Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter #131
John Crawford
johnc4510 at cox.net
Sun Mar 1 22:46:17 GMT 2009
Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue #131 for the week
February 22nd - February 28th, 2009. In this issue we cover: Jaunty
Alpha 5 Released, Needed: Countdown to Jaunty Banners, Ubuntu Global Bug
Jam Success, Voting for New MOTU Council seats, Ubuntu Server: Call for
testing, Next Ubuntu Hug Day, Developer News: Issue #2, LoCo Team
Meeting, Philadelphia Bug Jam, Chicago Bug Jam, Arizona team has new
website, Launchpad Performance Week Roundup, Launchpad 2.2.2 released,
Meet the Devs, Ubuntu podcast #20, Full Circle Magazine #22, UK
government backs open source, Random Ubuntu Sightings, Feburary Team
Meeting Summaries, Team of the Week(Ubuntu New Mexico), and much much more!
== UWN Translations ==
* Note to translators and our readers: We are trying a new way of
linking to our translations pages. Please follow the link below for the
information you need.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/Translations
== In This Issue ==
* Jaunty Alpha 5 Released
* Needed: Countdown to Jaunty Banners
* Ubuntu Global Bug Jam Success
* Voting for New MOTU Council seats
* Ubuntu Server: Call for testing
* Next Ubuntu Hug Day
* Developer News: Issue #2
* Ubuntu Stats
* LoCo Team Meeting
* Philadelphia Bug Jam
* Chicago Bug Jam
* Arizona team has new website
* Launchpad Performance Week Roundup
* Launchpad 2.2.2 released
* Meet the Devs
* In the Press & Blogosphere
* Ubuntu podcast #20
* Full Circle Magazine #22
* UK government backs open source
* Random Ubuntu Sightings
* February Team Meeting Summaries
* Upcoming Meetings & Events
* Team of the Week: Ubuntu New Mexico
* Updates & Security
== General Community News ==
=== Jaunty Alpha 5 Released ===
Jaunty Jackalope Alpha 5 has been released. Pre-releases of Jaunty are
*not* encouraged for anyone needing a stable system or anyone who is not
comfortable running into occasional, even frequent breakage. They are,
however, recommended for Ubuntu developers and those who want to help in
testing, reporting, and fixing bugs. Alpha 5 includes a number of
software updates that are ready for large-scale
testing. Please refer to http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/jaunty/alpha5
for information on changes in Ubuntu.
For those interested in helping with testing, reporting and fixing bugs,
the Alpha release can be obtained from:
* Ubuntu: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/jaunty/alpha-5/
* Edubuntu: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/releases/jaunty/alpha-5/
* Kubuntu: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/jaunty/alpha-5/
* Xubuntu: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/jaunty/alpha-5/
* Ubuntu Studio:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/jaunty/alpha-5/
* Mythbuntu: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/mythbuntu/releases/jaunty/alpha-5/
* Ubuntu Netbook Remix:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-netbook-remix/releases/jaunty/alpha-5/
* Ubuntu MID:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-mid/releases/jaunty/alpha-5/
* Ubuntu ARM: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/netboot/jaunty/alpha-5/
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2009-February/000540.html
=== Needed: Countdown to Jaunty Banners ===
Once again, countdown graphics are needed. And this time the call is
going out for others to help. This is a particularly unique opportunity
because your creative work will be seen by millions and millions and
millions of people across the world on many different websites.
Here are the guidelines for contributions:
* Lets keep the same size as before. It worked great. 180px wide x
150px high.
* Optimized png, gif or jpg format or, if you're gutsy, a lightweight
iframe containing static HTML (no php etc), javascript and images. No
google analytics or web bugs, no flash, small download size, only link
will be back to the ubuntu.com website. Animation should not be
perpetual (i.e. stop after a few seconds) and should not annoy people.
If you want to do the iframe thing ping me on IRC or email back to the
list and we can discuss some ideas.
* There are 32 images needed, days numbered 30 - 1, a "coming soon"
for day 0 and an "it's here" once 9.04 is released
* It is not needed nor recommended to try to incorporate the release
code name "Jaunty Jackalope" into the design
* We need to see results soon.
https://lists.canonical.com/archives/ubuntu-website/2009-February/000558.html
=== Ubuntu Global Bug Jam Success ===
Wow, what an incredible Ubuntu Global Bug Jam! Thanks to everyone who
got involved. It's safe to say, it not only beat the number of bugs
touched last year, but smashed it! Its events like this that really help
us spread the Ubuntu Ethos. Thanks to everyone who got involved and
helped make Ubuntu that bit better! Reports from the different events
are still coming in, but there are lots of pictures at the link below so
you can see for yourself.
http://www.jonobacon.org/2009/02/24/ubuntu-global-bug-jam-success/
Note: You can also read a short report on Global Bug Jam by
Nathan(nhandler) here: http://nhandler.wordpress.com/?p=49
=== Voting for New MOTU Council seats ===
It has been decided to increase the MOTU council to seven seats. There
are 3 community members up for nomination for the empty seats.
The nominees and their wiki pages:
* Daniel Holbach - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DanielHolbach
* Nathan Handler - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/nhandler
* Jonathan Daveies - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/JonathanDavies
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2009-February/027587.html
=== Ubuntu Server: Call for testing(Suspend, Hibernate, Resume) ===
Dustin Kirkland reports on what he's seen of the the ability of a server
to suspend, hibernate and resume. He was able to install the Ubuntu
Jaunty Server on my hardware, both suspend and hibernate the system from
the command line, and then remotely resume the system using wake-on-lan.
