Issue118

Contents

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Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue #118 for the week November 16th - November 22nd, 2008. In this issue we cover: Jaunty Jackalope Alpha 1 released, The Ubuntu Hall of Fame, Ubuntu for the Holidays, New Community Developers, Ubuntu-Iranian Team Release Party, Ubuntu-Colombia to Host First UbuCon, Ubuntu-Zimbabwe host 1st release party, Ubuntu Presentation: Ubuntu Peruvian LoCo, Ubuntu Irish Team release party, Launchpad offline November 24th, Meet Barry Warsaw, OpenID from your Launchpad profile, Launchpad t-shirts, Ubuntu UK Podcast, Ubuntu Podcast #12, Linux Identity Magazine Covers Ubuntu 8.10, On Distributions, Kubuntu, and KDE, 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

  • Jaunty Jackalope Alpha 1 released
  • The Ubuntu Hall of Fame
  • Ubuntu for the Holidays
  • New Community Developers
  • Ubuntu-Iranian Team Release Party
  • Ubuntu-Colombia to Host First UbuCon

  • Ubuntu-Zimbabwe host 1st release party
  • Ubuntu Presentation: Ubuntu Peruvian LoCo

  • Ubuntu Irish Team release party
  • Launchpad offline November 24th
  • Meet Barry Warsaw
  • OpenID from your Launchpad profile

  • Launchpad t-shirts
  • In The Press
  • Ubuntu UK Podcast
  • Ubuntu Podcast #12
  • Linux Identity Magazine Covers Ubuntu 8.10
  • On Distributions, Kubuntu, and KDE

General Community News

Jaunty Jackalope Alpha 1 released

Jaunty Jackalope Alpha 1 has been released. As with any pre-release, it is *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. This first in a series of milestone CD images can be obtained from:

Further links to mirrors, change lists, interesting events, and bug reports can be reached at the link: https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2008-November/000513.html

The Ubuntu Hall of Fame

Jono Bacon has announced the formation of the Ubuntu Hall of Fame[1]. His intention is for it to be a showcase in which the wider community is proud to be featured. This is still a work in progress, and Jono (and those that have helped him start this) would like input and ideas about additional features and which areas of the community they should be showcasing. More detailed information is on Jono's blog.

Ubuntu for the Holidays

Those in the United States now have the availability of a more local Ubuntu store, and just in time for the holidays. Faster and less expensive than ordering from Europe, the US shop carries a wide range of Ubuntu-branded items, and will soon include Kubuntu merchandise. The U.S. and international shops can both be found at shop.ubuntu.com. http://www.ubuntu.com/news/us-based-shop

New Community Developers

Charlie Smotherman (porthose) has been working with Ubuntu since Dapper, maintains a couple Ubuntu-originated packages in Debian, and has been doing great things in the MOTU Mentoring Reception Team. Please welcome him as a recognised Contributing Developer.

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-news-team/2008-November/000282.html

Stefan Lesicnik (stefanlsd) has been helping out with universe security, developer documentation, and general package work for several months. Please join me in welcoming him as a Contributing Developer.

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-news-team/2008-November/000283.html

Ubuntu Stats

Bug Stats

  • Open (48456)-5 over last week
  • Critical (19) +/-0 over last week
  • Unconfirmed (19853)-51 over last week
  • Unassigned (40299)+26 over last week
  • All bugs ever reported (232238)+1545 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 (18909)-479 over last week
  • French (61934)-1 over last week
  • Swedish (76532)-192 over last week
  • English (UK) (81459)+4 over last week
  • Brazilian Portuguese (82517)-167 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 (411)
  • chrisccoulson (53)
  • weboide (45)
  • angusthefuzz (44)
  • dholbach (29)

Top 5 teams for the past 7 days

  • dcteam (415)
  • ubuntu-de-locoteam (60)
  • ubuntu-berlin (57)
  • ubuntu-us-ohio (44)
  • ubuntu-br-pe (26)

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

Kubuntu News

The Kubuntu team had a meeting

Richard "Arby" Birnie (ISO Tester, system-config-printer-kde hacker) and Ralph "txwikinger" Janke (5-a-day hero) were grilled and given membership.

We also discussed specs for UDS, KDE 4.2 Beta packaging, bug status and the kubuntu-users mailing list.

https://wiki.kubuntu.org/Kubuntu/Meetings/Minutes/2008-11-18

LoCo News

Ubuntu-Iranian Team Release Party

The Iranian Local Community had their greatest ever Ubuntu Release Party. They had 8 presentations in this release party. A tour of Ubuntu and Kubuntu 8.10 features, an introduction to Joomla CMS, the Zekr project, desktop effects in Ubuntu & Kubuntu, Ubuntu Server presentation, Linux kernel compilation how-to and finally plans for the future development of the Ubuntu-Iranian. Attendance has steadily risen over the course of the 2 years. https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-news-team/2008-November/000284.html

Ubuntu-Colombia to Host First UbuCon

UbuCon Colombia will hold its first UbuCon Bogotá, Colombia[1]. This event, consisting of multiple conferences and workshops will be presented around FLOSS "Free/Libre Open-Source Software" technologies on Ubuntu. The target for UbuCon covers the range from local community, small, medium and large businesses, and independent professionals. UbuCon will be held at Universidad de San Buenaventura sede Bogotá on November 29th. Admission is free, but pre-registration is required.

