--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Debian Weekly News http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/2005/32/ Debian Weekly News - August 9th, 2005 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to this year's 32nd issue of DWN, the weekly newsletter for the Debian community. Andreas Barth [1]reported that etch has almost 800 release-critical bugs due to small glitches in connection with the new compiler and asked maintainers to fix their bugs soon. 1. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2005/07/msg00020.html Risk of a Package Upload. Loïc Minier [2]requested a tool that is able to display the risk of an upload at build time. This would help when transitions are in place or when a lot other packages [3]wait for a fulfilled dependency in order to enter testing, where a new upload would cause the quarantine to be reset and may cause more problems than it solves. 2. http://lists.debian.org/debian-release/2005/08/msg00001.html 3. http://bjorn.haxx.se/debian/stalls.html GNUstep, FHS and Debian. Eric Heintzmann [4]wondered how to continue maintaining GNUstep in Debian since its directory layout is not compatible with the [5]Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS) and upstream developers don't want to change the layout. He had to admit that he's not able to make GNUstep FHS compliant without breaking it. 4. http://lists.debian.org/debian-release/2005/07/msg00128.html 5. http://www.pathname.com/fhs/ Debian Core Consortium. Florian Weimer [6]wondered how the [7]Debian Core Consortium was related to the Debian project. Ian Murdock [8]explained that it won't be called that way and refers to a group of companies and non-profit organisations that build Debian derivatives. The goal is to build a common core that is 100 % Debian. 6. http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2005/07/msg00202.html 7. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1836184,00.asp 8. http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2005/07/msg00216.html MySQL Transition Plan. Christian Hammers [9]proposed to use version 4.1 as default and drop version 4.0, since version 5.0 has been uploaded into experimental. This would require 75 packages to be rebuilt as [10]libmysqlclient12 would disappear from the archive. Andreas Barth [11]appreciated to reduce the number of MySQL-packages in Debian, but adding more transitions at the moment would call for trouble. 9. http://lists.debian.org/debian-release/2005/07/msg00145.html 10. http://packages.debian.org/libmysqlclient12 11. http://lists.debian.org/debian-release/2005/08/msg00000.html GNOME Transition. Andreas Barth [12]reported that a reasonable part of the Debian archive requires GNOME 2.10 in etch before these packages can enter etch themselves. Maintainers should not upload new versions of such packages so the quarantine won't be reset. Nathanael Nerode, however, [13]asserted that the GNOME won't happen for quite a while since it needs to wait for the X.Org transition. 12. http://lists.debian.org/debian-release/2005/08/msg00003.html 13. http://lists.debian.org/debian-release/2005/08/msg00011.html Debian Science Group. Helen Faulkner [14]announced the creation of the [15]debian-science mailing list. It is aimed to encourage discussions about how best to [16]use Debian as an operating system for scientific research and how to improve Debian by making it more useful to scientists and people working in related fields. It should also provide an address for scientists where they can ask questions about Debian or software in Debian and get useful answers. 14. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/07/msg01555.html 15. http://lists.debian.org/debian-science/ 16. http://wiki.debian.net/?DebianScience X Strike Force moving forward. David Nusinow [17]reported about the release of X.Org 6.9. He has ported all but one patch from the Debian package for version 6.8 to the new version, which only took about half a week due to the new quilt-based [18]patch system. He's going to begin work on 7.0 as soon as 6.9 hits experimental. 17. http://www.livejournal.com/users/gravityboy/17763.html 18. http://www.livejournal.com/users/gravityboy/17175.html Mass Installation in Vienna. The Vienna city council [19]reported about the city of Vienna providing a customised version of Debian with KDE ("Wienux") for the 18,000 desktop computers of the city. It is up to the individual workers, though, to choose if they prefer a KDE Desktop or something else. The officials expect only a few hundred GNU/Linux machines in the first year, but have found out that more than 4 thousand computers could run the free operating system. 19. http://www.magwien.gv.at/vtx/vtx-rk-xlink?SEITE=020050705010 Debian mourns the loss of Jens Schmalzing. Jens (also known as jensen) [20]died on July 30th in a tragic accident at his workplace in Munich, Germany. He was involved in Debian as a maintainer and supporter of the PowerPC port. As a member of the kernel team he was instrumental in taking the PowerPC kernel package to version 2.6. He left behind a wife and three children. The contribution of [21]Jens will be continued by other developers. 