| From: |
| "Nick Ali" <nali-AT-ubuntu.com> |
| To: |
| ubuntu-news-AT-lists.ubuntu.com |
| Subject: |
| Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter #97 |
| Date: |
| Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:57:46 -0400 |
| Message-ID: |
| <954321e10806291657k6056c72es9857f0cca50769fa@mail.gmail.com> |
Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue #97 for the week June
22nd - June 28th, 2008. In this issue we cover: Ubuntu 8.04.1 freeze
proposed, Intrepid Alpha 1 released, a new Universe contributor,
Brainstorm updates, Ubuntu Women project status, new Ubuntu members,
LoCo news, Launchpad news, Ubuntu Forums news, Full Circle Magazine
#14, UK podcast #8, 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 ==
* Ubuntu 8.04.1 Freeze Proposed
* Intrepid Alpha 1 Released
* New Ubuntu Universe Contributor
* New Ubuntu Members
* Ubuntu Brainstorm News
* Ubuntu Women Project Status
* Maryland LoCo Summer Plans
* Ubuntu Stats
* Launchpad Downtime
* Ubuntu Forums News
* In the Press & Blogosphere
* In Other News
* Team Meeting Summaries
* Upcoming Meeting & Events
* Updates & Security
== General Community News ==
=== Ubuntu 8.04.1 Freeze Proposed ===
The release schedule at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardyReleaseSchedule,
shows we're now just two short weeks away from the scheduled release
of 8.04.1, the first point release of Ubuntu 8.04 LTS. As such, the
hardy-proposed queue is now frozen with respect to packages that are
included on any of our ISO images. The only uploads that are being
accepted for these packages are those fixing bugs that have already
been approved as targets for the 8.04.1 point release.
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2...
=== Intrepid Alpha 1 Released ===
Alpha 1 is the first 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 builds or installer
bugs, while representing a very recent snapshot of Intrepid. The
primary changes from Hardy have been the re-merging of changes from
Debian and the upgrade of the Linux kernel to a pre-release version of
2.6.26. 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.
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2...
=== New Ubuntu Universe Contributor ===
Pedro Fragoso has been approved as an Ubuntu Universe Contributor.
Pedro has been working with the Desktop and Accessibility teams for
some time now, and has been a welcome help in maintaining packages.
Please give him a warm welcome to the development team.
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-motu/2008-June/0...
=== Ubuntu Brainstorm News ===
==== Assigning Ideas to Projects, Tags, and User Contact ====
* Assigning ideas to a project: You can now link ideas to projects.
Projects include not only software projects, but also Ubuntu websites,
and Ubuntu editions! That will make the job easier for people tracking
ideas for their favorite projects. We recommend every idea author
should review their ideas and link them to a project! This feature is
the first step before we can make the project-specific sub-brainstorm
websites.
* Tags: You can now tag an idea, mark ideas with your own tags, and
make groups of related ideas! This has been a long standing popular
request.
* Contact a Brainstormer: You have seen people willing to work on an
idea, and you want to participate too? As requested, you can now
contact each other using the "contact" area in the user page.
Overall, you should find Brainstorm faster. The only exception is the
search function, which is having a hard time looking at all your
ideas! That should be fixed in the next update.
http://blog.qa.ubuntu.com/node/16
==== Developer Responses for 25 June ====
Ubuntu developer Martin Pitt (pitti on irc) has responded to some of your ideas:
* Easy file sharing between local users:
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/3916/
* Warn on shutdown when muliple users are logged on:
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/3859/
* gksudo if you try to do an action you don't have access to:
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/4347/
* Work on printer drivers: http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/190/
* Codec Manager: http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/316/
* Tease programming on Ubuntu: http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/4354/
* Password strength: http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/5682/
* Easy GUI creation and handling of encrypted partitions:
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/214/
* Offer to create a separate /home partition and use existing ones:
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/5390/
http://blog.qa.ubuntu.com/node/22
=== Ubuntu Women Project Status - Mid 2008 ===
Thanks to a considerable amount of work by emmajane the Ubuntu Women's
Project now has a roadmap. They've also transferred their Course
program into a partnership with Ubuntu Classroom, which is working on
formation and hosting of regular classes. The overall participation of
women in the Ubuntu community and in leadership positions has grown
over the past year. Ubuntu Women is focusing more on helping women and
getting involved with core projects (like Ubuntu Classroom) rather
than striking out on their own initiatives. In keeping with a return
to their core, they've worked to make the website and wiki
documentation be more specific to their goals and easier to navigate.
