Debian Project News - March 28th, 2011
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The Debian Project http://www.debian.org/
Debian Project News debian-publicity@lists.debian.org
March 28th, 2011 http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/2011/05/
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Welcome to this year's fifth issue of DPN, the newsletter for the Debian
community. Topics covered in this issue include:
* Updated Debian: 6.0.1 released
* Nicaragua to host DebConf12
* Debian Derivative Exchange project launched
* Bits from the Debian Installer Team
* Insider summary of recent developments in DebConf11 organization
* Debian -offtopic mailing list
* Further "This week in Debian" interviews
* ... and much more.
Updated Debian: 6.0.1 released
------------------------------
The first update for Debian 6.0 (codename [1] "Squeeze") has been
released. This update mainly adds corrections for security problems to
the stable release, along with some adjustments for serious problems.
1 : http://www.debian.org/News/2011/20110319
Nicaragua to host DebConf12
---------------------------
The DebConf committee has announced that DebConf12, the Debian developer
conference for 2012, will be held in Managua, Nicaragua [2]. The Managua
bid beat a bid from Belo Horizonte, Brazil. More details can be found on
the organizers' wiki [3].
2 : http://www.debian.org/News/2011/20110325
3 : http://wiki.debconf.org/wiki/DebConf12
Debian Derivatives Exchange project launched
--------------------------------------------
Stefano Zacchiroli and Matt Zimmerman launched a new project called the
Debian dErivatives eXchange project (DEX) [4]. The main goal of this
project is to reduce the technical differences between Debian and its
derivatives. The first such group is the Ubuntu DEX Team [5], which aims
to start integrating packages and changes available in Ubuntu back into
Debian. A gNewSense DEX Team is also expected soon.
4 : http://www.debian.org/News/2011/20110318
5 : http://dex.alioth.debian.org/ubuntu/
The Debian Project invites all Debian based distributions and other
projects to join the DEX project and work together on a common base.
Bits from the Debian Installer Team
-----------------------------------
Otavio Salvador sent some bits from the Debian Installer Team [6], which
summarizes changes that have happened in the team since the release of
"Squeeze" (such as the switch from Subversion to Git), and the team's
goals for "Wheezy" (among others, more features for netcfg: wireless
support for WPA networks, IPv6, VLAN network infrastructure support, and
link detection). An important part of the mail is dedicated to a call for
help: the right moment to join the team and start contributing is exactly
now, as it's starting a new development cycle.
6 : http://lists.debian.org/debian-boot/2011/03/msg00403.html
Insider summary of recent developments in DebConf11 organization
----------------------------------------------------------------
Vedran Omeragic has blogged about some recent developments in DebConf11
organization [7]. The official DebConf11 website [8] has been completed
and contains a lot of information for those wanting to attend this year's
Debian developer conference. Another important step was made (during a
meeting held on 22 February) in establishing sponsorship levels [9],
slightly changed from last year, and completing sponsorship brochures
[10], available in three different qualities. There are also some
clarifications about the Bosnian visa regime: all the information can be
found on the related wiki page [11]. At the end, Vedran lists the next
steps: opening registration, working on finding the best routes for
attendees, looking for sponsors, and preparing promotional material. You
can contact the DebConf11 organizational team on their mailing list at
debconf11-localteam@lists.debconf.org [12].
7 : http://blog.debconf.org/blog/debconf11/vo_insiderssummary.dc
8 : http://debconf11.debconf.org/
9 : http://debconf11.debconf.org/sponsorship.xhtml
10 : http://debconf11.debconf.org/documentation.xhtml#localdoc
11 : http://wiki.debconf.org/wiki/DebConf11/Travel-Visa
12 : mailto:debconf11-localteam@lists.debconf.org
Debian -offtopic mailing list
-----------------------------
Have you ever wanted to discuss things completely unrelated to Debian or
even computers with fellow users or developers? On debian-user the custom
is to put [OT] in the subject and fire away.
Unfortunately, this can be disruptive for uninterested subscribers,
especially on a high volume mailing list like debian-user. Because of
this, with the kind support of Holger Levsen and the Debian Community
project [13], the d-community-offtopic list [14] has been created.
13 : http://www.debian-community.org
14 : http://lists.alioth.debian.org/mailman/listinfo/d-community-offtopic
The list is open to anyone, just like most other Debian lists, so all you
have to do is to CC and set Reply-To to the list, so that whoever is
interested will know discussion is moving to that list. Have fun and be
excellent to each other!
