Issue668


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Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue 668 for the week of January 24 - 30, 2021.

In this Issue

  • [Call for topics] Community Council meeting: 20210203
  • Ubuntu Stats
  • Hot in Support
  • LoCo Events

  • Trying wayland by default again
  • The Black Oblong of Monospace Mystery
  • Talking Communities
  • Focal and 5.8 HWE kernel woes
  • Other Community News
  • Canonical News
  • In the Press
  • In the Blogosphere
  • In Other News
  • Other Articles of Interest
  • Featured Audio and Video
  • Meeting Reports
  • Upcoming Meetings and Events
  • Updates and Security for 16.04, 18.04, 20.04, and 20.10
  • And much more!

General Community News

[Call for topics] Community Council meeting: 20210203

Torsten Franz notifies us of the next Community Council meeting: its agenda, new Business, other business, and the advisement that "We also welcome suggestions for topics from the community".

https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/call-for-topics-community-council-meeting-20210203/20621

Ubuntu Stats

Bug Stats

  • Open: 135936 (+108)
  • Critical: 342 (0)
  • Unconfirmed: 67548 (+57)

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

Translations

  • Ukrainian: 87.92% (39029/1216)
  • German: 86.27% (44378/51)
  • French: 81.37% (60214/6447)
  • Spanish: 80.89% (61752/3747)
  • Swedish: 74.97% (80874/623)

Hot in Support

Ask Ubuntu Top 5 Questions

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

Ubuntu Forums Top 5 Threads

Find more support at: https://ubuntuforums.org/

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 Hub

Trying wayland by default again

Sebastien Bacher (seb128) advises that as several old blockers have been removed for the adoption of Wayland, and time permits testing and feedback prior to the next LTS release, it is time to try again. The thread will remain open for user feedback while bugs are to be reported to launchpad.

https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/trying-wayland-by-default-again/20575

Additional media attention:

The Planet

The Black Oblong of Monospace Mystery

Alan Pope here expounds on the concept that the command line is just another tool; not to be feared.

https://popey.com/blog/2021/01/the-black-oblong-of-monospace-mystery/

Talking Communities

Stephen Michael Kellat reminds us the Ubuntu Community Council is still trying to solicit applications for the Local Communities Research Committee. To help in this regard, he gives us some thoughts as he recalls his time on the Local Communities Council. Stephen discusses "local", and the work involved in in-person gatherings. We are reminded of some of the problems of 'online communities' stressing the need for healthy communities.

http://coyote.works//posts/Communities20210126/

Focal and 5.8 HWE kernel woes

Dan Simmons denotes that there are issues with the HWE kernel (5.8) on 20.04 and provides a Discourse forum posting link for current information.

https://lubuntu.me/focal-and-5-8-hwe-kernel-woes/

Other Community News

Decade-old bug in Linux world's sudo can be abused by any logged-in user to gain root privileges

Thomas Claburn writes about the recent vulnerability (CVE-2021-3156) discovered in sudo. We are given details of the flaw, sudo package ranges that contain the flaw, as well as many of the fixed packages. Thomas gives links for more details, including Qualys researcher's write-up which is described as "the most significant sudo vulnerability in recent memory".

https://www.theregister.com/2021/01/26/qualys_sudo_bug/

Amplifying info:

Canonical News

In the Press

Linux distributors frustrated by Google's new Chromium web browser restrictions

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols writes that Google recently discovered unnamed Chromium-based browsers had integrated Google cloud-based features, which has resulted in Google announcing they will limit access to many Chrome APIs starting 15 March 2021. Giving many specifics, we are then reminded how difficult it is packaging chromium for Linux distributions, quoting our own Alan Pope. Comments from various distribution packagers are provided, including "no one on the Chrome team understands the concept of open source", with clear signs that many are unhappy. It's suspected the number unhappy may grow once users have received their updated chromium without these features.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/linux-distributors-frustrated-by-googles-new-chromium-web-browser-restrictions/#ftag=RSSbaffb68

Other Media attention:

In the Blogosphere

Xfce’s Thunar File Manager Gets Split View, File Creation Times, and More

Marius Nestor writes that "Alexander Schwinn has announced the release of Thunar 4.17" which includes "awesome new features and improvements". The highlighted feature is Thunar now provides split views or dual-pane, but there is more there too. Links to the changelog and source tarball are provided.

https://9to5linux.com/xfces-thunar-file-manager-gets-split-view-file-creation-times-and-more

UBports Aiming For An Exciting 2021 With Ubuntu Touch

Michael Larabel updates us on what was revealed in the Ubuntu TOuch Q&A 92 session by the UBports Ubuntu Touch team in providing their upcoming alternatives. We are told Lomiri (Unity 8) is making progress thanks to cooperation with Manjaro developers, with packages for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS coming. We are updated on the UBports installer, Qt 5.15, the package base move from 16.04 to 20.04 and more, including embedded video.

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Ubuntu-Touch-January-2021

NVIDIA 460.39 Linux Driver Brings RTX 30 Laptop Enablement, Improved 5.10+ Kernel Support

Michael Larabel reports on NVIDIA's latest stable Linux proprietary graphics driver build. He relates the added GPUs and that the latest Vulkan beta driver supports new extensions.

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=NVIDIA-460.39-Linux-Driver

New Linux Kernel Vulnerabilities Patched in All Supported Ubuntu Releases

Marius Nestor alerts us to a number of security vulnerabilities and regressions which have now been patched. Providing details of the CVEs, releases impacted and thus patched, and more, we are reminded to upgrade our systems as soon as possible.

https://9to5linux.com/new-linux-kernel-vulnerabilities-patched-in-all-supported-ubuntu-releases

In Other News

This Is Why Ubuntu 21.04 Will Ship GNOME 3.38, Instead Of GNOME 40

Sarvottam Kumar writes that Ubuntu 21.04 will not ship with the GNOME 40 desktop and GTK4. Providing the link to the announcement by Ubuntu's Sebastien Bacher including the reason we won't see it. With many links, we are told what will be included, including links where we can see more, or download the latest daily ISO.

https://fossbytes.com/ubuntu-21-04-will-ship-gnome-3-38-instead-gnome-40/

Ubuntu Security Podcast: Episode 101

"In the first episode for 2021 we bring back Joe McManus to discuss the SolarWinds hack plus we look at vulnerabilities in sudo, NVIDIA graphics drivers and mutt. We also cover some open positions in the team and say farewell to long-time Ubuntu Security superstar Jamie Strandboge."

https://ubuntusecuritypodcast.org/episode-101/

Ubuntu Portugal Podcast: 127 - Habemus Papa

"Tornamos histórias enfadonhas em aventuras fantásticas, acontecimentos cinzentos em verdadeiros contos de fadas, ou então falamos só sobre Ubuntu e outras cenas… Aqui fica mais um episódio no vosso podcast preferido."

https://podcastubuntuportugal.org/e127/

Meeting Reports

Upcoming Meetings and Events

  • Desktop Team: Tue, February 2, 2:30pm – 3:30pm
  • Community Council: Wed, February 3, 11pm – Thu, February 4, 12am
  • Ubuntu Foundations: Thu, February 4, 4pm – 5pm
  • Ubuntu Membership Board: Thu, February 4, 10pm – 11pm

Times shown are UTC. For more details and farther dates please visit: https://fridge.ubuntu.com/calendars/

Updates and Security for 16.04, 18.04, 20.04, and 20.10

Security Updates

Ubuntu 16.04 Updates

End of Standard Support: April 2021

Ubuntu 18.04 Updates

End of Standard Support: April 2023

Ubuntu 20.04 Updates

End of Standard Support: April 2025

Ubuntu 20.10 Updates

End of life: July 2021

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Archive

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Further News

As always you can find more Ubuntu news and announcements at:

Conclusion

Thank you for reading the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter.

See you next week!

Credits

The Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter is brought to you by:

  • Krytarik Raido
  • Bashing-om
  • Chris Guiver
  • Wild Man
  • And many others

Glossary of Terms

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UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/Issue668 (last edited 2021-02-01 21:07:56 by bashing-om)