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The Debian Project https://www.debian.org/
Debian Project News debian-publicity@lists.debian.org
May 26th, 2016 https://www.debian.org/News/weekly/2016/02/
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Welcome to this year's second issue of DPN, the newsletter for the
Debian community. Topics covered in this issue include:
* Welcome to the Debian Project News!
* Internal News/Happenings
* Events: Upcoming and Reports
* Help needed
* More than just code
* Outside News
* Reports
* Quick Links from Debian Social Media
* Want to continue reading DPN?
Welcome to the Debian Project News!
-----------------------------------
We hope that you are enjoying the new format of the DPN.
For other news, please read the official Debian Blog Bits from
Debian [1], and follow our Pump.io network feed:
https://identi.ca/debian.
1: https://bits.debian.org
Debian's Security Team releases current advisories on a daily basis
(Security Advisories 2016 [2]). Please read them carefully and subscribe
to the security mailing list [3].
2: https://www.debian.org/security/2016/
3: https://lists.debian.org/debian-security-announce/
At the end of this project news we've added a Quick Links section which
links to many of the posts made through our other media streams.
Internal News/Happenings
------------------------
As of February 2016 [4] there were more than 50,000 binary packages in
sid main amd64! With an increase to 51,000 as of May 2016 [5].
4:
http://layer-acht.org/thinking/blog/20160219-debian-has-50k-binary-packages-in-main-sid/
5: https://piuparts.debian.org/sid/
The Great Freeze
The Release Team has set the freeze dates for Debian 9 ("stretch") [6]:
5 November 2016 for transitions, 5 January 2017 for the "soft" freeze,
and the full freeze on 5 February 2017.
6: https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2016/03/msg00000.html
It is anticipated that "stretch" will be released with the 4.10 Linux
kernel, and these freeze dates allow for longer upstream support.
Sixth alpha release of the installer for Debian 9 "stretch"
The Debian Installer team announced [7] the sixth alpha release of the
installer [8] for Debian 9 "stretch".
7: https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2016/05/msg00004.html
8: https://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer
There are many improvements, such as Debian Pure Blends available in the
software selection screen, improvements in accessibility, Linux 4.5.0-2,
more hardware supported... Testing and feedback are welcome!
All hail the DPL
Mehdi Dogguy [9] has been elected [10] to the position of Debian Project
Leader [11] (DPL). Mehdi shared his ideas and platform for
nomination [12] as part of the voting process.
9: https://wiki.debian.org/MehdiDogguy
10: https://www.debian.org/vote/2016/vote_001
11: https://www.debian.org/devel/leader
12: https://www.debian.org/vote/2016/platforms/mehdi
Off to an immediate start he gave an interview [13] to ITWire.com and
posted his first "Bits from the DPL" [14] report.
13:
http://www.itwire.com/business-it-news/open-source/72513-debian-entering-fresh-territory-as-new-dpl-begins-his-term.html
14: https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2016/05/msg00003.html
Wheezy LTS security support initiated
As of 25 April, nearly three years after the release of Debian 7
("wheezy"), regular security support for "wheezy" came to an end. The
Debian Long Term Support (LTS) Team takes over security support [15].
Wheezy LTS will be supported until 31 May 2018.
15: https://www.debian.org/News/2016/20160425
Debian Java Team updates
The Debian Java Team posted an update [16] of the current state of Java
packages. 136 packages added, 63 removed, 213 upgraded, and 145 updated.
They are maintaining 892 packages (+12.34%). OpenJDK 9 is available in
experimental. New packaging tools have been created to work with Gradle.
Scala has been upgraded to the version 2.11.
16: http://java.debian.net/blog/2016/05/whats-new-since-jessie.html
The Debian Japanese Translation team and The Debian Administrator's
Handbook
The Debian Japanese Translation team led by Ryuunosuke Ayanokouzi
completed an impressive body of work with the Japanese translation [17]
of The Debian Administrator's Handbook. They also met the requirements
to publish a Japanese paperback version of the book, thus joining French
as the other available paperback [18]. The authors kindly donated copies
of the Japanese paperback to several Japanese communities to help them
promote Debian and the book.
