Debian Weekly News - October 4th, 2005
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Debian Weekly News
http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/2005/40/
Debian Weekly News - October 4th, 2005
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Welcome to this year's 40th issue of DWN, the weekly newsletter for
the Debian community. Donald Feinberg, vice-president of Gartner
[1]predicted the end of Unix in 10-15 years and the rise of
GNU/Linux. Debian GNU/Linux is used as a server [2]running several
open source products for analytics at the Australian Taxation Office.
1. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1242282.cms
2. http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php?id=861607645
DPL Team Status Issue Tracker. Andreas Schuldei [3]announced a Wiki
[4]page in order to maintain transparency of the scud [5]team since
they did not have formal meetings and minutes for a longer time. The
list includes funding, hardware and hosting requests, communications
issues and more.
3. http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2005/09/msg00200.html
4. http://wiki.debian.org/DPLTeamCurrentIssues
5. http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2005/03/msg00035.html
Release Team Changes. Colin Watson [6]announced his resignation from
the release team due to his time constraints. To let the release team
benefit from his experience, he's going to stay in the team but merely
as an engineer. A new release manager will be added to the team soon
in order to fill the gap.
6. http://lists.debian.org/debian-release/2005/09/msg00164.html
Work Needed and Prospective Packages. David Moreno Garza [7]reported
that in total 979 [8]wnpp bugs have been closed in several
investigation runs. Requests for packages and intentions to submit
packages that are older than a year and haven't seen any significant
activity were removed by this action. He will repeat this process
automatically in the future.
7. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2005/09/msg00014.html
8. http://www.debian.org/devel/wnpp/
Debian Network Introduction. Steve Kemp wrote a basic [9]introduction
into the network setup with Debian GNU/Linux. The article includes
setting the hostname and IP address, setting up DNS, gives a short
introduction into routing and explained hostname lookup.
9. http://www.debian-administration.org/articles/254
New teTeX 3.0 Packages for Debian. Frank Küster [10]announced that a
new major version of teTeX will be uploaded to unstable when library
transitions are allowed again. He asked developers of packages that
maintain a connection to [11]teTeX to test these with the new version
of teTeX in order to avoid problems later.
10. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2005/09/msg00015.html
11. http://packages.debian.org/tetex-bin
Debian Meeting Archive. Holger Levsen [12]announced a permanent Debian
meeting [13]archive that contains audio and video files as well as
slides and example codes from various real-life Debian meetings. It
currently hosts [14]videos and slides from the Debian QA meeting in
Darmstadt, [15]videos from this year's Debian conference in Helsinki
and [16]slides from the Debian Day at this year's LinuxTag in
Karlsruhe.
12. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2005/09/msg00016.html
13. http://meetings-archive.debian.net/pub/debian-meetings/
14. http://meetings-archive.debian.net/pub/debian-meetings/2005/qa-meeting-darmstadt/
15. http://meetings-archive.debian.net/pub/debian-meetings/2005/debconf5/
16. http://meetings-archive.debian.net/pub/debian-meetings/2005/linuxtag-karlsruhe/
Resume from the Darmstadt QA Team Meeting. Andreas Barth [17]reported
about the productive [18]meeting of the QA team in Darmstadt, Germany.
Major results include the removal of very old and unused packages.
There have also been discussions about how to support external
contributors and how to make packages more independent of each other
by using plugins with stable interfaces.
17. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2005/09/msg00017.html
18. http://lists.debian.org/debian-qa/2005/08/msg00085.html
Dropping non-SMP Kernels for IA64? Dann Frazier [19]wondered if kernel
images for [20]IA64 machines without symmetric multi processing (SMP)
could be dropped from the distribution. He asserted that all current
IA64 machines on the market are capable of SMP. Supporting such
flavours is difficult because such configurations don't seem to get
much attention upstream.
19. http://lists.debian.org/debian-ia64/2005/09/msg00040.html
20. http://www.debian.org/ports/ia64/
Planet Debian versus Mailing Lists. Wolfgang Borgert [21]wondered how
to filter important Debian development information from [22]Planet
Debian. Margarita Manterola [23]asserted that it is part of the
essence of blogging to state ones opinion and not be easily flamed for
it like on a mailing list. She also agreed that sharing important
development information should be done on the [24]lists.
21. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/09/msg01203.html
22. http://planet.debian.org/
23. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/09/msg01219.html
24. http://lists.debian.org/
Future of the S/390 Port. Gerhard Tonn [25]reported that he won't be
able to work on the [26]S/390 port anymore and is looking for a
successor, who is willing to take over the administration of the
buildd servers, analysing build failures and work on the
[27]requalification of this port for the etch release. Bastian Blank
[28]stated his willingness to take over the port.
25. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/09/msg01234.html
26. http://www.debian.org/ports/s390/
27. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2005/09/msg00012.html
28. http://lists.debian.org/debian-s390/2005/09/msg00035.html
Special Input Event Device Files. Frank Lichtenheld [29]wondered how
[30]pbbuttonsd should [31]handle more than four event device files
that are automatically created by [32]makedev. Marco d'Itri
[33]suggested to just educate the user if they are not using [34]udev
already. Christoph Hellwig, though, [35]stated that makedev should
just create all 32 device nodes.
29. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/09/msg00512.html
30. http://packages.debian.org/pbbuttonsd
31. http://bugs.debian.org/324604
32. http://packages.debian.org/makedev
33. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/09/msg00513.html
34. http://packages.debian.org/udev
35. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/09/msg00514.html
Security Updates. You know the drill. Please make sure that you update
your systems if you have any of these packages installed.
* DSA 821: [36]python2.3 -- Arbitrary code execution.
* DSA 822: [37]gtkdiskfree -- Insecure temporary file.
* DSA 823: [38]util-linux -- Privilege escalation.
* DSA 824: [39]clamav -- Denial of service.
* DSA 825: [40]loop-aes-utils -- Privilege escalation.
* DSA 826: [41]helix-player -- Multiple vulnerabilities.
* DSA 827: [42]backupninja -- Insecure temporary file.
* DSA 828: [43]squid -- Denial of service.
* DSA 829: [44]mysql -- Arbitrary code execution.
* DSA 830: [45]ntlmaps -- Information leak.
* DSA 831: [46]mysql-dfsg -- Arbitrary code execution.
* DSA 832: [47]gopher -- Several buffer overflows.
* DSA 833: [48]mysql-dfsg-4.1 -- Arbitrary code execution.
* DSA 834: [49]prozilla -- Arbitrary code execution.
* DSA 835: [50]cfengine -- Arbitrary file overwriting.
* DSA 836: [51]cfengine2 -- Arbitrary file overwriting.
* DSA 837: [52]mozilla-firefox -- Denial of service.
* DSA 838: [53]mozilla-firefox -- Multiple vulnerabilities.
* DSA 839: [54]apachetop -- Insecure temporary file.
* DSA 840: [55]drupal -- Remote command execution.
* DSA 841: [56]mailutils -- Arbitrary code execution.
36. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-821
37. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-822
38. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-823
39. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-824
40. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-825
41. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-826
42. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-827
43. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-828
44. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-829
45. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-830
46. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-831
47. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-832
48. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-833
49. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-834
50. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-835
51. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-836
52. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-837
53. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-838
54. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-839
55. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-840
56. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-841
New or Noteworthy Packages. The following packages were added to the
unstable Debian archive [57]recently or contain important updates.
57. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/newpkg_main
* [58]calcurse -- Text-based calendar.
* [59]cbrpager -- Viewer for CBR and CBZ (comic book archive) files.
* [60]clex -- Command line file manager which uses the ncurses
library.
* [61]hdaps-utils -- HDAPS (IBM Hard Drive Active Protection System)
utilities.
* [62]initramfs-tools -- Tools for generating an initramfs.
* [63]kannel-dev -- WAP and SMS gateway headers and development
files.
* [64]med-practice -- Debian-Med packages for practice management.
* [65]pylize -- On-Screen presentation generation tool.
* [66]qbankmanager -- Online banking program with graphical
interface.
