Debian Weekly News - January 11th, 2005
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Debian Weekly News
http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/2005/02/
Debian Weekly News - January 11th, 2005
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to this year's 2nd issue of DWN, the weekly newsletter for the
Debian community. [1]Knowing Knoppix is a beginner-friendly book to
help new users with the [2]Knoppix live CD. Bruno Torres conducted an
[3]interview with the Debian project leader Martin Michlmayr.
1. http://www.pjls16812.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/knowing-knoppix/index.html
2. http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/
3. http://os.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=04/12/23/2023223
KDE 3.3 accepted into Testing. Release Manager Steve Langasek
[4]noted that KDE 3.3 has been accepted into testing. He also
expressed many thanks to the KDE team for their [5]efforts in making
this happen, and to Anthony Towns for hand-holding britney through the
transition. This transition [6]closed many long standing
release-critical bugs in sarge, plus [7]many more.
4. http://lists.debian.org/debian-release/2005/01/msg00033.html
5. http://lists.debian.org/debian-release/2005/01/msg00004.html
6. http://lists.debian.org/debian-qt-kde/2005/01/msg00060.html
7. http://lists.debian.org/debian-qt-kde/2005/01/msg00074.html
More frequently Package Install and Mirror Runs. Ken Bloom [8]asked
whether it would be possible to speed up the release process by having
the daily archive run (package installations and mirror pulse) run
more than only once a day, as suggested by a release [9]proposal.
Joey Hess [10]noted that James Troup did not decline that. Release
Manager Steve Langasek also [11]added having a mirror pulse more often
a day would also effect the testing transition.
8. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/01/msg00141.html
9. http://wiki.debian.net/?RunDinstallHourly
10. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/01/msg00177.html
11. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/01/msg00178.html
Supporting free Java in Debian. Michael Koch [12]considered the free
Java implementations in good shape to run major applications and asked
for more users to work with them and report bugs. He has gotten the
impression that many people prefer to use non-free implementations
instead of reporting back problems with the free packages. For better
support people should give [13]Kaffe, [14]SableVM or [15]JamVM or any
of the other free JVM Implementations in Debian a try.
12. http://lists.debian.org/debian-kde/2005/01/msg00081.html
13. http://packages.debian.org/kaffe
14. http://packages.debian.org/sablevm
15. http://packages.debian.org/jamvm
Dealing with Firmware Blobs. Matthew Garrett [16]wondered how the
Debian project is going to deal with kernel drivers that require
non-free binary-only components to be loaded into the hardware. His
proposals include to leave non-free firmware blobs in non-free, but
don't force drivers that require these to be moved into contrib. Steve
Langasek [17]stated that he won't have a problem with a kernel package
that provides some drivers that need to load firmware blobs from disk
being in main.
16. http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2005/01/msg00140.html
17. http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2005/01/msg00141.html
Package Building without Helper Tools. Miriam Ruiz [18]announced her
[19]article on how to build a Debian package without using helper
tools. She explained, that it is not meant as a proof for an easy way
to maintain packages, but as a comprehensive look inside Debian
package building.
18. http://lists.debian.org/debian-women/2005/01/msg00019.html
19. http://women.alioth.debian.org/wiki/index.php/English/BuildingWithoutHelper
Rudeness in Changelog Files. Joey Hess [20]pointed out rudeness in two
current changelog files and wondered if we really need to be that
naughty in our files. Even though Steve Greenland [21]agrees that this
is not the proper place, he can also understand the frustration with
people who get on ones nerves.
20. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/01/msg00472.html
21. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/01/msg00481.html
APT Repository Documentation. Roberto Sanchez [22]announced the
[23]APT howto he wrote, since none of the other documentation was
particularly helpful to him. Ola Lundqvist [24]added that instead of
doing everything by hand one should use the [25]debarchiver package.
22. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/01/msg00490.html
23. http://familiasanchez.net/~sanchezr/?page=debrepository
24. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/01/msg00493.html
25. http://packages.debian.org/debarchiver
Sarge Security Updates Propagation. Joey Hess has been giving
[26]weekly reports on packages that contain security updates in sid
but which have not yet been propagated into sarge. He has created a
comprehensive [27]status page that contains the same information as
well as open bugs for known unfixed security problems.
26. http://lists.debian.org/debian-release/2005/01/msg00051.html
27. http://merkel.debian.org/~joeyh/testing-security.html
Security Updates. You know the drill. Please make sure that you update
your systems if you have any of these packages installed.
* DSA 624: [28]zip -- Arbitrary code execution.
* DSA 625: [29]pcal -- Arbitrary code execution.
