Ubuntu Weekly News: Issue #33

Martin Albisetti argentina at gmail.com
Sun Mar 25 21:51:48 BST 2007


Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue #33 for the week March
18th - March 24th, 2007. In this issue we cover Feisty Fawn's beta
release, newly approved Ubuntu members, the big effort the "Ubuntu
Desktop Effects" team is doing, and all the buzz about Ubuntu going on
in the press and the blogosphere.


== In This Issue ==

 * Feisty Fawn Beta relased
 * New Ubuntu Members
 * Interview with Mark Shuttleworth
 * Team of the Week: Desktop Effects

== General Community News ==

=== 7.04 Beta Released ===

The march to the final release of 7.04 came this week, with the
release of Beta's for Edubuntu, Ubuntu and Kubuntu. You can read more
about what has changed since 6.10 for Ubuntu at
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/FeistyFawn/Beta and Kubuntu at
https://wiki.kubuntu.org/FeistyFawn/Beta/Kubuntu. The official press
release: http://www.ubuntu.com/news/Ubuntu704Beta

=== kubuntu-de.org interviews Jonathon Riddell about KDE 4 ===

Kubuntu-de.org has interviewed Jonathon Riddell about KDE 4 and
Kubuntu's plan for it. The interviewer asked about when end users
might see a test version, with Jonathon commenting the libraries for
KDE are already in the archives. You can read the whole interview, in
German at http://www.kubuntu-de.org/nachrichten/software/kde/kde4-und-kubuntu
and in English at
http://www.kubuntu-de.org/interview-mit-riddell-zu-kde4-englisch

=== Google Summer of Code student application deadline in now March 27th ===

The deadline for student applications to Google's Summer of Code has
now been moved to 5:00 PM Pacific time (12:00 AM UTC March 27, 2007).
Further information can be found at
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/GoogleSoC2007/Students

=== Newly Approved Ubuntu Members ===

The last Community Council meeting approved a whole raft of new Ubuntu
members. Read on for a quick bio on each.
 * Gabor Suveg
    Gabor is the leader of the Hungarian Translation Team and has been
involved in organizing and speaking at many OSS conferences like
Hungarian Ubuntu Conference 2006. He is organizing the Feisty press
release in Budapest.    https://launchpad.net/~gsuveg
 * Eric Lake
    Eric is the co-founder and leader of the Kentucky Local Community
Team and an active member of the forums. He plans to start a charity
project that will focus on providing PCs to people that can not afford
to purchase one. https://launchpad.net/~ericlake
 * Tiago Faria
    Tiago is the founder and maintainer of Ubuntu Weblogs. Tiago is a
member of the Portuguese Ubuntu Translators, provides support on the
Ubuntu-PT mailing list, and is translating Dapper Drake. He also
maintains the Portuguese translation of the UWN.
https://launchpad.net/~gouki
 * Martin Albisetti
    Martin is the editor of the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter and is active
on other efforts of the Marketing Team. He founded and currently leads
the Argentina Local Community Team, and is an official Spanish
Translator. https://launchpad.net/~beuno
 * David Farning
    David started the Mozilla Team and Derivative Team.
https://launchpad.net/~dfarning
 * Dave Murphy
    Dave is co-authoring the second edition of The Official Ubuntu
Book. He has represented the UK Loco Team at the recent Linux World
Expo in London. Dave is a member of Ubuntu English (United Kingdom)
translation team and has contributed translations to Dapper and
Feisty. https://launchpad.net/
 * Morgan Collett
    Morgan was previously a launchpad developer and is currently
working on making the South African Team more active. He is also
hosting an Ubuntu Birds of a Feather discussion at the Digital Freedom
Exposition in April. https://launchpad.net/~morgan
 * Cory Kontros
    Corey manages the Ubuntu Studio project and is an active member of
the forums. https://launchpad.net/~coryisatm/

=== Albin Tonnerre joins MOTU ===

Albin Tonnerre has joined the ranks of MOTUs, primarily to work on
Enlightenment packaging and reviewing of non-MOTU packaging. You can
read the full announcement at
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2007-March/023438.html

== Development News ==

=== Matt Zimmerman evaluates two months of split development list ===

It has now been two months since the development mailing list was
split into two parts. Matt Zimmermann has sent an email summarising
the change as well as asking for advice on how to deal with topics
that are posted to both -devel and -devel-discuss. A lively discussion
resulted, with no real conclusion. You can read the start of the
thread at https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2007-March/023335.html.

