Issue246


Contents

  1. In This Issue
  2. General Community News
    1. Happy Holidays
    2. Ubuntu Precise Open for Translation
    3. Important notice regarding Java packages in Partner archive
    4. Iso Tracker Live and Available for Manual Testing of Ubuntu Flavor Images
    5. Ubuntu 12.04 Development update
    6. Ubuntu Classroom: Call for Instructors: Ubuntu User Days on January 14-15th 2012
  3. Ubuntu Stats
    1. Bug Stats
    2. Translation Stats Oneiric
    3. Ubuntu Brainstorm Top 5 this week
    4. Top 5 Ask Ubuntu Questions this week
  4. LoCo News
    1. LoCo Council Goings On In 12.04
    2. Greg Grossmeier and Sergio Andrés Meneses appointed to the LoCo Council
    3. Ubuntu at ITT Tech, Linux Format and SCALE
    4. Ubuntu Mentors Needed!
  5. Launchpad News
    1. New approaches to new bug listings
  6. Ubuntu Cloud News
    1. Ubuntu Hardware Summit
    2. Quick and easy surveys on the cloud with juju and Limesurvey
  7. The Planet
    1. Jono Bacon: Nicholas Skaggs Joining The Canonical Community Team
    2. Martin Albisetti: Calling all Ubuntu power users: Upgrade to Ubuntu Precise Pangolin today!
    3. Ubuntu App Developer Blog: Software Centre app picks for December
    4. Ubuntu App Developer Blog: PayPal support lands on the Ubuntu Software Centre
    5. Jeremy Bicha: Ubuntu 12.04: Now With Quieter Logins
  8. In The Press
    1. New Canonical portal a sign of mobile to come?
    2. Expect Longer Battery Life with Ubuntu Linux 12.04 'Precise Pangolin'
  9. In The Blogosphere
    1. Kubuntu 11.10 Komprehensively Explored!
    2. Ubuntu Cloud Live Offers Private Clouds via USB Drive
    3. Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Will Have a Unity Shortcuts Hint
    4. Ubuntu TB Decides On Future Of Non-PAE Kernel
    5. Ubuntu 12.04 Developers Working to Improve Energy Efficiency
    6. A commitment to Quality
    7. Ubuntu-related Xmas Gift Ideas
    8. Happy holidays, celebrate with Web Music Streaming!
  10. Weekly Ubuntu Development Team Meetings
  11. Weekly Official Ubuntu Flavors Team Meetings
  12. Monthly Team Reports: November 2011
  13. Upcoming Meetings and Events
  14. Other Articles of Interest
  15. Updates and Security for 8.04, 10.04, 10.10, 11.04 and 11.10
    1. Security Updates
    2. Ubuntu 8.04 Updates
    3. Ubuntu 10.04 Updates
    4. Ubuntu 10.10 Updates
    5. Ubuntu 11.04 Updates
    6. Ubuntu 11.10 Updates
  16. UWN Translations
  17. Subscribe
  18. Archives
  19. Additional Ubuntu News
  20. Conclusion
  21. Credits
  22. Glossary of Terms
  23. Ubuntu - Get Involved
  24. Feedback

newspaper-icon41.jpg

Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue 246 for the week December 12 - 18, 2011.

In This Issue

  • Ubuntu Precise Open for Translation
  • Important notice regarding Java packages in Partner archive
  • Iso Tracker Live and Available for Manual Testing of Ubuntu Flavor Images
  • Ubuntu 12.04 Development update
  • Ubuntu Classroom: Call for Instructors: Ubuntu User Days on January 14-15th 2012
  • Ubuntu Stats

  • LoCo News

  • Launchpad News
  • Ubuntu Cloud News
  • Ubuntu App Developer Blog: Software Centre app picks for December
  • Jeremy Bicha: Ubuntu 12.04: Now With Quieter Logins
  • Expect Longer Battery Life with Ubuntu Linux 12.04 'Precise Pangolin'
  • Ubuntu Cloud Live Offers Private Clouds via USB Drive
  • Happy holidays, celebrate with Web Music Streaming!
  • Weekly Ubuntu Development Team Meetings
  • Weekly Official Ubuntu Flavors Team Meetings
  • Monthly Team Reports: November 2011
  • Upcoming Meetings and Events
  • Other Articles of Interest
  • Updates and Security for 8.04, 10.04, 10.10, 11.04 and 11.10
  • And much much more!

General Community News

Happy Holidays

We on the Ubuntu News Team wish each of you a happy and joyous holiday season. The news team will be spending the next two weeks enjoying this season and we hope you will be too.

Enjoy Issue 246 including some holiday-themed articles "In the Blogosphere" and we'll see you in 2012 with Issue 247!

Ubuntu Precise Open for Translation

David Planella announces the opening of translations for the Ubuntu 12.04, Precise Pangolin release. Planella shares links to the translation schedule, details for how to get involved and more.

http://davidplanella.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/ubuntu-precise-open-for-translation/

Important notice regarding Java packages in Partner archive

Due to a change in the Oracle Sun Java JDK packages license, many companies no longer have permission to distribute Oracle JDK.

Marc Deslauriers of the Ubuntu Security Team writes in his email to the Ubuntu Security Announce mailing lists, “Due to the severity of the security risk, Canonical is immediately releasing a security update for the Sun JDK browser plugin which will disable the plugin on all machines. This will mitigate users' risk from malicious websites exploiting the vulnerable version of the Sun JDK.”

For more information and details for how to continue using Java on Ubuntu please see the links below.

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-security-announce/2011-December/001528.html

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LucidLynx/ReleaseNotes/Java6Transition

Iso Tracker Live and Available for Manual Testing of Ubuntu Flavor Images

The ISO tracker for Precise is active and available for testing of the daily builds of all Ubuntu flavors.

http://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/milestones/204/builds

Ubuntu 12.04 Development update

Daniel Holbach’s latest Ubuntu 12.04 development update shares details for where to find updates from various teams, lists tasks which need to be completed and spotlights "Getting fixes into Ubuntu and getting upload rights".

Holbach reminds readers about the upcoming Ubuntu Developer Week scheduled for January 30 - February 2nd, 2012.

This update concludes with details on getting involved, bitesize bugs and how to contact Ubuntu developers.

http://fridge.ubuntu.com/2011/12/16/ubuntu-12-04-development-update-8/

Ubuntu Classroom: Call for Instructors: Ubuntu User Days on January 14-15th 2012

"User Days was created to be a set of courses offered during a one day period to teach the beginning or intermediate Ubuntu user the basics to get them started with Ubuntu." - Ubuntu User Days Wiki page

The Ubuntu Classroom team needs instructors for Ubuntu User Days. Want to be part of this event? See the link below and sign up today.

http://ubuntuclassroom.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/call-for-instructors-ubuntu-user-days-onjanuary-14-15th-2012/

Ubuntu Stats

Bug Stats

  • Open (87908) -5013 over last week
  • Critical (178) +4 over last week
  • Unconfirmed (45666) -1225 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 Oneiric

  1. English (Australia) (5230) +/-0 over last week
  2. Spanish (8950) +/-0 over last week
  3. Brazilian Portuguese (45255) -3 over last week
  4. English (United Kingdom) (45733) +/-0 over last week
  5. Bosnian (56636) -1282 over last week

Remaining strings to translate in Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Oncelot", see more at: https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/oneiric/ and https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Translations

Ubuntu Brainstorm Top 5 this week

Ubuntu Brainstorm is a community site geared toward letting you add your ideas for Ubuntu. You can submit your own idea, or vote for or against another idea. http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/

Top 5 Ask Ubuntu Questions this week

Ask (and answer!) your own questions at http://askubuntu.com

LoCo News

LoCo Council Goings On In 12.04

Jono Bacon reviews the LoCo Council blueprint for this cycle and discusses LoCo Twinning, the loco.ubuntu.com team naming scheme, the policy for handling of large geographic areas, thoughts on city LoCos and team re-approvals.

http://www.jonobacon.org/2011/12/13/loco-council-goings-on-in-12-04/

Greg Grossmeier and Sergio Andrés Meneses appointed to the LoCo Council

Recently Paul Tagliamonte and Leandro Gómez stepped down from their positions on the Ubuntu LoCo council. The Community Council selected Greg Grossmeier and Sergio Andrés Meneses fill fill those vacancies. Thanks to Paul and Leandro for their work over the years and welcome to Greg and Sergio!

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/loco-contacts/2011-November/005712.html

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/loco-contacts/2011-December/005727.html

Ubuntu at ITT Tech, Linux Format and SCALE

Elizabeth Krumbach shares some of her work in the California LoCo including a recent well-attended Ubuntu Hour and Debian Dinner, an Introduction to Ubuntu talk for an ITT Tech class in Oakland, upcoming plans for the Southern California Linux Expo (SCLE 10x) in Los Angeles and an extended call for speakers for the SCALE 10x Ubucon scheduled for Friday, January 20th.

http://princessleia.com/journal/?p=5466

Ubuntu Mentors Needed!

