Gentoo Weekly Newsletter 21 November 2005

Ulrich Plate <[email protected]> Mon, 21 Nov 2005 01:16:10 +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 November 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
European Gentoo Developer Conference
------------------------------------
 =20
Around 20 participants spent an icy November day at Schloss Kransberg[1],=
=20
the venue for the second European Gentoo developer conference. Hosted in=20
splendid isolation outside Frankfurt by GWN editor Ulrich Plate[2], the=20
all-day event was attended by developers from Denmark, France, Switzerlan=
d=20
Germany and the Netherlands.=20
 1. http://www.schloss-kransberg.de
 2. [email protected]
=20
Figure 1.1: Devs pYrania and tantive with Forum regular Inte in front of=20
the castle
http://www.gentoo.org/images/gwn/20051121_castle.jpg
=20
The program included presentations by Damien Krotkine[3] who explained hi=
s=20
libconf approach to make configuration file management a more rational=20
affair, and Fabian Groffen who gave a rundown of past and future=20
endeavours of the reanimated Gentoo on Mac OS X project. Markus Nigbur[4]=
=20
introduced his efforts at rewriting the old Gentoo statistics client,=20
gentoo-stats, which is humming away nicely in a test environment, but has=
=20
to wait for the latest PHP and MySQL in the stable tree before it becomes=
=20
eligible for official hosting.=20
 3. [email protected]
 4. [email protected]
=20
Figure 1.2: Short break between presentations
http://www.gentoo.org/images/gwn/20051121_devcon.jpg
=20
A big part of the discussion before lunch was centered around efforts to=20
set up a master mirror in Europe to help alleviate the load on Gentoo's=20
infrastructure at OSU. Patrick Lauer[5] gave a status report on=20
negotiations with potential sponsors, the scope and timeline for setting=20
up a master distfiles and/or rsync mirror was discussed, and the=20
participants agreed on aiming to get everything up and running before the=
=20
2006.0 release.=20
 5. [email protected]
=20
Tobias Scherbaum[6] presented an overview of the redesign efforts at the=20
German Gentoo website which include development of a content management=20
system to benefit other national web presences, too, Ulrich Plate reporte=
d=20
about a number of Gentoo book projects currently in planning or making,=20
and the afternoon session closed with a lightning talk by the castle's=20
owner and guest speaker Klaus Landefeld[7] who introduced the local CraNe=
t=20
infrastructure project that connects households in the Kransberg village=20
via Linux-based WLAN routers to the castle's WLL internet uplink. The=20
open-floor discussion just before dinner touched on other topics, with=20
demands for wider tinderbox availability ranking highest.=20
 6. [email protected]
 7. [email protected]
=20
The Kransberg meeting is due to be repeated, on an alternating schedule=20
with developer meetings at Brussels' FOSDEM in February. Next year it wil=
l=20
be detached from the German edition of the Linux World Expo, and moved=20
ahead on the calendar towards the end of summer, to avoid the sound of=20
clattering teeth interrupting presentations. And since several developers=
=20
had expressed interest in attending and presenting papers at the=20
conference, but couldn't find the financial means in their budgets,=20
finding sponsors to cover travel expenses will be an important part of th=
e=20
preparations for the next time.=20
   =20
2005.1 media refresh: 2005.1-r1 released
----------------------------------------
 =20
A media refresh over the 2005.1 release has been announced on Sunday.=20
Since it mainly contains bug fixes, not all architectures warranted this=20
intermediate release, but namely AMD64, PPC64, SPARC, and x86 took the=20
opportunity to refresh their stages and installation CD images before nex=
t=20
year's 2006.0 release. Install media for other architectures than the one=
s=20
mentioned, and all 2005.1 package CDs remain unchanged and are available=20
as-is.=20
   =20
Gentoo Weekly News via RSS feed
-------------------------------
 =20
Thanks to Xavier Neys[8], the GWN is now available as an RSS feed. Xavier=
=20
added the rss.xml files and edited the English[9] and French[10] overview=
=20
pages to mention the feed at the beginning. The list of languages at the=20
end of the overview file also lists the available feeds.=20
 8. [email protected]
 9. http://www.gentoo.org/news/en/gwn/gwn.xml
 10. http://www.gentoo.org/news/fr/gwn/gwn.xml
   =20