They've also committed to a monthly article in Full Circle Magazine.
There has been considerable interest for Ubuntu Women mentoring, but
they'd like to see the program become more successful.
http://princessleia.com/journal/?p=1257
=== New Ubuntu Members ===
==== The America's Membership Board ====
Chuck Frain is the leader of the approved US Maryland LoCo team. He
has also done bug work, and helping drive the organization of a BugJam
with his LoCo team and intends to expand his bug involvement in the
future. Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ChuckFrain Launchpad:
https://launchpad.net/~chuckfrain
Federico Torres is the leader of the Mexican LoCo team. In addition to
being the administrator of the project and several of the project
resources, he has worked with other LoCo teams as a mentor. Wiki:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/FedericoTorres Launchpad:
https://launchpad.net/~fetova
Justin Dugger is a member of the toshiba-tablet team, works with xorg
bug triage and is the bug contact for several packages. He plans on
expanding his involvement in bugs, with a focus on resolving
outstanding issues for tablet users. Wiki:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/JustinDugger Launchpad:
https://launchpad.net/~jldugger
The America's board is happy to welcome these fantastic folks to the project!
==== The AsiaOceanic Membership Board ====
Nicholas Ng Boon Liang has been with Ubuntu Malaysia Team since its
inception and has contributed in conducting various awareness programs
to take Ubuntu to the people of Malaysia. Wiki:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/nbliang Launchpad:
https://launchpad.net/~nbliang
Khairul Aizat Kamarudzzaman is also part of Malaysian Ubuntu Team. His
notable contribution include activities to take Ubuntu to the
officials in Malaysian Government. Wiki:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/fenris Launchpad:
https://launchpad.net/~malaysianteam
The AsiaOceanic board is proud to welcome these new members!
== Ubuntu Stats ==
=== Bug Stats ===
* Open (47192) -50 # over last week
* Critical (32) +/-0 # over last week
* Unconfirmed (23348) +151 # over last week
* Unassigned (37846) +29 # over last week
* All bugs ever reported (192277) +1342 # 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 ===
This is the top 5, not specific languages, so the languages might
change week to week.
* Spanish (12656)
* French (39133)
* English (United Kingdom) (49696)
* Swedish (52861)
* Brazilian Portuguese (54938)
Remaining strings to translate in Ubuntu 8.04 "Hardy Heron," see more
at: https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/hardy/
== LoCo News ==
=== Maryland Summer 2008 Plans ===
Lots of things are on the agenda for the Ubuntu Maryland team this
summer and into the fall. It starts with the July 9th meeting of the
Columbia Area Linux Users group, where there will be a presentation on
the basic usage of GnuPG. On July 17th the Ubuntu Maryland LoCo team
meeting will be open to the CALug members and anyone else to bring
their laptops and/or questions about GnuPG for a hands on help
session. Next up will be working with Celeste Lyn Paul on doing a
usability study around Kubuntu. Currently she is working up the
details of what will be tested. Following that will be their field
trip to the NSA Crypto Museum & GnuPG keysigning on August 2nd. On
August 9th the team will participate in the Ubuntu Global Bug Jam at
the Loyola College Center for Community Informatics in Columbia, MD.
To rap it all up, Software Freedom Day on September 20th. Great work
Maryland!http://www.chuckfrain.net/2008/06/22/ubuntu-maryland-summ...
== Launchpad News ==
=== Launchpod episode #5 ===
In this episode:
* An interview GnomeDo's David Siegel
* An interview with our sysadmins, Tom and Herb
* Joey's number of the week, this time covering translations!
