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Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter #107
Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue #107 for the week August 31st - September 6th, 2008. In this issue we cover: Intrepid Alpha 5 released, KDE Community Stabilizes Desktop with KDE 4.1.1, KDE 4.1.1 available for Kubuntu 8.04, Wanted: Moderators for Ubuntu Brainstorm, Ubuntu Developer Week Summary, PackageKit: Call for testing, New MOTU, Ubuntu Package Status Pages, New Proposed WikiGuide page, Call for feedback on new wiki theme, Ubuntu-UK podcast #13, Say Ubuntu, KDE Usability project video, Atlanta Linux Fest, and much, much more! == UWN Translations == * Note to translators and our readers: We are trying a new way of linking to our translations pages. Please follow the link below for the information you need. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/Translations == In This Issue == * Intrepid Alpha 5 released * KDE Community Stabilizes Desktop with KDE 4.1.1 * KDE 4.1.1 available for Kubuntu 8.04 * Wanted: Moderators for Ubuntu Brainstorm * Ubuntu Developer Week Summary * PackageKit: Call for testing * Two Years Going Strong * New MOTU * Ubuntu Package Status Pages * New proposed WikiGuide Page * Call for feedback on new wiki theme * Ubuntu Stats * LoCo News * In the Press & Blogosphere * Ubuntu UK podcast #13 * Say Ubuntu! * KDE Usability Project Video(Celeste Lyn Paul) * Atlanta Linux Fest * Upcoming Meetings & Events * Updates & Security == General Community News == === Intrepid Alpha 5 released === Welcome to Intrepid Ibex Alpha-5, which will in time become Ubuntu 8.10. Alpha 5 is the fifth in a series of milestone CD images that will be released throughout the Intrepid development cycle. The Alpha images are known to be reasonably free of showstopper CD build or installer bugs, while representing a very recent snapshot of Intrepid. You can download it here: * http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/intrepid/alpha-5/ (Ubuntu) * http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/releases/intrepid/alph... (Ubuntu Education Edition) * http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/intrepid/alpha-5/ (Kubuntu) * http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/intrepid/alpha-5/ (Xubuntu) Pre-releases of Intrepid are *not* encouraged for anyone needing a stable system or anyone who is not comfortable running into occasional, even frequent breakage. They are, however, recommended for Ubuntu developers and those who want to help in testing, reporting, and fixing bugs. Alpha 5 includes a number of software updates that are ready for large-scale testing. Please refer to http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/intrepid/alpha5 for information on changes in Ubuntu. Please visit the link below to learn more about the Intrepid Alpha 5 release. https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2... === KDE Community Stabilizes Desktop with KDE 4.1.1 === September 3, 2008. The KDE Community today announced the immediate availability of KDE 4.1.1, the first bugfix and maintenance update for the latest generation of the most advanced and powerful free desktop. KDE 4.1.1 is a monthly update to KDE 4.1. It ships with a basic desktop and many other packages; like administration programs, network tools, educational applications, utilities, multimedia software, games, artwork, web development tools and more. KDE's award-winning tools and applications are available in more than 50 languages. Most all applications have received the developers' attention, resulting in a long list of bugfixes and improvements. The most significant changes are: * Significant performance, interaction and rendering correctness improvements in KHTML and Konqueror, KDE's web browser * User interaction, rendering and stability fixes in Plasma, the KDE4 desktop shell * PDF backend fixes in the document viewer Okular * Fixes in Gwenview, the image viewer's thumb nailing, more robust retrieval and display of images with broken metadata * Stability and interaction fixes in KMail More information can be found at http://www.kde.org/announcements/announce-4.1.1.php === KDE 4.1.1 available for Kubuntu 8.04 === KDE 4.1.1 has been released and packages are available for Kubuntu 8.04, the Hardy Heron. These packages install to /usr/lib/kde4 and can be installed along side your existing KDE 3 installation. The updated packages for Kubuntu 8.04 are located in the Kubuntu Member's KDE 4 Personal Package Archive (PPA) repositories. To update to KDE 4.1.1, please follow these instructions: Thanks to Harald, Jon, Steve, Guillaume for preparing these packages. Special thanks to Scott for doing a late night shift to get emergency uploads into Kubuntu Intrepid Alpha 5. To help out, you can join the Kubuntu Team. More information is available on the Kubuntu Wiki: https://wiki.kubuntu.org/Kubuntu To update to KDE 4.1.1, please follow the instructions at the link below. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/kde-4.1.1 === Wanted: Moderators for Ubuntu Brainstorm! === In an effort to improve the quality of ideas received by Ubuntu Brainstorm, they will be initiating a Sandbox where ideas can be reviewed by moderators before going into the mainstream. They are asking for people with good moderation experience to join the team. Moderators will review the ideas in the Sandbox, help authors to structure them, and approve or reject the ideas. Interested persons should send a message to the team mailing list, brainstorm-moderators@lists.launchpad.net before joining the team. For additional information, join #ubuntu-brainstorm on IRC. Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~brainstorm-moderators http://blog.qa.ubuntu.com/node/25 === Ubuntu Developer Week Summary === Ubuntu Developer Week just ended and was a big success. Ubuntu Developer Week was a series of online workshops where you could: * learn about different packaging techniques * find out more about different development teams * check out the efforts of the world-wide Development Community * participate in open Q&A sessions with Ubuntu developers * and much more... If you missed any of the sessions, you can read the logs by visiting https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuDeveloperWeek Clicking on the title headers under "The Timetable" will take you to the IRC chat logs of each session. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuDeveloperWeek === PackageKit: Call for testing === The APT backend for Packagekit 3.0 series has made progress, and now has: * Search for codecs and mime type handlers * Local file installation * Change log for updates * Group support * Repository handling * Notification of new distro releases * A lot of bug fixes Those interested in furthering PackageKit for a freeze exception should test it and report any bugs. Information on the location of the repository and what packages to download can be found at the link. http://www.glatzor.de/blog/blog-details/select_category/1... === Two Years Going Strong === Two years ago today Jono Bacon came to work at Canonical as the Ubuntu Community Manager. When he started at Canonical, it was just him working with Mark to define his role and focus, and to determine what he wanted to do to help grow and facilitate our stunning community. Since then he has become part of the wider Ubuntu team at Canonical, and he has expanded his own team with the help of his fellow horsemen Daniel Holbach, and Jorge Castro. Jono is looking forward to continuing to grow the team and to helping our community to do amazing things. http://www.jonobacon.org/?p=1270 === MOTU === ==== New MOTU ==== We're very pleased to announce that Devid Antonio Filoni just joined the MOTU team. After months of hard work and good feedback from his peers, we're glad he now is part of the team. Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~d.filoni Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DevidAntonioFiloni https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-motu/2008-Septem... === Ubuntu Package Status Pages === The QA Team has released it's first set of Package Status Pages for the wider audience to view: http://status.qa.ubuntu.com/ For those of you unfamiliar with these pages, the idea was first generated from one of our QA Team specs[1]. The intention of these pages are to help package maintainers, developers, and other interested parties measure the current state of a package. The pages, for example, provide interesting bug metrics and statistics than can help focus development efforts and locate useful entry points for getting involved. The plan is to continue modifying, updating, and improving the content provided in these pages. The team has already set up a feedback wiki[2] to document many of the changes they plan to implement. You are encouraged to please add any other feature requests or ideas to that wiki as well. * [1] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/Specs/PackageStatusPages * [2] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/Specs/PackageStatusPages/F... https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-qa/2008-Septembe... === New Proposed WikiGuide Page === Allan Day has been working on a new WikiGuide page and while it's only a draft there seems to be favorable commits on it and