17:
https://debian-handbook.info/2016/get-the-japanese-version-of-the-debian-administrators-handbook/
18:
https://debian-handbook.info/2016/get-the-french-version-of-the-debian-administrators-handbook/
Ryuunosuke Ayanokouzi thanked everybody involved:
First of all, on behalf of the Japanese translation team, I would like
to express our thanks to the authors, Raphaël Hertzog and Roland Mas,
for giving freedom of translation. Then, I would like to acknowledge
many important suggestions and comments about Japanese translation
notably from the members of Debian JP Project's mailing lists (in
particular,< debian-doc@debian.or.jp>) and Japanese Debian developers
also.
In addition, I appreciate the hard work made by Doru Patrascu on the
Japanese-localized layout of the book cover.
It would not have been possible to publish the Japanese paperback
version of The Debian Administrator's Handbook without cross-cooperation
between the authors, the translators, and the designer.
Thank you very much for your great support!
Other translations are completed and their translation teams are working
towards a paperback: Spanish, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese. Many more
translations are in progress: Arabic, Norwegian, Chinese (Taiwan and
Traditional), Russian, German. Don't hesitate to contribute [19]!
19: https://debian-handbook.info/contribute/
R.I.P. Iceweasel
After nearly a ten year run, Mike Hommey posted [20] about the
transition from Iceweasel to Firefox in Debian.
20: https://glandium.org/blog/?p=3622
ZFS is now available in Debian
Having ZFS in the Debian archive [21] was blocked for years due to
licensing incompatibility. However, through consultation with the
Software Freedom Law Center and the work of many patient Debian
Developers we are able to offer the ZFS in "contrib" rather than in
"main". The code is available for users via DKMS.
21:
https://bits.debian.org/2016/05/what-does-it-mean-that-zfs-is-in-debian.html
Events: Upcoming and Reports
----------------------------
Upcoming events
DebConf 16
Preparations are in progress for DebConf16 (2-9 July 2016 in Cape Town,
South Africa). A first batch of talks [22] has been approved, and others
are being evaluated. The Call for Proposals [23] is still open for
informal sessions (BoFs) and workshops.
22: http://debconf16.debconf.org/talks/
23: http://debconf16.debconf.org/cfp/
Teams attending DebCamp (23 June - 1 July 2016) are encouraged to write
down their plans as a wiki page [24].
24: https://wiki.debian.org/Sprints
If you have plans or ideas for the Open Weekend (2-3 July 2016) please
have a look at the dedicated wiki page [25] and get in touch [26] with
the DebConf team.
25: https://wiki.debconf.org/wiki/DebConf16/DebianDay
26: http://debconf16.debconf.org/get-involved/
Debian Bug Squashing Parties
The yearly LiMux BSP [27] will again be hosted and sponsored by the City
of Munich. Friday May 27 - Sunday May 29th.
27: https://wiki.debian.org/BSP/2016/05/de/Munich
There will also be a Bug Squashing Party [28] Friday September 23
through Sunday September 25 2016, held in Salzburg, Austria, hosted by
Conova Communications GmbH.
28: https://wiki.debian.org/BSP/2016/09/at/Salzburg
You can find more information about how to sponsor Debian-related events
and talks on the events section [29] of the Debian website.
29: https://www.debian.org/events
Event Reports
Debian Ruby Team
In February the Debian Ruby Team held a Sprint [30] at the Curitiba
Federal Technological University of Paraná (UTFPR). Eight participants
over the course of five days were able to focus on working to fix many
of the bugs that occur between new versions of the Ruby interpreter. The
sprint was not all work as they were able to enjoy cheese and wine [31],
solve some confusion about Tinder, and work out how to improve sprints
in the future.
30:
http://softwarelivre.org/terceiro/blog/debian-ruby-sprint-2016-day-%0A1
31:
http://softwarelivre.org/terceiro/blog/debian-ruby-sprint-2016-day-2-%0Ajapanese-cuisine-bug-fixes-and-mini-cheesewine-party
The team completed over 151 uploads, worked on the transition to Ruby
2.3 in unstable, and improved the toolchain in regard to Reproducible
Builds. The team documented progress each day and gave an excellent
final report [32] that links to the daily work. We look forward to their
continued work but more so to their solving the One-Sided Dinner Booth
Problem [33].