=== New Bug tags, including Bite Size ===

Daniel Holbach has announced some new bug tags in Malone, including
"bitesize" for very small tasks. You can read the entire announcement
at https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2007-March/000263.html.

=== Feedback requested on NFS work ===

Michael Vogt has requested feedback after discovering that users
upgrading from 6.10 to 7.04 will have issues mounting NFS drives. He
outlines a few different remedies, none of which are optimal. You can
read the start of the discussion at
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2007-March/023433.html.

=== Testing requested on the new desktop-effects and restricted-manager ===

New in Feisty are two different graphical utils, one to manage whether
or not you want desktop effects via compiz and the other to tell you
which non-free drivers you are using. As it is late in the development
cycle, more testing is needed to make certain that they both work as
needed. You can read how to help testing at
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2007-March/023429.html.

=== New Kernel Team bug triage policies ===

Ben Collins, lead of the Kernel Team, has announced new bug triage
guidelines for the kernel, in the hopes that workflow amongst the
kernel team will be better. You can read the full email at
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2007-March/000265.html

=== Bug traceback for the masses ===

After an application has crashed, the new apport bug tool grabs what
is known as a backtrace. Usually these bug traces are useless on their
own and need to "retraced" to get useful information for the
developers. As such, bugs traces that need to be retraced can now be
tagged as such and the retracing will happen automatically. You can
read more about how to take advantage of this at
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2007-March/023440.html.

=== Developing using Bazaar (bzr) ===

Matt Zimmerman sought feedback on the use of Bazaar, the distributed
revision control system, for packaging, specifically regarding
specific tools such as bzr-builddeb. You can read more about how to
help at https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2007-March/023399.html.

=== Longstanding bug reporting bug fixed ===

A longstanding bug in Ubuntu,
https://beta.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/7839, was fixed this week with
the removal of reportbug, a tool inherited from Debian and the
finishing of Apport, a new bug reporting tool in Ubuntu.

== In The Press ==

OS News has a glowing review of Feisty. The article states Ubuntu has
a found a good middle ground between hard core Linux users and new
users coming from Windows and OS X. Read the full article:
http://www.osnews.com/story.php/17505/Ubuntu-Feisty-Fawn-Desktop-Linux-Matured/

India PRWire has an article about how open-source software like Ubuntu
and Open Office support many bigger Indian language groups like
Assamese, Gujarati, Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil
and Telugues. The article states that adding support for languages is
not difficult and can be done easily with language packs. Read the
full article: http://www.indiaprwire.com/businessnews/20070321/21597.htm

[http://www.laverdad.com La Verdad], the most popular newspaper in
Maracaibo, talks twice in less than two weeks about the use of Ubuntu
on the desktop and went as far as showing how to install it.
[http://www.laverdad.com  La verdad] sources this information from the
Spanish newspaper "EL PAIS." During the FMp3 show, The Radio Station
"la megaestación", possibly the largest radio station in Venezuela,
discusses how Ubuntu is a real alternative in the OS world.
http://flickr.com/photos/87048530@N00/430421616/ How to install linux
http://flickr.com/photos/87048530@N00/430421611/ How to install linux 2
http://flickr.com/photos/87048530@N00/430421607/ The Ubuntu Desktop
http://www.ubuntu-ve.org/?q=system/files/lamega.mp3 Fmp3 AUDIO