You can find it here:
http://news.launchpad.net/podcast/launchpod-episode-5-gno...
=== Launchpad to be Offline ===
Launchpad has delayed the release of 1.2.6 until the first of July in
order to make further performance tweaks to the database. The release
is now scheduled for the early hours of Tuesday July 1st. The roll-out
will require a couple of hours of down-time listed below.
* 00.00 UTC 1st July: Launchpad goes offline
* 02.00 UTC 1st July: Launchpad expected back online
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/launchpad-users/2008-Ju...
=== Greasemonkey-ing around with Launchpad ===
There is a small group of Ubuntu developers[0] who have been using
greasemonkey[1] to customize the way Launchpad looks and behaves. They
have created a bzr tree of the scripts they've written hosted on
Launchpad[2]. They thought that these greasemonkey scripts might be
useful for other projects using Launchpad who are interested in other
ways of using greasemonkey. The scripts include ones that identify
attachments flagged as patches in a bug page, that append karma and
team participation to a Launchpad
user, that provide a standard reply mechanism and one that makes
tagging bug reports more accessible. More details can be found in the
README in the bzr tree.
* [0] https://launchpad.net/~gm-dev-launchpad
* [1] http://www.greasespot.net/
* [2] https://code.launchpad.net/launchpad-gm-scripts
== Ubuntu Forums News ==
=== Tutorial of the Week ===
This week's tutorial pick is aimed at the housekeeper in all of us --
WackToMack's nifty "HOWTO: Cleaning up all those unnecessary junk
files..."
If you ever get an itch to throw out all the old, unused files on your
system, WackToMack can show you how to do it safely and
comprehensively. Software experimenters will be pleased to learn how
to clean up after themselves, and long-running systems can win back a
little space too. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=140920
== In The Press ==
* Making the right Linux choice - A growing number of computer users
are considering switching to the open source Linux operating system.
Ubuntu, founded by Mark Shuttleworth, is one of the best choices for
first-time users of Linux. It is designed to be easy to use and
includes above-average hardware support and provides a clean desktop
free of clutter. Ubuntu is also one of the most popular versions of
Linux, which means that there is a huge community providing support
for new users. Finding help with most aspects of Ubuntu set-up is
usually as simple as doing a search on Google.
http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Software/4293.html
* Ten sticking points for new Ubuntu users - With Ubuntu, Canonical
has had notable success in convincing people to switch from other
platforms, but potential Ubuntu users are still running into trouble.
Having spent some time on Ubuntu's forums, Michael Reed has identified
10 points that seem to be common sticking points for new users. The
problems span the entire Ubuntu experience, but they all have two
things in common: they are all serious enough to evoke the dreaded "I
tried Linux but it didn't work" excuse, and they are all solvable. The
problems he focuses on are screen setup, boot management, mounting,
installation, sound configuration, networking (IPv6 support), power
and hibernation, email migration, documentation, and building from
source. He offers arguments for his point of view, and suggestions for
making the end user experience better.
http://www.linux.com/articles/139214
== In The Blogosphere ==
* Ubuntu's role in bug management for the whole free software stack
(By Mark Shuttleworth) - A distribution occupies a very specific niche
in the free software ecosystem. Among other things, they need to
accept some responsibility for ALL the software defects ("bugs") that
users actually experience across the entire stack. More often than not
users will report the issue to their distribution, and the way we
respond to it is important, because it represents an opportunity to
make the whole ecosystem more robust. Ubuntu gets as many bugs
reported against it as OpenOffice, Mozilla, Gnome, and KDE combined.
Our primary goals should be to ensure that fixes we produce, and
information we generate in the QA process, make their way upstream
where they will benefit the broadest cross-section of the community.