32: https://lists.debian.org/debian-ruby/2016/03/msg00127.html
33:
http://softwarelivre.org/terceiro/blog/debian-ruby-sprint-2016-day-3-ruby-2.3-in-unstable-reproducible-builds-and-data-structures-for-dinner-booths
Mini-DebConf Curitiba 2016
The Mini-DebConf Curitiba 2016 had over two days dedicated to Debian
with 20 hours of programming, 85 attendees, 12 lectures, 7 Lightning
Talks and 5 Workshops. They wish to thank Aldeia Coworking [34] for
space and contributions to the event, and shared photographs [35] of the
event.
34: http://aldeiacoworking.com.br/
35:
http://softwarelivre.org/debianbrasil/blog/fotos-da-mini-debconf-curitiba-2016
Once upon a time in Debian:
* 1997-04-11 "Deity" dselect-replacement project started [36]
* 1998-03-23 "Deity" renamed to "apt" [37]
* 1999-05-03 "Swirl" voted as Debian logo [38]
* 2003-03-29 Alioth introduced [39]
* 2007-04-08 Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 ("etch") released [40]
36: https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/1997/04/msg00786.html
37: https://lists.debian.org/deity/1998/03/msg00114.html
38: https://www.debian.org/vote/1999/vote_0004
39: https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2003/03/msg00024.html
40: https://lists.debian.org/debian-announce/2007/msg00002.html
Help needed
-----------
The Debian Java Team asks for help [41] with transitions ahead for: BND
3, Tomcat 7 to 8, Jetty 8 to 9, ASM 5, and Java 9. The team also needs
help with removing old libraries, and a maintainer for Azureus/Vuze.
Suggestions to <debian-java@lists.debian.org> or chat with them on IRC
at irc.debian.org, #debian-java.
41: http://java.debian.net/blog/2016/05/whats-new-since-jessie.html
Newmaint call for help [42]. The team wants to integrate their workflow
into the nm.debian.org interface so that prospective maintainers can
send their application online and the Newmaint Team review it from
within the website.
42: http://blog.dogguy.org/2016/05/newmaint-call-for-help.html
Packages needing help:
Currently [43] 718 packages are orphaned [44] and 178 packages are up
for adoption [45]: please visit the complete list of packages which need
your help [46].
43: https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2016/05/msg00281.html
44: https://www.debian.org/devel/wnpp/orphaned
45: https://www.debian.org/devel/wnpp/rfa
46: https://www.debian.org/devel/wnpp/help_requested
Newcomer bugs
More than just code
-------------------
Contributors
Discussions
Debian user Lina asked, "which files took the space?" [47] regarding
what seemed to be hidden files in the local file system. A discussion
followed which give a bit of history and procedure as to how the mount
command mounts and sometimes hides files.
47: https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2016/03/msg00074.html
Debian user Jude DaShiell asked about "running Linux without a
display" [48], which talked about headless server setup, dummy display,
and screen readers.
48: https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2016/04/msg00016.html
Debian user Richard Owlett asked about "Multiple live iso's on a single
bootable flash drive" [49]; discussion follows about the possibility of
doing so and a few tricks to make it happen.
49: https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2016/04/msg01040.html
Tips and Tricks
Vincent Fourmond shares [50] QSoas tips and tricks for better baselines
in data analysis, using the "save points" feature.
50:
http://vince-debian.blogspot.com/2016/02/qsoas-tips-and-tricks-better-baselines.html
Enrico Zini shares [51] a simple one-liner to save battery life and
reduce system latency.
51:
http://www.enricozini.org/blog/2016/debian/simple-one-liner-to-save-battery-life-and-reduce-system-latency/
Outside News
------------
At the 2016 Open Compute Project [52] summit, Microsoft released
SONiC [53], a Debian based software platform that uses the Switch
Abstraction Interface [54] (SAI) to allow network administrators to
control network devices with customised configurations and controls.
52: http://www.opencompute.org/
53: http://azure.github.io/SONiC/
54: https://github.com/opencomputeproject/SAI
Earlier this year we reported on Microsoft in collaboration with
credativ adding Debian to its list of "endorsed distributions" [55] for
its Azure marketplace.
