Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue #109 for the week September 14th - September 20th, 2008. In this issue we cover: Intrepid Ibex Alpha 6 released, Codecs & DVD playback in Intrepid for all users, Xubuntu News, New Kubuntu Team, MOTU Team News, SFD: Ubuntu-VE, Ubuntu-NI and Ubuntu NO, Ubuntu-ZA leadership change, Launchpad 2.1.9 released, Ubuntu Mozilla Team summary, 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.

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In This Issue

• Intrepid Ibex Alpha 6 released

• Codecs & DVD playback in Intrepid for all users

• Xubuntu News
• New Kubuntu Bug Team
• MOTU Team News
• FSD: Ubuntu-VE, Ubuntu-NI, and Ubuntu-NO
• Ubuntu-ZA leadership change
• Launchpad 2.1.9 released

• In the Press & Blogosphere

• In Other News
• Mozilla Team Meeting Summary

• Upcoming Meetings & Events

• Updates & Security

General Community News

Intrepid Ibex Alpha 6 released

Welcome to Intrepid Ibex Alpha-6, which will in time become Ubuntu 8.10. Alpha 6 is the sixth in a series of milestone CD images released throughout the Intrepid development cycle. The Alpha images are known to be reasonably free of show stopper 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-6/ (Ubuntu)

• http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/releases/intrepid/alpha-6/ (Ubuntu Education Edition)

• http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/intrepid/alpha-6/ (Kubuntu)

• http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/intrepid/alpha-6/ (Xubuntu)

• http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/intrepid/alpha-6/ (UbuntuStudio)

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, recommended for Ubuntu developers, and those who want to help in testing, reporting, and fixing bugs. Alpha 6 includes a number of software updates that are ready for large-scale testing. Please refer to http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/intrepid/alpha6 for information on changes in Ubuntu. https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2008-September/000487.html

Codecs and DVD playback on Ubuntu 8.04 for all users

For the first time we are making codecs for media playback and a DVD player, from our partners at Fluendo and Cyberlink, available through the Ubuntu store. We have had relationships with these companies for a while and to date we have offered their products to our hardware partners as pre-install options.

Though, we are making them available to all users. It is important to us that no matter how you choose to access Ubuntu, pre-installed or as a free download, that you can have a similarly rich experience. The vast majority of our current users will have installed Ubuntu themselves. These users should also be allowed legal DVD and media playback and so we have built a way of letting them do this.

Ubuntu cannot ship codecs through the distro, as they are not free to redistribute. So we have built a restricted download area that is accessible through the store. Once purchased you can find your software here which will then install in the familiar hassle-free way that Ubuntu users appreciate. A pretty cool feature is that, should you wipe out your machine you can go back to the restricted download area and access your codecs again. http://blog.canonical.com/?p=37

Xubuntu News

The Xubuntu Team is happy to announce several important additions and shuffles within the Xubuntu Team:

Pasi Lallinaho(knome) of Helsinki, Finland - a user of Xubuntu and Xfce4 on his desktop for well over a year now has joined the team as the new Xubuntu Marketing Lead. Having founded his own business solutions and services company at the age of 20, this 22 year old entrepreneur/software engineer/artist/web design professional/jack-of-all-trades will be a huge asset to Xubuntu in helping to grow a strong marketing and artwork community. Pasi is no stranger to the Open Source community, having contributed to Amarok for close to two years. He has already jumped in with both feet by beginning the process of giving our website a much needed face lift and creating a countdown banner for the Intrepid release.

Jannis Pohlmann(JPohlmann) is a 23 year old computer science student and musician living in Lübeck, Germany. Jannis, an Xfce developer, is well known for his development contributions to the Xfce4 project, Lunar Linux, and maintainer of the Xfce4 goodies project. Jannis will be joining the team as the official liaison between the Xubuntu and Xfce4 projects and will assist in maximizing collaboration and communication.

Michael Casadevall(NCommander), who recently joined the Xubuntu Developer ranks, has agreed to take on the role of being our liaison with the Debian Xfce4 developers. In addition to his work as a developer, Michael will assist the Xubuntu project in a similar fashion to Jannis by helping maximizing collaboration and communication with our upstream Debian counterparts.

