Gentoo Weekly Newsletter 21 March 2005
Ulrich Plate <[email protected]> Mon, 21 Mar 2005 21:21:36 +0100
| Newsgroups | gmane.linux.gentoo.weekly-news |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gentoo Weekly Newsletter http://www.gentoo.org/news/en/gwn/current.xml This is the Gentoo Weekly Newsletter for the week of 21 March 2005. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ============== 1. Gentoo News ============== Additions to the documentation collection ----------------------------------------- Sven Vermeulen[1], Forum moderator Ioannis Aslanidis[2] and reviewer Hartwig Brandl have collated a guide on how to interpret the error codes of the GRUB bootloader, based on an impressive 16-page-thread[3] in the Gentoo Forums. Other recent additions to the Gentoo documentation include: 1. [email protected] 2. [email protected] 3. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-122656.html * The Gentoo mailfiltering gateway guide[4] by Sune Kloppenborg Jeppesen[5] covers spam-fighting technologies and anti-virus protection. * Of particular interest since the release of KDE 3.4 last week will be the KDE Split Ebuilds HOWTO[6] by Gentoo's KDE maintainer Dan Armak[7] * An entirely new UTF-8 Guide[8] has been writte by Thomas Martin[9], with lots of information on the background of Unicode and UTF-8, and practical tips to make it work in Gentoo Linux. 4. http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/mailfilter-guide.xml 5. [email protected] 6. http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/kde-split-ebuilds.xml 7. [email protected] 8. http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/utf-8.xml 9. [email protected] Many other parts of the documentation have been revised and enhanced over the past few weeks, check for changes in the Documentation Project's status updates[10] of additions and changes to the growing resource. 10. http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/gdp/index.xml#doc_chap5 ========================= 2. Heard in the community ========================= Web forums ---------- Acrobat Reader 7 for Linux released? Among the usual whoopies and yeehas that greet the arrival of software everybody has been eagerly waiting for, the new release of acroread has its difficulties. The thread provides a workaround for using the plugin in Firefox, but doesn't have an answer to the lack of Asian fonts. Yet... Turned out this seems to have been a preliminary release only after all. * acroread 7?[11] 11. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-290897.html gentoo-bsd ---------- Reasons for Gentoo/FreeBSD Curious about what Portage can offer compared to FreeBSD's native ports system, Gentoo Linux user and GWN translator Matthias F. Brandstetter asked on the gentoo-bsd mailing list: "What's the purpose of Gentoo/FreeBSD, or what should it be?" Gentoo developer Grant Goodyear[12] pointed out that he prefers the simple bash syntax of ebuilds over FreeBSD's (ab)use of make. Other answers pointed to USE flags and Portage's handling of config files: 12. [email protected] * Why to use Gentoo/FreeBSD?[13] 13. http://dev.gentoo.org/~citizen428/hypermail/gentoo-bsd/0503/0032.html Note: Until popular mailing list archives like Gmane pick up the gentoo-bsd mailing list, Michael Kohl keeps a regularly updated archive in a temporary home at his developer webspace. gentoo-dev ---------- Summary of PPC meeting Lars Weiler[14] summarizes the last PPC team meeting, where many things were discussed: 14. [email protected] * project management elections * future goals * AltiVec in portage * QEMU ABI wrapper * Kernel issues * LiveCD * ppc64 and ppc merger * Summary of PPC meeting[15] 15. http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.devel/26471 Xen in portage? Mike Frysinger[16] asks if any developers are interested in getting the Xen virtualization system into the Portage tree. 16. [email protected] * Xen in portage?[17] 17. http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.devel/26438 giflib and ungiflib hell Chris White[18] starts a discussion on the libgif / libungif packages since they provide similar features, but libungif is deprecated. This resolved to the removal of libungif from portage. 18. [email protected] * giflib and libungif hell[19] 19. http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.devel/26367 ======================= 3. Gentoo International ======================= Japan: Open Source Conference 2005 ---------------------------------- Looking for an impromptu vacation spot to spend the Easter weekend? Tokyo is particularly nice at this time of the year, and it has the annual Open Source Conference[20] on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 March 2005. Presentation tracks will be focussing on fonts and Japanese input methods this year, Ruby and XOOPS, a database seminar and an Openoffice.org corner are among the other highlights of this event which also includes an exhibition space for Japanese open-source projects, to be held at the Japan Electronics College[21] in Okubo, a north-western district of Tokyo. GentooJP will be present on Friday morning from 10:00 to 12:50 with a "Gentoo Linux Installfest", a live demonstration of the 2005.0 release being installed on virgin hardware, which obviously beats cherry-blossom viewing in public appeal -- partly because on that latitude they're not quite in full bloom by then, you'd have to fly down south to Kyushu for that... Seating at the Installfest is limited to 40 people, please register for the Gentoo installation event[22] if you plan on attending (all links in Japanese only). 