Issue113

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The Launchpad team is excited to announce the October 16th 2008 release of Launchpad 2.1.10! New features include:

 * Slashing branch upload times: With this release, the team has introduced support for Bazaar’s new stacked branches feature. Stacked branches mean that uploading a large project’s code to Launchpad can now take just a couple of minutes. To use them, you need to upgrade your branches to Bazaar format 1.6 and run Bazaar 1.7 or later.

 * This bug affects me too: If you’ve ever come to file a bug and found that it’s already been reported, you may have wanted to let the project know that you too have been affected. However, many projects find “me too” comments unhelpful because they don’t add much to the discussion. Launchpad’s new “This bug affects me too” feature lets you record just that but without the guilt!

Getting help with Launchpad - Each weekday, members of the Launchpad team are taking turns to offer help with Launchpad. Check the #launchpad channel topic or our wiki page to see who’s on duty.

Contents

newspaper-icon.jpg

WORK IN PROGRESS

Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue #113 for the week October 12th - October 18th, 2008. In this issue we cover ...

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

General Community News

Ubuntu 7.04 "End of Life": Sunday, Oct 19th

Almost 18 months ago, on April 19, 2007, Ubuntu announced the release of version 7.04. As with the earlier releases, Ubuntu committed to ongoing security and critical fixes for a period of 18 months. The support period is now at its end, and Ubuntu 7.04 will reach "End of Life" today, Sunday, October 19th, 2008. Ubuntu Security Notices will no longer include information or updated packages for Ubuntu 7.04.

The supported upgrade path from Ubuntu 7.04 is via Ubuntu 7.10. Instructions and caveats for the upgrade may be found at: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GutsyUpgrades. Note that upgrades to version 8.04 LTS, and beyond are only supported in multiple steps, via an upgrade first to 7.10, then to 8.04 LTS. Both Ubuntu 7.10 and Ubuntu 8.04 LTS continue to be actively supported with security updates and select high-impact bug fixes.

http://www.ubuntu.com/news/ubuntu-7.04-end-of-life

Intrepid Release Parties

With the fast approaching release of Intrepid Ibex 8.10 on October 30th, everyone should be working on their release parties. All LoCo teams should be hosting a party near you. If you haven't started your planning yet, it's time to get on the ball and get organized. To find out what you'll need:

If you have a release party already scheduled, be sure to:

  • Add it to this page: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/IntrepidReleaseParties

  • Blog about it, advertise it, tell all your friends, inform the local media, and generally inform and promote it.
  • Join the IRC channel #ubuntu-release-party on irc.freenode.net

More information can be found here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/IntrepidReleaseParties

Archive frozen for preparation of Ubuntu 8.10

The Release Candidate for Intrepid Ibex is one week away, and the final release is only 2 weeks away. At this point, the Archive for the release is frozen, and all uploads must be approved by a member of the release team. Any uploads to main should be release critical only. In addition, there are guidelines for uploads to Universe[1], a list of release-critical bugs[2], and a list of "target of opportunity" bugs[3].

The Release Candidate will be available October 23, 2008, with the final release on October 30, 2008.

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2008-October/000499.html

Preparing for Ubuntu Open Week

The dates of the next Ubuntu Open Week[1] have been penciled in for: Monday 3 November to 7 November. Open Week is a series of IRC sessions, tutorials and tips. It includes a week of collaboration on several topics that cover all aspects of Ubuntu. There is a "prep page" for this edition of Open Week[2], to help find people to make presentations at the sessions, and for users to add topics they'd like to see covered. Please submit your ideas and subjects no later than October 22nd.