Ubuntu-Zimbabwe host 1st release party

On November 1st, the Zimbabwe LoCo held its first Ubuntu Release Party in Harare. Held at the premises of one of their sponsors, WebDev, who also hosts their web site[1]. Logical Solutions provided them with demo laptops, loaded with the latest release, and Harvest International donated the snacks. The party was a relaxed event with no fixed agenda, as you can see from the pictures[2].

The team believes Zimbabwe was the only other country in Africa to advertise a release party, except for South Africa. Among those who attended were representatives from the Computer Society of Zimbabwe, members of Linux Chix, who travelled all the way from Mutare (on the Eastern border, over 300Km away), and the IT Manager for the Parliament of Zimbabwe, who is one of the team members.

It is their feeling that they had a good turnout for the first attempt.

Ubuntu Presentation: Ubuntu Peruvian LoCo

On November 21st and 22nd, the Free Software Conference and Installation Festival was held at the National University of San Agustin, Arequipa, Peru. Among other presenters was Richard Stallman. Also included, the Ubuntu Peruvian LoCo Team participated by giving a presentation of “Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex”. As an "oh, by the way", the National University of San Agustin is migrating to Ubuntu. http://roaksoax.wordpress.com/2008/11/21/ubuntu-presentation/

Ubuntu Irish Team release party

The Irish LoCo held their Intrepid Ibex Release Party at the Long Stone pub in Dublin on Thursday, October 30. Starting with six people, they soon had 20 sitting down and having nosh and pints. (In their words, "we are after all in a pub and we're Irish".) As they brought out their laptops, others gathered around to find out what nerds were doing in a pub. This resulted in many questions being asked and answered, and CDs being given out. A great success! https://wiki.ubuntu.com/IrishTeam/IntrepidReleaseParty

Launchpad News

Launchpad offline November 24th

Launchpad will be offline for the second part of the roll-out of our 2.1.11 release from 03.00 UTC on the 24th November.

  • Going offline: 03.00 UTC 24th November.
  • Expected back before: 04.00 UTC 24th November.

They had originally scheduled this down-time for 03.00 UTC today (21st November) but it did not go ahead.

Meet Barry Warsaw

Barry Warsaw, one of the developers for Launchpad, is involved with the mailing list features and the new "Contact this user" feature. Coming from a background of working with C, C++, Java and Python in the commercial arena, he is quite happy to to be working for the makers of Ubuntu, now. His love of free software came out of his experiences with the National Bureau of Standards (NSB, now National Institute of Standards Technology - NIST). Away from the code, he plays a 4 string, fretted bass guitar. http://news.launchpad.net/meet-the-devs/meet-barry-warsaw

OpenID from your Launchpad profile

Launchpad now supports OpenID 2.0 and 1.1 in web sites outside of the Ubuntu community: any web site that supports OpenID. Here’s how it works:

  1. You visit a website that’s an OpenID receiver and it asks you to log in.
  2. You give that website your Launchpad profile’s URL - e.g. https://launchpad.net/~fred-bloggs

  3. Launchpad asks you to confirm that you want to log in to the other website.
  4. Once you’ve confirmed, you’re logged into the website and can use it just like normal.

More information can be obtained from the OpenID site's "Where" page[1] and on Launchpad's OpenID help page[2].

Launchpad t-shirts

The Launchpad team turned heads in London with their Launchpad logo emblazoned t-shirts. Now, they're offering them to you. You can buy your own from the Canonical store, in either men's or women's versions. Or you can enter their competition and try to win one. Details on the competition, and instructions for entering it, are available at the announcement. http://news.launchpad.net/general/threaded-development-launchpad-t-shirts

In The Press

  • Ubuntu set to debut on netbooks - Arm, the chip designer for mobile phones, has announced an alliance with Ubuntu. Rob Coombs, director of mobile marketing at Arm, said he expected to see the first devices running a version of Ubuntu by the time of the Computex show in June. This builds on Canonical's announcement in May 2007 that it would develop versions of Ubuntu specifically for low-cost note books. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7729978.stm

  • Exciting Features For Ubuntu 9.04 - Michael Larabel outlines some of the possible features of Jaunty Jackalope. Features such as a faster boot time, the blending of web services and desktop applications, the porting of Ubuntu to the ARMv7 architecture, better power management, the ability to encrypt the whole home directory, X Server 1.6, updated drivers from Intel, ATI, and Evdev, and the Linux 2.6.28 or Linux 2.6.29 kernel. In addition, he expects that Ubuntu 9.04 will include GNOME 2.26, that Xfce 4.6 and KDE 4.2 will be integrated, that it will include OpenOffice.org 3.1 and updates to GIMP, Pidgin and Firefox. http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=ubuntu_904_features&num=1