20. http://www.debian.org/News/2005/20050809 21. http://www.theorie.physik.uni-muenchen.de/~jens/ Improving the BTS Interface. Margarita Manterola [22]proposed to have a friendlier interface to the [23]bug tracking system (BTS) that allows for bugs to be sorted on the programming language of the code and the difficulty of solving them. She also [24]explained why automatically using the debtags [25]information is not sufficient. 22. http://lists.debian.org/debian-qa/2005/08/msg00005.html 23. http://www.debian.org/Bugs/ 24. http://lists.debian.org/debian-qa/2005/08/msg00007.html 25. http://debian.vitavonni.de/packagebrowser/ Security Updates. You know the drill. Please make sure that you update your systems if you have any of these packages installed. * DSA 772: [26]apt-cacher -- Arbitrary command execution. 26. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-772 New or Noteworthy Packages. The following packages were added to the unstable Debian archive [27]recently or contain important updates. 27. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/newpkg_main * [28]ant -- Java based build tool like make. * [29]aqbanking-tool -- Basic command line homebanking utility. * [30]beagle -- Indexing and search tool for your personal data. * [31]bsdiff -- Generate/apply a patch between two binary files. * [32]cowbell -- Easy-to-use tag editor for your music files. * [33]destar -- Management interface for the Asterisk PBX. * [34]dhcp-helper -- DHCP relay agent. * [35]dvdisaster -- Data loss/scratch/aging protection for CD/DVD medias. * [36]ffmpeg2theora -- Theora video encoder using ffmpeg. * [37]freewheeling -- Live looping musical instrument. * [38]ftpcopy -- FTP clients collection. * [39]gquilt -- Graphical wrapper for quilt. * [40]kwalify -- Tiny schema validator for YAML documents. * [41]lincity-ng -- City simulator game with polished graphics. * [42]llgal -- Online gallery generator. * [43]lltag -- Automatic command-line mp3/ogg file tagger. * [44]mhwaveedit -- Simple and fast GTK2 sound editor. * [45]msort -- Utility for sorting records in complex ways. * [46]sendemail -- Email-from-console sending tool. * [47]sfind -- Improved version of the find utility. * [48]sim4 -- Tool for aligning cDNA and genomic DNA. * [49]slate -- Virtual machine for Slate, a high-level programming language. * [50]stumpwm -- Window manager written entirely in Common Lisp. * [51]tailor -- Tool to keep in sync various kinds of repository (CVS, SVN, ...). * [52]trayer -- Lightweight GTK2-based systray for UNIX desktop. * [53]xicc -- Set the ICC colour profile for an X display. 28. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/ant 29. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/aqbanking-tool 30. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/gnome/beagle 31. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/bsdiff 32. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/cowbell 33. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/comm/destar 34. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/dhcp-helper 35. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/otherosfs/dvdisaster 36. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/graphics/ffmpeg2theora 37. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/freewheeling 38. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/ftpcopy 39. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/gnome/gquilt 40. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/text/kwalify 41. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/games/lincity-ng 42. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/llgal 43. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/lltag 44. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/mhwaveedit 45. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/msort 46. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/mail/sendemail 47. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/sfind 48. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/science/sim4 49. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/slate 50. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/stumpwm 51. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/tailor 52. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/trayer 53. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/xicc Orphaned Packages. 32 packages were orphaned this week and require a new maintainer. This makes a total of 189 orphaned packages. Many thanks to the previous maintainers who contributed to the Free Software community. Please see the [54]WNPP pages for the full list, and please add a note to the bug report and retitle it to ITA: if you plan to take over a package. 