Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue #174 for the week December 27th - January 2nd, 2010. In this issue we cover: Edubuntu Council Elections Results, Call for votes: Ubuntu Developer Membership Board election, New IRC Council Appointments, Ubuntu User Days Announcement, Ubuntu will be at Anime Boston 2010, 2010 Launchpad Release Calendar, Trying Out Launchpad Translations, The Planet: Amber, Daniel, Matthew, Steven, and Daniel, Full Circle Magazine #32, December Team Reports, 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. <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/Translations">https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/Translations</a> == In This Issue == * Edubuntu Council Elections Results * Call for votes: Ubuntu Developer Membership Board election * New IRC Council Appointments * Ubuntu User Days Announcement * Ubuntu Stats * Ubuntu will be at Anime Boston 2010 * 2010 Launchpad Release Calendar * Trying Out Launchpad Translations * The Planet: Amber, Daniel, Matthew, Steven, and Daniel * In the Press & Blogosphere * Full Circle Magazine #32 * December Team Reports * Meetings & Events * Updates & Security == General Community News == === Edubuntu Council Elections Results === The Edubuntu Council has announced the results of the Council Elections [1][2]. The following nominees were all voted into the Council by the Edubuntu Members team: * Stéphane Graber - <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/stgraber">https://wiki.ubuntu.com/stgraber</a> * Jonathan Carter - <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/JonathanCarter">https://wiki.ubuntu.com/JonathanCarter</a> * Richard Johnson - <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RichardJohnson">https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RichardJohnson</a> * Scott Balneaves - <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ScottBalneaves">https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ScottBalneaves</a> * Alkis Georgopoulos - <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/AlkisGeorgopoulos">https://wiki.ubuntu.com/AlkisGeorgopoulos</a> * Jordan Erickson - <a href="https://launchpad.net/~lns">https://launchpad.net/~lns</a> Congratulations to these new Edubuntu Council Members! And thanks to the Edubuntu community for working to make this such a smooth process. 1. <a href="https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-news-team/2009-November/000754.html">https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-news-team/2009-November/000754.html</a> 2. <a href="https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-news-team/2009-December/000800.html">https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-news-team/2009-December/000800.html</a> <a href="https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-news-team/2009-December/000815.html">https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-news-team/2009-December/000815.html</a> === Call for votes: Ubuntu Developer Membership Board election === Voting has begun to determine who will hold the seats on the newly established Developer Membership Board, which is responsible for determining when, how and to whom to grant privileges related to Ubuntu development. In particular, the DMB will take over the membership functions previously held by the Technical Board and MOTU Council. More information at: * <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DeveloperMembershipBoard">https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DeveloperMembershipBoard</a> and * <a href="http://mdzlog.alcor.net/2009/12/08/call-for-nominations-ubuntu-developer-membership-board/">http://mdzlog.alcor.net/2009/12/08/call-for-nominations-ubuntu-developer-membership-board/</a> Like this year’s Technical Board election, the poll is using the Condorcet Internet Voting system. Ballots have been sent privately to each eligible voter (member of ~ubuntu-dev), based on a list of email addresses harvested from Launchpad. <a href="http://fridge.ubuntu.com/node/1963">http://fridge.ubuntu.com/node/1963</a> === New IRC Council Appointments === We are very pleased to finally announce the following new members of the IRC Council, as selected by the Community Council based on feedback from the incumbent IRC Council and the IRC Community: * Juha Siltala (topyli) <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/JuhaSiltala">https://wiki.ubuntu.com/JuhaSiltala</a> * Terence Simpson (tsimpson) <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/TerenceSimpson">https://wiki.ubuntu.com/TerenceSimpson</a> * Nathan Handler (nhandler) <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/nhandler">https://wiki.ubuntu.com/nhandler</a> We on the Community Council wish to publicly thank the incumbent IRC Council for their thorough feedback regarding all the candidates, as well as all feedback that we received from folks in the IRC community. All of this feedback was valuable to helping us make the most informed decision possible to help the IRC community move forward. <a href="https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-irc/2009-December/000825.html">https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-irc/2009-December/000825.html</a> === Ubuntu