Separately, we want to ensure that each Ubuntu release ships without
major issues, regardless of where those issues originated. We need to
improve the tools that support these kinds of cross-project
conversations. Launchpad does currently allow us to track the status
of a bug in many different bug trackers, and there are quite a few
distributions and upstreams that are now either using Launchpad
directly or exchanging data efficiently.
http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/145
* Ubuntu Linux - Truth Seeker has been a user of the Linux operating
system since 1994. He's watched it improve steadily over that time,
but there was always some function or application missing that meant
he had to keep at least one pc around with a current version of
Windows on it. Those days now appear to be over for him. He recently
installed Ubuntu 8.04 on two of his home PCs and it is exceeding all
his expectations. He can do anything with Ubuntu that he could with
Windows, and everything worked out of the box. He will happily
recommend Ubuntu 8.04 to anyone.
http://truthseekernz.blogspot.com/2008/06/ubuntu-linux.html
* Networking with Ubuntu 8.04 and Windows Part 1 - Can't seem to find
the shares of Ubuntu machines from My Network Places or Network in
Windows? You'll soon find out it's not a hide-and-seek game you'll win
unless you start playing with features that are available, rather than
chasing those you imagine are installed and setup. Though Ubuntu can
see the shared files and printers of Windows machines out-of-the-box,
Windows can't see Ubuntu shares by default. In part 1, Eric Geier goes
into the procedure for installing and setting up Samba in Ubuntu. He
supplies step-by-step directions, as well as graphics for each phase
of the procedure. Included in this part are "Installing the Samba
Package for Ubuntu," "Creating a SMB Password in Ubuntu," "Allowing
Ubuntu Desktop Users to Share," and "Changing the Computer Name in
Ubuntu." http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/tutorials/6495/1/
* The Ubuntu Project: Is Linux Right For Word Workers? - Tom
Chandler's six year-old HP laptop has never failed him, but lately, it
has been making him wait. The laptop is not his main work machine, and
is used mostly for web browsing. He decided it was the perfect test
machine to try a new operating system, Ubuntu. Installation was
straightforward and easy. Within 40 minutes he was looking at a new
desktop, complete with a word processor, spreadsheet, IM software, and
plenty of other goodies. Best of all, it ran much faster than his
previous OS. He then decided to install Ubuntu on his work station to
see if he could make the transition complete. It turns out that Ubuntu
is faster than his old OS on his work station, not by a factor of
several times, but noticeably faster.
http://copywriterunderground.com/2008/06/22/the-ubuntu-pr...
* Contributing non-technically to open source - A lot of people don't
realize they CAN contribute. A widespread assumption is that software
is technically hard and that you need advanced coding skills to do
anything to contribute. It simply isn't true. And in fact if people
think that way, it holds FOSS back from its true potential. For
Ubuntu, there are probably infinite areas where locating the right
upstream person and hooking them up with the right MOTU or core-dev
person can advance a bug a LONG way.
http://bryceharrington.org/drupal/node/53
* Neuf Telecom is offering a LiveCD based on Xubuntu Gutsy 7.10 to
connect and configure their router - The liveCD contains documentation
and tutorials in PDF format to help configure the hardware, a direct
link to watch TV on the computer and a few games (including
FrozenBubble) . The LiveCD can also be downloaded directly from their
site. Article in French:
http://www.actuneuf.com/2008/04/16/388/neuf-propose-un-ki...
== In Other News ==
=== Full Circle Magazine - Issue #14 ===
Full Circle - the Independent Magazine for the Ubuntu Linux Community
are proud to announce the release of our fourteenth issue.
This month:
* Command and Conquer - Man pages, and what not to type.
* How-To : Create an Ubuntu Plug 'n' Play Zone, Create Your Own
Server Part 6, Using GIMP Part 3 and Put Photos on your iPod.
* My Opinion - Excited About Ubuntu in South East India
* MOTU Interview - Soren Hansen
* Letters, Q&A, MyDesktop, Top5 and more!
Get it while it's hot! http://fullcirclemagazine.org/issue-14/
=== Ubuntu UK Podcast Episode 8 ===
Alan Pope, Dave Walker, Tony Whitmore and Ciemon Dunville present the
eighth episode of the Ubuntu UK Podcast.
