Debian Weekly News - March 29th, 2005
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Debian Weekly News
http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/2005/13/
Debian Weekly News - March 29th, 2005
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Welcome to this year's 13th issue of DWN, the weekly newsletter for
the Debian community. James Troup [1]announced the addition of two
developers to the ftpmaster team, who will work on new packages in
particular. Rob Bradford eventually [2]announced the founding of a an
Debian UK society that will deal with donations in the UK.
1. http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2005/03/msg00142.html
2. http://www.robster.org.uk/blog/2005/03/20#founding-20050320
Debian-Installer RC3 released. Joey Hess [3]announced the third
release candidate of the [4]debian-installer. The most significant
change in this release are updated versions of all kernels that
include numerous security fixes. The partitioner has also been
improved with regards to other operating systems.
3. http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/News/2005/20050323
4. http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/
New Mailing-Lists created. Pascal Hakim [5]announced the creation of
a few lists. There are three new localisation lists
([6]debian-l10n-arabic, [7]debian-l10n-czech, and
[8]debian-l10n-korean), as well as two new infrastructure lists.
[9]debian-testing-changes will be used to show changes to the testing
distribution, while [10]debian-dak will be used for discussion
relating to dak and buildd related components.
5. http://www.redellipse.net/stuff/Debian/Lists/new-list-day.story
6. http://lists.debian.org/debian-l10n-arabic
7. http://lists.debian.org/debian-l10n-czech
8. http://lists.debian.org/debian-l10n-korean
9. http://lists.debian.org/debian-testing-changes
10. http://lists.debian.org/debian-dak
Election Resources. David Schmitt [11]published a [12]summary of the
questions asked and answers given by the 2005 [13]project leader
candidates during the election campaign. Thaddeus H. Black also
[14]distilled a semantical [15]transcript from the live 2005 DPL
debate's [16]chronological log, organised for coherent reading the
questions, answers and discussions of the debate's second part.
11. http://lists.debian.org/debian-vote/2005/03/msg00829.html
12. http://debian.edv-bus.at/vote-2005/
13. http://www.debian.org/vote/2005/vote_001
14. http://lists.debian.org/debian-vote/2005/03/msg00848.html
15. http://home.ntelos.net/~b-tk/vote/2005/Log-debian-dpl-debate-reordered.html
16. http://www.debian.org/vote/2005/Log-debian-dpl-debate
Build-Dependency against libtool 1.4. Andrew Pollock [17]noticed that
five packages still declare a build-dependency against [18]libtool 1.4
which is orphaned and will be [19]removed. Frank Lichtenheld
[20]proposed to open bug reports against packages that use libtool 1.4
files to upgrade to version 1.5 which was [21]considered a good idea.
Henrique de Moraes Holschuh also [22]suggested to force the use of
newer [23]libtool, [24]autoconf and [25]gettext utilities.
17. http://lists.debian.org/debian-qa/2005/03/msg00075.html
18. http://packages.debian.org/libtool1.4
19. http://lists.debian.org/debian-qa/2005/03/msg00077.html
20. http://lists.debian.org/debian-qa/2005/03/msg00078.html
21. http://lists.debian.org/debian-qa/2005/03/msg00079.html
22. http://lists.debian.org/debian-qa/2005/03/msg00081.html
23. http://packages.debian.org/libtool
24. http://packages.debian.org/autoconf
25. http://packages.debian.org/gettext
Quality Assurance Hacking Event. Luk Claes [26]proposed to organise an
official QA hacking work camp in Helsinki right before the Debian
conference. This would consist of bug fixing for [27]lintian and
[28]linda, removing obsolete packages from the archive, cleaning up
[29]WNPP pages, fixing bugs in QA group maintained packages and of
other subjects within the scope of the QA group.
26. http://lists.debian.org/debian-qa/2005/03/msg00084.html
27. http://packages.debian.org/lintian
28. http://packages.debian.org/linda
29. http://www.debian.org/devel/wnpp/
Finishing a foreign ITP. Shachar Shemesh [30]noticed that an
[31]Intent to package (ITP) for [32]Open Xchange hasn't seen any
progress and wondered what to do in case he had packaged the software
on his own. Matthew Palmer [33]suggested to add a note to the bug
report and offer help before actually uploading the package.
30. http://lists.debian.org/debian-mentors/2005/03/msg00259.html
31. http://bugs.debian.org/269329
32. http://mirror.open-xchange.org/ox/EN/community/
33. http://lists.debian.org/debian-mentors/2005/03/msg00260.html
Spelling Correction for Package Descriptions. Florian Zumbiehl
[34]noticed another common mistake that developers make in package
descriptions. He added a list of words, which are mostly acronyms,
where "a" and "an" are often used wrongly. Joey Hess [35]pointed out
that some acronyms such as FAQ are ambiguous, since they can be
pronounced differently.
34. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/03/msg01170.html
35. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/03/msg01173.html
PHP and derived Works. The PHP licenses have been [36]investigated
with regards to distributing derived works. Francesco Poli [37]pointed
out that [38]PHP 3 is dual-licensed with the [39]GNU GPL. The
[40]license for PHP 4 contains a paragraph that prohibits derived work
to be called PHP or contain the word PHP in the name. Andi Gutmans
[41]explained that minor changes and security fixes are no problem and
that [42]Apache is licensed the same way.
36. http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2005/02/msg00222.html
37. http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2005/02/msg00346.html
38. http://packages.debian.org/php3
39. http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
40. http://packages.debian.org/changelogs/pool/main/p/php4/php4_4.3.10-10/php4.copyright
41. http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2005/03/msg00169.html
42. http://packages.debian.org/apache
CD/DVD Images Release Progress. Steve McIntyre sent in a [43]summary
of the release progress from the CD team. Since the disk space has
been increased on [44]cdimage.debian.org it can host full images for
woody and sarge for a period after the release. Due to the sheer
amount of sarge more than one binary DVD image will be produced per
architecture. The list of prospective images and files contain
Torrents and Jigdo files, of course.
43. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2005/03/msg00013.html
44. http://cdimage.debian.org/
Low Voter Turnout. In the second [45]call for votes on the current
project leader [46]election Manoj Srivastava reported that we have the
lowest participation ever in a project leader election since tracking
voting rates. In an [47]interview he assumed that several developers
are disillusioned after the [48]changes of the [49]social contract,
the problems with AMD64 and the [50]Vancouver prospectus.
45. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2005/03/msg00026.html
46. http://www.debian.org/vote/2005/vote_001
47. http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/software/0,2000061733,39186281,00.htm
48. http://www.debian.org/vote/2004/vote_003
49. http://www.debian.org/social_contract
50. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2005/03/msg00012.html
Marcus Brinkmann on Hurd/L4. In an [51]interview Marcus Brinkmann
explained the Hurd and that the Mach microkernel was discarded as
basis because of poor virtual memory management. Instead, the new goal
was to port the Hurd to the L4 microkernel which has reached the step
of being able to [52]execute programs recently. The interview gives a
lot of insight into different areas as well.
51. http://portal.wikinerds.org/brinkmann-interview-mar2005
52. http://portal.wikinerds.org/gnu-hurd-l4-first-program
Security Updates. You know the drill. Please make sure that you update
your systems if you have any of these packages installed.
* DSA 697: [53]netkit-telnet -- Arbitrary code execution.
* DSA 698: [54]mc -- Buffer overflow.
* DSA 699: [55]netkit-telnet-ssl -- Arbitrary code execution.
53. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-697
54. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-698
55. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-699
New or Noteworthy Packages. The following packages were added to the
unstable Debian archive [56]recently or contain important updates.
56. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/newpkg_main
* [57]asciidoc -- Highly configurable text format for writing
documentation.
* [58]atomix -- Puzzle game for building molecules out of isolated
atoms.
* [59]bmon -- Portable bandwidth monitor and rate estimator.
* [60]bookmarkbridge -- Tool to synchronise bookmarks between
browsers.
* [61]cbios -- Open source MSX BIOS roms.
* [62]checkstyle -- Check Java source against a coding standard.
* [63]cpufrequtils -- Utilities to deal with the cpufreq Linux
kernel feature.
* [64]decompyle2.2 -- Old version of the Python byte-code
decompiler.
* [65]didiwiki -- Simple Wiki implementation with built-in
webserver.
* [66]dosage -- Powerful webcomic downloader / archiver.
* [67]dumputils -- Simple configuration and dump recovery utilities
for LKCD.
* [68]dvbsnoop -- DVB / MPEG stream analyser.
* [69]encfs -- Encrypted virtual filesystem.
* [70]flexloader -- Utility to configure SRAM based ALTERA devices.
* [71]fondu -- Convert between Mac and UNIX font formats.
* [72]gaim-encryption -- Gaim plugin that provides transparent
encryption.
* [73]gnomebaker -- Application for CD/DVD creation in the GNOME
desktop.
* [74]gphpedit -- Development environment for PHP/HTML/CSS.
* [75]graveman -- Graphical CD burning application.
* [76]gromit -- GTK based tool to make annotations on screen.
* [77]gwget -- GNOME front-end for wget.
* [78]heaplayers -- High-performance memory allocators.
* [79]horde3 -- The Horde Web Application Suite.
* [80]icheck -- C interface ABI/API checker.
* [81]kdissert -- Mindmapping tool.