54. http://www.debian.org/devel/wnpp/ * [55]aspseek -- Advanced Internet search engine (Shared library). ([56]Bug#321328) * [57]bbsload -- System load tool for the blackbox window manager. ([58]Bug#320951) * [59]bluefish -- Advanced Gtk+ HTML editor. ([60]Bug#322091) * [61]chastity-list -- Blacklists for SquidGuard. ([62]Bug#321594) * [63]doxymacs -- E-lisp package for making doxygen usage easier under Emacs. ([64]Bug#321821) * [65]epos-ktd -- Czech Epos voices. ([66]Bug#321763) * [67]epos-lpc -- Czech Epos voices. ([68]Bug#321763) * [69]epos-ptd -- Czech Epos voices. ([70]Bug#321763) * [71]gnome-alsamixer -- ALSA sound mixer for GNOME. ([72]Bug#322093) * [73]gnushogi -- X Window System Japanese Chess (Shogi) Board. ([74]Bug#321334) * [75]gtk-mist-engine -- A flat theme for GTK+ 1.2. ([76]Bug#320795) * [77]kdoc -- C++ and IDL Source Documentation System. ([78]Bug#321595) * [79]ksocrat -- English/Russian and Russian/English Dictionary. ([80]Bug#321596) * [81]lg-* -- Lg-* - Linux Gazette, 111 packages. ([82]Bug#321795) * [83]libauthen-pam-perl -- Perl interface to the PAM library. ([84]Bug#322094) * [85]libauthen-sasl-perl -- Authen::SASL - SASL Authentication framework. ([86]Bug#322095) * [87]libconvert-asn1-perl -- Replacement for Convert::BER module. ([88]Bug#322096) * [89]libconvert-ber-perl -- Perl implementation of Basic Encoding Rules (BER). ([90]Bug#322097) * [91]libfcgi-perl -- FastCGI Perl module. ([92]Bug#322098) * [93]libio-socket-ssl-perl -- Class implementing an object oriented interface to SSL sockets. ([94]Bug#322099) * [95]liblingua-ispell-perl -- Perl module encapsulating access to the ispell program. ([96]Bug#321466) * [97]libmpeg1 -- MPEG library calls for movie streams. ([98]Bug#321347) * [99]libnet-google-perl -- Simple OOP-ish interface to the Google SOAP API. ([100]Bug#322100) * [101]libnet-ldap-perl -- Client interface to LDAP servers. ([102]Bug#322101) * [103]rlpr -- Utility for lpd printing without using /etc/printcap. ([104]Bug#321339) * [105]rxvt -- Multi-lingual VT102 terminal emulator for the X Window System. ([106]Bug#321340) * [107]rxvt-beta -- VT102 terminal emulator for the X Window System. ([108]Bug#321341) * [109]sodipodi -- Vector based drawing program. ([110]Bug#322102) * [111]squidguard -- Filter, redirector and access controller plug for Squid. ([112]Bug#321598) * [113]teg -- Turn based strategy game. ([114]Bug#322103) * [115]tleds -- Blinks keyboard LEDs indicating TX and RX network packets. ([116]Bug#321754) * [117]vgrind -- Runoff preprocessor for program sources. ([118]Bug#321378) * [119]xruskb -- X localised keyboard switch and autolock. ([120]Bug#321344) 55. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/misc/aspseek 56. http://bugs.debian.org/321328 57. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/bbsload 58. http://bugs.debian.org/320951 59. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/bluefish 60. http://bugs.debian.org/322091 61. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/chastity-list 62. http://bugs.debian.org/321594 63. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/doxymacs 64. http://bugs.debian.org/321821 65. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/epos-ktd 66. http://bugs.debian.org/321763 67. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/epos-lpc 68. http://bugs.debian.org/321763 69. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/epos-ptd 70. http://bugs.debian.org/321763 71. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/gnome/gnome-alsamixer 72. http://bugs.debian.org/322093 73. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/games/gnushogi 74. http://bugs.debian.org/321334 75. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/gtk-engines-mist 76. http://bugs.debian.org/320795 77. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/kdoc 78. http://bugs.debian.org/321595 79. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/text/ksocrat 80. http://bugs.debian.org/321596 81. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/doc/lg-issue100 82. http://bugs.debian.org/321795 83. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libauthen-pam-perl 84. http://bugs.debian.org/322094 85. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libauthen-sasl-perl 86. http://bugs.debian.org/322095 87. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libconvert-asn1-perl 88. http://bugs.debian.org/322096 89. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libconvert-ber-perl 90. http://bugs.debian.org/322097 91. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libfcgi-perl 92. http://bugs.debian.org/322098 93. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libio-socket-ssl-perl 94. http://bugs.debian.org/322099 95. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/liblingua-ispell-perl 96. http://bugs.debian.org/321466 97. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/libs/libmpeg1 98. http://bugs.debian.org/321347 99. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libnet-google-perl 100. http://bugs.debian.org/322100 101. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libnet-ldap-perl 102. http://bugs.debian.org/322101 103. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/rlpr 104. http://bugs.debian.org/321339 105. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/rxvt 106. http://bugs.debian.org/321340 107. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/rxvt-beta 108. http://bugs.debian.org/321341 109. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/graphics/sodipodi 110. http://bugs.debian.org/322102 111. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/squidguard 112. http://bugs.debian.org/321598 113. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/gnome/teg 114. http://bugs.debian.org/322103 115. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/tleds 116. http://bugs.debian.org/321754 117. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/text/vgrind 118. http://bugs.debian.org/321378 119. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/xruskb 120. http://bugs.debian.org/321344 Removed Packages. 24 packages have been [121]removed from the Debian archive during the past week: 121. http://ftp-master.debian.org/removals.txt * zed -- Powerful, multipurpose, configurable text editor [122]Bug#188181: Request of QA, orphaned for more than 2 years, many alternatives available * winelib -- WINE bindings for Mono [123]Bug#316741: Request of Maintainer, obsolete * decafc -- Compiler for the toy language Decaf [124]Bug#316767: Request of maintainer, dead upstream * editex -- MathML editor based on TeX syntax [125]Bug#317298: Request of maintainer, unsupported upstream, buggy * fort -- Framework for OCaml regression testing [126]Bug#317396: Request of maintainer, unmaintained upstream, superseded by ounit * libdbd-ram-perl -- Perl DBI driver for files and data structures [127]Bug#317409: Request of maintainer: obsolete transitional package * isapnptools -- ISA Plug-And-Play configuration utilities. [128]Bug#318359: Request of maintainer, obsolete (only for kernel < 2.4) * vdslib -- View-dependent simplification library. [129]Bug#318652: Request of maintainer, dead upstream * panorama -- Framework for 3D graphics production [130]Bug#318653: Request of maintainer, dead upstream * libpcap0.9 -- Dummy package, can be safely removed [131]Bug#318654: Request of maintainer, unneeded new library * fox -- FOX C++ GUI toolkit [132]Bug#318677: Request of maintainer, superseded by fox1.{2,4} * gimp-print -- Gimp-Print printer drivers for CUPS [133]Bug#318823: Request of maintainer, superseded by gutenprint * pyxine -- Interface to the xine media player for Python [134]Bug#319699: Request of maintainer, dead upstream, alternative: python-gst * mp3kult -- Organises your MP3 collection in a MySQL database [135]Bug#239860: Request of maintainer, request of QA, dead upstream * gtk+2.0-directfb -- Development files for the GDK backend based on DirectFB [136]Bug#317528: Request of maintainer, obsolete * librudiments0 -- C++ class library providing base classes [137]Bug#318006: Request of maintainer, superseded by rudiments * ferite -- A C-like programming language [138]Bug#320117: Request of maintainer, buggy, hardly used * zh-sgmltools -- Wrapper for SGMLtools to process Chinese [139]Bug#189527: Request of QA, orphaned, hardly used * kernel-patch-acl -- Extended attributes, and ACL kernel-patches for ext2/ext3 [140]Bug#273930: Request of QA: orphaned, buggy, obsolete * phtml -- Extension library for PHP [141]Bug#320853: Request of maintainer, has never been part of a stable release * snui -- Simple Network User Information - Client [142]Bug#320854: Request of maintainer, never part of stable, untested and of dubious usefulness * speedtouch -- Userspace driver for the Alcatel Speedtouch USB ADSL Adapter [143]Bug#320673: Request of maintainer, obsoleted by newer kernels * zeiberbude -- Program for administering Internet cafes. (client) [144]Bug#307543: Request of QA, orphaned, barely used 122. http://bugs.debian.org/188181 123. http://bugs.debian.org/316741 124. http://bugs.debian.org/316767 125. http://bugs.debian.org/317298 126. http://bugs.debian.org/317396 127. http://bugs.debian.org/317409 128. http://bugs.debian.org/318359 129. http://bugs.debian.org/318652 130. http://bugs.debian.org/318653 131. http://bugs.debian.org/318654 132. http://bugs.debian.org/318677 133. http://bugs.debian.org/318823 134. http://bugs.debian.org/319699 135. http://bugs.debian.org/239860 136. http://bugs.debian.org/317528 137. http://bugs.debian.org/318006 138. http://bugs.debian.org/320117 139. http://bugs.debian.org/189527 140. http://bugs.debian.org/273930 141. http://bugs.debian.org/320853 142. http://bugs.debian.org/320854 143. http://bugs.debian.org/320673 144. http://bugs.debian.org/307543 Want to continue reading DWN? Please help us create this newsletter. 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