Ubuntuland

Firebird (sometimes erroneously called FirebirdSQL) is a relational database management system offering many ANSI SQL-2003 features.

It runs on Linux, Windows, and a variety of Unix platforms. Started as a fork of Borland's open source release of InterBase, the Firebird codebase is maintained by the Firebird Project at SourceForge.

New code modules added to Firebird are licensed under the Initial Developer's Public License (IDPL). The original code released by Inprise (as Borland was then called) is licensed under the InterBase Public License 1.0. Both licenses are modified versions of the Mozilla Public License 1.1.

History

Firebird 1.0 was essentially a bug-fixed version of the InterBase 6.0 open source edition with some minor new features. Development on the Firebird 2 codebase began with the porting of the Firebird 1.0 C code to C++, together with a major code-cleaning undertaking. Firebird 1.5 was the first release of the Firebird 2 codebase and as such a significant milestone for the developers and the whole project.

* Firebird 2.0 was released in 2006. The latest stable version is 2.0.3 which was released in September 2007.

* Firebird 2.1 went into beta testing in mid-2007 and is likely to be released soon.

* Firebird 3.0 will merge code from several codebases, including Firebird 2.1, Vulcan, and Fyracle. The schedule at [1] indicates an Alpha version for release in Q4 2008.

Around the 20th birthday of the InterBase/Firebird product line, original creator Jim Starkey recollected:

"September 4, 2004 is the 20th anniversary of what is now Firebird. I quit my job at DEC in August, took a three day end-of-summer holiday, and began work on September 4, 1984 in my new career as a software entrepreneur. As best as I can reconstruct, the first two files were cpre.c and cpre.h (C preprocessor), later changed to gpre.c and gpre.h. The files were created on a loaner DEC Pro/350, a PDP-11 personal computer that went exactly nowhere, running XENIX. Gpre was my first C program, XENIX was my first experience with Unix, and the Pro/350 was my very last (but not lamented) experience with PDP-11s."

More information on Firebird's history can be found on the InterBase/Firebird History pages.

Features

* Full support of Stored Procedures and Triggers
* Full ACID compliant transactions
* Referential Integrity
* Multi Generational Architecture (sometimes called MVCC)
* Very small footprint
* Fully featured internal language for Stored Procedures and Triggers (PSQL)
* Support for External Functions (UDFs)
* Little or no need for specialized DBAs
* Almost no configuration needed - just install and start using
* Big community and lots of places where you can get free and good support
* Optional single file embedded version - great to create CDROM catalogs, single user or evaluation versions of applications
* Dozens of third party tools, including GUI administrative tools, replication tools, etc.
* Careful writes - fast recovery, no need for transaction logs
* Many ways to access your database: native/API, dbExpress drivers, ODBC, OLEDB, .Net provider, JDBC native type 4 driver, Python module, PHP, Perl, etc.
* Native support for all major operating systems, including Windows, Linux, Solaris, MacOS.
* Incremental Backups
* 64bits builds available
* Full cursor implementation in PSQL

The new Alpha version of ubuntu named Hardy Heron includes firebird 2.0.3 stable.

The current sub-release is v.2.0.3. More details about Firebird 2.0.x ...

Did you know that you can report bugs directly to the Project developers? There is a common-sense procedure to follow, so that your report is useful to us: we do ask that you read the article How to Report Bugs Effectively (available in several languages) before you proceed. Then, post your bug report to the firebird-support or the firebird-devel list and ask if you need to post it to Tracker.

Is there a feature you would like to request? Maybe it is already in Firebird's development programme. You can check up at the Tracker site using the Find Issues search tool. You can even vote on it! And if there is a feature YOU want that nobody else has registered yet, write up a good description and add it as a Feature Request. You will need to create an account in Tracker to report bugs, request features or vote. It is simple! just go there and follow the sign-up instructions. The complete Release Notes are available in PDF format.

Firebird Project Development News

FEBE allows you to quickly and easily backup your Firefox extensions. In fact, it goes beyond just backing up -- It will actually rebuild your extensions individually into installable .xpi files. Now you can easily synchronize your office and home browsers.

FEBE backs up and restores your extensions, themes, and (optionally) your bookmarks, preferences, cookies. and much more.

Click here to view the FAQ.

Discuss, complain, praise or request in the forum.

