Open-source News

Following last week's batch of AMDGPU/AMDKFD changes slated for Linux 6.2, on Friday another round of feature patches were sent in for DRM-Next ahead of the Linux 6.2 cycle. There is continued work around new IP blocks presumably for RDNA3 and MI300 graphics while given the more modularized development approach with block-by-block enablement makes it harder to ascertain the current status...

AMD Makes More Updates Around New Radeon GPU Driver Code In Linux 6.2  Phoronix

It's been a year and a half already since the release of Mageia 8 for this Linux distribution whose roots trace back to Mandriva and before that the legendary Mandrake. Mageia 9 will be out as the next iteration of this desktop Linux distro in the months ahead while this weekend there is the release of Mageia 9 Alpha 1...

Mageia 9 Alpha 1 Released With A Smaller Footprint, Many Updates  Phoronix

SteamOS 3.4 rolls out in Beta for the Steam Deck - it's a massive upgrade  GamingOnLinux

SteamOS 3.4 rolls out in Beta for the Steam Deck - it's a massive upgrade  GamingOnLinux

KDE developers remain very busy working on driving improvements for what will be the Plasma 5.27 release next year and also enhancing the various applications on the KDE desktop...

KDE Makes It Easier To Set Environment Variables, Fixes Vertically-Arranged Displays  Phoronix

SteamOS 3.4 Beta Updates Linux Version, Improves Performance and Stability  GameRant

Learn Python: 7 of my favorite resources Don Watkins Sat, 11/12/2022 - 03:00

I made a decision recently that I wanted to learn more Python so I could improve my instructional skills and broaden the horizons of my students. In the process, I have discovered these excellent resources that have me learning new code and improving my understanding of Python in general.

1. Teach your kids to code

I began the Python journey about seven years ago when I discovered connections between Apple LOGO and the Turtle module in Python. The Linux computer I was using at the time defaulted to Python 2.7, and I soon discovered that I wanted to use Python 3. I managed to get it installed and began writing some simple programs using the Turtle module. After reading Dr. Bryson Payne’s Teach Your Kids to Code, I realized there was a lot more to Python than just Turtle. That’s when I installed IDLE.

2. IDLE

Working with IDLE, the interactive interface improved my experience and made me confident enough to consider teaching Python to students. I volunteered to help a group of home-schooled children in my community and soon found myself teaching a class of sixteen! I’m glad their parents stayed and agreed to be my assistants, otherwise I think I’d have been overwhelmed. The experience whetted my appetite to learn more so I could teach more.

3. Mu Editor

The following spring in 2018 I attended PyConUS. I listened to a talk by Nicholas Tollervey, a middle school teacher, who had written a Python development environment for school-age children. The Mu editor has a linter built into it, which helped me to see where my errors in programming were. Mu helped me improve my coding skills, and I was able to share that with students, who benefitted as well.

As my confidence and experience grew, I became eager to share the Python journey with still more students. I co-wrote a grant the following year to teach a class that used Raspberry Pi 4 computers and Python. The pandemic interrupted that experience. In the interim, the Raspberry Pi Foundation released the Pi 400. In the spring of 2021, I used the materials I had developed the previous year and a generous grant from a local library to teach two groups of students how to program. That event was so successful that it was repeated this year.

4. Codium

Several years ago, I learned that Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code is an open source code editor that can be used on Linux. One of the aspects of my Python learning journey that had eluded me until recently was how to set up and use a virtual environment for Python programming, which had been suggested when using VS Code. My questions were answered here on Opensource.com in an article about venv, and that opened the door to learning how to set up and configure Python virtual environments on my Linux computer. Around the same time, I found Codium, a community project built around VS Code.

Now I want to share the VS Codium experience with my students and open their understanding of Python beyond the Turtle module. This zest for learning has me looking for training resources that are open source and freely available on the internet.

More Python resources What is an IDE? Cheat sheet: Python 3.7 for beginners Top Python GUI frameworks Download: 7 essential PyPI libraries Red Hat Developers Latest Python articles 5. Python gently explained

The book Automate the Boring Stuff with Python by Al Sweigart has long been a favorite of mine. Now, the author has released Python Programming Exercises, Gently Explained. Both books are available online for free and are openly licensed with Creative Commons license.

6. Python for everyone

Dr. Charles Severance released Python for Everyone in 2017, which I highly recommend. He provides "bite size" lessons for aspiring programmers like me. The code for the course is available on GitHub, so you can download it and install it on your own computer or school network.

7. Python videos

Recently I learned that Opensource.com alumnus Jay LaCroix has an excellent series of twenty-eight videos available for free on YouTube that begin with Python basics and span the gamut of a solid introduction to Python programming. Best of all, he uses a Linux computer, so his lessons are especially appropriate for a Linux programming environment. One of the takeaways from these videos is learning to use nano as a programming environment, and it’s included by default in most Linux distributions.

Your learning path

These seven resources have helped me grow as a programmer, and it’s all open source and available to share with others. How have you been honing your programming skills? What would you like to share? Let us know in the comments.

Over the years, I've honed my Python skills thanks to these open source resources.

Image by:

Yuko Honda on Flickr. CC BY-SA 2.0

Python Programming Education What to read next This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License. Register or Login to post a comment.

Wine 7.21 Released With Continued PE Work, Prepping For Vulkan 32-bit On 64-bit  Phoronix

Wine 7.21 is out as the latest bi-weekly development snapshot of this software to enjoy Windows games and applications on Linux...

How to Install and Use systemd to Manage Services in WSL  MUO - MakeUseOf

How to Install and Use systemd to Manage Services in WSL  MUO - MakeUseOf

On Thursday when launching AMD 4th Gen EPYC Genoa processors, AMD also published AOCC 4.0 as the newest version of the AMD Optimizing C/C++ Compiler. I've been putting it through its paces the past day and continues showing the positive performance impact of proper compiler tuning.

Old printer not working with Windows 11? Try this  TechRadar

With yesterday's NVIDIA 525.23 Linux driver beta in addition to many improvements in their closed-source code, their in-development open-source GPU kernel driver has also received some enhancements...

How to Install Linux Mint on a PC  MUO - MakeUseOf

Linux gaming laptops may finally get Nvidia Advanced Optimus support in near future  Notebookcheck.net

Linux gaming laptops may finally get Nvidia Advanced Optimus support in near future  Notebookcheck.net