The Late Night Linux FamilyWhat's the best open source app or utility that no one else has heard of?
(Please note that your replies may be read out and discussed on an episode of Late Night)
Cyberpunk Librarian@LateNightLinux This is going to be niche as hell, but it's saved me so much work over the years. It's a Windows app, yes, but it's fully open source, released under the GPLv3 license.
It’s called the SIP Testing Tool, written by Mike Fields at Central Library Consortium in Ohio. As a systems librarian I deal with a thing called Standard Interchange Protocol version 2, aka SIP2. This protocol provides a common language between self-checkout machines at your local library and the library automation system running in the background.
Now, sometimes this protocol falls over and I need to get into a public library's database and production server to see what might be wrong. With this tool, I can send and receive communications just like a self-checkout machine and see how the library's server responds. It provides a readout of the messages (or lack thereof) traveling between the systems and, in minutes, I can usually nail down where the problem might be and fix it.
And then everyone at the library can check out their materials again!
