Issue493


newspaper-icon41.jpg

Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue 493 for the weeks of December 19, 2016 - January 1, 2017.

In This Issue

  • Ubuntu Stats
  • LoCo Events

  • Xubuntu: Integrating releases to the website
  • Dimitri John Ledkov: Ubuntu Archive and CD/USB images complete migration to 4096 RSA signing keys
  • Lucas Nussbaum: The Linux 2.5, Ruby 1.9 and Python 3 release management anti-pattern
  • Removing 32-bit powerpc architecture from future Ubuntu releases
  • Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter Approaching Issue 500
  • The 4th China Mobile Global Partner Conference Forum
  • Canonical News
  • Serious Ubuntu Linux desktop bugs found and fixed
  • In The Blogosphere
  • Full Circle Magazine #116
  • Featured Audio and Video
  • Weekly Ubuntu Development Team Meetings
  • Upcoming Meetings and Events
  • Updates and Security for 12.04, 14.04, 16.04 and 16.10
  • And much more!

Ubuntu Stats

Bug Stats

  • Open (127955) +131 over the past two weeks
  • Critical (407) -8 over the past two weeks
  • Unconfirmed (63531) +168 over the past two weeks

As always, the Bug Squad needs more help. If you want to get started, please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad

Ask Ubuntu Top 5 Questions this week

Most Active Questions

Top Voted New Questions

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

LoCo Events

The following LoCo team events are currently scheduled in the next two weeks:

Looking beyond the next two weeks? Visit the LoCo Team Portal to browse upcoming events around the world:

http://loco.ubuntu.com/events/

The Planet

Xubuntu: Integrating releases to the website

The Xubuntu website team have made constant improvements during 2016 with integrating releases on their website. It's finally a one-stop shop for all currently supported releases of Xubuntu. They team say that the changes not only make the website easier to use but time is saved maintaining the site.

http://xubuntu.org/news/integrating-releases-website/

Dimitri John Ledkov: Ubuntu Archive and CD/USB images complete migration to 4096 RSA signing keys

Dmitri John Ledkov writes: "Ubuntu Archive and CD/USB images use OpenPGP cryptography for verification and integrity protection." He says that back in 2012 a new archive signing key was created and since then everything has been dual-signed and that with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) reaching EOL in April 2017, and 12.04 LTS being the last release signed with just the 1024 DSA based key, the old key is being retired. Dmitri confirms that Zesty Zapus is the first release signed only with the 4096 RSA based key.

http://blog.surgut.co.uk/2016/12/ubuntu-archive-and-cdusb-images.html

Lucas Nussbaum: The Linux 2.5, Ruby 1.9 and Python 3 release management anti-pattern

Lucas Nussbaum writes that there is a pattern that repeats occasionally in release management of software He uses the Linux kernel, Ruby, and Python projects to prove his theory, the crux of which, is developer time being split between stable and development branches of software projects which has negative consequences on user testing and speed of stabilization, plus lost development time on backporting.

http://www.lucas-nussbaum.net/blog/?p=916

Other Community News

Removing 32-bit powerpc architecture from future Ubuntu releases

Steve Langasek announces the recent decision made by the Ubuntu Technical Board to remove support for 32-bit PowerPC architecture from the Ubuntu 17.04 (zesty) release and beyond. He cites the rationale for this decision as being: "Unlike the ppc64el architecture, there is no longer upstream support for the 32-bit, big-endian powerpc architecture; so its continuation in Ubuntu would be dependent on identifying a community of contributors willing to invest in keeping this port in working order, to carry it forward without it negatively impacting Ubuntu development as a whole."

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2016-December/001199.html

Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter Approaching Issue 500

The Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter is approaching issue 500 in just a few weeks time! Do you value the work our volunteer-run team does to keep the newsletter going? If so, do you have some words to share about the value of the newsletter in keeping up with the latest Ubuntu news? Send a quote to consider for inclusion in the 500th issue to editor.ubuntu.news@ubuntu.com

Ubuntu Phone News

The 4th China Mobile Global Partner Conference Forum

April Wang reports from the 4th China Mobile Global Partner Conference Forum which took place on 18th December where, for the 3rd consecutive year, “Canonical was invited to take part in the conference as one of the key partners.” She shares details and plans from China Mobile and the December 20th presentation from Canonical of a smart home hub powered by Ubuntu Core which drew a lot of attention. April also shows us some photographs taken at the event.

http://insights.ubuntu.com/2016/12/22/the-4th-china-mobile-global-partner-conference-forum/

Canonical News

In The Press

Serious Ubuntu Linux desktop bugs found and fixed

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols writes for ZDNet on the recent remote code execution bugs in Apport that caused a security vulnerability starting with the 12.10 release, which have now been fixed. He details the seriousness of this vulnerability and stresses that there “still aren't enough eyes looking at older open-source code for overlooked security vulnerabilities.”

http://www.zdnet.com/article/serious-ubuntu-linux-desktop-bugs-found-and-fixed/

In The Blogosphere

Snapd 2.20 Snappy Daemon Brings Support for Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, Many Other Goodies

Marius Nestor of Softpedia reports on the recent release of the Snapd 2.20 build of the Snappy daemon, which is used by app developers to package their applications as Snaps. He outlines some of the features, including: “‘alias’ support, better output for the ‘snap info’ command, more robust network interactions that'll be retried aggressively if required, as well as D-Bus and network namespaces support to the openswitch-support, iio, and network-control interfaces.”

http://news.softpedia.com/news/snapd-2-20-snappy-daemon-brings-support-for-ubuntu-14-04-lts-many-other-goodies-511081.shtml

This Intel board computer can be a powerful Ubuntu 16.04 Linux PC

Agam Shah of IDG News Service via PC World shares details about Intel's Joule single-board computer which recently had Ubuntu 16.04 support added for it. They write that the Joule boards “are like Raspberry Pi 3, with all major components crammed on a circuit board” and depending on the model, the boards run from about $179 to $219 each.

http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/611878/intel-board-computer-can-powerful-ubuntu-16-04-linux-pc/

Where Does Ubuntu Fit Into the Internet of Things?