* [67]rhapsody -- Small and efficient ncurses based IRC client.
58. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/calcurse
59. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/graphics/cbrpager
60. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/misc/clex
61. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/hdaps-utils
62. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/initramfs-tools
63. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/kannel-dev
64. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/misc/med-practice
65. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/misc/pylize
66. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/qbankmanager
67. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/rhapsody
Orphaned Packages. 7 packages were orphaned this week and require a
new maintainer. This makes a total of 183 orphaned packages. Many
thanks to the previous maintainers who contributed to the Free
Software community. Please see the [68]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.
68. http://www.debian.org/devel/wnpp/
* [69]gal -- G App Libs. ([70]Bug#331112)
* [71]gbatnav -- Networked BattleShip game. ([72]Bug#330167)
* [73]icemc -- Editor for IceWM menus. ([74]Bug#330469)
* [75]nbio -- Nonblocking I/O for Java, Version 2. ([76]Bug#330423)
* [77]python-gnome -- PyGNOME -- Python bindings for GNOME.
([78]Bug#330681)
* [79]spell -- GNU Spell, a clone of Unix `spell'. ([80]Bug#330244)
* [81]squashfs -- Tool to create and append to squashfs filesystems.
([82]Bug#330525)
69. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/oldlibs/libgal23
70. http://bugs.debian.org/331112
71. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/gnome/gbatnav
72. http://bugs.debian.org/330167
73. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/icemc
74. http://bugs.debian.org/330469
75. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/libs/libnbio2-java
76. http://bugs.debian.org/330423
77. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/python/python-gnome-1.2
78. http://bugs.debian.org/330681
79. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/text/spell
80. http://bugs.debian.org/330244
81. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/squashfs-tools
82. http://bugs.debian.org/330525
Removed Packages. 33 packages have been [83]removed from the Debian
archive during the past two weeks:
83. http://ftp-master.debian.org/removals.txt
* xlispstat -- LISP-based environment for statistical computing
[84]Bug#328798: Request of maintainer, old, superseded by R
* esh -- The easy shell
[85]Bug#328802: Request of maintainer, old, unused
* libcdb-file-perl -- Perl interface to Dan Bernstein's cdb package.
[86]Bug#328806: Request of maintainer, old, superseded
* debian-history-ko -- Short history of the Debian project
translated to Korean
[87]Bug#328814: Request of maintainer, content put into other
package
* titrax -- Program to keep track of time.
[88]Bug#328837: Request of maintainer, old, superseded
* saxon-catalog -- Catalog support and wrapper for the Saxon XSLT
processor
[89]Bug#328847: Request of maintainer, old, superseded by
libxml-commons-resolver1.1-java
* ultrapoint -- GGI based presentation tool
[90]Bug#328863: Request of maintainer, old, unused, upstream-dead
* imcom -- Console jabber client
[91]Bug#329003: Request of maintainer, buggy; replacements exist
(cabber, centericq, or even bitlbee)
* irmp3 -- Multimedia audio jukebox application.
[92]Bug#327629: Request of QA, old, unused, rc-buggy, not in last
stable release
* gnome-commander -- File manager for GNOME
[93]Bug#327634: Request of QA, old, unused, rc-buggy, superseded,
depends on Gtk1.2
* bl -- Blink Keyboard LEDs.
[94]Bug#327644: Request of QA, old, unused, rc-buggy
* radiusd-cistron -- Radius server written by Cistron.
[95]Bug#327645: Request of QA, old, unused, rc-buggy, many
alternatives available
* aspectj-anttasks -- Set of ant tasks for integrating aspectj into
the compile.
[96]Bug#327653: Request of QA, Has never been part of a stable
release, old, unused, rc-buggy
* avalon-excalibur -- Collection of reusable components for
threading and datasource.
