I periodically go searching for new tech-related podcasts to make my commute-time more edifying, interesting, or amusing. I’ll admit right up front that I’m picky – the only one I find myself returning to consistently is LugRadio, which I know is not everyone’s cup of tea. But I’m not looking for “Bob’s Gadget News”. Anyway, content aside, there are some production and style problems that have turned me off to so many podcasts that I’ve come to view them as established antipatterns.

Python 3, formerly known as “Python 3000”, is coming. If you want to get up to speed, here’s my simple three-step program:

Thanks to the helpful folks on the #svn IRC channel I learned that it is possible to turn a directory into a svn checkout in-place, i.e. without having to replace the directory itself with a fresh checkout after you svn import. This is very handy for things like /etc files and other stuff that you’d rather not be shuffling around unnecessarily.

The key nugget of info is here in the svn FAQ.

An opinionated minority of advanced computer users are rebelling against the WIMP (windows, icons, menus, pointers) model of HCI. They are developing and promoting alternative interfaces (typically desiigned to work with unix-based systems) that embody their opinions.

I haven’t used any of these yet, but here are the ones I keep encountering references to:

• Ion
• Ratpoison
• Orion
• StumpWM

Most if not all of these credit the terminal-only GNU Screen (a program I do use) with inspiration. The ideas of Jef Raskin undoubtedly are a factor too.

Preamble

This article is two things:

1. A description of one way to use version control with a Django project
2. An introduction to using the darcs distributed version control system in particular

First, though, a mini-sermon which someday will be a post in the You Really Should series: You really should use version control. Most of you probably do. But if you’re among those not using version control to manage your software projects, start now! Learn a good version control system and start using it on just one project. You’ll work so much more productively and confidently that you’ll want to use version control everywhere. If you’re just getting started, learn Subversion – it is more or less the standard at this point, and employers and other programmers will assume you know it.