Now he would like feedback from the Ubuntu Server community on their
experiences. He provides detailed instructions on his blog for the
information he needs and how to gather it.
http://blog.dustinkirkland.com/2009/02/ubuntu-server-suspendhibernateresume.html
=== Next Ubuntu Hug Day! ===
Martin Mai provides us with the next Ubuntu Hug Day information:
* Date: 5th of March, 2009
* Target: flashplugin-nonfree
* Location: #ubuntu-bugs
* Page: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuBugDay/20090305
* Info: http://wiki.ubuntu.com/HelpingWithBugs/
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-news-team/2009-February/000423.html
=== Developer News: Issue #2 ===
The second edition of Ubuntu Developer News is out. For past items or to
submit your own please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com
UbuntuDevelopment/News More submissions for the developer news would be
very much appreciated.
In this issue of the Developer News they discuss the following:
* Karmic Koala Announced
* Jaunty Feature Freeze
* Per-package uploaders and developer team structure
* Python 2.6
* Removal of aRts
* Progress of the Mono 2.0 transition
* Packaging large Java stacks
* Kernel Stable Release Updates
* White-listing external repositories in apturl
* Kernel changes in Jaunty
* Hardware Clock handling
* The Stracciatella GNOME session
* Pulseaudio in Jaunty
* Status of Sugar on Ubuntu
* Kubuntu and ports
* Reinhard Tartler (siretart) resigns as MOTU Launchpad Liaison
* MySQL and Amarok
* New REVU Coordinator
* Ubuntu Studio in Jaunty
* Brainstorm for packaging requests?
* REVU gets Filtering and Tags
* Tools
* Developer Changes
* Meeting Minutes/Weekly Reports
You can read a short summary of the above points by following the link
below.
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2009-February/000537.html
== Ubuntu Stats ==
=== Bug Stats ===
* Open (47558) +372 over last week
* Critical (20) -2 over last week
* Unconfirmed (19194) +414 over last week
* Unassigned (39992) +404 over last week
* All bugs ever reported (254327) +2151 over last week
As always, the Bug Squad needs more help. If you want to get started,
please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad
=== Translation Stats Jaunty ===
* Spanish (19982) +882 over last week
* French (56307) +847 over last week
* Brazilian Portuguese (64582) -367 over last week
* Swedish (71985) -1822 over last week
* English (Uk) (83808) +4239 over last week
Remaining strings to translate in Ubuntu 9.04 "Jaunty Jackalope," see
more at: https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/jaunty/
=== Translation Stats Intrepid ===
* Spanish (15881) +/-0 over last week
* French (61243) -148 over last week
* Swedish (72656) +/-0 over last week
* Brazilian Portuguese (73976) -388 over last week
* English (UK) (81134) +/-0 over last week
Remaining strings to translate in Ubuntu 8.10 "Intrepid Ibex," see more
at: https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/intrepid/
=== 5-a-day bug stats ===
dholbach is in the process of refining the 5-a-day stats page. Here are
the finals for the latest Global Bug Jam as of the end of the event.
* gbj-fr-0902 297
* gbj-UK-0902 293
* club-ubuntu.org-GBJ09 269
* gbj-michigan-0902 266
* gbj-oklahoma-0902 162
* gbj-florida-0902 156
* gbj-fr-paris-0902 149
* gbj-chicago-0902 149
* gbj-colombia-0902 135
* gbj-fr-toulouse-0902 110
* gbj-za-0902 71
* gbj-pennsylvania-0902 68
* gbj-chile-0902 63
* gbj-berlin-0902 63
* gbj-dcteam-0902 55
* gbj-IE-0902 9
Total Bugs touched: 2315
=== Ubuntu Brainstorm Top 5 this week ===
* No file templates are installed by default
* Resolution of unknown monitors is only 800x600 Pixels
* Allow override of faulty resolution detection
* rhythmbox doesn't auto-rate my songs
* Whats happend after the updates?
Ubuntu Brainstorm is a community site geared toward letting you add your
ideas for Ubuntu. You can submit your own idea, or vote for or against
another idea. http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/
== LoCo News ==
=== LoCo Teams Meeting ===
The US LoCo teams held a meeing on the 28th of February to discuss and
share experiences, learn from each other, and see how other LoCos are
"getting it done." Nick Ali(boredandblogging) chaired the meeting, and
78 nicks were in the #ubuntu-locoteams channel to participate. A great
deal of discussion took place, and for that hour the channel was really
jumping. Congratulations to the LoCoTeams for an informative and
productive meeting. You can see a list of the main points discussed at
the link. http://tycheent.wordpress.com/2009/02/28/the-loco-teams-meeting/
=== Philadelphia Bug Jam ===
On Saturday Feb. 21st, the Philadelphia team of Ubuntu US Pennsylvania
hosted their BugJam. PLUG member Art Alexion graciously offered them
space at Resources for Human Development. They had a great room with
wired connections for the event, and access to a kitchen for their eats.
People started arriving around noon and they got things set up,
retrieved the Oreo Cake and sticky buns donated by Pechter’s Bread.