Vincent Tunro(vinnl), who is a long time Xubuntu contributor and Xubuntu website editor, has accepted the role of leading our efforts to develop the website. Vincent's primary responsibilities will be to ensure that the website is updated regularly with news stories and new content; perform administrative duties such as managing and giving direction to the other website editors; he will also help keep the website "fresh" in general.

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-news-team/2008-September/000196.html

New Kubuntu Bug Team

Kubuntu now has its very own bug team! https://launchpad.net/~kubuntu-bugs Formerly known as "The Kubuntu Team" this team was recently renamed to Kubuntu Bugs. It represents the most important part of development - triaging bugs. Additionally, the bug tracker changes list also has been updated to aggregate all KDE 4 packages. https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/kubuntu-bugs

http://apachelog.blogspot.com/2008/09/qa-powerdevil-kdesvn-kde4-quassel.html

MOTU Team News

The Master of the Universe are pleased to inform you know that Michael Casadevall just joined the Universe Contributors team. He has worked hard, so please give him a warm welcome to team. Michael is working toward becoming both an MOTU, and a Debian Developer. He works mostly on FTBFS fixes, and general packaging work, as well as improving REVU to make it easier to work with. Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~sonicmctails Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MichaelCasadevall

Ubuntu Stats

Bug Stats

• Open (46093) +194 # over last week
• Critical (27) +/-0 # over last week
• Unconfirmed (21194) -115 # over last week
• Unassigned (37749) +264 # over last week
• All bugs ever reported (211330) +1832 # 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) +/-0 # over last week
• English-UK (30838) +1 # over last week
• French (38907) -134 # over last week
• Brazilian Portuguese (49864) -66 # over last week
• Swedish (53188) +306 # 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

• crimsun (482)
• maco.m (201)
• andreas-moog (110)
• alessandro-ghersi (73)
• chrisccoulson (69)

Top 5 teams for the past 7 days

• dcteam (683)
• ubuntu-michigan (41)
• ubuntu-berlin (30)
• ubuntu-uk (20)
• kubuntu-de.org (12)

5-A-Day stats provided by Daniel Holbach. See http://daniel.holba.ch/5-a-day-stats/

LoCo News

Software Freedom Day: Ubuntu-VE

Just posted: Pictures from the Software Freedom Day in Maraciabo, Venezuela. Currently, the pictures include the Organizing team, and a group photo. More photos are available at http://picasaweb.google.com/voices.in/DADeLaLibertadDeSoftware08MaracaiboVenezuela#.

http://effiejayx.velugmaracaibo.org.ve/?p=160

Software Freedom Day: Ubuntu-NI

SFD Nicaragua 2008 was also a Live Streaming event. Some of the events include:

• 3 conferences in the morning
• +600 attendees to the conferences
• +80 attendees to the workshops
• 12 installs

Photos are included on the site. http://leogg.wordpress.com/2008/09/20/live-from-sfd-nicaragua-2008/

Ubuntu-ZA leadership change

Craig Adams stepped down as co-leader of the Ubuntu-ZA LoCo Team, due to lack of time to contribute in recent months. In his place will be Jonathan Carter, who is an Ubuntu Member with a long list of accomplishments. He has been a long time contributor to Edubuntu, and involved in local projects such as Skubuntu and tuxLabs. He has also worked for the Shuttleworth Foundation, Inkululeko and Impi Linux. Launchpad: https://edge.launchpad.net/~jonathan Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/JonathanCarter

http://morgancollett.wordpress.com/2008/09/20/ubuntu-za-leadership-change/

Software Freedom Day: Ubuntu-NO

The Norwegian LoCo Team working in conjuction with PING, Oslo LUG, Simula Research Labs, and people from Uni, held Software Freedom Day September 16, at the University of Oslo. Among their activities was an InstallFest which included installing Ubuntu, emacs and other software for 50 students, including some Wubi installs. They used a PXE server thanks to USIT and CDs courtesy of Canonical. Pictures at the following links:

• http://209.20.77.75/ruben/images/ubuntu/sfd/08/ilmar/

• http://209.20.77.75/ruben/images/ubuntu/sfd/08/pal/

• http://209.20.77.75/ruben/images/ubuntu/sfd/08/ruben/

http://huayra.wordpress.com/2008/09/20/week-update-sfd08-and-more/

Launchpad News

Launchpad 2.1.9 Released

The Launchpad team is proud to announce the release of Launchpad 2.1.9

In this release:

• Karma for code reviews: earn karma when you take part in code
  • reviews in Launchpad. For more on code reviews,

    see https://news.launchpad.net/?p=91

• Maps on profile pages: see straight away where in the world
  • other people are thanks to new profile page maps.

