I just changed DWiki to generate absolute URLs for the '(N comments)'links at the bottom of entries in my Atom syndication feeds, instead ofthe absolute path URLs it used to generate (URLs without the https://host/portion) . This scrubs out the last non-absolute URLs in my syndicationfeed; URLs in the text of entries in the feed have always been absolute,because I'm cautious and cynical.

In theory absolute URLs are unnecessary in Atom entries, because Atomhas

Tim Bray provides Apple some instructions onhow to update files containing important data (like iCal calendars). Hisdirections are fine at a high level, but they're actually not quitedetailed enough to implement from.

So here's how you safely update Unix files:

1. create a new scratch file in the same directory as the target file(ideally mode 0600).
2. write the data to it; optionally fsync() ; optionally verify thedata.
3. copy the current version's permissions to the

I've been thinking about ways around the practical cost of forking inPython . There's two common alternatives: preforkingservers and threads in general. However, both of them have issues thatmake me unhappy with them.

The best setup for a preforking SCGI server is a central dispatcher thatparcels new connections out to a pool of worker processes; this requiresthe ability to pass file descriptors to other processes. While Unix cando this (with SCM_RIGHTS messages over Unix domain sockets), Pythondoesn'