automatic shifting / rotation / ... of images (for addition, color composition or cutting)
- Many possibilities for color value transforms
- Approximation by polynomials or images
Enhancements:
- Support for Firewire cameras, support of various raw data formats, support for Bayer color pattern images, and various additional features, improvements, and bugfixes.

Nihongo Benkyo is a Japanese dictionary and learning tool for Linux and Windows.
Its goal is to provide a comprehensive application that will help you learn Japanese. It is free software licensed with GNU General Public License and provided without any warranty of any kind.
Main features:
- Is available for Windows, Linux and other Unix operating systems.
- Imports JMDict, a word dictionary with a lot of interesting metadata.
- Imports JMnedict, a proper name dictionary.
- Imports EDICT, a format in which you can find many specialized dictionaries (science, computing, etc).
- Imports Kanjidic2, a kanji dictionary with over 10,000 entries.
- Finds words from Japanese (kanji, kana, romaji) or from a translation.
- Lists results in a table for quick overview.
- Shows further details about a selected result (part of speech, similar words, dialect...).
- Scans selection from other applications.
- Keeps an history of searched words so you can go back and go forward easily.
- Has its interface translated into bulgarian, english, french, japanese and spanish.

WWW L-System Explorer project is fancy tool for exploring L-S based fractals in your browser while computing takes place on a Web server.
A rich command set is provided, along with several examples.
Main features:
- rich command set
- user-friendly interface using JavaScript
- PNG output
- 8 examples
- can be included in your pages using < IMG SRC="" > tag
- English and Czech help pages
- easy installation
- source code included
- universal class for turtle graphics