phpgroupware no longer in the tree
----------------------------------
 =20
Due to outstanding security bugs, the upstream homepage no longer being=20
available, and no releases in over a year, phpgroupware will be removed=20
from the Portage tree. Anyone still using it is asked to switch to=20
egroupware or any other suitable replacement.=20
   =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
2. 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
gentoo-dev
----------
 =20
use.defaults and pointless commits
=20
Some users may have wondered why some USE flags seemingly automatically=20
changed (and reverted a bit later). This was caused by a commit to=20
use.defaults, a file that is used by portage to set USE flags on package=20
installation (emerge gnutls and the gnutls USE flag will be set globally)=
.=20
During the following discussion it became apparent that this is a mostly=20
unneeded feature that may be removed in the future.=20
=20
 *  [11]=20
 11. http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.devel/32923
=20
Gentoo Council Meeting, GLEP 41
=20
The Gentoo Council had its third monthly meeting on November 15. The=20
summary was posted to the mailing list shortly after. GLEP 41 (Making arc=
h=20
testers official Gentoo staff), which was not accepted during the last=20
meeting as it needed some minor changes, was accepted by the council. Due=
=20
to a communication error it seemed as if there were last minute changes=20
(which were only communicated a bit late). This lead to a long discussion=
=20
about procedures, the content of the GLEP and became one of the largest=20
threads of the last months.=20
=20
 * Gentoo Council Meeting Summary [12]=20
 * Email subdomain [13]=20
 * Request for changes to GLEP 41 [14]=20
 * implementation details for GLEP 41 [15]=20
 12. http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.devel/32886
 13. http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.devel/32931
 14. http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.devel/33025
 15. http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.devel/33030
   =20
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
3. 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
Italy: Only five days to go until Gentoo Day!
---------------------------------------------
 =20
The schedule[16] for the 3rd Italian Gentoo Day has been published,=20
including highlights like the first public presentation on Gentoo FreeBSD=
=20
by a Gentoo developer, Diego Petten=C3=B2[17]. His introductory speech wi=
ll be=20
followed by an assisted installation session, while other activists of th=
e=20
GeCHI[18] center their talks around applications like Openoffice and GIMP=
.=20
Three parallel tracks will make the Gentoo Day a luxurious event for=20
everyone who'd like to learn more about Gentoo. Details about the event=20
can be found at the official Gentoo Forum thread[19] and the GeCHI's own=20
forum[20] (all links in Italian)."=20
 16.=20
http://213.92.116.64/ical/day.php?cal=3Dall_calendars_combined971&getdate=
=3D200
51126
 17. [email protected]
 18. http://ww.gechi.it
 19. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-p-2853724.html
 20. http://www.gechi.it/forums/viewtopic.php?p=3D1632
   =20
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
4. 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
Distrowatch (14 November 2005)
------------------------------
 =20
Kororaa[21] is an installer project spun off Gentoo Linux, or as Ladislav=
=20
Bodnar puts it[22], "an independently developed, user-friendly=20
installation method for Gentoo Linux and a full-featured Gentoo-based=20
distribution." The announcement on Distrowatch comes as the the second=20
beta version of Kororaa was released, to be followed by a Gnome version=20
called Gororaa soon.=20
 21. http://kororaa.org
 22. http://distrowatch.com/?newsid=3D03042
   =20
Linux.com (31 October 2005)
---------------------------
 =20
Irfan Habib[23] makes mention of Portage as one specimen of "a new breed=20
of distributed package management systems" that aim to overcome the=20
defects of traditional package managers. His article at Linux.com[24]=20
compares Portage to Conary[25], a binary distribution tree used by=20
rPath[26], evaluating inherent differences and similarities in both=20
methods' network-based repository approach.=20
 23. [email protected]
 24. http://enterprise.linux.com/enterprise/05/10/31/1949218.shtml
 25. http://wiki.conary.com/
 26. http://www.rpath.com/
   =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
5. Gentoo developer moves
=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 project:=20
=20
 * None this week=20
   =20
Adds
----
 =20
The following developers recently joined the Gentoo project:=20
=20
 * Joshua Nichols (nichoj) - Java=20
 * Damian Florczyk (thunder) - Gentoo/NetBSD lead=20
 * Alexey Chumakov (achumakov) - Russian lead translator=20
   =20
Changes
-------
 =20
The following developers recently changed roles within the Gentoo project=
:
=20
 * Lisa M. Seelye (lisa) - added ccache and memcached to prior=20
responsibilities=20
   =20
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
6. Gentoo Security
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
  =20
Scorched 3D: Multiple vulnerabilities
-------------------------------------
 =20
Multiple vulnerabilities in Scorched 3D allow a remote attacker to deny=20
service or execute arbitrary code on game servers.=20
=20
For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[27]=20
 27. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200511-12.xml
   =20
Sylpheed, Sylpheed-Claws: Buffer overflow in LDIF importer
----------------------------------------------------------
 =20
Sylpheed and Sylpheed-Claws contain a buffer overflow vulnerability which=
=20
may lead to the execution of arbitrary code.=20
=20
For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[28]=20
 28. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200511-13.xml
   =20
GTK+ 2, GdkPixbuf: Multiple XPM decoding vulnerabilities
--------------------------------------------------------
 =20
The GdkPixbuf library, that is also included in GTK+ 2, contains=20
vulnerabilities that could lead to a Denial of Service or the execution o=
f=20
arbitrary code.=20
=20
For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[29]=20
 29. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200511-14.xml
   =20
Smb4k: Local unauthorized file access
-------------------------------------
 =20
A vulnerability has been identified that allows unauthorized access to th=
e=20
contents of /etc/sudoers and /etc/super.tab files.=20
=20
For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[30]=20
 30. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200511-15.xml
    =20
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
7. Bugzilla
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
 =20
Statistics
----------
 =20
The Gentoo community uses Bugzilla (bugs.gentoo.org[31]) to record and=20
track bugs, notifications, suggestions and other interactions with the=20
development team. Between 13 November 2005 and 20 November 2005, activity=
=20
on the site has resulted in:=20
 31. http://bugs.gentoo.org
=20
 * 680 new bugs during this period=20
 * 364 bugs closed or resolved during this period=20
 * 28 previously closed bugs were reopened this period=20
=20
Of the 9040 currently open bugs: 106 are labeled 'blocker', 199 are=20
labeled 'critical', and 556 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
 * Alexey Chumakov[32], with 22 closed bugs[33] =20
 * Gentoo KDE team[34], with 19 closed bugs[35] =20
 * Gentoo Games[36], with 19 closed bugs[37] =20
 * AMD64 Porting Team[38], with 18 closed bugs[39] =20
 * Gentoo Security[40], with 13 closed bugs[41] =20
 * PPC Porters[42], with 13 closed bugs[43] =20
 * Gentoo Science Related Packages[44], with 11 closed bugs[45] =20
 * Gentoo X-windows packagers[46], with 10 closed bugs[47] =20
 32. [email protected]
 33.=20
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DRESOLVED&bug_status=3DCLO=
SED&chfield=3Dbug_status&chfieldfrom=3D2005-11-13&chfieldto=3D2005-11-20&=
resolution=3DFIXED&[email protected]
 34. [email protected]
 35.=20
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DRESOLVED&bug_status=3DCLO=
SED&chfield=3Dbug_status&chfieldfrom=3D2005-11-13&chfieldto=3D2005-11-20&=
resolution=3DFIXED&[email protected]
 36. [email protected]
 37.=20
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DRESOLVED&bug_status=3DCLO=
SED&chfield=3Dbug_status&chfieldfrom=3D2005-11-13&chfieldto=3D2005-11-20&=
resolution=3DFIXED&[email protected]
 38. [email protected]
 39.=20
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DRESOLVED&bug_status=3DCLO=
SED&chfield=3Dbug_status&chfieldfrom=3D2005-11-13&chfieldto=3D2005-11-20&=
resolution=3DFIXED&[email protected]
 40. [email protected]
 41.=20
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DRESOLVED&bug_status=3DCLO=
SED&chfield=3Dbug_status&chfieldfrom=3D2005-11-13&chfieldto=3D2005-11-20&=