Sean Michael Kerner, writing for Datamation, shares and reflects upon some recent comments by Mark Shuttleworth about the place of Ubuntu in the Internet of Things (IoT) and “definitively answers the question about whether he has plans for an Ubuntu smartwatch.”

http://www.datamation.com/open-source/where-does-ubuntu-fit-into-the-internet-of-things.html

12 Months, 12 Images: This Was Ubuntu in 2016

Joey Sneddon of OMG! Ubuntu! shares a series of twelve “key” images related to Ubuntu from 2016, writing: “There were a number of big Ubuntu news stories in 2016, as you’re already aware. But a number of smaller events and milestones throughout the year help to put the Linux distribution’s year into a broader context.”

http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2016/12/12-months-12-images-ubuntu-2016

In Other News

Full Circle Magazine #116

Full Circle - the independent magazine for the Ubuntu Linux community are proud to announce the release of issue one hundred and sixteen.

This month:

  • Command & Conquer

  • How-To : Python (Arduino), LaTeX With Zim, and Program With FreePascal

  • Graphics : Inkscape
  • ChromeCult: Zoho Docs

  • Linux Labs: Zoomtak T8H V8 Android Box
  • NEW! KODI Room: Tips & Tricks

  • Review: miniTube
  • Ubuntu Games: OpenRA

plus: News, Q&A, and soooo much more.

Get it while it's hot! http://fullcirclemagazine.org/issue-116

S09E43 - Talk to the Hand - Ubuntu Podcast

It’s Season Nine Episode Forty-Three of the Ubuntu Podcast! Alan Pope, Mark Johnson, Martin Wimpress and Laura Cowen are connected and speaking to your brain.

We are four once more and Laura is back! In this week’s show:

We discuss what we’ve been up to recently:

  • Giving the gift of games and watching Robot Wars recording in Glasgow.

We discuss the news:

  • The Mirai worm, which recruits devices for botnets, has been infecting TalkTalk routers in the UK

  • Windows 10 is coming to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon mobile chips
  • French computer science student Florent Revest has released an open source smartwatch OS
  • The creators of defunct anonymous sharing app Secret have launched bold.io, an anonymous blogging platform
  • Google has revealed 8 requests for user data from the FBI
  • Amazon has begun trials of autonomous drone delivery in the UK
  • Yahoo has been hacked – again!
  • Virtuix’s adult babywalker cancels pre-orders outside the US

We discuss the community news

We mention some events:

  • Chaos Communication Congress: 27th to 30th December 2016 – Hamburg, Germany
  • BaDhack: 10th January 2016 – Basingstoke, England.

  • linux.conf.au 2017: 16 to 20 of January 2017 – Hobart, Australia.
  • FOSDEM 2017: 4 to 5 of February 2017 – Brussels, Belgium.

http://ubuntupodcast.org/2016/12/22/s09e43-talk-to-the-hand/

S09E44 - L'aura - Ubuntu Podcast

It’s Season Nine Episode Forty-Four of the Ubuntu Podcast! Alan Pope, Mark Johnson, Martin Wimpress and Laura Cowen are connected and speaking to your brain.

The same line up as last week are here again for another episode, but this is the last Ubuntu Podcast for Laura ever! :-(

In this week’s show:

We discuss what we’ve been up to recently:

  • Playing with a Thinkpad 755c and two Raspberry Pi 3 projects.
  • Nextcloud using Ubuntu Core and Raspbery Pi 3
  • Retropie with two 8Bitdo NES30 Pro wireless controllers all tucked in a SNES * 3D Printed case and CRT scannline sharders to complete the retro look.

We discuss our 2016 predictions and create new ones for the coming year.

We share a Command Line Lurve:

  • inotifywait – wait for changes to files using inotify

And we go over all your amazing feedback.

http://ubuntupodcast.org/2016/12/29/s09e44-laura/

Weekly Ubuntu Development Team Meetings

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 12.04, 14.04, 16.04 and 16.10

Security Updates

Ubuntu 12.04 Updates

End of Life - April 2017

Ubuntu 14.04 Updates

End of Life - April 2019

Ubuntu 16.04 Updates

End of Life - April 2021

Ubuntu 16.10 Updates

End of Life - July 2017

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 K. Joseph
  • Chris Guiver
  • Paul White
  • 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://community.ubuntu.com/contribute/

Or get involved with the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter team! We always need summary writers and editors, if you're interested, learn more at: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/Join

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 check http://community.ubuntu.com/help-information/ for more information on where to get help.

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/Issue493 (last edited 2017-01-03 16:05:35 by lyz)