The latest release of PostgreSQL contains a host of new features for advanced database design. Here's an introduction to some of the best

Based on the ubiquitous Berkeley DB, Berkeley DB XML is a new database that stores, retrieves, indexes, and searches XML documents. Better yet, you can embed Berkeley BD XML in almost any application. Roll up your sleeves for this hands-on introduction.

Storage Area Networks never really realized the promise of providing a shared pool of storage. IBM's Storage Tank delivers on that promise - and more. Here's an exclusive, in-depth look at how Storage Tank works

If someone asked you to describe Linux, what would you say? If you're pedantic, perhaps you'd say, "Linux is an operating system kernel." If you're practical, maybe you'd explain, "Linux is an operating system where you can inspect and change any of the components." Or, if you're evangelical, perhaps you'd proffer, "It's like Windows, only there's no blue screen of death, and it's free!"

Have you ever tried to download the latest ISO images for your favorite Linux distribution during the first week that it's available? If so, you've probably even had trouble finding an up-to-date mirror that'd let you in, and after finding one, you were probably disappointed to see a 20 KB/sec download speed (or worse) on your cable modem or DSL line that normally downloads at 10 times that speed. And as Linux becomes more popular, the problem's only getting worse.

Like the heart and lungs, accounts payable and accounts receivable keep a company pumping. Money goes out; raw materials come in. Products and services go out; money comes in. If more money comes in than goes out, the company prospers. At least that's the theory -- and the goal.

Linux systems have several shells available -- some more powerful than others. Perhaps the most powerful shell is zsh, the Z shell. To give you an idea of the shell's size and complexity, the zshall man page in plain-text format weighs in at more than 16,000 lines. (Rest easy. We won't try to cover all of zsh in this month's column.)

Linux's font handling is undergoing a major change. In the past, Linux relied on X's native font-handling systems (known as X core fonts), but over time, these systems have become rather ragged. The solution is an entirely different font system, known as Xft.

This month, we continue our focus on shared-memory parallelism using OpenMP. As a quick review, remember that OpenMP consists of a set of compiler directives, a handful of library calls, and a set of environment variables that can be used to specify run-time parameters. Available for both FORTRAN and C/C++ languages, OpenMP can often be used to improve performance on symmetric multi-processor (SMP) machines or SMP nodes in a cluster by simply (and carefully) adding a few compiler directives to the code. Most commercial compilers for Linux provide support for OpenMP, as do compilers for commercial supercomputers.

If you're running RedHat or a Linux distribution based on RedHat, chances are you've had occassion to use RPMs. RPMs and Red Hat's accompanying package management system (and other systems like it) greatly simplify the task of maintaining the software on a system. With RPMs, installs, upgrades, and even downgrades are quick and easy.

In September 2002's "LAMP Post" column (http://www.linux-mag.com/2002-09/lamp_01.html), we briefly touched on the idea of using multiple storage backends (table types) in MySQL:

Recently, I found myself hacking a web application for a customer. If you've written a web application or two, you know the type: a multi-page web form where the fields need to be validated, stored into session data, and then finally dispatched into the next phase.

This month's column provides a suite of helpful utilities that save time and energy and avoid frustration.

Time to fess up. If at this time last year someone told you that Novell was going to be a leading company of any sort, you'd have smiled. If someone had told you that Novell was going to be a leading Linux company, you'd have busted out laughing. But no one's laughing now.