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation covers Ubuntu and how "adopting
Linux can be painless, free". The article talks about how the average
user can do e-mail, web surfing, picture editing, listening to music,
making spreadsheets and basic word processing easily with Ubuntu.
Resurrecting old machines and the usage of Live CDs are discussed.
Read the full article:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/tech/linux.html

eWEEK ranks Mark Shuttleworth 33rd in its 2007 list of Top 100 Most
Influential People in IT. The four pronged criteria consists of: the
person's tangible track record of information technology success, the
scope of influence the person has beyond his or her own organization,
the ability of the individual to effect changem  the level of
engagement the person has in developing today's emerging technologies.
Read Mark's blurb:
http://www.eweek.com/slideshow_viewer/0,1205,l=&s=26744&a=203626&po=19,00.asp?p=y

Information Week goes through the Ubuntu installation process on an
old computer which was previously used only for web surfing and email.
The writer states Ubuntu can be used successfully instead of spending
money to upgrade hardware. With the Internet becoming more Web 2.0,
users will be able to use free software that is fast enough and secure
enough for basic needs. Read article:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=198500289


== In The Blogoshpere ==

'Questions please...' is a podcast website that interviews individuals
involved in OSS. This week's guest, Mark Shuttleworth, covers topics
like GNOME, why he started Ubuntu and his thoughts on space travel.
http://questionsplease.org/new/node/12

Rolando Blanco, an Ubuntu members, posts that a Venuzuelan government
related institution has decided to deploy 850 Ubuntu/Kubuntu deskop
machines. 30 Ubuntu virtual servers will be added with Xen.
http://blog.blanco.net.ve/2007/03/ubuntu-takes-advantage.html

Tiago Sousa blogs about a new feature in Feisty which searches the
respositories for applications when the user types a command to start
an application not installed on the system.
http://niath.blogspot.com/2007/03/command-not-found.html

"Only Ubuntu Linux" posts two methods for upgrading from Edgy to
Feisty. Screenshots are included to help a user through the process.
http://onlyubuntu.blogspot.com/2007/03/upgrade-ubuntu-610-edgy-eft-to-ubuntu.html

Ben Gray's thoughts on Feisty, additional eye-candy and restricted
driver support. http://openswitch.org/2007/03/20/a-feisty-fawn-indeed/

Bill Beebe covers the Feisty beta and his use of the Disk Usage
Analyzer. http://blogbeebe.blogspot.com/2007/03/ubuntu-704-beta-out-and-about.html

Ambuj Varshney writes about various applications that can give new
life to older machines under Ubuntu.
http://linuxondesktop.blogspot.com/2007/03/13-applications-to-install-on-ubuntu.html

== Meetings and Events ==

=== Ubuntu Hug Day now every Friday! ===
Ubuntu Bug Squad will be holding the first of what will be weekly Hug
Days on Friday,
March 23rd.  This also follows the Beta release of Feisty Fawn scheduled
for the 22nd.
So on 23 March 2007, in all timezones, we'll be meeting in
#ubuntu-bugs on irc.freenode.net for another Ubuntu Bug Day:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuBugDay

=== Tuesday, March 27, 2007 ===

==== MOTU Meeting ====
 * Start: 08:00
 * End: 10:00
 * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
 * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MOTU/Meetings

==== Technical Board Meeting ====
 * Start: 20:00
 * End: 22:00
 * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
 * Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/TechnicalBoardAgenda

=== Wednesday, March 28, 2007 ===

==== Edubuntu Meeting ====
 * Start: 20:00
 * End: 22:00
 * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
 * Agenda: https://wiki.edubuntu.org/EdubuntuMeetingAgenda

==== Xubuntu Meeting ====
 * Start: 22:00
 * End: 23:59
 * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
 * Topic: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Xubuntu/Meetings

=== Thursday, March 29, 2007 ===

==== Ubuntu Development Team Meeting ====
 * Start: 21:00
 * End: 23:00
 * Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting

=== Saturday, March 31, 2007 ===

==== Ubuntu Conference in Croatia ====
 * Start: 00:00
 * End: 23:59
 * Location: Zagreb, Croatia
 * For more info: http://www.ubuntu-hr.org/konferencija/index.en.php


