Gentoo Weekly Newsletter 11 April 2005
Ulrich Plate <[email protected]> Tue, 12 Apr 2005 03:09:14 +0200
| 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 11 April 2005. -------------------------------------------------------------------------= -- =20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D 1. Gentoo News =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =20 Web site face lift ------------------ =20 Xavier Neys[1]has applied some cosmetic touches to the official Gentoo=20 website. While the redesign of the site is still being worked on, the lis= t=20 of changes[2] reveals bug fixes for specific browser problems, the=20 introduction of justified text -- a much needed spring cleaning that iron= s=20 out some inconsistencies in the color scheme, prevents code samples from=20 running off the right edge of your screen, and includes other less visibl= e=20 adjustments.=20 1. [email protected] 2. http://www.gentoo.org/news/20050408-cosmetics.xml =20 Just in case the updates have created problems for you rather than solved= =20 the ones you may have had, please use Gentoo's bugzilla to file a bug=20 report. =20 Forum staff changes ------------------- =20 Great reshuffle of moderators and admins over at the Forums these days:=20 Administrator ian! (Christian Hartmann) left the Gentoo project two weeks= =20 ago, and also retired from his Forums duties. Thanks again for all the=20 work he did! To compensate for ian! leaving, moderators amne (Wernfried=20 Haas), kallamej (Anders Hellgren) and pilla (Mauricio Lima Pilla) have=20 become administrators, so no one needs to worry about spammers not gettin= g=20 banned or problems with inactive accounts not getting fixed in a timely=20 manner. tomk (Tom Knight) also joined the administrator team, mainly to=20 resume ian's work on improving the forums. Administrating one of the=20 largest user communities takes a lot of time, so it's good to hear that=20 two new global moderators, Maedhros (Jonathan Coome) and curtis119=20 (Michael Curtis Napier) have joined the moderator ranks: Maedhros is know= n=20 for being helpful in a lot of the support forums, curtis119 mostly for hi= s=20 presence among the OTW community. no4b (Adrian "Abaddon" Czerniak) and=20 fallow (Michal Kaczmarski) retired from their jobs as moderators in the=20 Polish forum, being replaced by arsen (Andrzej Olender) and _troll_=20 (Przemys=C5=82aw Maci=C4=85g), and last but not least slick (Uwe Hoelzel)= joined the=20 German forum moderator team. Welcome on board, Gentoomen! =20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D 2. Developer of the week =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =20 "Gentoo has the power to rule the world, but we're just not in the right=20 place yet." -- Jochen Maes (sejo) --------------------------------- =20 Figure 2.1: Jochen Maes aka SeJo http://www.gentoo.org/images/gwn/20050411_sejo.jpg =20 This week's special is SeJo, known in real life as Jochen Maes, one of ou= r=20 Belgian developers (living in Leuven at the moment). He fills many roles=20 in Gentoo: Developer relations, Gentoo/Java recruiter, Java/PPC lead, GLS= A=20 padawan, PPC security liaison (together with hansmi[3]). His Gentoo-work=20 is, obviously, recruiting, drafting GLSA, working on Java ebuilds, stable= =20 marking security bugs and general bugsquatting. Asked what he considers t= o=20 be the biggest OpenSource Project that lives, he points to himself --=20 albeit that statement leaves his audience wondering under what conditions= =20 the source code is made available.=20 3. [email protected] =20 The aquisition of the IBM-JRE/JDK license and adding it to the portage=20 tree as well as his work on porting Java 1.5 to PPC are the things he is=20 most proud of in Gentoo. His "normal" work is being done as a general=20 Linux specialist at the French IT-group Bull[4], where he does everything= =20 even remotely Linux- and VMware-related. His impressive skills are=20 self-taught, but he attends an evening school to get a bachelor in=20 computer science, which should be done by next year. After that he intend= s=20 to study Japanese...=20 4. http://www.bull.com/ =20 "Mozilla, Eclipse, pornview, vi, screen and definitely irssi!" are his=20 favourite applications, running mostly on his Powerbook G4 15" with 1.5GB= =20 (!) of memory. Other hardware is a Pegasos PPC, two Sun Ultra10, a Sun=20 Ultra5 and a Compaq Proliant 3000R, hosted in fellow Belgian Gentoo=20 developer pvdabeels[5] basement. Although he seems to be unaware of life=20 outside the computer, he describes the beginning of a normal day as "when= =20 I first get up I take a smoke and make some decaf. Then I kiss my=20 girlfriend good morning and all those things, and after that it's off to=20 work." His motivation shows in his favourite quote, borrowed from=20 Shakespeare's play Henry VI: "Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends"=20 (Part1, act III, scene III).