* DSA 626: [30]tiff -- Denial of service.
* DSA 627: [31]namazu2 -- Cross-site scripting.
* DSA 628: [32]imlib2 -- Arbitrary code execution.
* DSA 629: [33]krb5 -- Arbitrary code execution.
* DSA 630: [34]lintian -- Insecure temporary directory.
* DSA 631: [35]kdelibs -- Arbitrary FTP command execution.
* DSA 632: [36]linpopup -- Arbitrary code execution.
* DSA 633: [37]bmv -- Insecure temporary file creation.
* DSA 634: [38]hylafax -- Unauthorised access.
28. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-624
29. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-625
30. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-626
31. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-627
32. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-628
33. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-629
34. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-630
35. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-631
36. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-632
37. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-633
38. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-634
New or Noteworthy Packages. The following packages were added to the
unstable Debian archive [39]recently or contain important updates.
39. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/newpkg_main
* [40]daapd -- Serves music files using the Apple DAA protocol.
* [41]fakepop -- Fake pop3 daemon. delivers same messages to all
users.
* [42]ffmpeg -- Multimedia player, server and encoder.
* [43]foremost -- Forensics application to recover data.
* [44]g-wrap -- Scripting interface generator for C.
* [45]itagalog -- Tagalog dictionary for Ispell.
* [46]kxdocker -- Innovative docker for KDE that is like Mac OSX
Docker.
* [47]mpegdemux -- MPEG1/2 system stream demultiplexer.
* [48]mypasswordsafe -- Easy-to-use password manager.
* [49]nws -- Grid monitoring infrastructure (executables and man
pages).
* [50]sdcv -- Command line version of StarDict dictionary tool.
* [51]sendxmpp -- Commandline XMPP (jabber) utility.
* [52]systraq -- Monitor your system and warn when system files
change.
* [53]ultrapossum -- Multifunctional LDAP Solution.
* [54]widelands -- Fantasy real-time strategy game.
* [55]wmctrl -- Control an EWMH/NetWM compatible X Window Manager.
40. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/daapd
41. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/mail/fakepop
42. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/graphics/ffmpeg
43. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/foremost
44. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/interpreters/g-wrap
45. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/text/itagalog
46. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/kxdocker
47. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/mpegdemux
48. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/mypasswordsafe
49. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/nws
50. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/sdcv
51. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/sendxmpp
52. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/systraq
53. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/ultrapossum
54. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/games/widelands
55. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/wmctrl
Orphaned Packages. 10 packages were orphaned this week and require a
new maintainer. This makes a total of 257 orphaned packages. Many
thanks to the previous maintainers who contributed to the Free
Software community. Please see the [56]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.
56. http://www.debian.org/devel/wnpp/
* [57]kernel-patch-systrace -- Systrace kernel patch.
([58]Bug#289539)
* [59]libcgi-untaint-perl -- Process CGI input parameters.
([60]Bug#289433)
* [61]libcgi-validate-perl -- Advanced CGI form parser and type
validation. ([62]Bug#289430)
* [63]libconfig-general-perl -- Generic configuration module.
([64]Bug#289434)
* [65]libexporter-lite-perl -- Lightweight subset of Exporter.
([66]Bug#289431)
* [67]libuniversal-exports-perl -- Lightweight, universal exporting
of variables. ([68]Bug#289432)
* [69]mga-vid -- Kernel driver for the back-end scaler on Matrox
cards (source). ([70]Bug#289435)
* [71]middleman -- Web content caching and filtering proxy server.
([72]Bug#289027)
* [73]systrace -- Enforce system call policies for applications.
([74]Bug#289537)
* [75]xsystrace -- Systrace frontend invoked by systrace.
([76]Bug#289538)
57. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/kernel-patch-systrace
58. http://bugs.debian.org/289539
59. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libcgi-untaint-perl
60. http://bugs.debian.org/289433
61. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libcgi-validate-perl
62. http://bugs.debian.org/289430
63. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libconfig-general-perl
64. http://bugs.debian.org/289434
65. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libexporter-lite-perl
66. http://bugs.debian.org/289431
67. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libuniversal-exports-perl
68. http://bugs.debian.org/289432
69. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/misc/mga-vid-source
70. http://bugs.debian.org/289435
71. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/middleman
72. http://bugs.debian.org/289027
73. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/systrace
74. http://bugs.debian.org/289537
75. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/xsystrace
76. http://bugs.debian.org/289538
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 [77]contributing
page to find out how to help. We're looking forward to receiving your
mail at [78]dwn@debian.org.
77. http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/contributing
78. mailto:dwn@debian.org
Reply to: