Issue113

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Michael Larabel reports that Ubuntu users of ATI cards will have better support in the upcoming Ubuntu 8.10. Canonical has gotten ahold of a beta release of the Catalyst Linux driver, that supports the ATI R600/700 graphics processor (Radeon HD 2000 series and later).  This driver supports the X Server 1.5. This driver is not yet available to ATI's customers through there driver web-site, and is part of the fglrx 8.54 release stream.  http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=canonical_catalyst_811&num=1 Michael Larabel reports that Ubuntu users of ATI cards will have better support in the upcoming Ubuntu 8.10. Canonical has gotten ahold of a beta release of the Catalyst Linux driver, that supports the ATI R600/700 graphics processor (Radeon HD 2000 series and later). This driver supports the X Server 1.5, but the driver is not yet available to ATI's customers through their driver web-site. It is part of the fglrx 8.54 release stream. http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=canonical_catalyst_811&num=1

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 (47018) +421 # over last week
  • Critical (24) -4 # over last week
  • Unconfirmed (20359) -42 # over last week
  • Unassigned (38866) +465 # over last week
  • All bugs ever reported (220866) +2737 # 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 Intrepid

  • Spanish (22975) +/-0 # over last week
  • French (65317) +/-0 # over last week
  • Swedish (78609) +/-0 # over last week
  • Brazilian Portuguese (87060) +/-0 # over last week
  • English-UK (89622) +/-0 # over last week

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

5-a-day bug stats

Top 5 contributors for the past 7 days

  • crimsun (262)
  • apachelogger (73)
  • chrisccoulson (69)
  • txwikinger (41)
  • jdstrand (30)

Top 5 teams for the past 7 days

  • dcteam (276)
  • kubuntu-de.org (127)
  • ubuntu-uk (54)
  • ubuntu-ca (41)
  • ubuntu-de-locoteam (28)

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

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/

SFD Tunisia 2008

This year the Tunisian Software Freedom Day SFD'2008 will be held on October 29 in El Ghazala technology center. The delay from September 20 is due to that date coinciding with the month of Ramadan. It will be the first public event for the newly approved LoCo Team. They will be distributing Ubuntu CDs and holding a mini-install party, as well as other activities. For further information, contact the Tunisian LoCo Team: http://www.ubuntu-tn.org/

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

Hosts Matthew Revell, Graham Binns and Joey Stanford present Launchpod episode #11

  • Launchpad teams: Each weekday, a member of the Launchpad team is available to help you with your Launchpad queries. We discuss our new help rotation. https://help.launchpad.net/HelpRotation

  • Martin Albisetti discusses his new role looking after Launchpad’s UI and also talks about the team’s vision for the future of Launchpad’s web interface.
  • Stuart Metcalfe talks about the Drupal plugin he’s created that allows Drupal sites to grant additional permissions to users based on their Launchpad team memberships. It’s now in action on the Ubuntu Fridge.

Download ogg vorbis file here: http://www.archive.org/download/LaunchpodEpisode11/launchpod-e11-20081013.ogg

Get the podcast feed here: http://news.launchpad.net/category/podcast/feed

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

  • Dell Launches Consumer Advertising for Ubuntu Linux PCs - The Var Guy reports that Dell is advertising computers with Ubuntu. In particular, the Dell Mini 9, the sub-notebook aimed at students and business professionals. Though, like other Netbook manufacturers, Dell offers the Mini 9 with a choice of Linux or Windows, these advertisements do not mention the Microsoft Windows option at all. The Var Guy references Work With U 1000 to show that the use of Ubuntu is growing in corporate settings. http://www.thevarguy.com/2008/10/13/dell-launches-consumer-advertising-for-ubuntu-linux-pcs/

  • 1000+ Free Ubuntu Apps - Raj, filing with Technobuzz.net, reports on the ability to install Applications in Ubuntu with a click of a button. Provided by Appnr[1], this service allows one to browse apps by categories. From the "About Appnr" link[2], this is a web interface for APT, and uses the AptURL Protocol Handler to download and install the applications from one's computer list of Ubuntu and thrid party repositories. For information of installing AptURL see the Appnr Help page[3].

