Issue103
WORK IN PROGRESS
Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue #103 for the week August 3rd - August 9th, 2008. In this issue we cover ...
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In This Issue
General Community News
Ubuntu Studio is looking for help.
If you have an interest in multimedia applications, such as Inkscape, Ardour, Blender, Audacity, GIMP, etc., then Ubuntu Studio would like to hear from you. They are looking for people who can package, or would like to learn packaging, people who can help design the look of the website and people who have documentation skills. Join the team at #ubuntustudio-devel, or introduce yourself on the mailing list:https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-studio-devel
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-studio-devel/2008-August/000749.html
SRU needs you!
The number of stable release updates sitting in -proposed is getting larger[1]. Thank you to all of you who worked on getting SRU bug fixes prepared and uploaded!
Packages in -proposed are ready to be moved to -updates after one week in -proposed and 2 positive verifications (as comments in the bug report) and no negatives. This means verification is often the bottleneck and why we're asking for help. A short howto is:
- read the SRU bug report and verify that you can reproduce the bug. Many reports should have explicit test cases you can follow.
- install the package(s) from -proposed
- repeat step 1 and verify that the bug is fixed
- add both positive and negative results on the SRU bug report
If you have any questions on SRU verifications please ask in #ubuntu-testing. Steve Beattie (sbeattie) is the teams SRU rock star and would love to help you get started.
[1] http://people.ubuntu.com/~ubuntu-archive/pending-sru.html
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2008-August/000463.html
New Ubuntu Members
Americas Board
Paul Tagliamonte is Creator of Sabre (a Bluetooth plugin for amaroK) Designed and tested for Ubuntu. He is also de creator of Qube (a CLI into libnotify) allowing shell scripters to use the attractive notification daemon. He is a Member of the Ubuntu Forum's Beginner's Team. Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~paultag Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Paultag
Michael Rooney is an active participant in the Bugsquad and Bugcontrol teams, he also manages the irc bot Eeebotu, which resides in #ubuntu-bugs-announce and announces bugs in Ubuntu as they come in. Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~michael Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MikeRooney
Charles Davis is a Forum staff member and active member of the Ubuntu Forums Beginners Team / Unanswered Posts Team. He is also active in the Launchpad Beginner Team for Ubuntu. He is a member of the Ubuntu Documentation Students Team. hH is currently working to improve the quality of Ubuntu's help system and Community Wiki Pages. Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~charles.davis Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Old_soldier
Joe Barker has been a member of the Ubuntu Forums since the end of August 2007 and is now a Member of the Beginners Team, and the Unanswered Posts team, and just recently he became a Forum Moderator. He has also participated in the Sabre project (http://launchpad.net/sabre). Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~Joeb454 Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Joeb454
Bryan Quigley is a long standing volunteer for the New Jersey LoCo team and has been to almost every event. He has helped triage bugs, answered many support questions (more off than on launchpad), and made several blueprints. He is a very active advocate of free software (check reference of participation in events). Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~gQuigs Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Gquigs
Ted Gould has participated in the Desktop team, He has given promotion talks on Ubuntu at several FOSS orientes events ( SCaLE, Ubuntu Open Week, OSCON). he has also participated in packaging and maintenance for GNOME Power Manager and GNOME Screensaver in ubuntu. Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~ted-gould Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/TedGould
Emma Jane Hogbin is a very active member of the FOSS community. Her participation ranges from a member of the Ubuntu Women team. Conference Speaker (DrupalCon, LugRadio Live, amongst others) she has chaired conferences and participates in Hardware recycling programs. Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~emmajane Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/EmmaJane
The Americas board is delighted to present these new Ubuntu Members!
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-news-team/2008-August/000144.html
MOTU News
James Westby (james_w) is now an Ubuntu Universe Contributor. Please join us in welcoming our very own MOTU School Dean, to the Ubuntu Universe Contributors team. James has been active in development for some time, has restored MOTU School to an institution of learning, and much, much more. Launchpad: https://edge.launchpad.net/~james-w Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/JamesWestby
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-motu/2008-August/004382.html
Kernel Team
Ubuntu Kernel Next
Normally in Ubuntu's development cycle, work on the kernel doesn't begin for a release until that release opens for development. This time around however, the kernel team is starting something new. Now that 2.6.26 is released, and the kernel in Intrepid/8.10 (our current development cycle) is pretty stable, we have opened up a new git tree called ubuntu-next. Do not confuse this with linux-next, they are different concepts.
