PostgreSQL Security Releases. PostgreSQL 8.0.1, 7.4.7, 7.3.9 and 7.2.7 were released this week to patch a vulnerability in LOAD. Please upgrade to the latest minor version of your currently running software as soon as possible.
Stephen Frost submitted a proof-of-concept patch for group ownership of database objects, with the idea of eventually implementing database roles. Matthias Schmidt requested help with a syntax for granting blanket permissions to all objects in a schema.
Victor Y. Yegorov and several others discussed implementing bitmapped indexes.
Josh Berkus proposed extending the system views to cover all database objects. Others chimed in with enhancements and comments.
Peter Eisentraut exposed an incompatibility issue between 8.0's libpq and 7.4's. Stay tuned to -hackers for the latest on how this will be resolved.
The much-discussed ARC code is now all in freelist.c. Should it need to be changed or removed, it's now all in one spot.
John Hansen contributed some patches that to make upper() and lower() work on Unicode. Please test.
Greg Sabino Mullane has started work on a "last_ID" feature for DBD::Pg. This should ease application development and porting applications from other data storage systems.
theKompany.com Releases Version 1.4 of dbRadar http://www.thekompany.com/products/dbradar/ now with syntax highlighting for PL/PgSQL.
We would like to remind the European members of the PostgreSQL community to contact their MEPs and express their dislike of software patents for the second round of hearings on the topic. What will be particularly valuable is companies providing testimonials on how software patents hurt their business. See http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/ in the unlikely event that you're not already informed on this issue.
Legal professionals in NSW will soon access NSW court reference material via the new Judicial Information Research System (JIRS) application developed entirely in-house with a system using Linux, Apache, PostgreSQL and PHP. http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php/id;631120522;fp;4;fpid;3
General Bits: http://www.varlena.com/GeneralBits/
The deadline for O'Reilly Open Source Convention talks is February 13! Please submit proposals soon. It would be a good idea to run your proposal past the PostgreSQL-OSCON subcommittee first, to warn you of duplication; contact josh@postgresql.org. OSCON: http://conferences.oreillynet.com/os2005/