The team started things off on a social level, answering basic
questions, and getting everyone online with launchpad accounts. Lyz,
(pleia2) had drafted some handouts the night before, and Jim Fisher
supplied a bunch of printouts of the bug workflow charts. When people
were finally settled in Connor Imes did a short presentation tour of the
important Wiki pages and basics on how to find and handle bugs. The team
did a great job with 9 participants and 6 hours of work. Pictures at the
link.
http://princessleia.com/journal/?p=1464
=== Chicago Bug Jam ===
The Bug Jam started out with introductions all around before it got down
to some major bug squashing. All over the room, they had people triaging
and fixing bugs. Whenever somebody had a question, there was usually
someone in the room who had the answer. However, even with all of the
knowledgeable people that were present at the event, a question
regarding 5-a-day came up that nobody knew the answer to. Calls to
several people in the greater Ubuntu Community finally produced an
answer. All in all the Chicago Bug Jam was a success, and team members
really saw the meaning of what the Ubuntu Community is all about.
http://nhandler.wordpress.com/2009/02/22/chicago-global-bug-jam-2009/
=== Ubuntu-UK Bug Jam ===
Ubuntu-UK actually held 2 bug jams. One in Birmingham starting Friday,
and the other in London on Saturday. In both cases, the events were
well attended. There were people that didn't have Launchpad accounts,
either because they felt they didn't deserve one because they weren't
programmers or because they'd never heard of Launchpad. However,
everyone had an opportunity to participate in one way or another, and it
was a great learning experience for everyone.
http://blog.daviey.com/blogroll/ubuntu-uk-community-bug-jam-09.html
=== Arizona team has new website! ===
Ubuntu-Arizona has a new website and everyone is invited to visit and
give their opinion about it by voting in the poll on the website.
http://azloco.com The team put the site together using Drupal, and with
the help of several team members. 2 servers, rack space, and Internet
connection were donated to the team, making this site possible. The
better of the 2 servers is running the website, and soon will also be
offering free hosting to the LUG groups in Arizona. The second server is
being used to test programs, and for teaching server administration to
team members.
http://johnc4510.wordpress.com/2009/02/24/arizona-loco-team-has-new-website/
== Launchpad News ==
=== Launchpad Performance Week Roundup ===
As reported the beginning of February, Launchpad has been trying to
improve the performance of page loading on their site. Bug pages now
load only the first 80 comments, with a box in the space of the 81st
allowing one to go beyond that. The subscriber list is loaded
asynchronously, allowing the rest of the page to load without
bottleneck. The PPA disk usage information and the detail for each
package are both now loaded asynchronously with the detail only being
loaded when you click on the header. There are other enhancements that
have been done, and another Launchpad Performance Week will be performed
in April. Read more about the Launchpad Performance Week Roundup at the
link.
http://blog.launchpad.net/launchpad-performance-week/roundup-of-the-first-launchpad-performance-week
=== Launchpad 2.2.2 Released ===
Launchpad 2.2.2 has just made it easier to link to upstream bug reports.
Launchpad developer Graham Binns explains:
Launchpad will now give you direct links to the bug search and filing
forms in a project’s external tracker, so long as Launchpad knows the
tracker’s location.
To find the links, all you have to do is click “Also affects project”
on the bug report and select the project you want to link to.
See more at Graham's blog post: http://blog.launchpad.net/?p=534
http://blog.launchpad.net/releases/launchpad-222-easier-upstream-bug-linking
=== Meet the Devs ===
Matthew Revell of the Launchpad Team published 4 Launchpad interviews
this week in their "Meet the Devs" section. The interviews are diverse
and in depth, and worth the read. The interviewees work for different
Launchpad Teams: Launchpad Code Team, Registry Team, Bazaar, and
Translations. The full interviews are at the links:
* Michael Hudson:
http://blog.launchpad.net/meet-the-devs/meet-michael-hudson
* Brad Crittenden:
http://blog.launchpad.net/meet-the-devs/meet-brad-crittenden
* Tim Penhey: http://blog.launchpad.net/meet-the-devs/meet-tim-penhey
* Jeroen Vermeulen:
http://blog.launchpad.net/meet-the-devs/meet-jeroen-vermeulen
http://blog.launchpad.net/
== In The Press ==
=== Ubuntu 9.04's new login screen and more ===
Ubuntu 9.04 is getting closer and closer to the final release, so here's
a sneak peek at some of the upcoming features. One of these new features
that was introduced with this weeks updates was a brand new login screen
a.k.a. GDM (GNOME Display Manager) theme. It is black and has a nice
Ubuntu logo in the right bottom corner. The new login screen is entitled
"Human" and it was created by Kenneth Wimer and Mat Tomaszewski for
Canonical. Also included was a revamp "Where are You" which is part of
the Ubiquity installer. Finally the new "Notification" area was also
included in the updates. Screen shots of each of these improvements at
the link.
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ubuntu-9-04-039-s-New-Login-Screen-105319.shtml
=== Ubuntu bets on desktop sparkle ===
Alastair Otter from MyBroadband describes some of the desktop redesign
that is taking place with Ubuntu 9.04. The notification system, known as
Notify-OSD, is intended to integrate better with Jaunty and provide
system messages across all applications and keyboard actions. These are
meant to be slicker and less disruptive than previously. Also, the login
screen has been changed from the old brown screen. Now there will be a
new, mostly black login screen with redesigned graphics. Further
redesign will take place in Karmic Koala as it develops.
http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Software/7103.html
=== Ubuntu allies with Amazon and Dell ===
Dana Blankenhorn of ZDNet examines the alliances that Mark Shuttleworth
is building with Amazon and Dell. With Amazon, it's the EC2 Cloud
computing. Amazon's cloud isn't specific to a particular company's
applications, nor is it a custom built work. It's a service business
hosting serious applications. With Dell, it's the full line of Ubuntu
Netbooks and laptops. Unlike other companies, this is a single Linux
distribution support.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=3558
=== Netbook nightmare: My experiences with the Sylvania g netbook ===
Caitlyn Martin, writing on the O'Reilly website, relates her experiences
with the Sylvania g Netbook. Overall, she was not impressed with this
early version of the Sylvania Netbook. The first crashed within 10
days, and the second out of the box. Though she showed that, by wiping
the drive and installing Ubuntu it is possible to make it work, she
suggests that people forgo it for the newer Sylvania g Netbook Meso with
the preloaded Ubuntu Netbook Remix.
http://broadcast.oreilly.com/2009/02/netbook-nightmare-my-experienc.html
=== Subtle improvements to Ubuntu 9.04 Alpha 5 ===
Michael Larabel of Phoronix tells us that Ubuntu 9.04 is now at feature
freeze so there isn't much to expect in Jaunty Alpha 5, but there are a
few items worth highlighting. For one, the new desktop notification
system has landed in Ubuntu 9.04, which looks nice if you are running on
a composite desktop. There is a new log-in screen for Ubuntu 9.04, which
is mostly black with only a bit of orange. A completely new desktop
theme will not be here until Ubuntu 9.10, the Karmic Koala. The Ubiquity
installer for Ubuntu 9.04 has also picked up a new world map. Also
changed in the Ubiquity installer is the home encryption support, which
has been removed unless you pre-seed the option to Ubiquity. This option
has been temporarily dropped since there is no encrypted SWAP support,
which reduces the security benefit of an encrypted home directory. The
final alpha of Ubuntu 9.04 will be out in mid-March, and the final
release of Ubuntu 9.04 is scheduled for the 23rd of April.
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=NzA5Mw
=== Review: Ubuntu Mobile Edition ===
Paul Ferrill of Wi-Fi Planet takes a look at Ubuntu Mobile Edition, and
notes that the mobile Internet device (MID) space is one of the fastest
growing platforms with new concept designs appearing every month.
Ferrill was able to pick up one of the original Samsung Q1s from
woot.com, but he found out that while the Q1 XP Tablet edition
combination is functional, it just seemed like it wasn't made to fit the
small form factor. Installing software often produced the clipped dialog
screen problem where you couldn't see the buttons at the bottom to click
on them. Enter Ubuntu Mobile: Canonical and Intel have teamed up to
sponsor the Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded (UME) project with a goal of
providing the infrastructure and necessary components for mobile
application development. Images are available for download on the UME
Website for the Samsung Q1 Ultra and Elektrobit MIMD. The installation
procedure was well documented and easy to follow, and once the Q1 was
rebooted the user was presented a screen with large buttons that make it
easy to launch different applications with a finger touch. Ferrill's
overall impression is that Ubuntu Mobile Edition represents a good start
toward making the Linux operating system a viable alternative to Windows
for these ultra portable devices.
http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/reviews/article.php/3807391
== In The Blogosphere ==
=== Ubuntu runs one of every 3 Dell Netbooks sold ===
A blogger from Netbook Digest says that "Dell has made a strong effort
to support the Linux community." Dell's Director of Marketing announced
that "A third of our Mini 9 mix is Linux, which is well above the
standard attach rate for other systems that offer Linux." He mentions
that the blogosphere was saying that Linux netbooks were having a rate
of return that was four times higher, but Mr. Pinkert says that the
return rate was comparable. The blogger speculates that MSI wasn't
running Ubuntu so maybe the distro is the difference. He is interested
to see how things change once Google's Android OS is release for the
netbook market.
http://www.netbookdigest.com/2009/02/24/ubuntu-runs-on-one-of-every-three-dell-netbooks-sold/
=== Ubuntu is the new Windoze...Only Better...By Far ===
Ctolbert from Yore Foundation introduces us to his favorite open source
software like Mozilla's Firefox, which is used and recommended by many
people and organizations. He then leads us into an introduction to
Ubuntu. With netbooks coming out the way that they have, it has made
people notice another option, and that option is Linux. The benefits of
Linux, specifically Ubuntu, is evident. It's free, and has many
applications for everyday tasks: web browsing, note taking, file
sharing, document creation, and playing multimedia files. Linux also
doesn't need anti-virus software, it uses lower systems resources, and
has the ability to run as well on a lower powered machines.
http://www.yorefoundation.com/features/tech-tuesdays/2009/02/tech-tuesday/
=== Ubuntu 9.10: Better, or just better looking? ===
Christopher Tozzi from Works With U gives us his opinion on Mark
Shuttleworth's recently outlined development goals for Ubuntu 9.10
Karmic Koala. He first outlines the development goals which are: better
integration with cloud-computing environments, and the simplification of
cloud creation using open-source tools on Ubuntu Server Edition, faster
boot, seamless netbook support, taking advantage of kernel mode settings
to make the boot process and virtual terminals shinier and snappier, and
sprucing up the desktop by giving it a prettier default theme. He agrees
with making it easy to use Ubuntu servers as hosts for clouds, and he
believes it's critical to have hassle free netbook support. This blogger
doesn't like the focus on making the boot manager and default theme look
nicer. He concludes that, "the specifics of Ubuntu 9.10 won't emerge
till the developer conference in May, so extensive criticism at this
point is unwarranted. He hopes Shuttleworth and Canonical don't make the
mistake of giving looks priority over what really matters."
http://www.workswithu.com/2009/02/22/ubuntu-910-better-or-just-better-looking/
=== Ubuntu vs OSX smackdown ===
Shape Shed did a side by side comparison the different aspects:
appearance, text editor, Email client, web browser, music player,
twitter client, office applications, ftp client, and workspaces. He had
to work harder to get fonts they way he wanted, and still didn't like
how Ubuntu's desktop, so he gave this point to OSX for appearance. For
text editor he compared gedit with textmate, and due to terminal
integration in gedit he gave his point to Ubuntu. He didn't like
Evolution in Ubuntu, but did like Thunderbird more than Mail.app leading
him to give the point to Ubuntu. Safari and itunes got his nod over
Firefox and Rhythmbox. For office applications he compared iWork suite
to OpenOffice.org, and he gave the point to Ubuntu. For FTP client he
compared Transmit with gFTP, and due to gFTP having a "clunkier" UI than
Transmit he gave the point to OSX. His final score was OSX 5, Ubuntu 4.
Shape concludes that for his daily development work, Ubuntu would serve
him well, and he doesn't think it is that far behind. He also liked that
Ubuntu was much more configurable than OSX.
http://shapeshed.com/journal/ubuntu_v_osx_smackdown/
=== Is Red Hat taking aim at Ubuntu ===
Christopher Tozzi from Works With U looks into Red Hat's plans to go
back into the desktop market after concentrating on the server market
for so long. This has led people to believe that Red Hat is trying to go
after Ubuntu. Christopher points out that this is not the case, since
Red Hat is working on a thin-client deployment, and is more likely to be
competing with IBM which recently announced it's own thin-client system.
Christopher thinks that, Red Hat isn't set to challenge Ubuntu's
dominance of the Linux desktop in any serious way, or to encroachment
into Ubuntu's server market for now.
http://www.workswithu.com/2009/02/25/red-hat-taking-aim-at-ubuntu/
=== Unified Communications for Ubuntu Server Edition ===
Joe Panettieri talks about Unison Technologies fulfilling its promise to
offer free unified communications software on Ubuntu Server Edition.
"...Unison software is not open source, but Unison will offer a free,
advertising driven, version of its unified communications software to
customers running Ubuntu Server Edition." In a recent eWeek review of
the software they concluded that, "Unison Server and Desktop unified
communications software offers a good, basic UC experience, but lacks
too many features to be useful to enterprises with advanced UC needs."
The free price tag should help with small businesses looking for
cost-effective technologies. Mr. Panettieri concludes that, "Unison for
Ubuntu Server Edition represents a small but significant step in
Canonical's ongoing server initiative."
http://www.workswithu.com/2009/02/23/unified-communication-on-ubuntu-server-edition-special-delivery/
== In Other News ==
=== Ubuntu podcast #20 ===
In this podcast Nick and Josh bring you:
* Ubuntu 9.04 release
* New notification in Jaunty
* Kubuntu 8.04.2 release
* Ubuntu 9.10: Karmic Koala
* US Teams seeking Mentors
* Global Bug Jam summary
* EPC in Albuquerque
* Ubuntu wins LQ desktop of the year
* and much more
http://ubuntupodcast.net/
=== Full Circle Magazine #22 ===
Full Circle - the independent magazine for the Ubuntu Linux community is
proud to announce the release of their twenty-second issue.
This month:
* Command and Conquer - Resizing Images With FFMPEG.
* How-To : Program in C - Part 6, Web Development - Part 3, Installing
CrunchEEE To The EEE PC, and Spreading Ubuntu.
* My Story - Making The Switch
* Book Review - Ubuntu For Non-Geeks 3rd Edition
* MOTU Interview - Emanuele Gentili
* Top 5 - DVD Rippers
* PLUS: all the usual goodness...
Get it while it's hot! http://fullcirclemagazine.org/issue-22/
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-news-team/2009-February/000424.html
=== UK government backs open source ===
The UK government has said it will accelerate the use of open source
software in public services. Tom Watson MP, minister for digital
engagement, said open source software would be on a level playing field
with proprietary software such as Windows. According to the government
in the UK, Open source software will be adopted when it delivers best
value for money. It added that public services should, where possible,
avoid being locked into proprietary software. According to some in the
open source industry, the shift from proprietary standards could save
the government £600m a year.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7910110.stm
== Random Ubuntu Sightings ==
=== Bumping into Ubuntu users ===
Martin Albisetti happened upon an Ubuntu user in a somewhat unique way.
He was in a taxi going to a friend's house, when he struck up a
conversation with the driver. Martin is explaining about the work he
does for a company that makes a Linux distribution called Ubuntu. At
that point the driver freaked out, and grabbed his cell phone (while he
was driving), flips it open and displays the Ubuntu logo.
http://beuno.com.ar/archives/130
=== London Bus Shelter ===
An Ubuntu sticker has been sited on a bus shelter in south London.
http://mdzlog.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/random-ubuntu-sighting/
== Meeting Summaries: February 2009 Team Reports ==
=== Ubuntu Technical Board ===
==== Meeting 2009-02-10 ====
* Members present: Colin Watson (acting chair), Mark Shuttleworth,
Matt Zimmerman, Scott James Remnant
* Patent policy
* Assigned to Jono, but no progress to report yet. Still on the radar
because it blocks another TB ruling (ffmpeg).
* Policy for per-package upload permissions
* Emmet Hikory sent a proposal to the Technical Board mailing list,
which was discussed and largely agreed with a few generalizations
(remove language making it specific to small sets of packages and small
numbers of developers, and remove text about the lack of an existing
maintenance team). The Board will deal with final polishing and ratify
the proposal out of band.