The team will not spending a lot of time adding features to this tree. It is basically a rebase of all of the patches on top of the latest kernel in linux-2.6 upstream git. Our patches are consolidated and given some consistency (and a few pushed upstream). At regular intervals, binary packages of this tree will be made available (usually at -rc milestones from upstream). In fact, the first installment of these are now available at: http://kernel.ubuntu.com/pub/next/2.6.27-rc2/
There are somje things to remember when using this kernel, and they can be found here: https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/kernel-team/2008-August/002868.html
Ubuntu Stats
Bug Stats
- Open (#) +/- # over last week
- Critical (#) +/- # over last week
- Unconfirmed (#) +/- # over last week
- Unassigned (#) +/- # over last week
- All bugs ever reported (#) +/- # over last week
As always, the Bug Squad needs more help. If you want to get started, please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad
Infamous Bugs
Translation Stats Hardy
- Language (#) +/- # over last week
- Language (#) +/- # over last week
- Language (#) +/- # over last week
- Language (#) +/- # over last week
- Language (#) +/- # over last week
Remaining strings to translate in Ubuntu 8.04 "Hardy Heron," see more at: https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/hardy/
LoCo News
Ubuntu Love Day Manila 2008
The Ubuntu Philippines Local Community Team (Ubuntu-PH), and the University of the Philippines Diliman Department of Computer Science are holding an Ubuntu sharing event on August 23, 2008. Geared toward Ubuntu enthusiasts, it's an opportunity for people to share their experiences in using Ubuntu in everyday computing. Six resource people are slated to present talks:
- The Ubuntu 30 day challenge - Aileen Apolo (Google)
- Ubuntu on virtualization and integrating to a Windows Network - Wallen Tan
- Ubuntu: Saving lives (and then some) - Charo Nuguid
- Choice is Good! Welcome to the Exciting, Productive and Wacky World of Ubuntu Derivatives - members of UP Linux Users' Group (UnPLUG)
- Ubuntu and the OLPC XO-1 - Rowen Remis Iral (OLPCPH)
Kubuntu & KDE: Contributing to an International Software Project - Juan Carlos Torres (KDE Project)
Due to the limited space, tickets for the event have already been fully allocated. http://ubuntuloveday2008.eventbrite.com/
New in Intrepid Ibex
Encrypted Private Directories
Do you have sensitive data on your computer? Perhaps a file containing all of your passwords? Financial spreadsheets or GPG/SSH keys? Are you concerned about someone reading these files should your PC or laptop be stolen? In Ubuntu’s Intrepid Ibex development cycle, the Ubuntu Server Team is implementing support for an encrypted private directory in each user’s home. The underlying technology is a cryptographic virtual filesystem in the Linux kernel called eCryptfs.
Testers wanted! Most of the integration of Encrypted Private Directories has been completed in Intrepid, and now we’re looking for some proactive Ubuntu users to test this functionality before the legions of Ubuntu users begin trusting this technology with their personal data. With your help, hopefully we can shake out any remaining functionality or usability issues.