it looks to be an improvement over the previous version. Improvements can still be add of course, but this seems to be enough of an improvement to consider implementing it in place of the older version. https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-doc/2008-Septemb... === Call for feedback on new wiki theme === Recently Matthew East has been developing a new theme which is intended to replace the existing themes on the documentation wiki: https://help.ubuntu.com/community. The intention of the theme is to make reading the wiki easier for a user (a cleaner interface) and for an editor (an editbar at the bottom of the screen which follows the window as you scroll). This is a call for testing and feedback of the theme. Matthew would really like to implement a similar theme for the development wiki at wiki.ubuntu.com if the feedback is positive. To test the theme, log into the help wiki and go to the preferences page (User Preferences). Set the theme to 'ubuntunew' (you can easily set it back later). Then just edit a few pages and see what you think. Please send comments to: mdke@ubuntu.com https://lists.canonical.com/archives/ubuntu-website/2008-... == Ubuntu Stats == === Bug Stats === * Open (46099) -334 # over last week * Critical (26) -2 # over last week * Unconfirmed (21361) +19 # over last week * Unassigned (37620) -289 # over last week * All bugs ever reported (207693) +1663 # over last week As always, the Bug Squad needs more help. If you want to get started, please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad === Translation Stats Hardy === * Spanish (11869) -20 # over last week * English-UK (30836) +/-0 # over last week * French (39040) -2 # over last week * Brazilian Portuguese (50047) +/-0 # over last week * Swedish (52880) +/-0 # over last week Remaining strings to translate in Ubuntu 8.04 "Hardy Heron," see more at: https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/hardy/ === 5-a-day bug stats === Top 5 contributors for the past 7 days * andreas-moog (64) * fluteflute (62) * crimsun (52) * dholbach (45) * chrisccoulson (45) Top 5 teams for the past 7 days * ubuntu-uk (62) * ubuntu-berlin (47) * kubuntu-de.org (13) * indian-team (9) * ubuntu-michigan (7) 5-A-Day stats provided by Daniel Holbach. See http://daniel.holba.ch/5-a-day-stats/ == LoCo News == === Ubuntu-ko LoCo team === The Korean Ubuntu Users' meeting was held in Seoul on August 23rd, 2008 from 2:00PM to 6:00PM. Many users (mostly from Seoul area) showed up to: * Introduce each person by themselves. picture: http://ubuntu.or.kr/download/file.php?id=1072 * Participate in hardware give-and-take, where people would bring in computer parts that they are not using and give them to others who need them picture : http://ubuntu.or.kr/download/file.php?id=1038 * Help each other set up their Ubuntu installs on various devices, such as pmp, umpc, a lot of laptop. picture : http://ubuntu.or.kr/download/file.php?id=1039 * Give presentation and participate in discussion * "Creating Ubuntu packages and utilizing Korean PPA" (by haze11) picture : http://ubuntu.or.kr/download/file.php?id=1042 * "Open source, translation and participation" (by Mr. Dust) picture : http://ubuntu.or.kr/download/file.php?id=1043 All in all, the team had a lot of fun meeting other Ubuntu users and helping each other out. picture : http://ubuntu.or.kr/download/file.php?id=1051 https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-news-team/2008-S... == In The Press == * Getting to grips with Linux - Gary Parkinson has a hard time with Linux on his laptop. The laptop came with Xandros installed on it, but he's unhappy with the look and feel of the distribution and installs Ubuntu instead. The wireless wouldn't work however, and then there was dealing with using the terminal to install software.(Synaptic?) Geek Squad, a tech support service partnered with the Carphone Warehouse in the UK, finally helps him get on line, but then he still can't sync his iPod. The fault there lies not in Linux, but in the Apple software. Enjoy the antics Gary goes through at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7594249.stm * Can Ubuntu Shine Where Red Hat Won't Go? - Katherine Noyes notes that Red Hat has no interest in producing a desktop version of Linux for the consumer market. The reasons range from "it's too expensive to fight Microsoft" to "Ubuntu is already doing the desktop." Hardy Heron has been a major assist in making Linux available to Windows users with the inclusion of Wubi. http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Can-Ubuntu-Shine-Where... * Book review: Ubuntu for Non-Geeks - James F. Koopmann discusses the book "Ubuntu for