User Days Announcement === Chris Johnston, Elizabeth Krumbach, Penelope Stowe and Mark Cox volunteered to take the lead on a project to introduce beginning and intermediate users to Ubuntu. "The idea behind this is to take users from no knowledge of how to use Ubuntu, to installing it, finding programs that are equivalent to the programs they used in either a Windows or Mac environment, the basics of running Ubuntu, and how to get help when it is needed." More information on Ubuntu User Days and the complete schedule can be found at <a href="http://wiki.ubuntu.com/UserDays">http://wiki.ubuntu.com/UserDays</a> . <a href="http://chrisjohnston.org/2009/ubuntu-user-days-january-23-2010">http://chrisjohnston.org/2009/ubuntu-user-days-january-23-2010</a> == Ubuntu Stats == === Bug Stats === * Open (76886) +452 over last week * Critical (40) -1 over last week * Unconfirmed (40039) +333 over last week As always, the Bug Squad needs more help. If you want to get started, please see <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad">https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad</a> === Translation Stats Karmic === 1. Spanish (11800) -487 over last week 2. French (44101) -1685 over last week 3. Brazilian Portuguese (45039) -499 over last week 4. Swedish (66418) -197 over last week 5. English (United Kingdom) (68583) -3287 over last week Remaining strings to translate in Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala", see more at: <a href="https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/karmic/">https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/karmic/</a> === Ubuntu Brainstorm Top 5 this week === * Warning when running update manager while using battery - <a href="http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/23211/">http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/23211/</a> * It's annoying when applications start up and take focus away from what your doing - <a href="http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/23209/">http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/23209/</a> * It's important that 3rd party repositories can be added with 1 click - <a href="http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/23207/">http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/23207/</a> * No Error Message - <a href="http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/23220/">http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/23220/</a> * Make it easier for people that use a custom kernel - <a href="http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/23208/">http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/23208/</a> 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. <a href="http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/">http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/</a> == LoCo News == === Ubuntu will be at Anime Boston 2010 === The Massachusetts LoCo Team has made their primary target of $700 and will be attending Anime Boston 2010, and thanks all those who donated so far. This secures them a booth at the event. But they still need printed materials to distribute. They need an additional $1500 to have copies of the Ubunchu Manga to give out. Donations can be made at <a href="http://www.ubuntu-massachusetts.com/events/9/">http://www.ubuntu-massachusetts.com/events/9/</a> . <a href="http://blog.thesilentnumber.me/2009/12/ubuntu-will-be-at-anime-boston-2010.html">http://blog.thesilentnumber.me/2009/12/ubuntu-will-be-at-anime-boston-2010.html</a> == Launchpad News == === 2010 Launchpad Release Calendar === The Launchpad Release Calendar for 2010 has been posted to the Launchpad Development wiki[1]. Note that they are using the <a href="http://YY.MM">YY.MM</a> naming to match the Ubuntu model. Having a public release calendar is particularly useful for anyone wanting to contribute to our open source project. It is also helpful for users to know when we’re likely to have down-time or read-only time. Maintenance and system status can be found at the <a href="http://identi.ca">identi.ca</a> website[2] 1. <a href="https://dev.launchpad.net/Releases/2010Calendar">https://dev.launchpad.net/Releases/2010Calendar</a> 2. <a href="http://identi.ca/launchpadstatus">http://identi.ca/launchpadstatus</a> <a href="http://blog.launchpad.net/releases/2010-launchpad-release-calendar">http://blog.launchpad.net/releases/2010-launchpad-release-calendar</a> === Trying Out Launchpad Translations === There is now a "playground" or staging area to try out Launchpad translations. To use it you will, of course, need a Launchpad login and at least one gettext translation template (”.pot file”) with strings from your program. Then you can: 1. Set up a project - This is done on the project registration page. If you already have a project registered it will show up in staging. 