Setting your location on the map is easy: visit your profile page(https://launchpad.net/people/+me) and click to plant your flag. It will show up both on your own profile and on the map of any teams you're part of. The maps aren't just for fun: they also make it easier to decide on meeting times and possible locations for physical meet-ups. Take a look at the Launchpad Developers team for an example:https://launchpad.net/~launchpad

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/launchpad-announce/2008-September/000010.html

In The Press

• Asus Eee PC 1000 Plus Ubuntu: Big Power in a Small Package - Paul Ferrill describes the Asus Eee PC 1000, that comes with a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor, 1 GB memory, a 40 GB Solid State Drive and a 1.3 MP camera. Also included is network support through a 10/100 Ethernet connection or 802.11n wireless, and Bluetooth. This machine comes with Ubuntu 8.04, OpenOffice.org, Firefox 3.01, F-Spot photo management, Pidgin instant messenger client and Cheese for taking photos. Other availabilities are handled by Synaptic package manager, including security updates and additional software. http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reviews/6536/1/

• Battle Brews Over Firefox in Ubuntu 8.10 - Michael Larabel of Phoronix reports that Mozilla Firefox 3.0.2, which is slated for inclusion in Intrepid, will require users to accept an End-User License Agreement (EULA). Mark Shuttleworth weighed in on the subject stating the EULA is a reasonable requirement and that Mozilla is simply protecting their trademark. In fact, Ubuntu has similar guidelines about use of their Trademark. A number of users are not pleased and state that “mandating this EULA is going too far”. Shuttleworth also states that "abrowser", a new package in Intrepid, will use only the codebase behind Firefox and therefore avoid the need for a EULA. http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=NjcxOA

• Shuttleworth defends Firefox licence in Ubuntu - In response to some of the criticism that's been going around about the EULA for Firefox, Mark Shuttleworth wrote, "Mozilla Corporation asked that this be added in order for us to continue to call the browser 'Firefox'." Stating that since Firefox is their trademark, which we intend to respect, we have the choice of working with Mozilla to meet their requirements or switching to an unbranded browser. Shuttleworth added that a package called "abrowser" was being developed in Intrepid Ibex which uses Firefox's code base without the Firefox trademark. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,39488217,00.htm?r=1

• Is Ubuntu about to become yet another restrictive commercial OS? - The author of DC: Infowarrior and Xubuntuphile is contesting the selling of licenses to popular multimedia codecs. The concern voiced on his site is that these commercial, proprietary codecs would eventually be rolled into the actual release instead of the open source software that accomplishes the same goals. He quotes an article by Kristin Shoemaker and one by Gerry Carr, the Marketing Manager at Canonical. http://darthchaosofrspw.wordpress.com/2008/09/21/is-ubuntu-about-to-become-yet-another-restrictive-commercial-os/

• Ubuntu's BulletProofX Takes Simpler Step Forward - Michael Larabel has taken a look at the BulletProofX that's been included in Intrepid Ibex, and finds it to be much easier to solve problems with graphic card configurations and troubleshooting. Instead of a simple statement that there was a problem that needed to be fixed, now it offers you the option of viewing the xserver log, viewing the startup errors or editing the configuration file. He feels this is a major step forward. http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=ubuntu_bulletproofx_2&num=2

• Kroah-Hartman Attacks Canonical - Kristian Kissling, for Linux Magazine, reports that Greg Kroah-Hartman feels that Canonical has only released .01% of the total number of patches to the kernel. On the other hand, Matt Zimmerman felt that Kroah-Hartman's statistics were flawed through including such things as GCC, binutils, X.org and Glibc in with the Linux kernel, and in disregarding the desktop stack (GNOME and KDE). In addition, Zimmerman notes that Kroah-Hartman has a link with Novell, who is a Canonical competitor. http://www.linux-magazine.com/online/news/kroah_hartman_attacks_canonical