Further "This week in Debian" interviews
----------------------------------------
Since the last issue of the Debian Project News, two new issues of the
[15] "This week in Debian" podcast have been published: with Joe Shields
[16] of the Debian Mono team; and with Jonathan Nadeau [17], about Debian
and the Northeast GNU/Linux Fest.
15 : http://wiki.debian.org/ThisWeekInDebian
16 : http://frostbitemedia.libsyn.com/this-week-in-debian-episode-22
17 : http://frostbitemedia.libsyn.com/this-week-in-debian-episode-23
Other news
----------
Michael Gilbert announced the first unofficial Debian monthly [18]
"testing" snapshot release. The release is currently available as mini
ISO images for i386 and amd64 architectures.
18 : http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2011/03/msg00347.html
Alexander Reichle-Schmehl noticed that the video of the Linux New Media
Award ceremony [19], in which we can see Alexander himself and Meike
Reichle receive two awards on behalf of the Debian Project, is finally
available online [20].
19 : http://blog.schmehl.info/Debian/events/cebit-2011/lnm-award-video-online
20 : http://www.techcast.com/events/cebit11/do11/
As reported by Ana Guerrero in her mail, the deadline for proposing
Google Summer of Code (GSoC) projects is close [21]. As you may know
Debian has again this year been accepted as a mentor organization for the
GSoC. The submission of student proposals opened today, but we are still
missing project proposals and mentors: you can visit last year's projects
page [22] to find some inspiration, or simply think of an project in your
team and propose it.
21 : http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2011/03/msg00972.html
22 : http://wiki.debian.org/SummerOfCode2010#SelectedProjects
New Debian Contributors
-----------------------
Nine people have started to maintain packages [23] since the previous
issue of the Debian Project News. Please welcome Vincent Cheng, Rodolfo
García Peñas, Guillaume Mazoyer, Fernando Mercês, Daniel Thomas, Christo
Buschek, Jean Schurger, Manu Garg, and Vasudev Kamath into our project!
23 : http://udd.debian.org/cgi-bin/new-maintainers.cgi
Important Debian Security Advisories
------------------------------------
Debian's Security Team recently released advisories for these packages
(among others): proftpd-dfsg [24], chromium-browser [25], libcgroup [26],
libvirt [27], php5 [28], maradns [29], quagga [30], tex-common [31],
iceape [32], iceweasel [33], wireshark [34], apache2 [35], nss [36], and
imp4 [37]. Please read them carefully and take the proper measures.
24 : http://www.debian.org/security/2011/dsa-2191
25 : http://www.debian.org/security/2011/dsa-2192
26 : http://www.debian.org/security/2011/dsa-2193
27 : http://www.debian.org/security/2011/dsa-2194
28 : http://www.debian.org/security/2011/dsa-2195
29 : http://www.debian.org/security/2011/dsa-2196
30 : http://www.debian.org/security/2011/dsa-2197
31 : http://www.debian.org/security/2011/dsa-2198
32 : http://www.debian.org/security/2011/dsa-2199
33 : http://www.debian.org/security/2011/dsa-2200
34 : http://www.debian.org/security/2011/dsa-2201
35 : http://www.debian.org/security/2011/dsa-2202
36 : http://www.debian.org/security/2011/dsa-2203
37 : http://www.debian.org/security/2011/dsa-2204
Debian's Backports Team released advisories for these packages:
subversion [38] and iceweasel [39]. Please read them carefully and take
the proper measures.
38 : http://lists.debian.org/debian-backports-announce/2011/03/msg00001.html
39 : http://lists.debian.org/debian-backports-announce/2011/03/msg00000.html
Debian's Stable Release Team released update announcements for these
packages: clamav [40] and tzdata [41]. Please read them carefully and
take the proper measures.
40 : http://lists.debian.org/debian-stable-announce/2011/03/msg00003.html
41 : http://lists.debian.org/debian-stable-announce/2011/03/msg00004.html
Debian's Volatile Team released an update announcement for the package
tzdata [42]. Please read it carefully and take the proper measures.
42 : http://lists.debian.org/debian-volatile-announce/2011/msg00003.html
Please note that these are a selection of the more important security
advisories of the last weeks. If you need to be kept up to date about
security advisories released by the Debian Security Team, please
subscribe to the security mailing list [43] (and the separate backports
list [44], and stable updates list [45] or volatile list [46], for
"Lenny", the oldstable distribution) for announcements.