Please follow the complete, step-by-step, up-to-date instructions in the wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/EncryptedPrivateDirectory#head-4a2aa7460fdca18bfe78bb1283becff406bbc13c
For a more in depth discussion and information on where to file bugs, visit this link: http://dustinkirkland.wordpress.com/2008/08/06/encrypted-private-directories-in-ubuntu-intrepid/
Launchpad News
Ubuntu Forums News
In The Press
Ubuntu attracts the lion's share of LinuxWorld's smaller crowds - Michael Hatamoto noted that the Ubuntu booth seemed to attract more people than other booths. Their presentations and training sessions were heavily attended in a year when overall attendance was sparse. http://www.betanews.com/article/Ubuntu_attracts_the_lions_share_of_LinuxWorlds_smaller_crowds/1218146689
Ubuntu Goes Enterprise - Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols explains that Ubuntu is about to release business software stacks for Small-to-Medium sized Businesses (SMB) and enterprises. Some of the preloaded software intended to be released by 2009 is the IBM Open Collaboration Client Solution (OCCS) which includes Lotus Notes, Lotus Symphony and Lotus Sametime. Another offering will be the Zimbra Collaboration Suite 5.5. And still a third will be Unison, which is a combination desktop and server package. http://www.cio.com/article/441702/
A Penguin with an Egg: Growing the Open-Source Community - Esther Schindler relates some of her experiences at the Open Source Convention (OSCON). Some of it involves how to include more than just developers in the community, and get people to contribute in other ways than code. This included talking to Mark Shuttleworth about attracting participants and interacting and integrating with upstream software providers. Other discussions included the role of women in Open Source, and community management. Jono Bacon mentioned that part of it is not trying to convert a user community into a developer community. "You're trying to convince a cat to bark," he said. Also mentioned in the article is the Open Web Foundation, and how it tries to encourage data as well as open source code to be available everywhere. Some of this involves untangling licensing definitions. Read more at http://www.cio.com/article/441165/
Leadership Lessons: Passion, Smarts and What Open Source Can Learn About Management - Esther Schindler spoke to Mark Shuttleworth from Ubuntu and Jon Sobel (SourceForge group president) and Ross Turk (community manager for SourceForge.net) about management and the open source community. One of the things that Ms. Schindler discovered is that there doesn't appear to be any training for managers in open source projects. And now it's time for open source to step up and innovate new methods of managing and training managers. http://advice.cio.com/esther_schindler/leadership_lessons
Giving new life to old computers - C.M. Boots-Faubert raises the age-old question: what do you do with a computer that no longer suits your needs? The answer, of course, is to give it to a child that has none, loaded with a secure operating system like Xubuntu which makes it appear to run faster than it ever did before. Not only that, but it comes with email and web browser, Abiword for doing homework and, oh yes, games. http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080805/BIZ/808050303
In The Blogosphere
Canonical Preparing Virtual Ubuntu Server Appliances - The Var Guy briefly explains how Ubuntu is simplifying the installation of server applications in virtual server appliances. The application stacks ride on top of the virtualization software without the need of special hardware beyond that traditionally used. Read more at http://www.thevarguy.com/2008/08/07/canonical-preparing-virtual-ubuntu-server-appliances/
Installfest: Untangle, Ubuntu Linux Save 750 PCs From Landfills - Joe Panettieri has the final numbers from the Installfest at LinuxWorld Expo. In an effort backed by Untangle and its partners, Ubuntu was installed on 750 used computers, resulting in an estimated savings of $375,000 over buying new PC's with Windows Vista installed. This helps kids and the environment. http://www.thevarguy.com/2008/08/07/untangle-ubuntu-linux-save-750-pcs-from-landfills/
A practical experience: Fedora vs Ubuntu - The author of the blog site Journihilism compares Fedora and Ubuntu based on some personal preferences but without giving a definitive choice. His purpose appears to be more toward showing the strengths of each distribution. It is his opinion that Ubuntu is easy to use, whereas Fedora is more stable and secure, but that Ubuntu has a means of getting the codecs one needs where Fedora doesn't. http://journihilism.net/2008/08/a-practical-experience-fedora-vs-ubuntu/