  • rPath Expands Multi Operating System Support with Ubuntu, CentOS - rPath, a software application virtualization and management company, has added Ubuntu and CentOS to its list of Linux offerings. By binding applications to these OSs with rBuilder, and managing them with the rPath Lifecycle Management Platform, rPath expands the deployment options and opens up new markets for itself and its customers. http://www.rpath.com/corp/component/content/article/14-2008-news/293-11192008

  • Three things I like about Ubuntu Intrepid, and one I don’t - Alastair found 3 things that about Intrepid Ibex really stood out in his opinion. First was 3G connections that "just worked" as soon as he inserted the 3G PCMCIA card. Migration assistant surprised him. Not a new feature, but so improved that he felt it was a good second. The third was networking in general. Moving from one wireless network to another and bringing a laptop back from a deep sleep have improved a great deal. However, he feels that audio is still a problem that needs to be resolved. http://www.tectonic.co.za/?p=3664

  • Ubuntu for mobile phones - Alastair Otter reports on the deal between the maker of ARM processors and Canonical to port Ubuntu to the mini platform. Not only does this open up the ARM7 architecture to Ubuntu 9.04, but it makes possible the porting of Ubuntu Linux to smartphones built with the ARM processor. Jane Silber, chief operating officer of Canonical said, "Joining the considerable community of free software developers working on the ARM platform ensures that a fully-functional, optimised Ubuntu distribution is available to the ARM ecosystem, providing wider choice for consumers looking for the best operating system for their digital lifestyles." This could cause Ubuntu to start appearing on a range of netbooks, phones, and other "digital lifestyle" products. http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Software/6040.html

In Other News

Ubuntu UK Podcast

Laura Cowen, Alan Pope, Dave Walker and Tony Whitmore present the eighteenth Ubuntu Podcast from the UK Local Community Support Team:

Ubuntu Podcast #12

Josh and Nick retreated back to Nick's garage for Ubuntu Podcast Episode #12. Some things they covered:

Linux Identity Magazine Covers Ubuntu 8.10

For each edition, Linux Identity focuses on a specific application or distribution. The upcoming edition will feature the Ubuntu 8.10 family. Community members Matthew Helmke, Ryan Troy, and Joe Barker contributed editorials and articles. Look for it at your local bookstore!

http://www.linuxidentity.com/us/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=5029

On Distributions, Kubuntu, and KDE

What is a distribution? What is the difference between Kubuntu and KDE, or is there any? These are some of the questions raised in this article, and the author gives some good definitions of each. Along the way, he presents Kubuntu as being a distribution that attempts to package user security and practicality rather than simply presenting the "bleeding edge" software that an application offers. This position has bothered some people with respect to Kubuntu and its choice of going with KDE 4.1.2. However, the author defends the choice of version in this interesting article. http://weblog.obso1337.org/2008/on-distributions-kubuntu-and-kde/

Meeting Summaries

Mobile Team

  • Brutally hack contacts to build a -hildon package Wink ;) . Requires review.

  • On pursuing an acpid cleanup quest we found a module-init-tools bug: modprobe --all foobar would exit 0, but not with --quiet in the flags; the conclusion from this is that initramfs-tools was leaking a lot of environment vars, including MODPROBE_OPTIONS.
  • Tested new python ubuntu-vm-builder and discovered a bunch of small regressions; provided bzr branches for some features and fixed most issues; thanks to Nick for fixing lpia mirror detection!
  • Experimented with use of xdm as a display manager for -MID. Initial results were positive. This will become a spec for Jaunty.
  • Initial filtering of packages to be removed from the archive as part of Moblin 1.0 EOL and general cleanup from gutsy/hardy Mobile efforts.
  • Tried unsuccessfully to find good ways to identify packages that have lpia-specific compilation. Suggestions would be welcome
  • bootstrapped an initial build system based on mojo and built an initial kernel based on the linux-omap tree - rolled the image and published it for interested developers to help getting ARM ready in the archive.

Japanese Team

Upcoming Meetings and Events

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

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, November 26, 2008

QA Team Meeting

Foundations Team Meeting

  • Start: 16:00 UTC
  • End: 17:00 UTC
  • Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
  • Agenda: None listed as of publication

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Ubuntu Mobile Team Meeting

  • Start: 12:00 UTC
  • End: 13:00 UTC
  • Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
  • Agenda: None listed as of publication

Desktop Team Meeting

Updates and Security for 6.06, 7.10, 8.04, and 8.10

Security Updates

Ubuntu 6.06 Updates

  • None Reported

Ubuntu 7.10 Updates

  • None Reported

Ubuntu 8.04 Updates

Ubuntu 8.10 Updates

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Additional Ubuntu News

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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 A. Eddy
  • Kenny McHenry

  • Liraz Siri
  • And many others

Glossary of Terms

  1. CMS - Content Management System
  2. ISO - International Organization for Standardization. Also, the suffix given to disk images that comply with the conventional Standards format.
  3. MOTU - Master Of The Universe
  4. UDS - Ubuntu Developer Summit

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UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/Issue118 (last edited 2008-11-24 06:39:18 by c-24-126-137-73)