* cdrtools
* Mark gave an update on the cdrtools inclusion situation. Joerg
Schilling has declined to grant a specific permission on his CDDL code,
and in the absence of that (or in the absence of a broader discussion
between CDDL and GPL stakeholders to resolve the license
incompatibility), Eben Moglen of SFLC informs us that we cannot ship
cdrtools. For the time being, the matter is closed.
* Kernel firmware licensing
* The Technical Board was approached with concerns about unclear
licensing on specific firmware components shipped in Ubuntu. The kernel
team has investigated this and has cleared everything except the DVB
firmware, which is still a work in progress. This is on track for 9.04.
In future, Pete Graner will review licences on all new firmware. This
does not represent a change in firmware licensing policy, but rather
simply ensuring that Ubuntu has the legal right to redistribute each
item of firmware.
* Kernel team upload privileges
* Pete Graner asked the Technical Board to consider restricted upload
privileges to kernel packages for Stefan Bader, who is responsible for
kernel maintenance in stable releases. The Board approved Stefan's
application and welcomed him to the development team.
=== Ubuntu Development Teams ===
==== Xubuntu Team ====
Artwork:
* Preliminary ideas for Jaunty artwork.
Bug Triage:
* Fixed the pages on the Xubuntu wiki for Bugs-Triage; made sure they
agree with QA bugsquad pages.
* Triaged a good number of bugs, some of the Xubuntu bugsquad
participated in the Global Bug Jam, which was a big success.
* Got many bugs fixed thanks to the successful upload of AbiWord 2.6.6
and Xfce 4.6 RC1.
Community:
* Following the Grow the Xubuntu Community specification:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Xubuntu/Roadmap/Specifications/Jaunty/GrowXubuntuCommunity
Documentation:
* Jim and Pasi are working to make Yelp look more Xubuntuish on Xubuntu.
* Jim has been integrating updates from Ubuntu documentation into
Xubuntu docs, and is finding the merge process helpful in fixing bugs
and incorporating info about new features.
* Much of the Xubuntu-specific documentation still needs to be
written, but some of it can be adapted from previous versions of Xubuntu
docs.
* Jim will be filing bugs against problem areas to help direct people
to areas where they can pitch-in during a Xubuntu-doc hug day.
Marketing:
* Committed a patch to website which fixes layout problems on Internet
Explorer. (This patch is pending an RT ticket.)
* Following the Grow the Xubuntu Community specification:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Xubuntu/Roadmap/Specifications/Jaunty/GrowXubuntuCommunity
Packaging, Development, & Testing:
* Released Alpha 4
* Uploaded all of Xfce 4.6 RC1 (Big Thanks to Lionel, Michael,
Jeromeg, and the Debian Xfce Team).
* Moved all our packages into bazaar branches and setup a number of
imports for Xfce components.
* Jeromeg uploaded xfce-switch-plugin (a user session switcher applet).
* Lionel uploaded a new version of gigolo (formerly known as Sion).
* Mario patched xfce4-session to not show the tips screen on first log in.
* Jeromeg uploaded xfce4-power-manager.
* Nathan Handler (nhandler) has been working with the samba browser
patch for Thunar.
=== Mobile Team ===
Spent some time reviewing the specs. In summary these are:
* The open source components of Ubuntu Netbook Remix (UNR) will be
fully integrated into the Jaunty release. An installation image will be
created by the distro team using the standard distro tools (ubiquity)and
this will include a modified seed and a modified set of applications.
These are:
* netbook-config # a default UNR configuration (gconf
settings, etc..)
* netbook-launcher # the UNR launcher
* desktop-switcher # a switcher between UNR desktop and gnome
* human-netbook-theme # the default UNR theme
* maximus # a window maximizer daemon
* window-picker-applet # a window picker panel applet
* go-home-applet # a go home panel applet
* webfav # a firefox extension to save bookmarks to
UNR launcher
The source for most of these packages is available at
https://code.edge.launchpad.net/unr
The image will also include standard Ubuntu packages that were
modified by the OEM
Services Group most notably to make the UI fit in 576 vertical
pixels. Also a modified
kernel is available here
http://kernel.ubuntu.com/git?p=mid-team/hardy-netbook.git;a=summary
* For the Mobile images a mobile setup wizard allows
user-customisation post-install to better support OEM rollouts. The
setup questions asked were reviewed
* The seeds for the Mobile flavours reflect the concepts inherent
midway through the intrepid development cycle, and management thereof
has not been adjusted to reflect changes in 8.10 final, those expected
as part of jaunty, or those expected in preparation for the archive
reorganization. The Mobile seeds shall be adjusted to match a model
expected to be stable for the next few cycles. This is not an end user
visible specification
* Provide a softboot loader for ARM to address outstanding issues with
the wide variety of methods used to boot ARM devices. One of the major
problems with the ARM architecture is that there is no standardized boot
framework like EFI/BIOS on a PC, or Open Firmware on a Mac, which makes
supporting Ubuntu on ARM a rather difficult process since not only the
kernel must be tweaked, but we also must add support to d-i for each
boot configuration we want to support. The basis of the soft boot loader
is to get a system to a point where it can load the main operating
system. It makes more sense to use the Linux kernel to load all the
necessary devices (IDE,USB etc), load the main kernel image, and then
boot into it
* With the armel architecture (Ubuntu supports the ARMv7 architecture)
appearing in ubuntu it needs to be identified which selection of images
should be built. ARM uses very specific boot methods for hardware that
can vary from board to board, the currently vfat/syslinux or
iso9660/isolinux image setup used for other architectures will not boot
right away, ARM will need special treatment and we need to identify a
bootloader process that works for the majority of the devices.