55:
https://azure.microsoft.com/ja-jp/blog/debian-images-now-available-on-azure/
Reports
-------
LTS Freexian Monthly Reports
Debian Long Term Support, April 2016 [56]
56:
https://raphaelhertzog.com/2016/05/17/freexians-report-about-debian-long-term-support-april-2016/
Debian Long Term Support, March 2016 [57]
57:
https://raphaelhertzog.com/2016/04/15/freexians-report-about-debian-long-term-support-march-2016/
Debian Long Term Support, February 2016 [58]
58:
https://raphaelhertzog.com/2016/03/11/freexians-report-about-debian-long-term-support-february-2016/
Reproducible Build status/update
Reproducible builds: week 56 in "stretch" cycle [59]
59: https://reproducible.alioth.debian.org/blog/posts/56/
Reproducible builds: week 55 in "stretch" cycle [60]
60: https://reproducible.alioth.debian.org/blog/posts/55/
Reproducible builds: week 54 in "stretch" cycle [61]
61: https://reproducible.alioth.debian.org/blog/posts/54/
Reproducible builds: week 53 in "stretch" cycle [62]
62: https://reproducible.alioth.debian.org/blog/posts/53/
Reproducible builds: week 52 in "stretch" cycle [63]
63: https://reproducible.alioth.debian.org/blog/posts/52/
Reproducible builds: week 51 in "stretch" cycle [64]
64: https://reproducible.alioth.debian.org/blog/posts/51/
Reproducible builds: week 50 in "stretch" cycle [65]
65: https://reproducible.alioth.debian.org/blog/posts/50/
Reproducible builds: week 49 in "stretch" cycle [66]
66: https://reproducible.alioth.debian.org/blog/posts/49/
Reproducible builds: week 48 in "stretch" cycle [67]
67: https://reproducible.alioth.debian.org/blog/posts/48/
Reproducible builds: week 47 in "stretch" cycle [68]
68:
https://people.debian.org/~lunar/blog/posts/reproducible_builds_stretch_week_47/
Reproducible builds: week 46 in "stretch" cycle [69]
69:
https://people.debian.org/~lunar/blog/posts/reproducible_builds_stretch_week_46/
Reproducible builds: week 45 in "stretch" cycle [70]
70:
https://people.debian.org/~lunar/blog/posts/reproducible_builds_stretch_week_45/
Reproducible builds: week 44 in "stretch" cycle [71]
71:
https://people.debian.org/~lunar/blog/posts/reproducible_builds_stretch_week_44/
Reproducible builds: week 43 in "stretch" cycle [72]
72:
https://people.debian.org/~lunar/blog/posts/reproducible_builds_stretch_week_43/
Reproducible builds: week 42 in "stretch" cycle [73]
73:
https://people.debian.org/~lunar/blog/posts/reproducible_builds_stretch_week_42/
Reproducible builds: week 41 in "stretch" cycle [74]
74:
https://people.debian.org/~lunar/blog/posts/reproducible_builds_stretch_week_41
Reproducible builds: week 40 in "stretch" cycle [75]
75:
https://people.debian.org/~lunar/blog/posts/reproducible_builds_stretch_week_40/
Quick Links from Debian Social Media
------------------------------------
Imagination accelerates Debian development for 64-bit MIPS CPUs [76]
76: https://bits.debian.org/2016/05/imagination-64-bit-mips-cpus.html
Debian welcomes its 2016 summer interns [77]
77: https://bits.debian.org/2016/04/welcome-summer-interns-2016.html
Debian announces partnership to sub-contract publicity and press to an
outside marketing agency [78] (APRIL FOOLS)
78: https://bits.debian.org/2016/04/publicity-agency.html
Debian Project wishes to thank Mythic Beasts for loaned hardware [79]
79: https://www.debian.org/News/2016/20160513
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 [80] to find out how to help. We're
looking forward to receiving your mail at
<debian-publicity@lists.debian.org>.
80: https://wiki.debian.org/ProjectNews/HowToContribute
This issue of Debian Project News was edited by The Publicity Team with
contributions from Ryuunosuke Ayanokouzi, Jean-Pierre Giraud, Raphaël
Hertzog, Justin B Rye and and Holger Wansing.
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