2. Set up a development branch - You may have one already on the real Launchpad, but staging is different, and you will need to set one up there. * You have a bzr branch on your local system - This will have to be pushed up to the staging area. * You have a bzr branch on Launchpad - You will need to get the branch from Launchpad and place it in an empty directory on your system, then push it to staging. * You don’t have a bzr branch - This is for those who are using a different version control system to be able to create a .pot file to push up to staging. 3. Set up a translations export branch - This creates the area from which you can pull the translations into your local branch. 4. Configuring imports and exports - You now have two branches, one to import templates from and another to export translations to. Next you configure imports from your development branch and exports to your translations branch. 5. Check up on the imports - They may be Approved (awaiting importing), Imported, or Failed. 6. Translate! - Clicking on one of the languages in the translations list with the red bars will take you to the template’s translation page: the UI for entering translations. 7. Update the template - The method of manually updating the template. 8. Import translations - Setting up automatic importing of translations. 9. Going full-circle - Setting up 2 way synchronization of your branches. 10. Help! Staging refreshed and now everything’s gone! - Remember that staging is refreshed every day (or every few days, under certain circumstances). Just set it up again. Full details and documentation can be found at <a href="http://blog.launchpad.net/general/trying-out-launchpad-translations">http://blog.launchpad.net/general/trying-out-launchpad-translations</a> == Ubuntu Forums News == === Tutorial of the Week === Want to try another desktop environment? Give e17 a try. Enlightenment is not just another windows manager. It comes with a whole set of libraries. You can set up a minimal install (please see previous ToW) and add e17. Everything is explained in "HOWTO: installation of e17 from SVN code " and maintained by Rui Pais (<a href="http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=862">http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=862</a>), smartboyathome (<a href="http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=264712">http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=264712</a>) and Tux Aubrey (<a href="http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=167727">http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=167727</a>). With their help, you will be able to set up a unique desktop! <a href="http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=916690">http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=916690</a> == The Planet == === Amber Graner: UbuCon at SCaLE 8X === So it's official there will be an UbuCon at SCaLE 8x. (February 19-21, 2010 in Southern California) There will be approximately 7 hours of Ubuntu related topics on the 19th of February. (Working on getting it added to the special events page on the SCaLE website, stay tuned). What is an UbuCon you might ask.. In this case it will be 7 hours of talks, demos, etc all based on a connection to Ubuntu. <a href="http://www.socallinuxexpo.org/scale8x/">http://www.socallinuxexpo.org/scale8x/</a> The awesome California LoCo team will be taking the reins and running with the UbuCon. Now comes the fun part, what do people want to hear about? What Ubuntu related talks would you like to hear about. Are you attending SCaLE 8x and would like to present a talk at the UbuCon? Maybe you aren't attending SCaLE but you have ideas for topics you would like to see covered at an UbuCon as there are more being planned for other events in 2010. As I mentioned the California LoCo team will be gathering these suggestions, ideas and submissions. Please send them to Nathan Haines (nhaines), who make sure the UbuCon team can review them. <a href="mailto:nhaines@ubuntu.com">nhaines@ubuntu.com</a> Please include a summary of what your session/talk would include. Also if submitting an idea for a session please include as much information as possible. All submissions must be in by the 15th of January and a decision on the UbuCon Schedule will be finalized and all speakers/contributors will be notified by January 22, 2010. <a href="http://amber.redvoodoo.org/2009/12/ubucon-at-scale-8x.html">http://amber.redvoodoo.org/2009/12/ubucon-at-scale-8x.html</a> === Daniel Holbach: You’re into Free Culture? Share with Ubuntu === As part of the Ubuntu community we’re quite used to the concept of sharing our work with others. Not just because we’re all good and selfless people but because we deeply believe that by actively making the fruits of our labour available to others we make the world more diverse and interesting, solve problems and generally make it a better place. There luckily today are countless and successful examples of this and Ubuntu fits perfectly into this world of sharing. To underline this we want to support artists by making their art available on the actual Ubuntu CDs. A couple of Ubuntu releases back we started the Ubuntu Free Culture Showcase and have since then delivered the best video, the best piece of audio and the best picture on our Ubuntu CDs. So, if you are into making music, painting, photography, or videos, we want you to participate in Lucid’s Ubuntu Free Culture Showcase. If you produced a great