43 : http://lists.debian.org/debian-security-announce/
44 : http://lists.debian.org/debian-backports-announce/
45 : http://lists.debian.org/debian-stable-announce
46 : http://lists.debian.org/debian-volatile-announce
New and noteworthy packages
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The following packages were added to the unstable Debian archive recently
(among many others [47]):
47 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/newpkg
* banshee-extension-karaoke -- karaoke extension for Banshee [48]
* channel-server -- buddycloud channels service for XMPP [49]
* coala -- translates action languages into answer set programs [50]
* discount -- implementation of Markdown markup language in C [51]
* dvbstreamer -- console based streamer for DVB/ATSC services [52]
* ekg2 -- instant messenger and IRC client for UNIX systems [53]
* geiser -- enhanced Scheme interaction mode for Emacs [54]
* geoclue-skyhook -- map and geocode server for GeoClue (Skyhook) [55]
* gnumach-image-1.3.99-486 -- GNU version of the Mach microkernel [56]
* gringo -- grounding tools for (disjunctive) logic programs [57]
* hyphen-pl -- Polish hyphenation patterns for LibreOffice/OpenOffice.org [58]
* minissdpd -- keep memory of all UPnP devices that announced themselves [59]
* mobile-atlas-creator -- program to create offline atlases for GPS/cell phone applications [60]
* monav-client -- fast navigation system featuring exact routing - client [61]
* mudlet -- graphical MUD client with fast Lua scripting support [62]
* mythes-pl -- Polish thesaurus for LibreOffice/OpenOffice.org [63]
* pdb2pqr -- preparation of protein structures for electrostatics calculations [64]
* peg-solitaire -- board game for one player with pegs [65]
* perlbrew -- script to manage Perl installations in your $HOME [66]
* pev -- utility to the get Product Version of PE32 executables [67]
* propka -- modify the protonation state of protein structures [68]
* purity-ng -- reimplementation of the classic [69] "purity" game in Python
* rapid-photo-downloader -- photo downloader (importer) from cameras, memory cards and other devices [70]
* sigrok -- logic analyzer and protocol decoder software [71]
* sikuli-ide -- IDE to develop SIKULI scripts and use them a JUnit test cases [72]
* spatialite-gui -- user-friendly graphical user interface for SpatiaLite [73]
* streamtuner2 -- browser for Internet radio stations [74]
* systemd -- system and service manager [75]
* tabix -- generic indexer for TAB-delimited genome position files [76]
* timbl -- Tilburg memory based learner [77]
* transifex-client -- command line interface for Transifex [78]
* tuxfootball -- great 2D soccer (sometimes called football) game [79]
* ucto -- Unicode tokenizer [80]
* undertaker -- static code analysis tool checking preprocessor directives [81]
48 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/banshee-extension-karaoke
49 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/channel-server
50 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/coala
51 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/discount
52 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/dvbstreamer
53 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/ekg2
54 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/geiser
55 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/geoclue-skyhook
56 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/gnumach-image-1.3.99-486
57 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/gringo
58 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/hyphen-pl
59 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/minissdpd
60 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/mobile-atlas-creator
61 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/monav-client
62 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/mudlet
63 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/mythes-pl
64 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/pdb2pqr
65 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/peg-solitaire
66 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/perlbrew
67 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/pev
68 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/propka
69 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/purity-ng
70 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/rapid-photo-downloader
71 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/sigrok
72 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/sikuli-ide
73 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/spatialite-gui
74 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/streamtuner2
75 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/systemd
76 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/tabix
77 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/timbl
78 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/transifex-client
79 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/tuxfootball
80 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/ucto
81 : http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/undertaker
Work-needing packages
---------------------
Currently 330 packages are orphaned and 149 packages are up for adoption:
please visit the complete list of packages which need your help [82].
82 : http://www.debian.org/devel/wnpp/help_requested
Want to continue reading DPN?
-----------------------------
Please help us create this newsletter. We still need more volunteer
writers to watch the Debian community and report about what is going on.
Please see the contributing page [83] to find out how to help. We're
looking forward to receiving your mail at
debian-publicity@lists.debian.org [84].
83 : http://wiki.debian.org/ProjectNews/HowToContribute
84 : mailto:debian-publicity@lists.debian.org
This issue of Debian Project News was edited by Alexander Reshetov,
Andrei Popescu, Alexander Reichle-Schmehl and Francesca Ciceri [85].
85 : mailto:debian-publicity@lists.debian.org
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