• Toshiba NB100 netbook announced for the UK - Amy-Mae Elliott reports on the latest Toshiba offering in the UK: a 8.9 inch offered with either Ubuntu 8.04 and OpenOffice.org 2.4 or another proprietary system. Available October 2008, the netbook includes a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, wifi, ethernet port, 3 USB ports, a 0.3MP webcam and a 120 GB hard drive. http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/17730/18754/toshiba-nb100-netbook-uk.phtml

In The Blogosphere

• Updated: Meet 120 Companies Running Ubuntu Linux - Works With U is striving to identify 1,000 businesses and organizations across the globe that run Ubuntu on servers, desktops, laptops or mobile devices. The fast-growing list of Ubuntu adopters — known as the Works With U 1000 — now includes law firms, technology companies, universities, real estate firms, media companies, financial services firms, and other types of organizations from across the globe. Take a look at the current Works With U 1000 list[1], or add your company to the list by filling out their quick survey[2]. http://www.workswithu.com/2008/09/16/updated-meet-120-companies-running-ubuntu-linux/

  [1] http://www.workswithu.com/the-works-with-u-1000/

  [2] http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=i2c_2f_2fT9gDCIIMwd1mzqfNg_3d_3d

• Can Ubuntu Overcome The Status Quo? – Toby Deemer on the Works With U blog posts that much of the hesitance in people accepting Ubuntu, and Linux in general is caused by Ubuntu and Linux being different, and whether people can appreciate what that different might be better. As a case in point, Toby relates the story of how he help his wife move to Ubuntu. In order to make his wife feel a bit more comfortable he customized Gnome to resemble Windows. Once comfortable with Ubuntu he purchased his wife an eeePC running Xandros. Toby runs Ubuntu and administers a large MS Active Directory environment at work and his wife works in education full of Windows and OS X machines. Neither has a problem integrating into their respective environments. The only issue so far is a Lexmark printer at home…Lexmark has yet to write Linux drivers. http://www.workswithu.com/2008/09/16/can-ubuntu-overcome-the-status-quo/

• Pimp your Blackberry with the Ubuntu Theme! - While we can't run Ubuntu on our Blackberries, blogger defcon shows us how we can make it look like we are. defcon provides us links to Dr. Devious' Blackberry Pearl theme that duplicates the Ubuntu Hardy look and feel. This handy theme also shows new mail and calendar items at a glance. Combined these provide Blackberry users with a great looking and very helpful theme! http://www.ubuntu-unleashed.com/2008/09/ubuntu-theme-on-your-blackberry.html

• Bureaucracy - Ubuntu kernel manager Pete Graner responds to a comment on his blog about the Kernel Team requiring an Launchpad bug being filed prior to committing patch to the tree. Graner explains that requiring a Launchpad bug being filed isn't about bureaucracy, it's about accountability. Without an Launchpad bug being filed then more problems may arise when people cannot remember why a patch was received. Filing the bug report helps the Kernel Team to manage proper change controls and improve the kernel in a well documented manner. http://blog.redvoodoo.org/2008/09/bureaucracy.html

• Memo to Canonical and Ubuntu: Stop Chasing Apple Mac OS X - Blogger Joe Panettieri is concerned with the focus that Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth is putting on the future direction of Ubuntu. Panettieri is especially worried that by going after the design and polish of Apple's OSX that other more important factors, such as wireless networking functioning properly on install, may not get the attention they truly deserve. He is further concerned about the lack of Ubuntu branding on systems shipped with Ubuntu, and with naming confusion over the many varieties of Ubuntu. Developing a more elegant OS is a worthy goal, but Panettieri suggests that the basics need to be worked out first. http://www.workswithu.com/2008/09/15/memo-to-canonical-and-ubuntu-stop-chasing-apple-mac-os-x/

In Other News

The OLPC PH Special Interest Group at Software Freedom Day 2008 Quezon City, Philippines