    [1] http://appnr.com/
    [2] http://blog.appnr.com/about/
    [3] http://blog.appnr.com/help/

    http://www.technobuzz.net/1000-free-ubuntu-apps/

  • 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

  • History of Ubuntu, from Warthog to Ibex - From Sizlopedia comes a brief history of Ubuntu, starting with Ubuntu 4.10, Warty Warthog, in October of 2004. Complete with some screen graphics of each release, the main thrust of each release is noted in a brief splurb. Through this history, one can follow the chief advances made in Ubuntu, its included applications, and its means of installation. http://www.sizlopedia.com/2008/10/18/history-of-ubuntu-from-warthog-to-ibex/

In The Blogosphere

  • Xubuntu Intrepid Beta Mini-Walkthrough - The No Security In Sleep Blog reviews Xubuntu Intrepid Beta. Intrepid is found to be another “robust and excellent” offering by the Xubuntu team. The reviewer ran the beta build on a Hardy machine using VirtualBox with only 180 MB of RAM and was impressed with it's performance. While not in the beta release, the “last successful boot” option is slated for the final build. Xubuntu Intrepid also comes with pre-boot authentication and full volume encryption. In addition, Dell's Dynamic Kernel Module Support is included, allowing new kernel drivers to be rebuilt without waiting for driver package rebuild. “Xubuntu knocked me off my feet with it's speed, beauty, and ease of use”. http://nosecurity.wordpress.com/2008/10/11/xubuntu-intrepid-beta-mini-walkthrough/

  • Buying a Netbook? Think Linux - Many netbook buyers are unwilling to consider running Linux due to it’s unfamiliarity. Matthew McKenzie in the bMighty.com blog comments on the fact that Linux is the best choice for the netbook crowd. Ubuntu Linux, which is installed on Dell’s Inspiron Mini 9 netbook includes OpenOffice compared to XP, which includes no office apps. OS upgrades are another issue. There are no upgrade options for XP, while Ubuntu Linux distributes a major update every six months. Another issue is that XP suffers from poor read/write performance on solid-state disks that are included in many netbooks. Exceptions certainly exist, but it appears that Linux is the OS of choice for the netbook platform. http://www.bmighty.com/blog/main/archives/2008/10/buying_a_netboo.html

  • Why Ubuntu Then? - The Computing Technology Blog points out why, with so many other Linux distributions to choose from, you should choose Ubuntu. Ubuntu is easy to install. Computing Technology Blog points out that Ubuntu can typically be installed with just a few mouse clicks. Ubuntu is easy to use, and the interface is very Windows-like which will make newcomers feel at ease. Ubuntu is based on Debian's package system, and through tools like Synaptic users have access to so much software it is likely that they will find more software than they'll know what to do with. Ubuntu is also up to date thanks to its six month release schedule, but not so bleeding edge as to release packages before they're ready. Ubuntu is also dependable, robust, and desktop user-oriented. The result of these factors result in a system that is up to date and comfortable for average users with little or no modification! http://computingtech.blogspot.com/2008/10/why-ubuntu-then.html

  • Switch to Ubuntu Linux not Apple Mac OS - Blogger Prosenjit Bhattacharyya notes that for the past few years Apple has seen an increase in its laptop business due majorly to the dismal failure of Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system. Many reports have been published telling people why they should consider switching to the Mac OS now that Vista has failed, but no report has surfaced that shows the merits of switching to Linux instead. Bhattacharyya notes that while there are many distributions out there, Ubuntu and Kubuntu quickly emerge as the best options. Current Ubuntu versions are sturdy, have very good user interfaces, and are intuitive. Ubuntu's hardware support is outstanding, and in some areas it surpasses the support in the Mac's OSX operating system. Ubuntu offers commercial technical support, personalization options, ease of use, robustness, and security. Mac OS does not offer this flexibility. The more this blogger uses Ubuntu, the more he fails to understand the lure of the Mac OSX operating system. http://prosenjit23.wordpress.com/2008/10/17/switch-to-ubuntu-linux-not-apple-mac-os/