* Reviewing the lpia v i386 issue. The lpia architecture is a
maintenance burden for Ubuntu; we need to make sure it's useful enough
or dropped: either by asserting that it is useful enough, or by changing
it into something more useful. The lpia architecture also creates
problems of its own (incompatibility with third party .debs)
* David also cleaned up mobile related specs in Launchpad
=== Romanian Team ===
* New design for the Planet Ubuntu-ro page. Theme can be found in bzr
(https://code.edge.launchpad.net/~alexeftimie/ubuntu-ro/planet). The
page look like this: http://planet.ubuntu.ro/
* Committed our http://forum.ubuntu.ro theme and hacks we use with
FluxBB: https://code.edge.launchpad.net/~sushkov/ubuntu-ro/forum
=== Colombian Team ===
* Begin of the project of training to the members of the community on
IRC Classrooms: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ColombianTeam/Classrooms
* We made a Pre Ubuntu Global Bug Jam, where Andres Mujica taught us
how to work in the BugSquad and in the Global Bug Jam - Photo Gallery:
http://picasaweb.google.com/noticias.ubuntu.colombia/PreUbuntuGlobalBugJamColombia#
* We participate in the Ubuntu Global Bug Jam:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ColombianTeam/GlobalBugJam - Photo Gallery:
http://picasaweb.google.com/noticias.ubuntu.colombia/UbuntuCoGlobalBugJam#
=== Chicago Team ===
* Planned for the Ubuntu global Bug Jam, securing office space &
reaching out to members of the Free Software community who aren't
regular participants in Ubuntu-specific events.
* Actually participated in the Ubuntu Global Bug Jam, including about
25 on-site participants over two days!
* Discussed possibility of updating the Ubuntu-Chicago website using
the drupal loco-team template.
=== Florida Team ===
* The Tampa Linux meeting of the Florida LoCo was held Saturday, Feb
7, 2009. The attendees set the direction for the next few monthly
meetups and we managed to help a fellow member repair his Ubuntu
installation. The meeting brought a bunch of new faces and several
returning for more! Next meeting will be held on 7 March 2009. Meetup
info: http://meetup.com/Tampa-Linux for details!
* The Florida Team participated in the Ubuntu Global Bug Jam. We met
several new contributors and triaged over a hundred bugs.
* Planning continues for the 3/9/2009 Florida Linux Show. Ubuntu
Florida will be exhibiting and demoing Ubuntu and new Jaunty features.
* Next Meeting Date 3/3/2009
=== Pennsylvania Team ===
* Planned and promoted the Feb.21st Bug Jam:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PennsylvaniaTeam/EventsTeam/PhiladelphiaFeb2009BugJam
* Hosted Bug Jam!
* Photos: http://gallery.ubuntupennsylvania.org/main.php?g2_itemId=523
* Blog Post: http://princessleia.com/journal/?p=1464
=== Jordan Team ===
* Jad has resigned from Ubuntu Jordan. Khamis and Faisal taking care
of the team now
=== Ubuntu Arabic ===
* Jad is about to resign, still need to find a new team lead/contact.
=== Irish Team ===
* Hosted Ubuntu Global Bug Jam
* Blog posts:
*
http://meanmachine.wordpress.com/2009/02/22/ubuntu-ie-global-bug-jam-story/
* Pictures:
* Hard at work: http://twitpic.com/1ltp4
* Showing how it's done http://twitpic.com/1lw2q
* Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mean-machine/tags/globalbugjamfebruary09/
=== Arizona Team ===
* Received two new servers, rack space, and Internet connnection(all
donated): https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ArizonaTeam/Teams/Server
* New Team Website: http://azloco.com/
* Four IRC Meetings: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ArizonaTeam/Meetings
* Three Team Newletters: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ArizonaTeam/Newsletters
* One Installfest(Tucson):
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ArizonaTeam/Installfest/Intrepid-Tucson
=== Full Circle Magazine ===
* Issue #21 was released on time, and has been downloaded nearly
20,000 times.
* Translations uploaded: #19 Italian. #20 Hungarian, Chinese and
Turkish. #21 Russian.
* All book and badge prizes up to #21 sent off, finally. Sorry for the
delay folks!
* FCM#22 nearly complete, just need to add a couple of space filler
ads, some news, and it'll be ready for release this coming Friday, 27th
February.