Click here for screen shots

Click here for a sample results report

document.write(text1)Congratulations! You have successfully installed or upgraded your Firefox Environment Backup Extension.

If this is a new installation, you will need to setup some options before you can create a backup. Go to Tools > FEBE > FEBE Options. The only option that absolutely must be set is your Backup destination directory under the Directory tab. You may want to explore the many other options while you're there, though.

If you are upgrading from a previous FEBE version you should clear your previous settings. Go to Tools > FEBE > FEBE Options > Debug > Misc > click Clear FEBE preferences.

If you are new to FEBE or experience any problems backing up, here are some useful links:
document.write(text2) document.write(text3) document.write(text4)

• document.write(link1)FEBE Homepage
  
• document.write(link2)FEBE FAQ
  
• document.write(link3)FEBE Support Forum

Note: You must have javascript enabled to install or download this extension.

Previous beta releases available here.

Version history:

• Fixed: pt-PT and uk-UA locales fixed
• Fixed: Leap year bug in scheduled monthly backups
  

• Includes all changes since v5.1.1 (essentially the same as v5.2.3)
• This is the version posted on AMO.

• Fixed: Full Profile backup for Fx 3.0 beta (XPCOM nsIFileSpec removed, places.sqlite-journal is locked - ignored)
  

• New: uk-UA locale added

• Changed: Debug shell buttons now use %COMSPEC% instead of hard-coding to "C:\windows\system32\cmd.exe"
  
• New: pt-PT locale added
  

• Includes all fixes and enhancement of the 5.0.1RC versions
• Changed: Locales: bg-BG, da-DK, de-DE, el-GR, en-US, es-ES, fa-IR, fi-FI, fr-FR, he-IL, hr-HR, it-IT, ja-JP, ko-KR, nl-NL, pl-PL, ro-RO, ru-RU, sk-SK, sv-SE, tr-TR, uk-UA, zh-CN,
  zh-TW
• If using CLEO, it must be updated to CLEO 3.1
  

• New: Check for pending extension installations before backing up.
• New: Display/Import/Export FEBE configuration completed
• Changed: Changed the way default preferences are declared (febeDefaultPrefs.js)
• Fixed: Fixed FEBE crash when "Display progress window" option was unchecked
• New: Timestamp backups now support ISO8601 and European formats
• Fixed: Fix link on results report to network drive destination directory
• Changed: Rewrote some help files to be more descriptive
  
• en-US locale only, other locales included, but not updated yet

• Fixed: Should now backup profiles named "profile" (affected Portable Firefox users)
• Changed: Warn about restart in clear prefs window
• New: FEBE Start page displays after new install/update
  
• Changed: Comprehensive sanity check - item must exist before backup attempted
• Changed: Toolbar check for visibility before disabling ("febeTLBRbutton")
• Changed: Ignore "Already exists" error when copying zip binaries
• Fixed: Prevent runaway scheduled backups
• New: Added "Display Configuration" button (FEBE Options > Info)
• Known Issues:
• Import/export configuration not yet implemented
• Check for pending extension installs not yet implemented
• Some help screens not yet written
• en-US locale only, other locales included, but not updated yet

• New: Mac OS X support (Free BSD)
• Changed: Name change ("Environment" instead of "Extension")
• Changed: Extensions/themes backup now optional (Options > Options)
  
• Changed: Backup type - Selective or Full profile (Options > Options)
  
• New: Buttons to manage FEBE temp file (Options > Debug)
• New: Button to clear FEBE preferences (Options > Debug)
• New: Options to display progress window and results page (Options > Options)
  
• New: Displays system dependent information (Options > Notes)
• New: Button to view backup destination directory contents (Options > (Directory)
• Changed: Differentiate between errors and warnings on results page
  
• Changed: Display error/warnings on results page first
• New: Button to display FEBE install directory contents (Options > Notes)
• New: Option to warn on clearing destination directory (Options > Directory)
• New: Display Firefox version (Options > Notes > System)
• New: Option for max timestamped directories to keep (Options > Directory)
• New: Option to include a copy of FEBE with backup (Options > Options)
• New: Option to disable permission check (Options > Debug > Misc)
• New: Added buttons to shell to FEBE install and FEBE tmp directories. This should be helpful in debugging permission, etc. (Options > Debug > Shells)
  