[97]Bug#327656: Request of QA, old, unused, rc-buggy
* jmeter -- Measure server application performance
[98]Bug#327670: Request of QA, old, unused, rc-buggy, has never
been part of a stable release
* lids-2.4 -- LIDS kernel patch
[99]Bug#327658: Request of QA, old, unused, kernel-patch doesn't
apply, rc-buggy, has never been part of a stable release
* doc-debian-ja -- Debian FAQ and other documents (Japanese)
[100]Bug#327663: Request of QA, old, unused, obsolete
* framerd -- Scalable knowledge base development and application
platform
[101]Bug#327666: Request of QA, old, unused, rc-buggy
* hptalx -- HP48 or HP49 <-> Computer communications program for
Linux
[102]Bug#327668: Request of QA, old, unused, rc-buggy
* gwydion-dylan-sgml -- Gwydion Dylan Documentation (HTML)
[103]Bug#327669: Request of QA, old, unused, rc-buggy, has never
been part of a stable release
* mozilla-locale-zh-hk -- Mozilla Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong)
language/region pack
[104]Bug#327673: Request of QA, out-of-date, unused,
uninstallable, has never been part of a stable release
* koth -- King of the Hill - multiplayer, networked artillery game
[105]Bug#327674: Request of QA, old, unused, rc-buggy
* flin -- Menuing system with fvwm-like syntax
[106]Bug#227777: Request of QA, old, unused, orphaned for a long
time
* goats -- Sticky-note type program for GNOME 2
[107]Bug#290920: Request of QA, obsolete
* cryptofs -- Transparent filesystem encryption plugin
[108]Bug#323128: Request of maintainer, Superseded by encfs
* mindterm -- Java SSH client that can be used as a web applet
[109]Bug#323802: Request of QA, obsolete, buggy
* rhdb-admin -- Graphical tool to administer PostgreSQL/RHDB
Databases
[110]Bug#327775: Request of QA, dead upstream, RC bugs
* hunit -- Haskell Unit Testing Framework, GHC 6 libraries
[111]Bug#329410: Request of maintainer, integrated into Haskell
base libraries
* libassetml -- Share image, sounds and video assets with other
projects
[112]Bug#329685: Request of maintainer, deprecated upstream;
unused
* mkdecbootcd -- Tool for making CDs bootable on DECstations
[113]Bug#329763: Request of maintainer, superseded by delo
* python-popy -- Empty package moving default python-popy package to
python2.3
[114]Bug#330210: Request of maintainer, dead upstream;
alternatives exist
* sylpheed-claws-vcalendar-plugin -- vCalendar message handling
plugin for Sylpheed Claws
[115]Bug#330368: Request of maintainer, dead upstream; superseded
by Gtk2 version
* gal2 -- G App Libs (run time library)
[116]Bug#328734: Request of maintainer, superseded by newer
versions
84. http://bugs.debian.org/328798
85. http://bugs.debian.org/328802
86. http://bugs.debian.org/328806
87. http://bugs.debian.org/328814
88. http://bugs.debian.org/328837
89. http://bugs.debian.org/328847
90. http://bugs.debian.org/328863
91. http://bugs.debian.org/329003
92. http://bugs.debian.org/327629
93. http://bugs.debian.org/327634
94. http://bugs.debian.org/327644
95. http://bugs.debian.org/327645
96. http://bugs.debian.org/327653
97. http://bugs.debian.org/327656
98. http://bugs.debian.org/327670
99. http://bugs.debian.org/327658
100. http://bugs.debian.org/327663
101. http://bugs.debian.org/327666
102. http://bugs.debian.org/327668
103. http://bugs.debian.org/327669
104. http://bugs.debian.org/327673
105. http://bugs.debian.org/327674
106. http://bugs.debian.org/227777
107. http://bugs.debian.org/290920
108. http://bugs.debian.org/323128
109. http://bugs.debian.org/323802
110. http://bugs.debian.org/327775
111. http://bugs.debian.org/329410
112. http://bugs.debian.org/329685
113. http://bugs.debian.org/329763
114. http://bugs.debian.org/330210
115. http://bugs.debian.org/330368
116. http://bugs.debian.org/328734
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 [117]contributing
page to find out how to help. We're looking forward to receiving your
mail at [118]dwn@debian.org.
117. http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/contributing
118. mailto:dwn@debian.org
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