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With the change to a bi-weekly schedule for this newsletter we have a bunch of things to cover, let's get into it :)
Official project updates
Systems updates
Nerves' package for Buildroot, nerves_system_br was updated to v.1.17.1 just now.
This takes Nerves to Erlang/OTP 24.1.2 and Buildroot 2021.08.1 respectively. It should be all security, bug fixes and shouldn't introduce any problems for people moving from 1.17.0.
The systems have also been updated, some have received additional fixes see the changelog linked for the systems you use:
Nerves Livebook
A chunk of cool updates to nerves_livebook which is probably the best way to get started with Nerves right now.
- Several networking notebook additions and improvements, courtesy of Jon Carstens.
- Fixes for some mDNS/DNS lookup issues.
- Add foundations for Bluetooth/BLE support.
- File transfer support via scp/sftp.
- Change default location for notebooks on the device to /data/livebook.
- Updated Livebook to this version, see Unreleased for the changes. S3 support, improved intellisense, better ANSI support, tons of stuff.
- Now redirect's to device-specific hostname such as nerves-1234.local when using nerves.local to disambiguate if you are having multiple contenders for nerves.local.
- Initial Bluetooth/BLE support for Pi Zero W and Pi 3B. This includes a Livebook to make use of the BlueHeron library. Special thanks to Troels Brødsgaard for this contribution. Very exciting!
- Include Nx so those tutorials work.
- Update MdnsLite and make the advertised services look pretty on devices that support mDNS. It will default to showing up as Nerves Livebook and advertise HTTP, SSH, SFTP and Erlang distribution. Wait, Frank, did you put Erlang distribution in there by default now? Nice!
- Fix boot issue on Seeed Studio's NPi iMX6ULL board.
- Selectively include BlueHeron since it doesn't work on all boards.
Other parts
beam_notify, v0.2.2
I had entirely missed this project. It allows shell scripts to send messages into a BEAM application. Which can be super useful in a mixed system. And this particular update adds a mode option for setting the permissions of the socket file used.
vintage_net, v0.11.1
DNS server ordering is more deterministic now. Completed updates to using the connectivity checker module, continued from v0.11.0.
nerves_pack, v0.6.0
Bring minimum Elixir version to 1.9 and force upgrades to vintage_net and mdns_lite.
Community updates
Updates from NervesConf
I've not actually managed to capture much about what happened at NervesConf since I wasn't there and peopl aren't really back yet. So hopefully soon. If you have a write-up cooking in your head, please send it to me when published, or reach out if you want help publishing it. lars@underjord.io is where you reach me.
NervesHub sunset
If you are using NervesHub I suggest reading this post by Justin Schneck on the Elixir Forum about using NervesHub going forward. In summary, nerves-hub.org is going away, Peridio will be offering a commerical version. The timeline for all of this is in the post.
Tweets are fun
Connor Rigby does radio and LEDs in his hotel room during NervesConf.
I battled my cold by making a small HDMI display work.
Maqbool got his first taste of Nerves firmware.
Angel Jose has no idea what he is in for. Actually, he seems to be aware..
And Ryan Yogan is getting more confident about his soldering.
Supporting the Nerves project
We want to encourage everyone to contribute in whatever way works for them. Here are some ways we currently recommend:
- Write or port a new hardware library and include it in the Elixir Circuits collection.
- Give money to the project via Open Collective.
- Get in touch about taking over maintenance duties for some libraries, we might be able to provide you hardware.
- Apply for an EEF stipend on something Nerves-related and build it. We can help if you have questions about this.
- Send corrections or improvements for documentation wherever it fails to help you.
- Write about Nerves, give talks about Nerves. Make videos about Nerves. It is all good.
Finally, if you have questions about the newsletter or want to suggest something you can simply respond to this email it will go directly to me, Lars, who edits this thing. Let me know what you think.
- Lars, Underjord.io