• New: Added UI for user-defined backups - single files or entire directories. (For backing up Thunderbird, Greasemonkey scripts, etc.)
• Changed: Alert and Confirm message boxes have new custom look.
• New: Ability to abort scheduled backup (click statusbar icon when flashing)
• Changed: Ability to drag and drop statusbar icon
• "Copy to clipboard" button added to alert boxes when in debug mode
• Changed: Can now specify FEBE tmp directory
• New: Checks for new install and reminds to set/clear options
• New: Option to run backup (on FX startup) if not performed after X days.
• New: Added "Last backup" date to schedule pane
• Changed: Locales: en-US, bg-BG, el-GR, es-ES, fr-FR, it-IT , ko-KR, nl-NL, pl-PL, sk-SK, sv-SE, zh-CN (More to come)
  

• Includes patch to correctly backup/restore usernames/passwords in Firefox 2.0.*
  

• Fixed Russian/English locale mix-up
• Added el-GR locale
• Added ru-RU locale
• Added minimize button to progress window
• Fixed typos in results page

• Fixed "BlockSite" extension incompatibility problem
• Fixed sound on scheduled backup countdown

October 30, 2006 : Version 4.0.2 (351 KB) Install Download

• Now attempts to remove FEBE temp folder prior to backing up

October 25, 2006 : Version 4.0.1 (351 KB) Install Download

• Includes fix for " Error: uncaught exception: [Exception... "Component returned failure code: 0x8000ffff (NS_ERROR_UNEXPECTED) [nsIPrefBranch.getCharPref]" nsresult: "0x8000ffff (NS_ERROR_UNEXPECTED)" location: "JS frame :: chrome://febe/content/febe.js :: febePickFile :: line 790" data: no] "
• Added pt-BR locale
• Added padding to options window to properly display some locales
• Added ja-JP locale

October 16, 2006 : Version 4.0 (345 KB)

Install from: (.xpi)	Download from: (.zip)
AMO
CSC	CSC
SaveFile.com	SaveFile.com

• Firefox 1.5 through 2.0
• Added dropdown menu to toolbar icon
• Locales include en-US, es-ES, fr-FR, hr-HR, it-IT, nl-NL, pl-PL, sk-SK, sv-SE, zh-TW (will add more as they become available)
• Users using en-GB locale have reported backups running continuously. Please post in the support forum.
• May have issues with profile names that contain certain international characters. Please report any proplems in the support forum.

• Includes MONTHLY SCHEDULED BACKUP patch (added 9/17/2006)
• Added support for international characters
• Results page opens in existing blank tab if available
• Linux backup fixes (passwords, security certificates)
• Disable sound option now works

ZetBackup is a backup utility specially build for using external disks as backup media. ZetBackup has support for backing up a varity of system, including SMB based system. ZetBackup comes with a comprehensive build in web administration GUI.

ZetBackup is build around four type of objects: Source, Target, Scheduler and Target Manager. All these objects are configured by the administration GUI.

904502d546dd2634915773f07ae05e70  zetbackup-1.1.3-1.i386.rpm

 875404b8cadaf3ab4996f2bf54b8906f  zetbackup-1.1.3.tgz

 20fdd9c97e781d96f2cfd67232ed2fbc  fc3/zetbackup-1.1.3-1.i386.rpm

For the Intrepid Ibex, the development team will prepare an unbelievable desktop, with an amazing performance, that will work on mostly any computer (be it a high-end workstation or an old and dusty Pentium III machine). Another major feature planned for Ubuntu 8.10 will be the ability to stay connected to the Internet (read: wireless connections) wherever you go: "We want you to be able to move from the office, to the train, and home, staying connected all the way." - said Mark Shuttleworth.

OK, OK.... so what's this so-called Ibex, you may wonder? Well, according to Wikipedia, Ibex is a type of wild mountain goat with large recurved horns (see the article's photo) that are transversely ridged in front. Ibex are found in Eurasia, North Africa, and East Africa. Ranging in height from 27 to 43 inches and weighing 200 to 270 pounds (90 to 120 kg), the ibex can live 20 years.

Ubuntu 8.10, or should I say "The Ibex", will be the ninth release and the fourth anniversary of the first release, 4.10 (if anyone still remembers it). But until then, we have another version that should capture our attention and invade our computers, Ubuntu 8.04 (a.k.a. Hardy Heron), which will be available on April 24th, 2008.