Non-Geeks: A Pain-Free, Project-Based, Get-Things-Done Guidebook" with some enthusiasm. The book presents its information as projects, each of which build one's knowledge of the Ubuntu and Linux environments. http://www.linux.com/feature/144301 == In The Blogosphere == * Dude, I'm Wantin' a Dell - In Ken Hess's Linux Blog, it's obvious that Ken really wants a Dell Mini 9. Dell is previewing the Mini 9, whose base model includes a 4GB solid state drive, 512MB RAM, built in WiFi, Intel Atom Processor N270, 9.9" screen with 1024x600 resolution, and runs Ubuntu 8.04. The base model goes for $349. Weighing in at under 2.5 lbs and its small size (9"x6"x1") make it highly portable, and easy to add to your briefcase or carry-on bag. http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3110.html * Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) Alpha 5 - Com Van blog notes that Ubuntu 8.10 Alpha 5 has been released. Ubuntu, as most who read Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter know, is a free, open-source operating system. Ubuntu includes most of the applications that a many of us use pre-installed. Ubuntu includes both Desktop and Server editions, both of which are built on Debian Linux. Ease of use & installation and access to the best of the infrastructure that the free software community has to offer are the hallmarks of Ubuntu. Links are provided for Ubuntu 8.10 Alpha 5 and the current version, Ubuntu 8.04. http://www.comvan.com/2008/09/05/ubuntu-810-intrepid-ibex... * Ubuntu Linux Netbooks: What Dell Can Learn From ZaReason - Dell's new Inspiron Mini 9 netbook is the latest vote of confidence for Ubuntu Linux in the desktop and mobile markets. Blogger Joe Panettieri is impressed by Dell's commitment to Ubuntu, but he feels that Dell can learn a few things from small PC maker ZaReason which specializes in Ubuntu systems. ZaReason's attention to the little things, as well as their typically being ready to ship systems with the latest version of Ubuntu on the day that it is released, surpasses Dell's current offerings. It seems like Dell can learn quite a bit from ZaReason. http://www.workswithu.com/2008/09/04/ubuntu-linux-netbook... * Dell's Mini packs Ubuntu, XP; Vodafone to sell it - Dell's Inspiron Mini 9 is now available on Dell's web site, and Vodafone is going to sell the Mini 9 in Europe. Michael Dell stated at the Citigroup Technology Conference that telecom carriers will sell netbooks to push 3G services, and speculation is US carriers will follow this lead. The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 running Ubuntu is on sale now starting at $349. http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9891 == In Other News == === Ubuntu UK podcast #13: Don't Be Cruel === In this episode of the Ubuntu UK Podcast: * A interview with Billy Cina from Canonical about training and certification, and have details of how you can get a discount on Ubuntu training. * Sarcastic News * Trademark issues with Ubuntu * An interview with Andy Stanford-Clark, Master Inventor from IBM * They discuss Virtual Private servers and their purpose * They announce the winner of the Canonical store voucher from the last episode and start a new competition to give away a virtual private server. The podcast can be downloaded in ogg and mp3 formats, or viewed in your browser or pop-up window in mp3 format. http://podcast.ubuntu-uk.org/2008/08/30/s01e13-dont-be-cr... === Say Ubuntu!!! === Top students in Chennai, India are presented with free laptops loaded with Ubuntu. Picture at http://planetoss.com/detail.php?id=17 === KDE Usability Project (Akademy 2008 Video and Slides) === Celeste Lyn Paul, an ubuntu member, and heavy contributor to the KDE project, has posted the links to her talk on the KDE Usability Project. The video is in ogg format, and the slides are in a pdf file. http://weblog.obso1337.org/2008/kde-usability-project-aka... === Atlanta Linux Fest === The Atlanta Linux Fest is the place to come and learn, discuss, and discover your next favorite system! Atlanta Linux fest will be host to dozens of the top distributions: Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, openSUSE -- all on the bleeding edge of innovation. If you are curious about what makes Linux the ultimate operating system, you definitely want to attend this event! There will be Live CDs available so you can try out the latest releases without installing. There will be demos of all the major distributions, installation help, user support for all your favorite distributions, and drawings for prizes! All you have to do is register to come (it's free!) and there will be pizza available for a $5 donation to the event. When