Jerome Gotangco in his "Engage the World" blog highlights the festivities of the Software Freedon Day at the National Computer Center in Quezon City. In year’s past, Jerome involved himself with promoting Ubuntu, but this year he turned his attention to One Laptop Per Child. The XO-1 was a highlight and many asked, “When is it coming to the Philippines” and, “Does it run Ubuntu?”. Jerome states that using the XO-1 has made people realize its difference from the Netbooks and UMPCs currently on the market. “-create magic and inspire people! That’s the best result any SFD or advocacy can achieve”. Pictures at the link. http://engage.wordpress.com/2008/09/21/the-olpc-ph-special-interest-group-at-software-freedom-day-2008-quezon-city-philippines/

Linux Plumbers Conference Recap

Pete Garner shares the highlights of the kernel team mini-sprint and the Linux Plumbers Conference. Mini-Sprint developments include: git comment hooks for check-ins, more kernel QA, and the kernel team will be packaging the latest upstream “Vanilla kernel. Pete indicated that the Plumbers Conference was exceptional focusing on faster boot times among other things. Canonical was taken to task by Greg Kroah-Hartman in his keynote speech for not “giving back”. Both Pete and Matt Zimmerman were able to talk with Greg later and reach common ground. http://blog.redvoodoo.org/2008/09/linux-plumbers-conference-recap.html

Meeting Summaries

Mozilla Team Meeting

On September 14th, the Ubuntu Mozilla Team met in IRC where they assigned several actions to be taken, and discussed the following topics.

• Firefox 2 archive removal
• abrowser rdepends transition
• Mozilla Freeze Exceptions
• Status of automatic update for extensions

Visit the link for details of the above topics: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MozillaTeam/Meetings/Minutes/2008-09-14

Upcoming Meetings and Events

Tuesday, September 23, 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 24, 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: None as of publication

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Ubuntu Mobile Team Meeting

• Start: 12:00 - UTC
• End: 13:00 - UTC
• Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
• Agenda: Not listed as of publication

Ubuntu Desktop Meeting

• Start: 13:00 - UTC
• End: 14:00 - UTC
• Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
• Agenda: Not listed as of publication

Ubuntu Java Meeting

• Start: 14:00 - UTC
• End: 15:00 - UTC
• Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
• Agenda: Not listed as of publication

Friday, September 26, 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 27, 2008

Intrepid Translation Sprint

• Start: 00:00 - UTC
• End: 23:59 - UTC
• Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-es-loco
• Agenda: Not listed as of publication

Updates and Security for 6.06, 7.04, 7.10, and 8.04

Security Updates

• [USN-646-1] rdesktop vulnerabilities - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-security-announce/2008-September/000750.html

Ubuntu 6.06 LTS Updates

• rdesktop 1.4.1-1.1ubuntu0.6.06.1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/dapper-changes/2008-September/012750.html

Ubuntu 7.04 Updates

• python-django_0.95.1-1ubuntu1.2 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/feisty-changes/2008-September/008997.html

• rdesktop 1.5.0-1ubuntu1.1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/feisty-changes/2008-September/008998.html

Ubuntu 7.10 Updates

• python-django_0.96-1ubuntu0.2 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/gutsy-changes/2008-September/010305.html

• rdesktop 1.5.0-2ubuntu0.1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/gutsy-changes/2008-September/010306.html

Ubuntu 8.04 Updates

• linux-restricted-modules-2.6.24 2.6.24.14-21.50 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2008-September/012011.html

• gcj-4.2 4.2.4-1ubuntu2 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2008-September/012012.html

• gstreamer0.10-fluendo-plugins-doc 0.10.6-1hardy1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2008-September/012013.html

• python-django_0.96.1-2ubuntu2.1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2008-September/012014.html

• rdesktop 1.5.0-3+cvs20071006ubuntu0.1 - https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2008-September/012015.html

Archives and RSS Feed

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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
• Dave Bush
• Arlan Vennefron
• Craig A. Eddy
• And many others

Glossary of Terms

1. FTBFS - Fails To Build From Source
2. MOTU - Master Of The Universe
3. REVU - A web based tool for packages, to be reviewed by MOTU's prior to being committed to Universe.

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.