== Upcoming Meetings and Events ==
=== Sunday, March 1, 2009 ===
==== Ubuntu Women Meeting ====
* Start: 17:00 UTC
* End: 18:00 UTC
* Location: #ubuntu-women on irc.freenode.net
* Agenda: http://wiki.ubuntu-women.org/Meetings/20090301
=== Monday, March 2, 2009 ===
==== EMEA Membership Board Meeting ====
* Start: 20:00 UTC
* End: 22:00 UTC
* Location: #ubuntu-meeting
* Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Membership/RegionalBoards/EMEA
=== Tuesday, March 3, 2009 ===
==== Asia Oceania Membership Board Meeting ====
* Start: 15:00 UTC
* End: 16:00 UTC
* Location: #ubuntu-meeting
* Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Membership/RegionalBoards/AsiaOceania
==== Server Team Meeting ====
* Start: 16:00 UTC
* End: 17:00 UTC
* Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
* Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ServerTeam/Meeting
==== Desktop Team Meeting ====
* Start: 16:30 UTC
* End: 17:30 UTC
* Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-desktop
* Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DesktopTeam/Meeting
==== Kernel Team Meeting ====
* Start: 17:00 UTC
* End: 18:00 UTC
* Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
* Agenda: Not listed as of publication
==== Community Council Meeting ====
* Start: 21:00 UTC
* End: 23:00 UTC
* Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
* Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CommunityCouncilAgenda
=== Wednesday, March 4, 2009 ===
==== Ubuntu-us-pa LoCo Team Meeting ====
* Start: 12:30 UTC
* End: 13:30 UTC
* Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-us-pa
* Agenda: None as of publication
==== Foundation Team Meeting ====
* Start: 16:00 UTC
* End: 17:00 UTC
* Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
* Agenda: None listed as of publication
==== QA Team Meeting ====
* Start: 17:00 UTC
* End: 18:00 UTC
* Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
* Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/Meetings/
=== Thursday, March 5, 2009 ===
==== Ubuntu Mobile Team Meeting ====
* Start: 12:00 UTC
* End: 13:00 UTC
* Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
* Agenda: None listed as of publication
==== Ubuntu Java Meeting ====
* Start: 14:00 UTC
* End: 15:00 UTC
* Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
* Agenda: None listed as of publication
=== Friday, March 6, 2009 ===
==== Jaunty Weekly Release Meeting ====
* Start: 15:00 UTC
* End: 16:00 UTC
* Location: #ubuntu-meeting
* Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReleaseTeam/Meeting/2009-03-06
==== Ubuntu US Teams Meeting ====
* Start: 22:00 UTC
* End: 23:00 UTC
* Location: #ubuntu-us
* Agenda: Mentoring approvals
== Community Spotlight ==
=== Team of the week ===
==== New Mexico Ubuntu LoCo projects keep moving forward ====
On February 7, 2009 the New Mexico team began the final work of the
installation of the Open Mesh network for the EPC campus. It took longer
than they expected, including some attic climbing. Thanks to LoCo member
Fred for getting covered in fiberglass insulation, and LoCo member Eric
for purchasing the open mesh routers. Thanks to David from the EPC
organization for "picking up lunch". The project still has some work to
do, but was very sucessfull. The team has done many things for EPC
including: creating a computer lab all running Ubuntu, computer classes
being taught in the lab, and now a mesh router running througout the EPC
campus. The team is looking to the future for more projects that they
can perform for EPC, and other organizations. Pictures of the project
can be found here:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Endorphin_Power_Company_Ubuntu_Install_and_Support/mesh_network_install
http://dthomasdigital.wordpress.com/2009/02/09/new-mexico-ubuntu-loco-projects-keep-moving-forward/
== Updates and Security for 6.06, 7.10, 8.04, and 8.10 ==
=== Security Updates ===
* USN-724-1: Squid vulnerability - http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-724-1
* USN-725-1: KMail vulnerability - http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-725-1
=== Ubuntu 6.06 Updates ===
* langpack-locales 2.3.18.17 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/dapper-changes/2009-February/012774.html
=== Ubuntu 7.10 Updates ===
* tzdata 2009b-0ubuntu0.7.10 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/gutsy-changes/2009-February/010328.html
* adobe-flashplugin 10.0.22.87-0gutsy3 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/gutsy-changes/2009-February/010329.html
=== Ubuntu 8.04 Updates ===
* tzdata 2009b-0ubuntu0.8.04 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2009-February/012190.html
* adobe-flashplugin 10.0.22.87-2 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2009-February/012191.html
* linux-meta 2.6.24.24.26 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/hardy-changes/2009-February/012192.html
=== Ubuntu 8.10 Updates ===
* cryptsetup 2:1.0.6-6ubuntu2.2 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/intrepid-changes/2009-February/009687.html
* tzdata 2009b-0ubuntu0.8.10 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/intrepid-changes/2009-February/009688.html
* adobe-flashplugin 10.0.22.87-2intrepid1 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/intrepid-changes/2009-February/009689.html
* linux 2.6.27-13.29 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/intrepid-changes/2009-February/009690.html
* linux-restricted-modules 2.6.27-13.18 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/intrepid-changes/2009-February/009691.html
* linux-backports-modules-2.6.27 2.6.27-13.14 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/intrepid-changes/2009-February/009692.html
* hugin 0.7.0~svn3191+beta5-1ubuntu1.1 -
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/intrepid-changes/2009-February/009693.html
== 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:
* John Crawford
* Craig A. Eddy
* Kenny McHenry
* Jeff Martin
* Dave Bush
* Liraz Siri
* And many others
== Glossary of Terms ==
1. GDM - GNOME Display Manager.
1. IRC - Internet Relay Chat.
1. LUG - Linux User's Group.
1. MID - Mobile Internet Device.
1. MOTU - Master Of The Universe - Developers responsible for the
Universe and Multiverse repositories.
1. OS - Operating System.
1. PPA - Personal Project Archive.
1. UME - Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded.
== Ubuntu - Get Involved ==
The Ubuntu community consists of individuals and teams, working on
different aspects of the distribution, giving advice and technical
support, and helping to promote Ubuntu to a wider audience. No
contribution is too small, and anyone can help. It's your chance to get
in on all the community fun associated with developing and promoting
Ubuntu. http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate
== Feedback ==
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