NewsBits - MySQL, Redis, Elasticsearch, PostgreSQL, CentOS, CoreOS and more

NewsBitsfor the week ending December 16 - mysql Group Replication is now GA, Redis 4.0 RCs, Modules and Loglog changes, GoRethink needs a new maintainer, Elasticsearch's Java REST, PostgreSQL indexes, CentOS linux 7 lands, CoreOS changes name, Linux desktop security holes, Node.js and V8 update and some Go Bits.

MySQL 5.7.17- Group Replication for MySQL has gone GA in the 5.7.17 release of the Oracle owned open source database. Group Replication is a core feature in delivering high availability with MySQL and has been a feature in public development since it previewed in 2014 . The release notes for 5.7.17 cover other changes.

Redis 4.0 Approaches- The Redis 4.0 RC1 and RC2 are out and Salvatore Sanfilippo (aka Antirez) has been outlining the headline features. Modules in 4.0 are set to allow other developers to specialize or enhance Redis without modifying the core of the database; Redislabs have already opened up Redismodules.com , a marketplace for modules. Meanwhile, there's a new replication system, improved cache eviction, non-blocking key deletion and flushing, a memory doctor and NAT/Docker compatible clustering.

Redis LogLog-β- If you watch the Redis bleeding edge, there's also an interesting loglog pull request - which was merged into unstable and 4.0 as we wrote this Newsbits. The change is based on this paper by AOL developers who created a new cardinality calculation. Antirez has merged it in for further testing, switching from HyperLogLog to the new LogLog-β (-beta).

GoRethink- The splendid Go driver for RethinkDB, GoRethink is in search of a new maintainer as Dan Cannon has decided to step down to concentrate on other things. A 3.0.0 release has been made which moves the project to it's own Github organization and fixes some bugs. If you use Go and RethinkDB, get in touch with them.

Elasticsearch and Java- The Elasticsearch engineering team confirmed that the native-protocol Java client is being deprecated for client applications and going forward Java developers should use the low-level Java REST client . The REST client was introduced with Elasticsearch 5.0 but works with any Elasticsearch version. You can find the documentation (including how to get the client via Maven) on the Elastic.co site.

PostgreSQL bits- How well do Bloom indexes work in PostgreSQL 9.6? Read Cybertec's blog post to find out. Want to see what your PostgreSQL schema looks like? Check out this Perl script which parses your catalog and turns it into Graphviz goodness - from the people who brought you pgTerminator .

CentOS Linux 7- The first CentOS release based on the source of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3 is now available . It comes with everything but the Red Hat name and the Red Hat support.

CoreOS's CoreOS name change- CoreOS, the Linux distribution designed for running the CoreOS (the company) stack has had a name change and now goes by the name "Container Linux by CoreOS". The reason? To stop confusion between the company and its Linux distribution, especially as the company develops etcd, Tectonic ("Self-driving Kubernetes") and other tools.

Linux security- It's been a vulnerable week for Linux desktop security. First, this demonstration of exploitation of McAfee Virus Scan which takes ten different exploits and turns them into a full-on remote code root exploit. Then came the series of exploits which could use SNES emulators and media players to open flaws in the Linux desktop.

Node.js and V8- Despite the embracing of Microsoft's javascript engine, Node.js is still firmly centered on the Google V8 engine and in this blog post the V8 developers look at recent and forthcoming enhancements coming to V8 and Node. These include clearing a number of long-standing issues, adding the ability to debug Node.js apps from the Chrome developer console, ES6 performance improvements and the arrival of Async/Await.

Go Bits- The Go 1.8 Beta 2 is out and testing is going well - release candidate is now expected first week of January. The Zygomys project sets out to be an embeddable Lisp for Go applications.

Commodore Pets- There's 3D printed models of Commodore Pets and then there's this 3D printed LED illuminated model of a Commodore Pet complete with an ARM processor inside to make those pixels come to life.

If you have bits you think should be in NewsBits, or any feedback about any Compose articles, drop the Compose Articles team a line atarticles@compose.com. We're happy to hear from you.