=20 5. [email protected] =20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D 3. Heard in the community =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =20 Web forums ---------- =20 Banned from OTW =20 =20 * Bans from OTW[6]=20 6. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-317818.html =20 gentoo-dev ---------- =20 Virtuals revisited (Round 3) =20 Jason Stubbs[7] continues what he started a long time ago: "Back in my=20 quest to rid the tree of the evil virtuals and their plot to destroy my=20 mind. I think I've covered all bases with this one." For a longer=20 explanation of the issue please read the whole mail and the discussion it= =20 generated.=20 7. [email protected] =20 * Virtuals revisited [8]=20 8. http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.devel/26840 =20 Kernel/Header upgrades & confusion =20 John Mylchreest[9] writes: "To all of you who have had issues with the=20 kernel upgrade, or have confusions over the whole process, etc; Can I=20 please point you towards=20 http://planet.gentoo.org/developers/johnm/2005/04/05/kernel_sources"=20 9. [email protected] =20 * Kernel/Header upgrades & confusion [10]=20 * johnm's explanatory blog entry[11]=20 10. http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.devel/26808 11. http://planet.gentoo.org/developers/johnm/2005/04/05/kernel_sources =20 make.profile symlink problems =20 Some user who hadn't updated their Gentoo systems in a while may run into= =20 troubles because the 1.4 profiles have been deprecated. This combined wit= h=20 old versions of portage being unable to use cascading profiles makes=20 upgrading a lot more ... interesting.=20 =20 * make.profile symlink problems [12]=20 12. http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.devel/26892 =20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D 4. Gentoo International =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =20 UK: Preparations for UK LWE --------------------------- =20 Rob Holland[13] has assumed the role of coordinator for the group of=20 UK-based Gentoo developers and supporters who are busy preparing for the=20 London edition of the Linux World Expo to be held in October. While=20 there's still plenty of time for preparations, the first information abou= t=20 the event and a call for contributors[14] has already been posted: on a=20 freshly-baked Gentoo UK web server that doesn't hold much information yet= ,=20 but is scheduled to evolve into the UK's community web site for Gentoo=20 Linux.=20 13. [email protected] 14. http://gentoo.linux.co.uk/events/linuxworld05/ =20 Germany: Too late to save a drowning Gentoo ------------------------------------------- =20 It may look like a belated April fool's joke, but it's real -- and almost= =20 usable... Markus Leonhardt, a long-term Gentoo user and Forum regular has= =20 stripped his desktop PC of its case and lowered it into a basin full of=20 vegetable oil. His website[15] is entirely in German, but the pictures ar= e=20 rather self-explaining.=20 15. http://www.markusleonhardt.de/oelbilder.html =20 Figure 4.1: Gentoo host=20 http://www.gentoo.org/images/gwn/20050411_oil.jpg =20 Note: Photo courtesy of Markus Leonhardt =20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D 5. Gentoo in the press =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =20 NewsForge (4 April 2005) ------------------------ =20 Jem Matzan had an article[16] about the state of OS development for 64-bi= t=20 architectures in NewsForge last week, giving a short introduction to the=20 benefits of the AMD64 and EM64T instruction set architectures. Generally=20 upbeat about the ease of development for the platform, he finds Linux and= =20 FreeBSD maturing particularly well. "While at first it was difficult to=20 find many programs that would compile for 64-bit, today you can have a=20 complete desktop system that is entirely 64-bit without making too many=20 sacrifices," says the author, pointing to Gentoo Linux as one of the=20 sources for operational environments on 64-bit computers.=20 16.=20 http://os.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=3D05/03/30/1242206&tid=3D152&tid=3D= 2&tid=3D150&tid=3D74 =20 SYS-CON (11 March 2005) ----------------------- =20 "When I was younger, I ran out to buy the latest Led Zeppelin album - now= =20 I run out to get the latest build of Gentoo or Hula," reminisces Kevin=20 Bedell[17], the author of a piece[18] on open-source developers who he=20 thinks have become the same type of role models like the rock stars of hi= s=20 youth. Quoting people who write software for commercial companies, but=20 secretely dream of becoming open source heroes, the article may have been= =20 written with a tongue-in-cheek attitude, the comments look mostly like=20 people are taking the idea quite seriously.