resolution=3DFIXED&[email protected]
 42. [email protected]
 43.=20
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DRESOLVED&bug_status=3DCLO=
SED&chfield=3Dbug_status&chfieldfrom=3D2005-11-13&chfieldto=3D2005-11-20&=
resolution=3DFIXED&[email protected]
 44. [email protected]
 45.=20
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DRESOLVED&bug_status=3DCLO=
SED&chfield=3Dbug_status&chfieldfrom=3D2005-11-13&chfieldto=3D2005-11-20&=
resolution=3DFIXED&[email protected]
 46. [email protected]
 47.=20
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DRESOLVED&bug_status=3DCLO=
SED&chfield=3Dbug_status&chfieldfrom=3D2005-11-13&chfieldto=3D2005-11-20&=
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
 * Default Assignee for New Packages[48], with 44 new bugs[49] =20
 * X11 External Driver Maintainers[50], with 10 new bugs[51] =20
 * Gentoo Sound Team[52], with 9 new bugs[53] =20
 * Gentoo Science Related Packages[54], with 9 new bugs[55] =20
 * Gentoo X-windows packagers[56], with 8 new bugs[57] =20
 * Xavier Neys[58], with 7 new bugs[59] =20
 * Gentoo Kernel Bug Wranglers and Kernel Maintainers[60], with 7 new=20
bugs[61] =20
 * Lim Swee Tat[62], with 6 new bugs[63] =20
 48. [email protected]
 49.=20
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DNEW&bug_status=3DASSIGNED=
&bug_status=3DREOPENED&chfield=3Dassigned_to&chfieldfrom=3D2005-11-13&chf=
ieldto=3D2005-11-20&[email protected]
 50. [email protected]
 51.=20
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DNEW&bug_status=3DASSIGNED=
&bug_status=3DREOPENED&chfield=3Dassigned_to&chfieldfrom=3D2005-11-13&chf=
ieldto=3D2005-11-20&[email protected]
 52. [email protected]
 53.=20
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DNEW&bug_status=3DASSIGNED=
&bug_status=3DREOPENED&chfield=3Dassigned_to&chfieldfrom=3D2005-11-13&chf=
ieldto=3D2005-11-20&[email protected]
 54. [email protected]
 55.=20
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DNEW&bug_status=3DASSIGNED=
&bug_status=3DREOPENED&chfield=3Dassigned_to&chfieldfrom=3D2005-11-13&chf=
ieldto=3D2005-11-20&[email protected]
 56. [email protected]
 57.=20
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DNEW&bug_status=3DASSIGNED=
&bug_status=3DREOPENED&chfield=3Dassigned_to&chfieldfrom=3D2005-11-13&chf=
ieldto=3D2005-11-20&[email protected]
 58. [email protected]
 59.=20
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DNEW&bug_status=3DASSIGNED=
&bug_status=3DREOPENED&chfield=3Dassigned_to&chfieldfrom=3D2005-11-13&chf=
ieldto=3D2005-11-20&[email protected]
 60. [email protected]
 61.=20
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DNEW&bug_status=3DASSIGNED=
&bug_status=3DREOPENED&chfield=3Dassigned_to&chfieldfrom=3D2005-11-13&chf=
ieldto=3D2005-11-20&[email protected]
 62. [email protected]
 63.=20
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=3DNEW&bug_status=3DASSIGNED=
&bug_status=3DREOPENED&chfield=3Dassigned_to&chfieldfrom=3D2005-11-13&chf=
ieldto=3D2005-11-20&[email protected]
   =20
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
8. GWN feedback
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
  =20
Please send us your feedback[64] and help make the GWN better.=20
 64. [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
9. 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
  =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
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
10. 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[65] =20
 * Dutch[66] =20
 * English[67] =20
 * German[68] =20
 * French[69] =20
 * Korean[70] =20
 * Japanese[71] =20
 * Italian[72] =20
 * Polish[73] =20
 * Portuguese (Brazil)[74] =20
 * Portuguese (Portugal)[75] =20
 * Russian[76] =20
 * Spanish[77] =20
 * Turkish[78] =20
 65. http://www.gentoo.org/news/da/gwn/gwn.xml
 66. http://www.gentoo.org/news/nl/gwn/gwn.xml
 67. http://www.gentoo.org/news/en/gwn/gwn.xml
 68. http://www.gentoo.org/news/de/gwn/gwn.xml
 69. http://www.gentoo.org/news/fr/gwn/gwn.xml
 70. http://www.gentoo.org/news/ko/gwn/gwn.xml
 71. http://www.gentoo.org/news/ja/gwn/gwn.xml
 72. http://www.gentoo.org/news/it/gwn/gwn.xml
 73. http://www.gentoo.org/news/pl/gwn/gwn.xml
 74. http://www.gentoo.org/news/pt_br/gwn/gwn.xml
 75. http://www.gentoo.org/news/pt/gwn/gwn.xml
 76. http://www.gentoo.org/news/ru/gwn/gwn.xml
 77. http://www.gentoo.org/news/es/gwn/gwn.xml
 78. http://www.gentoo.org/news/tr/gwn/gwn.xml
  =20
Ulrich Plate <[email protected]> - Editor
Patrick Lauer <[email protected]> - Author

--=20
[email protected] mailing list