is it? Saturday, September 20, 2008, 11 - 6pm Where is it? IBM Hillside Conference Center 4111 Northside Pkwy Atlanta, GA. 30327 http://atlantalinuxfest.org/ * The Ubuntu Georgia LoCo team is a participating member of this Open Source conference. Visit the link below to hear our own Nick Ali in a special podcast about the event. http://lottalinuxlinks.com/blog/2008/09/05#1220655775 == Upcoming Meetings and Events == === Tuesday, September 9, 2008 === ==== Server Team Meeting ==== * Start: 15:00 UTC * End: 16:00 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ServerTeam/Meeting === Wednesday, September 10, 2008 === ==== QA Team Meeting ==== * Start: 17:00 UTC * End: 18:00 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/Meetings/ ==== Platform Team Meeting ==== * Start: 22:00 UTC * End: 23:00 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting * Agenda: Not listed as of publication === Thursday, September 11, 2008 === ==== Desktop Team Meeting ==== * Start: 13:00 UTC * End: 14:00 UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting * Agenda: http://wiki.ubuntu.com/DesktopTeam/Meeting === Friday, September 12, 2008 === ==== Ubuntu Release Meeting ==== * Start: 15:00 - UTC * End: 16:30 - UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting * Agenda: Not listed as of publication === Saturday, September 13, 2008 === ==== Xubuntu Community Meeting ==== * Start: 13:00 - UTC * End: 15:00 - UTC * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Xubuntu/Meetings == Updates and Security for 6.06, 7.04, 7.10, and 8.04 == === Security Updates === * [USN-639-1] tiff vulnerability - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-security-announc... * [USN-640-1] libxml2 vulnerability - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-security-announc... === Ubuntu 6.06 LTS Updates === * tiff 3.7.4-1ubuntu3.3 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/dapper-changes/2008-Sep... * libxml2 2.6.24.dfsg-1ubuntu1.2 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/dapper-changes/2008-Sep... * linux-source-2.6.15 2.6.15-52.72 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/dapper-changes/2008-Sep... === Ubuntu 7.04 Updates === * tiff 3.8.2-6ubuntu1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/feisty-changes/2008-Sep... * libxml2 2.6.27.dfsg-1ubuntu3.2 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/feisty-changes/2008-Sep... === Ubuntu 7.10 Updates === * tiff 3.8.2-7ubuntu2.1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/gutsy-changes/2008-Sept... * libxml2 2.6.30.dfsg-2ubuntu1.2 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/gutsy-changes/2008-Sept... === Ubuntu 8.04 Updates === * specter 1.4-2ubuntu0.1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2008-Sept... * torque 2.1.8+dfsg-0ubuntu1.2 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2008-Sept... * tiff 3.8.2-7ubuntu3.1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2008-Sept... * libxml2 2.6.31.dfsg-2ubuntu1.1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2008-Sept... == Archives and RSS Feed == You can always find older Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter issues at: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter You can subscribe to the Ubuntu Weekly News via RSS at: http://fridge.ubuntu.com/uwn/feed == Additional Ubuntu News == As always you can find more news and announcements at: http://www.ubuntu.com/news and http://fridge.ubuntu.com/ == Conclusion == Thank you for reading the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter. See you next week! == Credits == The Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter is brought to you by: * Nick Ali * John Crawford * Craig A. Eddy * Dave Bush * Arlan Vennefron * And many others == Glossary of Terms == 1. Wifi - Popular wireless networking technology 1. WUBI - Ubuntu installer for Windows == Feedback == This document is maintained by the Ubuntu Weekly News Team. If you have a story idea or suggestions for the Weekly Newsletter, join the Ubuntu News Team mailing list at https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/Ubuntu-news-team and submit it. Ideas can also be added to the wiki at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/Ideas. If you'd like to contribute to a future issue of the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, please feel free to edit the appropriate wiki page. If you have any technical support questions, please send them to ubuntu-users@lists.ubuntu.com. -- ubuntu-news mailing list ubuntu-news@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-news (Log in to post comments)
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