procps-ng version 3.3.2 was released today.  This version fixes some bugs introduced in version 3.3.1 as well as a number of enhancements. Below is the most significant set of changes that 3.3.2 brings.

NLS

The most visible change is that procps-ng is now international.  The NLS changes took a long windy path but we got there in the end. This means all procps-ng programs can now use standard gettext PO files to output in any supported language.  While the programs have been enabled for translations, there are no po files as yet but we expect them to follow soon.

Library Changes

procps always had a “closed” library, meaning that it wasn’t supposed to be used for other non-procps programs.  This meant the library was always called libprocps-(version) rather than using a SONAME. Procps 3.3.2 now uses a SONAME of version 0.0.0 The API hasn’t changed but it will be in subsequent versions.

Patch Backporting

Due to the stagnant natute of procps development in the past, there have been a large number of patches each distribution carries for procps. A significant number of patches have been incorportated into procps-ng, giving a more consistent look across the distributions and meaning any subsquent fixes or enhancements are done in one place.  A major goal of procps-ng was to reduce the number of distribution specific patches which this change has helped greatly.

Debian Packages

The Debian packages will be worked on soon and will clear up some confusion about the procps binaries and library packages as this will now be split into two.  It also means that some programs that depend on libprocps will break, but going on from this point will be able to use the normal shlibs process to manage that, rather than the ugly crunch we will have now.