In Other News

Ubuntu UK Podcast 16 - I Can Help

Laura Cowen, Alan Pope, Dave Walker and Tony Whitmore present the sixteenth episode of the Ubuntu Podcast from the UK Local Community Support Team. In this episode we have:-

  • A discussion about the conflict between Ubuntu and Kubuntu
  • A catch up after our backup segment in episode fifteen.
  • We talk about remote support solutions
    • o No Machine o Gitso

      o YuuGuu o italc

  • All New Chunky Sarcastic News
    • o Oliver Grawert announces new Ubuntu Mobile images. o Soren Hansen releases a new version of his VM Builder tool. o Major bug in the Linux Kernel shipped with 8.10 causes some Intel network cards to break. o Intel shows off booting Linux in under 5 seconds.

      o WikiPedia moves to Ubuntu on 400 servers. o Sun releases VirtualBox version 2. o Jono announces the winners of the Ubuntu Free Culture Showcase competition. o MSI announces disappointing return rate for Linux based netbooks.

  • We announce the winner of the competition.
  • A new competition to win a Canonical Store voucher.
  • We receive lots of great feedback, including plenty (both positive and negative) about our previous Backup and 5-a-day segments.

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

Canonical Publishes ATI Catalyst 8.10 Beta

Michael Larabel reports that Ubuntu users of ATI cards will have better support in the upcoming Ubuntu 8.10. Canonical has gotten ahold of a beta release of the Catalyst Linux driver, that supports the ATI R600/700 graphics processor (Radeon HD 2000 series and later). This driver supports the X Server 1.5, but the driver is not yet available to ATI's customers through their driver web-site. It is part of the fglrx 8.54 release stream. http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=canonical_catalyst_811&num=1

Inspiron Mini 12 pops up on Dell's website: it's a done deal (almost)

According to Darren Murph at Engadget there is evidence of a 12 inch mini coming in the future. Documentation on the Dell site, such as User Manual, Setup Guide, and Troubleshooting documents give a fairly good overview of what to expect. A choice of an Intel Atom Z520 or Z530 CPU, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, 10 / 100 Ethernet, Bluetooth / WiFi, optional WWAN, three USB 2.0 ports, VGA out, audio in / out, and a 12.1-inch display with a 1,280 x 800 resolution. Also expected is the choice of having Ubuntu installed. http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/15/inspiron-mini-12-pops-up-on-dells-website-its-a-done-deal-al/

The "CAUV 2008"

Mini-ITX reports on an entry in the Student Autonomous Underwater Challenge - Europe (SAUC-E). Students at Cambridge University built an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (CAUV 2008) for the competition. Extensive list of parts and images of the CAUV 2008 are a part of the report, including the fact that they used the Ubuntu Server 8.04 for software debugging. http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/cauv2008/

BlankOn Minimalist to Gnome Asia Summit

The BlankOn[1] operating system is based on Ubuntu, but adjusted for Indonesian users, especially for school and media. A presentation of BlankOn Minimalist it was developed by Muhammad Takdir, and was scheduled for the Gnome Asia Summit taking place at Beihang University, Beijing, October 18th - 19th, 2008. Unfortunately, Muhammad wasn't able to attend.

Meeting Summaries

Upcoming Meetings and Events

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Community Council Meeting

Technical Board Meeting

Server Team Meeting

Kernel Team Meeting

  • Start: 17:00 - UTC
  • End: 18:00 - UTC
  • Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
  • Agenda: Not listed as of publication

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

QA Team Meeting

Platform Team Meeting

  • Start: 22:00 - UTC
  • End: 23:00 - UTC
  • Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
  • Agenda: Not listed as of publication

Forum Council Meeting

  • Start: 23:00 - UTC
  • End: 0:00 - UTC October 23, 2008
  • Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
  • Agenda: Not listed as of publication

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Ubuntu Mobile Team Meeting

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

Desktop Team Meeting

Ubuntu Java Meeting

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

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

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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
  • Dave Bush
  • Arlan Vennefron
  • 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)