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-discuss/2008-October/005928.html

Americas Membership

Hollman Enciso is an active member of the Ubuntu Columbia LoCo, has helped to coordinate many activities, and currently leads the team as one of its administrators. Hollman has been very active in translation work, answering questions in Launchpad, bug triaging and general advocation. Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~hollman Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HollmanEnciso

Julián Alarcón is another member of the Ubuntu Columbia LoCo Team. Julián is known for his excellent work in translations, his all around work with triaging bugs, answering question in Launchpad, and advocation at local Ubuntu events. Julián hopes to work on packaging with MOTU. Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~alarconj Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/JulianAlarcon

Luke Faraone represents the Washington, D.C. Ubuntu LoCo. Luke has been incremental in getting Sugar Labs (http://sugarlabs.org) into Ubuntu, Debian and Fedora. In addition to his work with the Washington, D.C. LoCo, Luke has also been a solid contributer to bug work, including 5-a-day. Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~lfaraone Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LukeFaraone

The Americas Board is happy to welcome these new Ubuntu Members!

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-news-team/2008-October/000233.html

New MOTU Video

Daniel Holbach hosts a new video from the Ubuntu Developers that covers commonly asked questions about MOTU and how you can help. He discusses the recent Ubuntu Developers week, and how the Ubuntu Developers have provided many tools to ease the transition for anyone wishing to get started. This includes the Ubuntu Developer Channel, which hosts video tutorials on developement. Daniel emphasizes that you don't need to be a coder to be able to help, but only have a desire, and an ability to make things work. Please visit the link to see this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukC2I0hUoIw

You can find all of the developer videos at: http://www.youtube.com/user/ubuntudevelopers

New Ubuntushop/USA

Canonical has opened a new Ubuntu shop for the USA. Now, all the Ubuntu folks living in the United States can get the swag they crave without the added shipping costs, and time from overseas. It's a one stop shopping website geared toward wearables, accessories, CDs & DVDs, software, training, and support. Sporting it's own distinct theme, the shop is sure to be a big hit with all the Ubuntu advocates in the United States. Help make this shop a success by placing your order today.

Get you swag here: http://usshop.ubuntu.com/

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 Intrepid

  1. Language (#) +/- # over last week
  2. Language (#) +/- # over last week
  3. Language (#) +/- # over last week
  4. Language (#) +/- # over last week
  5. Language (#) +/- # over last week

Remaining strings to translate in Ubuntu 8.10 "Intrepid Ibex," see more at: https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/intrepid/

LoCo News

Ohio LinuxFest 2008

The Ubuntu-US-OH team was in full swing for the Ohio LinuxFest 2008. The booth was crowded for most of the conference, and it was a great opportunity to introduce new users to Ubuntu and Linux in general. One particular moment that was very interesting was when Jono Bacon asked who in the audience (of around a thousand) used Ubuntu, and 90% of everyone raised their hands.

Thanks go to vorian for setting up the booth the night before, Derath for getting System 76 and Hackett & Bankwell on board, Delvien for working the booth and helping out the new users, System76 for providing demo laptops and discount coupons, and Canonical for all of the free swag and marketing materials!

http://jacob.peddicord.net/blog/

New in Hardy Heron

Launchpad News

Launchpad 2.1.10 released

The Launchpad team is excited to announce the October 16th 2008 release of Launchpad 2.1.10! New features include:

  • Slashing branch upload times: With this release, the team has introduced support for Bazaar’s new stacked branches feature. Stacked branches mean that uploading a large project’s code to Launchpad can now take just a couple of minutes. To use them, you need to upgrade your branches to Bazaar format 1.6 and run Bazaar 1.7 or later.
  • This bug affects me too: If you’ve ever come to file a bug and found that it’s already been reported, you may have wanted to let the project know that you too have been affected. However, many projects find “me too” comments unhelpful because they don’t add much to the discussion. Launchpad’s new “This bug affects me too” feature lets you record just that but without the guilt!