20. http://www.ospn.jp/osc2005/ 21. http://www.jec.ac.jp 22. http://www.ospn.jp/osc2005/modules/eguide/event.php?eid=35 Figure 3.1: GentooJP http://www.gentoo.org/images/gwn/20050321_gentoojp.png ====================== 4. Gentoo in the press ====================== Netcraft (14 March 2005) ------------------------ Netcraft Ltd.[23], a well-known Internet services company that, among other things, provides research data and analysis on many aspects of the Internet, recently analyzed the growth of Linux distributions in their web server survey. According to the results[24], Gentoo Linux "continues to roughly double each year, albeit from a low base". In the past six months the number of websites that run on Gentoo Linux has increased by 45.1 percent, to a total of 63,160. 23. http://www.netcraft.com 24. http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2005/03/14/fedora_makes_rapid_progress.html Newsforge (18 March 2005) ------------------------- Tom Chance's account[25] of a Gentoo Linux installation has been published on the Newsforge website. He describes the way Gentoo works, not just in technical terms, but also what's most appealing to him as a Gentoo user: "I appreciate the simple, solid package and configuration management systems that keep out of my way; I appreciate the helpful documentation; I find the user forums indispensable; and I appreciate the community approach enshrined in Gentoo's social contract." 25. http://os.newsforge.com/os/05/03/04/2035214.shtml?tid=2 =========================== 5. Moves, adds, and changes =========================== Moves ----- The following developers recently left the Gentoo team: * None this week Adds ---- The following developers recently joined the Gentoo Linux team: * None this week Changes ------- The following developers recently changed roles within the Gentoo Linux project: * Chris White (ChrisWhite) and Rajiv Manglani (rajiv) have left the Security Project * Mike Frysinger (vapier) has joined the Security Project * Tavis Ormandy (taviso) and Rob Holland (tigger) have been appointed auditors of the Security Project ================== 6. Gentoo security ================== Ringtone Tools: Buffer overflow vulnerability --------------------------------------------- The Ringtone Tools utilities contain a buffer overflow vulnerability, potentially leading to the execution of arbitrary code. For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[26] 26. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200503-18.xml MySQL: Multiple vulnerabilities ------------------------------- MySQL contains several vulnerabilities potentially leading to the overwriting of local files or to the execution of arbitrary code. For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[27] 27. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200503-19.xml curl: NTLM response buffer overflow ----------------------------------- curl is vulnerable to a buffer overflow which could lead to the execution of arbitrary code. For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[28] 28. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200503-20.xml Grip: CDDB response overflow ---------------------------- Grip contains a buffer overflow that can be triggered by a large CDDB response, potentially allowing the execution of arbitrary code. For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[29] 29. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200503-21.xml KDE: Local Denial of Service ---------------------------- KDE is vulnerable to a local Denial of Service attack. For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[30] 30. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200503-22.xml rxvt-unicode: Buffer overflow ----------------------------- rxvt-unicode is vulnerable to a buffer overflow that could lead to the execution of arbitrary code. For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[31] 31. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200503-23.xml LTris: Buffer overflow ---------------------- LTris is vulnerable to a buffer overflow which could lead to the execution of arbitrary code. For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[32] 32. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200503-24.xml OpenSLP: Multiple buffer overflows ---------------------------------- Multiple buffer overflows have been found in OpenSLP, which could lead to the remote execution of arbitrary code. For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[33] 33. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200503-25.xml Sylpheed, Sylpheed-claws: Message reply overflow ------------------------------------------------ Sylpheed and Sylpheed-claws contain a vulnerability that can be triggered when replying to specially crafted messages. For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[34] 34. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200503-26.xml =========== 7. Bugzilla =========== Summary ------- * Statistics * Closed bug ranking * New bug rankings Statistics ---------- The Gentoo community uses Bugzilla (bugs.gentoo.org[35]) to record and track bugs, notifications, suggestions and other interactions with the development team. Between 13 March 2005 and 20 March 2005, activity on the site has resulted in: 35. http://bugs.gentoo.org * 930 new bugs during this period * 527 bugs closed or resolved during this period * 28 previously closed bugs were reopened this period Of the 8324 currently open bugs: 93 are labeled 'blocker', 233 are labeled 'critical', and 604 are labeled 'major'. Closed bug rankings ------------------- The developers and teams who have closed the most bugs during this period are: * Gentoo KDE team[36], with 29 closed bugs[37] * media-video herd[38], with 21 closed bugs[39] * Gentoo Games[40], with 20 closed bugs[41] * Gentoo Security[42], with 19 closed bugs[43] * Gentoo's Team for Core System packages[44], with 19 closed bugs[45] * Perl Devs @ Gentoo[46], with 18 closed bugs[47] * Gentoo Linux Gnome Desktop Team[48], with 18 closed bugs[49] * AMD64 Porting Team[50], with 18 closed bugs[51] 36. [email protected] 37. http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2005-03-13&chfieldto=2005-03-20&resolution=FIXED&[email protected] 38. [email protected] 39. http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2005-03-13&chfieldto=2005-03-20&resolution=FIXED&[email protected] 40. [email protected] 41. http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2005-03-13&chfieldto=2005-03-20&resolution=FIXED&[email protected] 42. [email protected] 43. http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2005-03-13&chfieldto=2005-03-20&resolution=FIXED&[email protected] 44. [email protected] 45. http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2005-03-13&chfieldto=2005-03-20&resolution=FIXED&[email protected] 46. [email protected] 47. http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2005-03-13&chfieldto=2005-03-20&resolution=FIXED&[email protected] 48. [email protected] 49. http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2005-03-13&chfieldto=2005-03-20&resolution=FIXED&[email protected] 50. [email protected] 51. http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2005-03-13&chfieldto=2005-03-20&resolution=FIXED&[email protected] New bug rankings ---------------- The developers and teams who have been assigned the most new bugs during this period are: * AMD64 Porting Team[52], with 39 new bugs[53] * App-Backup Herd[54], with 35 new bugs[55] * Gentoo Sound Team[56], with 21 new bugs[57] * Gentoo Linux Gnome Desktop Team[58], with 14 new bugs[59] * Gentoo X-windows packagers[60], with 13 new bugs[61] * Gentoo Toolchain Maintainers[62], with 13 new bugs[63] * Gentoo Kernel Bug Wranglers and Kernel Maintainers[64], with 11 new bugs[65] * Mozilla Gentoo Team[66], with 10 new bugs[67] 52. [email protected] 53. http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2005-03-13&chfieldto=2005-03-20&[email protected] 54. [email protected] 55. http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2005-03-13&chfieldto=2005-03-20&[email protected] 56. [email protected] 57. http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2005-03-13&chfieldto=2005-03-20&[email protected] 58. [email protected] 59. http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2005-03-13&chfieldto=2005-03-20&[email protected] 60. [email protected] 61. http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2005-03-13&chfieldto=2005-03-20&[email protected] 62. [email protected] 63. http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2005-03-13&chfieldto=2005-03-20&[email protected] 64. [email protected] 65. http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2005-03-13&chfieldto=2005-03-20&[email protected] 66. [email protected] 67. http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2005-03-13&chfieldto=2005-03-20&[email protected] ==================== 8. Contribute to GWN ==================== Interested in contributing to the Gentoo Weekly Newsletter? Send us an email[68]. 68. [email protected] =============== 9. GWN feedback =============== Please send us your feedback[69] and help make the GWN better. 69. [email protected] ================================ 10. GWN subscription information ================================ To subscribe to the Gentoo Weekly Newsletter, send a blank email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe to the Gentoo Weekly Newsletter, send a blank email to [email protected] from the email address you are subscribed under. =================== 11. Other languages =================== The Gentoo Weekly Newsletter is also available in the following languages: * Danish[70] * Dutch[71] * English[72] * German[73] * French[74] * Japanese[75] * Italian[76] * Polish[77] * Portuguese (Brazil)[78] * Portuguese (Portugal)[79] * Russian[80] * Spanish[81] * Turkish[82] 70. http://www.gentoo.org/news/da/gwn/gwn.xml 71. http://www.gentoo.org/news/nl/gwn/gwn.xml 72. http://www.gentoo.org/news/en/gwn/gwn.xml 73. http://www.gentoo.org/news/de/gwn/gwn.xml 74. http://www.gentoo.org/news/fr/gwn/gwn.xml 75. http://www.gentoo.org/news/ja/gwn/gwn.xml 76. http://www.gentoo.org/news/it/gwn/gwn.xml 77. http://www.gentoo.org/news/pl/gwn/gwn.xml 78. http://www.gentoo.org/news/pt_br/gwn/gwn.xml 79. http://www.gentoo.org/news/pt/gwn/gwn.xml 80. http://www.gentoo.org/news/ru/gwn/gwn.xml 81. http://www.gentoo.org/news/es/gwn/gwn.xml 82. http://www.gentoo.org/news/tr/gwn/gwn.xml Ulrich Plate <[email protected]> - Editor Sebastian Bergmann <[email protected]> - Author Patrick Lauer <[email protected]> - Author -- [email protected] mailing list