The libcomm library is designed to facilitate handling structured messages between programs. The messages consist of three parts: a keyword, a body, and a delimiter. The keyword is used to identify the message for dispatch on the receiver. An example of the usage of this library might be to facilitate the communication between a GUI frontend and a program doing calculations in the background (the "backend"). Since the messages are human-readable (as opposed to shared memory or binary messages), it allows the backend to be tested separately from the frontend, either by a human or by a testing script.
Xplanets is a simulator that shows a spaceship moving through the solar system. The spaceship's movements are influenced by gravity from the sun and the planets according to Newton's laws, and by the acceleration that the engines provide. The planets move around is (simplified) round orbits.
DIY kernel upgrades I'm used to installing a new kernel if it contains a bugfix or feature that I'm looking for. If you use LILO _and RTFM_, it's not that difficult. Having said tha...