Getting help with Launchpad - Each weekday, members of the Launchpad team are taking turns to offer help with Launchpad. Check the #launchpad channel topic or our wiki page to see who’s on duty.

http://news.launchpad.net/general/launchpad-2110-faster-branch-uploads

Launchpod espisode #11

http://news.launchpad.net/podcast/launchpod-episode-11-launchpad-teams-and-openid-future-of-lp-ui-and-community-help

Ubuntu Forums News

In The Press

http://www.thevarguy.com/2008/10/13/dell-launches-consumer-advertising-for-ubuntu-linux-pcs/

http://www.technobuzz.net/1000-free-ubuntu-apps/ include link: http://appnr.com/ point out: uses apturl, it grabs everything from the repos already listed in a users source.list file, doesn't go to some random third-party site and try to download anything

  • NSW considers giving students Linux laptops - Fran Foo reports on a move by the government of New South Wales, Austraila. The NSW government wants to place $56 million worth of computers, loaded with non-proprietary software such as is found in Edubuntu, with secondary school students. "Students would also have access to thousands of other open source educational programs," Mr McAlpine said in briefing papers sent to NSW Labor Party politicians and school principals two weeks ago. A Microsoft Australia spokesperson said the company had not seen the document and could not comment. http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24490953-15306,00.html

  • Linux and Laptop Screen Resolutions - J.A. Watson has been looking into the problem that Linux has with screen resolutions, and come up with a pleasant surprise. It used to be that Linux "didn't get it right". But now, Mandriva has managed to get the resolution just as he wants it by default. And when he adds another screen, it gives a best possible for a mirrored screen. Ubuntu doesn't do that as well, using the highest resolution that they both share. But with mirrored unchecked, it optimises each screen to its best resolution. So, between the two distributions, there have been major improvements. http://community.zdnet.co.uk/blog/0,1000000567,10009516o-2000498448b,00.htm

  • Open source's usability challenge - From the staff of ZDNet UK, this article defines the difference between functionality and usability. Products may mimic each other in functionality, but how usable are they? When it comes to open source, the concern is that it appears to lack someone with the vision of what usability actually means and how to achieve it. And, without that spark of creativity, open source will give its competitors a free ride. http://www.builderau.com.au/program/linux/soa/Open-source-s-usability-challenge-/0,339028299,339292604,00.htm

  • Ubuntu 8.10 Has a Brand New Wallpaper - Marius Nestor reports on his disappointment with the wallpaper that has been offered in the Alpha and Beta releases of Intrepid Ibex. Ubuntu 8.10 had been promised to have a new and breathtaking theme. But the first one was dark, the second was a rehash of the Human Murrine them, and then came dots. However, on October 10th, a new theme was released that better represents the Intrepid Ibex, and an alternative has been suggested. http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ubuntu-8-10-Has-a-Brand-New-Wallpaper-95451.shtml

http://www.sizlopedia.com/2008/10/18/history-of-ubuntu-from-warthog-to-ibex/

In The Blogosphere

http://nosecurity.wordpress.com/2008/10/11/xubuntu-intrepid-beta-mini-walkthrough/

http://www.bmighty.com/blog/main/archives/2008/10/buying_a_netboo.html

http://computingtech.blogspot.com/2008/10/why-ubuntu-then.html

http://prosenjit23.wordpress.com/2008/10/17/switch-to-ubuntu-linux-not-apple-mac-os/

In Other News

http://podcast.ubuntu-uk.org/2008/10/17/s01e16-i-can-help/

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=canonical_catalyst_811&num=1

http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/15/inspiron-mini-12-pops-up-on-dells-website-its-a-done-deal-al/

http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/cauv2008/ running Ubuntu Server 8.04

http://kipas.wordpress.com/2008/10/18/blankon-minimalist-to-gnome-asia-summit/ (link to the distro homepage directly)

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 LTS Updates

Ubuntu 7.04 Updates

Ubuntu 7.04 has reached the end of its support period as of Sunday, October 19, 2008. After that date, no further listing for it will be posted on Ubuntu Weekly News. You are encouraged to upgrade to Ubuntu 7.10.

Ubuntu 7.10 Updates

Ubuntu 8.04 Updates

UWN #: A sneak peek

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:

and

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 Eddy
  • And many others

Glossary of Terms

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.

UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/Issue113 (last edited 2008-10-20 02:24:15 by adsl190-2611149)