=20 17. [email protected] 18. http://www.linuxworld.com/story/49072.htm =20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D 6. Moves, adds, and changes =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D =20 Moves ----- =20 The following developers recently left the Gentoo team:=20 =20 * Michael Tindal =20 =20 Adds ---- =20 The following developers recently joined the Gentoo Linux team:=20 =20 * None this week=20 =20 Changes ------- =20 The following developers recently changed roles within the Gentoo Linux=20 project: =20 * Sven Vermeulen (swift) - Stepped down from the PR lead role =20 =20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D 7. Gentoo security =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =20 Gaim: Multiple Denial of Service issues --------------------------------------- =20 Multiple vulnerabilities have been found in Gaim which could allow a=20 remote attacker to crash the application.=20 =20 For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[19]=20 19. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200503-03.xml =20 phpWebSite: Arbitrary PHP execution and path disclosure ------------------------------------------------------- =20 Remote attackers can upload and execute arbitrary PHP scripts, another=20 flaw reveals the full path of scripts.=20 =20 For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[20]=20 20. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200503-04.xml =20 xli, xloadimage: Multiple vulnerabilities ----------------------------------------- =20 xli and xloadimage are vulnerable to multiple issues, potentially leading= =20 to the execution of arbitrary code.=20 =20 For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[21]=20 21. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200503-05.xml =20 BidWatcher: Format string vulnerability --------------------------------------- =20 BidWatcher is vulnerable to a format string vulnerability, potentially=20 allowing arbitrary code execution.=20 =20 For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[22]=20 22. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200503-06.xml =20 phpMyAdmin: Multiple vulnerabilities ------------------------------------ =20 phpMyAdmin contains multiple vulnerabilities that could lead to command=20 execution, XSS issues and bypass of security restrictions.=20 =20 For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[23]=20 23. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200503-07.xml =20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D 8. Bugzilla =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =20 Summary ------- =20 * Statistics=20 * Closed bug ranking=20 * New bug rankings=20 =20 Statistics ---------- =20 The Gentoo community uses Bugzilla (bugs.gentoo.org[24]) to record and=20 track bugs, notifications, suggestions and other interactions with the=20 development team. Between 03 April 2005 and 10 April 2005, activity on th= e=20 site has resulted in:=20 24. http://bugs.gentoo.org =20 * 798 new bugs during this period=20 * 471 bugs closed or resolved during this period=20 * 23 previously closed bugs were reopened this period=20 =20 Of the 8518 currently open bugs: 88 are labeled 'blocker', 247 are labele= d=20 'critical', and 634 are labeled 'major'.=20 =20 Closed bug rankings ------------------- =20 The developers and teams who have closed the most bugs during this period= =20 are:=20 =20 * AMD64 Porting Team[25], with 51 closed bugs[26] =20 * Xavier Neys[27], with 21 closed bugs[28] =20 * Gentoo KDE team[29], with 21 closed bugs[30] =20 * Gentoo's Team for Core System packages[31], with 16 closed bugs[32] =20 * Sven Vermeulen[33], with 13 closed bugs[34] =20 * Java team[35], with 12 closed bugs[36] =20 * Gentoo Toolchain Maintainers[37], with 11 closed bugs[38] =20 * Netmon Herd[39], with 11 closed bugs[40] =20 25. [email protected] 26.=20 http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DRESOLVED&bug_status=3DCLO= SED&chfield=3Dbug_status&chfieldfrom=3D2005-04-03&chfieldto=3D2005-04-10&= resolution=3DFIXED&[email protected] 27. [email protected] 28.=20 http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DRESOLVED&bug_status=3DCLO= SED&chfield=3Dbug_status&chfieldfrom=3D2005-04-03&chfieldto=3D2005-04-10&= resolution=3DFIXED&[email protected] 29. [email protected] 30.=20 http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DRESOLVED&bug_status=3DCLO= SED&chfield=3Dbug_status&chfieldfrom=3D2005-04-03&chfieldto=3D2005-04-10&= resolution=3DFIXED&[email protected] 31. [email protected] 32.=20 http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DRESOLVED&bug_status=3DCLO= SED&chfield=3Dbug_status&chfieldfrom=3D2005-04-03&chfieldto=3D2005-04-10&= resolution=3DFIXED&[email protected] 33. [email protected] 34.=20 http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DRESOLVED&bug_status=3DCLO= SED&chfield=3Dbug_status&chfieldfrom=3D2005-04-03&chfieldto=3D2005-04-10&= resolution=3DFIXED&[email protected] 35. [email protected] 36.=20 http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DRESOLVED&bug_status=3DCLO= SED&chfield=3Dbug_status&chfieldfrom=3D2005-04-03&chfieldto=3D2005-04-10&= resolution=3DFIXED&[email protected] 37. [email protected] 38.