== Community Spotlight ==

=== Ubuntu Desktop Effects ===

The ubuntu-desktop-effects team seeks to bring Compiz and Beryl to the
Ubuntu desktop, make it easy to install, and painless to run.
Basically they're bringing the *bling* to Ubuntu and making it very
easy for us to get it working.
Quoting Mark Shuttleworth, "There's been a furious amount of activity
from the MOTU and Beryl upstreams to get these packages ready for
Feisty inclusion - cleaning up copyright issues as well as getting the
packages themselves into first class order."
If you feel you can help them out, join their launchpad team:
https://beta.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-desktop-effects

== Updates and security for 6.06 and 6.10 ==

=== Security Updates ===

 * USN-437-1: libwpd vulnerability -  http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-437-1
 * USN-438-1: Inkscape vulnerability - http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-438-1
 * USN-439-1: file vulnerability - http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-439-1
 * USN 440-1: mysql-dfsg-5.0 vulnerability -http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-440-1

=== Ubuntu 6.06 LTS Updates ===

 * evolution-data-server 1.6.1-0ubuntu6 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/dapper-changes/2007-March/012380.html
 * dosemu 1.2.2-3ubuntu0.1 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/dapper-changes/2007-March/012381.html

=== Ubuntu 6.10 Updates ===

 * evolution-data-server 1.8.1-0ubuntu4 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/edgy-changes/2007-March/008257.html
 * update-manager-core 0.56~edgy1 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/edgy-changes/2007-March/008259.html
 * update-manager-core 0.56~edgy2 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/edgy-changes/2007-March/008264.html
 * update-manager-core 0.56~edgy3 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/edgy-changes/2007-March/008263.html
 * gtetrinet 0.7.10-1ubuntu0.2 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/edgy-changes/2007-March/008266.html
 * python-imaging 1.1.5-10ubuntu1 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/edgy-changes/2007-March/008267.html
 * popularity-contest 1.33ubuntu2.3 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/edgy-changes/2007-March/008268.html
 * epiphany-browser 2.16.1-0ubuntu4 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/edgy-changes/2007-March/008270.html
 * nautilus 2.16.1-0ubuntu3.2  -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/edgy-changes/2007-March/008269.html
 * ubiquity 1.2.7  -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/edgy-changes/2007-March/008271.html
 * update-notifier 0.43.4 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/edgy-changes/2007-March/008272.html
 * mod-mono 1.1.17-3edgy1 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/edgy-changes/2007-March/008273.html

== Bug Stats ==

    * Open (24925) +633 # over last week
    * Critical (18) +1 # over last week
    * Unconfirmed (11683) -213 # over last week
    * Unassigned (17801) -124 # over last week
    * All bugs ever reported (85660) +2490 # over last week

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

Check out the bug statistics: http://people.ubuntu-in.org/~carthik/bugstats/

== Archives and RSS Feed ==

You can always find older Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter issues at:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter

You can subscribe to the Ubuntu Weekly News via RSS at:
http://fridge.ubuntu.com/uwn/feed

== Additional Ubuntu News ==

As always you can find more news and announcements at:

 http://www.ubuntu.com/news

and

 http://fridge.ubuntu.com/

== Conclusion ==

Thank you for reading the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter.

See you next week!

== Credits ==

The Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter is brought to you by:

## The following list is in chronological order.

 * Martin Albisetti
 * Corey Burger
 * Nick Ali
 * Freddy Martinez
 * And many others

== Feedback ==

This document is maintained by the Ubuntu Marketing Team. Please feel
free to contact us regarding any concerns or suggestions by either
sending an email to ubuntu-marketing at lists.ubuntu.com or by using any
of the other methods on the Ubuntu Marketing Team Contact Information
Page (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam). If you'd like to
contribute to a future issue of the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, please
feel free to edit the appropriate wiki page.


More information about the ubuntu-news mailing list