In this episode:
* The last of our interviews from the Ubuntu Developer Summit:
* Matt Oquist talks about Software Freedom Day
* KDE contributor Celeste Lyn Paul talks in depth about
human-computer interaction (HCI) and enlightens us on the (KDE) human
interface guidelines.
* Utahs best export, Mike Basinger talks about his passion for the
Ubuntu Forums, and his calming influence on the Ubuntu Community
Council.
* A very informative interview with Kurt von Finck about the
Canonical Support operation, where to get the best deal on Ubuntu
support and some stories from the trenches.
* An interview with the "King of Bling", Mirco "MacSlow" Müller
talks about lowfat, GDM, face browser, cheese, memaker, clutter, avant
window navigator, mpx in xorg.
* Competition
* We set a new competition, which will end on the 12th July. (we
have extended the competition due to this episode being late).
http://podcast.ubuntu-uk.org/2008/06/26/s01e08-doncha-thi...
== Team Meeting Summaries ==
=== Full Circle Magazine ===
* Issue #13 was released on Fri. 30th May and has received nearly
20,000 downloads in three weeks.
* #14 has reached the second and final preview stage and is being
given a final proof-read and check by the marketing team.
* In translations: #11 French, #12 Italian and #12 Chinese
(traditional and simplified) are all on site for download.
* Robin Catling has been investigating the creation of an HTML
edition of FCM. A preview has been upload to:
http://fullcirclemagazine.org/html/ - the process to get each issue
from raw text to HTML edition is quite lengthy so more investigation
is needed to streamline/automate the process.
* Matthew Rossi has been unable to produce the podcast due to
real-life stuff, but Emmanuel Morales has expressed an interest in
taking over the podcast.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/TeamReports/June2008
== Upcoming Meetings and Events ==
=== Tuesday, July 1, 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, July 2, 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, July 3, 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, July 4, 2008 ===
==== How to run a Bug Jam ====
* Start: 16:00 UTC
* End: 17:00 UTC
* Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
* Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/GlobalBugJam and
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RunningBugJam
=== Saturday, July 5, 2008 ===
==== How to run a Bug Jam ====
* Start: 19:00 UTC
* End:
* Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
* Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/GlobalBugJam and
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RunningBugJam
== Updates and Security for 6.06, 7.04, 7.10, and 8.04 ==
=== Security Updates ===
* [USN-620-1] OpenSSL vulnerabilities -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-security-announc...
* [USN-621-1] Ruby vulnerabilities -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-security-announc...
=== Ubuntu 6.06 Updates ===
* ruby1.8 1.8.4-1ubuntu1.5 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/dapper-changes/2008-Jun...
=== Ubuntu 7.04 Updates ===
* ruby1.8 1.8.5-4ubuntu2.2 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/feisty-changes/2008-Jun...
=== Ubuntu 7.10 Updates ===
* ruby1.8 1.8.6.36-1ubuntu3.2 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/gutsy-changes/2008-June...
=== Ubuntu 8.04 Updates ===
* apache2 2.2.8-1ubuntu0.3 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2008-June...
* xorg 1:7.3+10ubuntu10.2 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2008-June...
* apache2-mpm-itk 2.2.6-01-1build3 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2008-June...
* openssl_0.9.8g-4ubuntu3.3 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2008-June...
* xserver-xorg-video-nsc 1:2.8.3-2ubuntu0.1 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2008-June...
* linux-restricted-modules-2.6.24 2.6.24.13-19.43 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2008-June...
* xserver-xorg-video-geode 2.9.0-1ubuntu2.2 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2008-June...
* ruby1.8 1.8.6.111-2ubuntu1.1 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2008-June...
* casper 1.132ubuntu0.2 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2008-June...
* linux-restricted-modules-2.6.24 2.6.24.13-19.44 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2008-June...
* xserver-xorg-video-geode 2.9.0-1ubuntu2.3 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2008-June...
== 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:
## The following list is in chronological order.
* Nick Ali
* Craig A. Eddy
* John Crawford
* Isabelle Duchatelle
* And many others
== 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
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