Benjamin Kerensa of Ubuntu Oregon has been working with Western Oregon University to provide mentors to students participating in a class covering contributing to Ubuntu. In this post he issues a call to the Ubuntu community for more online mentors meeting the following qualifications: can mentor students in the Pacific Standard Time Zone, speak & write in English fluently, have signed to Ubuntu Code of Conduct, have a good understanding of contributing to Ubuntu through documentation, bug triage, development or LoCo Teams.

http://benjaminkerensa.com/2011/12/17/ubuntu-mentors-needed

Launchpad News

New approaches to new bug listings

Aaron Bentley, writes about new features the Launchpad team are working on. Those new items include: Synchronized client-side and server-side rendering, Client-side Feature Flags, History as Model and more. For details on these new items please see the link below.

http://blog.launchpad.net/general/new-approaches-to-new-bug-listings

Ubuntu Cloud News

Ubuntu Hardware Summit

John Bernard briefly covers the third annual Ubuntu Hardware Summit (UHS) which took place in Taipei. Bernard describes UHS as “fast becoming one of the must-attend events within the software, ODM and OEM environments across Taiwan”. All UHS presentations are now available at odm.ubuntu.com by clicking the link to ‘Download material’.

http://blog.canonical.com/2011/12/12/ubuntu-hardware-summit-presentations-now-live/

Quick and easy surveys on the cloud with juju and Limesurvey

Jorge Castro shares a juju charm written by Nick Barcet that can be used to quickly deploy a server instance running Limesurvey software. Most surveys are for limited in time and Castro notes that this cloud solution allows users to “fire up an instance, run the survey, get my data back, and then tear the whole thing down.”

http://cloud.ubuntu.com/2011/12/quick-and-easy-surveys-on-the-cloud-with-juju-and-limesurvey/

The Planet

Jono Bacon: Nicholas Skaggs Joining The Canonical Community Team

Jono Bacon announces the newest member to join the Canonical Community Team: Nicholas Skaggs. Skaggs will join the team in January 2012 as the QA Community Coordinator. To find out more about Skaggs and the Canonical Community Team see the link below.

http://www.jonobacon.org/2011/12/12/nicholas-skaggs-joining-the-canonical-community-team/

Martin Albisetti: Calling all Ubuntu power users: Upgrade to Ubuntu Precise Pangolin today!

Reminding users that there is a focused effort quality and stability for the Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin release, Martin Albisetti, encourages Ubuntu users upgrade to Precise today. “So if you've been unsure about upgrading, please take the plunge and help out in making 12.04 a rock-solid release, “ concludes Albisetti.

http://beuno.com.ar/archives/266

Ubuntu App Developer Blog: Software Centre app picks for December

The December 2011 Ubuntu Software Centre featured apps include: Stellarium, TRAUMA, and OpenShot. More information on these apps can be found at the link below.

http://developer.ubuntu.com/2011/12/software-centre-app-picks-for-december/

Ubuntu App Developer Blog: PayPal support lands on the Ubuntu Software Centre

Ubuntu users can now buy commercial apps, ebooks and magazines from the Software Centre using their PayPal account.

http://developer.ubuntu.com/2011/12/paypal-support-lands-on-the-ubuntu-software-centre/

Jeremy Bicha: Ubuntu 12.04: Now With Quieter Logins

Jeremy Bicha uploaded a new version of libcanberra. This package disables the login sound by default. Check out how users can have more quiet login experience at the link below.

http://jeremy.bicha.net/2011/12/18/ubuntu-12-04-now-with-quieter-logins/

In The Press

New Canonical portal a sign of mobile to come?

Brian Proffit, ITWorld, discusses the new Canonical portal for ODMs and explains why it is important for device manufacturers. Proffit also offers opinion on what this portal could mean for the Canonical’s "Ubuntu on mobile" plans.

http://www.itworld.com/mobile-wireless/232727/new-canonical-portal-sign-mobile-come

Expect Longer Battery Life with Ubuntu Linux 12.04 'Precise Pangolin'

Katherine Noyes, PCWorld, looks at Ubuntu Kernel Engineer, Colin King's blog post and offers opinion that based on King's blog post that Ubuntu users can expect improved battery life in the 12.04 LTS release of Ubuntu.

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/246432/expect_longer_battery_life_with_ubuntu_linux_1204_precise_pangolin.html

In The Blogosphere

Kubuntu 11.10 Komprehensively Explored!

