IPython is an interactive interpreter that aims to be a very convenient shell for working with Python.
Features of note:
- Tab completion
- ? and ?? help
- history
- CTRL-P search (in addition to standard CTRL-R/emacs)
- use an editor to write stuff, and export stuff into an edtor
- colored exception tracebacks
- automatic function/parameter call stuff
- auto-quoting with ‘,’
- ‘run’ (similar to execfile) but with -n, -i
See Quick tips for even more of a laundry list!
screen is a non-graphical tool for running multiple text windows in a single login session.
Features:
- multiple windows w/hotkey switching
- copy/paste between windows
- detach/resume
VNC is a (free) graphical tool for persistent X Windows sessions (and Windows control, too).
To start:
% vncserver
WARNING: Running VNC on an open network is a big security risk!!
Trac is a really nice-looking and friendly project management Web site. It integrates a Wiki with a version control repository browser, a ticket management system, and some simple roadmap controls.
In particular, you can:
- browse the source code repository
- create tickets
- link checkin comments to specific tickets, revisions, etc.
- customize components, permissions, roadmaps, etc.
- view project status
It integrates well with subversion, which is “a better CVS”.