* [82]kwirelessmonitor -- Wireless interface monitor for KDE
systray.
* [83]latex-svninfo -- LaTeX support for Subversion.
* [84]leafpad -- GTK+ based simple text editor.
* [85]lsscsi -- List all SCSI devices (or hosts) currently on
system.
* [86]maildirsync -- Simple and efficient Maildir synchronisation
utility.
* [87]mcelog -- Tool to collect and decode Machine Check Exception
on x86-64 machines.
* [88]moc -- Ncurses based console audio player.
* [89]nanoblogger -- Small weblog engine for the UNIX command line.
* [90]odyssey -- PIC micro controller programming application.
* [91]ooo2dbk -- Converts OpenOffice.org SXW documents to DocBook
XML.
* [92]pasmo -- Easy to use Z80 cross-assembler.
* [93]pong2 -- Remake of old arcade classic in OpenGL.
* [94]reprepro -- Debian package repository producer.
* [95]rhino -- JavaScript engine written in Java.
* [96]rsyncrypto -- Rsync friendly encryption.
* [97]rubilicious -- Ruby bindings for Delicious, social bookmarks
manager.
* [98]scmail -- Mail filter written in Scheme.
* [99]sgcontrol -- GUI to multiple communications receivers using
the Hamlib library.
* [100]skippy -- Full-screen X11 task/window switcher, similar to
OSX Expose.
* [101]srg -- Fast, Flexible and Detailed log analysis for the Squid
Proxy.
* [102]stress -- Tool to impose load on and stress test a computer
system.
* [103]svn-arch-mirror -- One-way mirroring from Subversion to Arch
revision control.
* [104]telak -- Display remote or local pictures on your desktop.
* [105]xprint -- X11 print system.
* [106]xrsh -- Remote execution of XWindow programs.
* [107]xwine -- Graphical user interface for the WINE emulator.
* [108]yacpi -- Ncurses based ACPI monitor for text mode.
* [109]zeroconf -- IPv4 link-local address allocator.
57. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/text/asciidoc
58. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/games/atomix
59. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/bmon
60. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/bookmarkbridge
61. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/misc/cbios
62. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/libs/checkstyle
63. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/cpufrequtils
64. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/python/decompyle2.2
65. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/didiwiki
66. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/dosage
67. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/dumputils
68. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/misc/dvbsnoop
69. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/encfs
70. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/electronics/flexloader
71. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/fondu
72. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/gaim-encryption
73. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/gnome/gnomebaker
74. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/gnome/gphpedit
75. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/gnome/graveman
76. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/gromit
77. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/gnome/gwget
78. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/libdevel/heaplayers
79. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/horde3
80. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/icheck
81. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/kde/kdissert
82. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/kde/kwirelessmonitor
83. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/tex/latex-svninfo
84. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/editors/leafpad
85. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/lsscsi
86. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/mail/maildirsync
87. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/mcelog
88. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/moc
89. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/nanoblogger
90. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/electronics/odyssey
91. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/text/ooo2dbk
92. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/pasmo
93. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/games/pong2
94. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/reprepro
95. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/interpreters/rhino
96. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/rsyncrypto
97. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/rubilicious
98. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/mail/scmail
99. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/hamradio/sgcontrol
100. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/skippy
101. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/srg
102. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/stress
103. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/svn-arch-mirror
104. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/telak
105. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/xprint
106. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/xrsh
107. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/otherosfs/xwine
108. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/yacpi
109. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/zeroconf
Orphaned Packages. 4 packages were orphaned this week and require a
new maintainer. This makes a total of 226 orphaned packages. Many
thanks to the previous maintainers who contributed to the Free
Software community. Please see the [110]WNPP pages for the full list,
and please add a note to the bug report and retitle it to ITA: if you
plan to take over a package.
110. http://www.debian.org/devel/wnpp/
* [111]bbappconf -- Configuration tool for Blackbox application
windows. ([112]Bug#301762)
* [113]openwebmail -- WebMail based on Neomail. ([114]Bug#301561)
* [115]partimage -- Linux/UNIX utility to save partitions in a
compressed image file. ([116]Bug#301562)
* [117]scoop -- Web-based collaborative media application.
([118]Bug#301754)
111. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/bbappconf
112. http://bugs.debian.org/301762
113. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/openwebmail
114. http://bugs.debian.org/301561
115. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/partimage
116. http://bugs.debian.org/301562
117. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/scoop
118. http://bugs.debian.org/301754
Want to continue reading DWN? Please help us create this newsletter.
We still need more volunteer writers who watch the Debian community
and report about what is going on. Please see the [119]contributing
page to find out how to help. We're looking forward to receiving your
mail at [120]dwn@debian.org.
119. http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/contributing
120. mailto:dwn@debian.org
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