In this post, Mohammad Kamil Nadeem reviews Kubuntu and gives readers his take on what happens when KDE joins Ubuntu.

http://mknadeem.blogspot.com/2011/12/kubuntu-1110-komprehensively-explored.html

Ubuntu Cloud Live Offers Private Clouds via USB Drive

Christopher Tozzi discusses some of the history of the private cloud offerings in Ubuntu and gives details from his test drive of the Ubuntu Cloud Live USB image run in virtualization. The “key to its power is in the “GettingStarted.txt” file on the desktop, which explains clearly, concisely and specifically what to do to finish configuring a private cloud via OpenStack Compute and then start launching instances, all inside the live session” writes Tozzi, and he goes on to say “the tool is a fantastic way of showing off just how terrifically simple it is to create a private cloud using the applications and scripts produced by the Ubuntu cloud community.”

http://www.thevarguy.com/2011/12/14/ubuntu-cloud-live-offers-private-clouds-via-usb-drive/

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Will Have a Unity Shortcuts Hint

Marius Nestor of Softpedia reports "a keyboard shortcut hint overlay will be displayed in the upcoming Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) operating system every time a user presses and holds the Super key" and provides a screenshot and is sure to remind readers that the project is "still work in progress and no final decision has been made on the default shortcut for this overlay hint."

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ubuntu-12-04-LTS-Will-Have-a-Unity-Shortcuts-Hint-240079.shtml

Ubuntu TB Decides On Future Of Non-PAE Kernel

Michael Larabel summaries several of the points from the December 12th Tech Board meeting where the future of Non-PAE Kernels in Ubuntu was discussed and he then summarizes their decision: “The board has decided they will support the non-PAE kernel option until the Ubuntu 12.10 release, so there will still be support in Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. The default i386 kernel in Ubuntu 12.04 LTS will become the PAE-enabled kernel, but the non-PAE flavor will be available.”

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTAyNzM

Ubuntu 12.04 Developers Working to Improve Energy Efficiency

Christopher Tozzi references a recent blog post by Ubuntu Kernel Developer Colin Ian King on “Improving Battery Life in Ubuntu Precise 12.04 LTS” and reports that tackling the battery issue in Ubuntu includes a better understanding of which kernels perform better power-wise and a call to the community to help test Aggressive Link Power Management (ALPM) and power.d code on their machines.

http://www.thevarguy.com/2011/12/16/ubuntu-12-04-developers-working-to-improve-energy-efficiency/

A commitment to Quality

Oliver Ries, a Product Strategy Engineering Manager at Canonical, writes about the he Unity Quality Team. He discusses the role of the Quality Engineers whose “main priority is to support their assigned components in creating test frameworks and automated tests, work on integration tests and help us measure the performance of our projects” and the core bug triagers and Quality lead on the team. With “Unity being an open source project the Quality Team is going to follow suit and will work with the community wherever possible” and he goes on to mention ways in which the community can get involved, by visiting the new “The Quality Hour” blog at qualityhour.wordpress.com and by attending IRC-based meetings coming up in January.

http://www.olli-ries.com/?p=624

OMG! Ubuntu! has scoured the web for some great gives you can give your geek friends (or get for yourself). At the time of the original post, it was eleven days before Christmas and the staff at OMG! Ubuntu! found eleven gifts for the season.

http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/12/ubuntu-related-xmas-gift-ideas/

Happy holidays, celebrate with Web Music Streaming!

Streaming your own music via the Ubuntu One Music app on the web has finally arrived. It’s one more reason to use the Ubuntu One Music App. Now users can enjoy their musical interests where ever they are located.

http://voices.canonical.com/ubuntuone/?p=1303

Weekly Ubuntu Development Team Meetings

Weekly Official Ubuntu Flavors Team Meetings

Monthly Team Reports: November 2011

See here for the team report for November 2011: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/TeamReports/November2011

If your team is not producing monthly reports, see this page to get your team started: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BuildingCommunity/TeamReporting

Upcoming Meetings and Events

For upcoming meetings and events please visit the calendars at fridge.ubuntu.com: http://fridge.ubuntu.com/calendars/

Updates and Security for 8.04, 10.04, 10.10, 11.04 and 11.10

Security Updates

Ubuntu 8.04 Updates

Ubuntu 10.04 Updates

Ubuntu 10.10 Updates

Ubuntu 11.04 Updates

Ubuntu 11.10 Updates

UWN Translations

  • Note to translators and our readers please follow the link below for the information you need.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/Translations

Subscribe

Get your copy of the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter delivered each week to you via email at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-news

Archives

You can always find older Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter issues at: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter

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:

  • Elizabeth Krumbach
  • Amber Graner
  • Chris Druif
  • Alex Lourie
  • Liraz Siri
  • And many others

Glossary of Terms

Other acronyms can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/glossary

Ubuntu - Get Involved

The Ubuntu community consists of individuals and teams, working on different aspects of the distribution, giving advice and technical support, and helping to promote Ubuntu to a wider audience. No contribution is too small, and anyone can help. It's your chance to get in on all the community fun associated with developing and promoting Ubuntu. http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate

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.

Except where otherwise noted, this issue of the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License CCL.png

UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/Issue246 (last edited 2011-12-20 03:49:45 by lyz)