How Dell and System76’s Ubuntu Machines Stack Up to Their Mac Counterparts - Andrew Min compared the prices of comparable Mac, System76 and Dell (loaded with Ubuntu) computers in 4 different categories. Prices were somewhat comparable in the mini and low-end laptop categories. But the System76 Serval took the high-end category and the Dell Inspiron 530N with Ubuntu installed took the desktop category. See the breakdown at http://www.dawningvalley.com/2008/08/how-dell-and-system76s-ubuntu-machines-stack-up-to-their-mac-counterparts/
In Other News
Internet Labs opened by Ecuador President Rafael Correa
In a display of cooperation between LoCos, Jorge Alvarez from the Ubuntu Nevada LoCo team provided some pictures to the Ecuador LoCo of Ecuadorian President, Rafael Correa, opening some internet labs in the Guasmo Area of Guayaquil, Ecuador. The Computers are running the best OS available, Uubntu, thus showing the commitment to Software Libre that the government of Ecuador has. Pictures at the link show some of the lab and President Correa. http://ecubuntu.com/?p=1347
Canonical to Offer Yahoo! Zimbra Desktop through Ubuntu (R) Partner Repository
Zimbra Desktop (now in Beta Version 3) is a personal collaboration application that works in conjunction with the Zimbra Collaboration Suite, both Open Source Edition and the commercially supported Network Edition. "The addition of Yahoo! Zimbra Desktop to our Partner Repository gives millions of Ubuntu users instant access to best-in-class messaging and collaboration,” said Malcolm Yates, global ISV partner manager at Canonical. http://www.ubuntu.com/news/zimbra-desktop
Unison™ released for Ubuntu™ to bring unified communications to Linux
Unison is a Small to Midsized Business (SMB) server and desktop solution for unifying communications. The Unison server, accessed through the Unison desktop, combines email, instant messaging, a Private Branch Exchange (PBX) phone system, contacts and calendaring. Currently available from the Unison Web site [1], it will soon be available at the Canonical Store [2].
http://www.ubuntu.com/news/unison-unified-communications
Canonical To Offer Alfresco Labs Pre-Packaged Within Ubuntu Distribution
Alfresco, the open source Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system is coming to the Ubuntu partner repositories. Said Malcolm Yates, Global ISV manager at Canonical. “Users have a great opportunity to assess Alfresco on Ubuntu and see the benefits these two great Open Source solutions can bring organizations. We will jointly deliver a pre-packaged enterprise version of Alfresco later in the year.” Alfresco and Canonical will be demonstrating this solution at LinuxWorld in San Francisco, stand # 716. http://www.ubuntu.com/news/alfresco-enterprise-content-management
IBM, Canonical/Ubuntu, Novell, Red Hat to Deliver Microsoft-Free Desktops Worldwide
IBM, Canonical/Ubuntu, RedHat and Novell are teaming up to deliver Microsoft-free desk-top computing to the world by 2009. The hardware would com pre-loaded with the Linux operating system of each distributor as well as IBM's Open Collaboration Client Solution (OCCS). OCCS includes Lotus Notes, Lotus Symphony and Lotus Sametime. Also included will be the ability to choose to develop applications using Lotus Expeditor, based on the open source Eclipse programming model. The units would be branded by the local IT firms that bring it to market. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/ibm-canonicalubuntu-novell-red-hat/story.aspx?guid={F6BECEDE-0833-4FA6-83D7-4EBA7A79337E}&dist=hppr
Linux Foundation launches killer development tool
AppChecker, now in Beta 3, gives you the opportunity to test an application for compatibility with different versions of the Linux Standard Base (LSB) and against all the Linux distributions in the LSB Database. The results are presented in a report showing the compatibility of the application with the various distributions, and what libraries and interfaces it uses. It will even allow you to put your program in for LSB certification straight from the test program. Amanda McPherson warns, "This is a beta program and there's no guarantee, but yes, if AppChecker says your program should work with, say, Ubuntu 7.10 and 8.04, then your application should work on these distributions. The results can get very granular. It will tell you this library or this interface isn't available in this distribution. It can also recommend some replacements." AppChecker is not a debugger, but it does provide the programmer with information that could make the application more portable. http://www.linux.com/feature/144170
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/03/copy.machine.reprap (Ubuntu is supposedly the OS in the picture. I can't really tell)
Meeting Summaries
Upcoming Meetings and Events
Community Spotlight
Updates and Security for 6.06, 7.04, 7.10, and 8.04
Security Updates
Ubuntu 6.06 Updates
Ubuntu 7.04 Updates
Ubuntu 7.10 Updates
Ubuntu 8.04 Updates
UWN #: A sneak peek
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Conclusion
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Glossary of Terms
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