=20 http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DRESOLVED&bug_status=3DCLO= SED&chfield=3Dbug_status&chfieldfrom=3D2005-04-03&chfieldto=3D2005-04-10&= resolution=3DFIXED&[email protected] 39. [email protected] 40.=20 http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DRESOLVED&bug_status=3DCLO= SED&chfield=3Dbug_status&chfieldfrom=3D2005-04-03&chfieldto=3D2005-04-10&= resolution=3DFIXED&[email protected] =20 New bug rankings ---------------- =20 The developers and teams who have been assigned the most new bugs during=20 this period are:=20 =20 * Gentoo Sound Team[41], with 24 new bugs[42] =20 * Gentoo KDE team[43], with 14 new bugs[44] =20 * Gentoo Linux Gnome Desktop Team[45], with 13 new bugs[46] =20 * media-video herd[47], with 11 new bugs[48] =20 * Desktop Misc. Team[49], with 11 new bugs[50] =20 * Gentoo Kernel Bug Wranglers and Kernel Maintainers[51], with 10 new=20 bugs[52] =20 * Text-Markup Team[53], with 9 new bugs[54] =20 * Mozilla Gentoo Team[55], with 9 new bugs[56] =20 41. [email protected] 42.=20 http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DNEW&bug_status=3DASSIGNED= &bug_status=3DREOPENED&chfield=3Dassigned_to&chfieldfrom=3D2005-04-03&chf= ieldto=3D2005-04-10&[email protected] 43. [email protected] 44.=20 http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DNEW&bug_status=3DASSIGNED= &bug_status=3DREOPENED&chfield=3Dassigned_to&chfieldfrom=3D2005-04-03&chf= ieldto=3D2005-04-10&[email protected] 45. [email protected] 46.=20 http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DNEW&bug_status=3DASSIGNED= &bug_status=3DREOPENED&chfield=3Dassigned_to&chfieldfrom=3D2005-04-03&chf= ieldto=3D2005-04-10&[email protected] 47. [email protected] 48.=20 http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DNEW&bug_status=3DASSIGNED= &bug_status=3DREOPENED&chfield=3Dassigned_to&chfieldfrom=3D2005-04-03&chf= ieldto=3D2005-04-10&[email protected] 49. [email protected] 50.=20 http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DNEW&bug_status=3DASSIGNED= &bug_status=3DREOPENED&chfield=3Dassigned_to&chfieldfrom=3D2005-04-03&chf= ieldto=3D2005-04-10&[email protected] 51. [email protected] 52.=20 http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DNEW&bug_status=3DASSIGNED= &bug_status=3DREOPENED&chfield=3Dassigned_to&chfieldfrom=3D2005-04-03&chf= ieldto=3D2005-04-10&[email protected] 53. [email protected] 54.=20 http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DNEW&bug_status=3DASSIGNED= &bug_status=3DREOPENED&chfield=3Dassigned_to&chfieldfrom=3D2005-04-03&chf= ieldto=3D2005-04-10&[email protected] 55. [email protected] 56.=20 http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DNEW&bug_status=3DASSIGNED= &bug_status=3DREOPENED&chfield=3Dassigned_to&chfieldfrom=3D2005-04-03&chf= ieldto=3D2005-04-10&[email protected] =20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D 9. Contribute to GWN =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =20 Interested in contributing to the Gentoo Weekly Newsletter? Send us an=20 email[57].=20 57. [email protected] =20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D 10. GWN feedback =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =20 Please send us your feedback[58] and help make the GWN better. 58. [email protected] =20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D 11. GWN subscription information =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =20 To subscribe to the Gentoo Weekly Newsletter, send a blank email to=20 [email protected].=20 =20 To unsubscribe to the Gentoo Weekly Newsletter, send a blank email to=20 [email protected] from the email address you are=20 subscribed under.=20 =20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D 12. Other languages =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =20 The Gentoo Weekly Newsletter is also available in the following languages= : =20 * Danish[59] =20 * Dutch[60] =20 * English[61] =20 * German[62] =20 * French[63] =20 * Japanese[64] =20 * Italian[65] =20 * Polish[66] =20 * Portuguese (Brazil)[67] =20 * Portuguese (Portugal)[68] =20 * Russian[69] =20 * Spanish[70] =20 * Turkish[71] =20 59. http://www.gentoo.org/news/da/gwn/gwn.xml 60. http://www.gentoo.org/news/nl/gwn/gwn.xml 61. http://www.gentoo.org/news/en/gwn/gwn.xml 62. http://www.gentoo.org/news/de/gwn/gwn.xml 63. http://www.gentoo.org/news/fr/gwn/gwn.xml 64. http://www.gentoo.org/news/ja/gwn/gwn.xml 65. http://www.gentoo.org/news/it/gwn/gwn.xml 66. http://www.gentoo.org/news/pl/gwn/gwn.xml 67. http://www.gentoo.org/news/pt_br/gwn/gwn.xml 68. http://www.gentoo.org/news/pt/gwn/gwn.xml 69. http://www.gentoo.org/news/ru/gwn/gwn.xml 70. http://www.gentoo.org/news/es/gwn/gwn.xml 71. http://www.gentoo.org/news/tr/gwn/gwn.xml =20 Ulrich Plate <[email protected]> - Editor Wernfried Haas <[email protected]> - Author Patrick Lauer <[email protected]> - Author -- [email protected] mailing list