picture, video or piece of music, to enter the competition, head to <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuFreeCultureShowcase">https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuFreeCultureShowcase</a> for the instructions! <a href="http://daniel.holba.ch/blog/?p=548">http://daniel.holba.ch/blog/?p=548</a> === Matthew Helmke: Ubuntu Unleashed 2010 Edition === I just received my copy of Ubuntu Unleashed 2010 Edition and I am thrilled. Since I am one of the authors, consider this more of an announcement than a review as well as an invitation to take a look and see if the book interests you. This book is intended for intermediate to advanced users, as opposed to my work on The Official Ubuntu Book, which is aimed at being an introduction of Ubuntu to people new to Linux. * Ubuntu Unleashed 2010 Edition: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ubuntu-Unleashed-2010-Covering-9-10/dp/0672331098">http://www.amazon.com/Ubuntu-Unleashed-2010-Covering-9-10/dp/0672331098</a> * The Official Ubuntu Book: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Official-Ubuntu-Book-Benjamin-Mako/dp/0137021208/">http://www.amazon.com/Official-Ubuntu-Book-Benjamin-Mako/dp/0137021208/</a> <a href="http://matthewhelmke.net/2009/12/29/ubuntu-unleashed-2010-edition/">http://matthewhelmke.net/2009/12/29/ubuntu-unleashed-2010-edition/</a> === Steven Harms: A thousand passwords === In this day and age of the internet, we have more content and interaction than ever before. This access generally comes with a price: everything requires a user name and password. How does a mere mortal remember their credentials to login to thousands of websites? More importantly, I am not always on the same computer, how do I access my passwords from all of them? The long term solution would be to see 100% adoption of OpenID. Inevitably many sites will always be behind the curve, so until that day comes, I recommend Revelation. Revelation is an easy to use, secure and lightweight password manager for Linux. It is written in GTK so those running the GNOME desktop (the default for Ubuntu) will be right at home. You can have several different folders to help organize your passwords, and define actions based on the type of password being stored. What makes this great is that all of your passwords are stored encrypted. This means if someone takes your computer, without your master password your passwords would be useless. This also means we can store our password using Ubuntu One or Dropbox. If you are running Ubuntu, you can install Revelation by clicking Applications -> Ubuntu Software Center and searching for Revelation. If you would prefer the command line version: view sourceprint? * sudo apt-get install revelation There are many alternatives out there, but if you are running Linux and just need a simple, no-hassle password manager Revelation is worth five minutes to try it out. <a href="http://www.sharms.org/blog/2009/12/31/a-thousand-passwords/">http://www.sharms.org/blog/2009/12/31/a-thousand-passwords/</a> === Daniel Chin: powerdown changes to alsa-base in Lucid/10.04 === If you don't normally follow the Ubuntu development lists, it's a good time to begin. Yesterday I uploaded alsa-driver 1.0.22.1 to Lucid which, among other things, contains my extensions to power down various parts of the HDA controller and codec after a configurable idle period. Work is far from complete, and I could use your help to make sure your sound hardware is well-supported in 10.10. In summary: "Just to clarify in case it's not already obvious: my having uploaded alsa-driver 1.0.22.1 in no way affects the default Lucid install of the kernelspace ALSA driver (aka alsa-kernel). It remains 1.0.21. Anyone wishing to build modules of 1.0.22.1 can do so using module-assistant and alsa-source. And, until Takashi returns, that approach will be more current than using the daily snap from the 27 Dec. So, the current state of Lucid contains: * alsa-kernel 1.0.21 (as shipped in linux 2.6.32-9.13-generic) * alsa-lib 1.0.22 + Fix-S24_3LE-softvol-distortion.patch (bdf80) * alsa-plugins 1.0.22" <a href="http://drowninginbugs.blogspot.com/2009/12/heads-up-powerdown-changes-to-alsa-base.html">http://drowninginbugs.blogspot.com/2009/12/heads-up-powerdown-changes-to-alsa-base.html</a> == In The Press == === Ubuntu 32-bit, 32-bit PAE, 64-bit Kernel Benchmarks === Michael Larabel tells us of a request in Phoronix's forums to compare the performance of Linux between using 32-bit, 32-bit PAE, and 64-bit kernels. This came after Linus Torvalds spoke of 25% performance differences between kernels using CONFIG_HIGHMEM4G and those without this option that allows 32-bit builds to address up to 4GB of physical RAM on a system. Larabel decided to compare the performance of the 32-bit, 32-bit PAE, and 64-bit kernels on a modern desktop system and in the fourteen tests conducted for this article Larabel did not find using Ubuntu's 32-bit PAE kernel to have a dramatic performance impact whether it be positive or negative. By far though exhibiting the best performance was the Ubuntu 64-bit kernel that often ended up being leaps and bounds better than the 32-bit kernel. Unless you have technical or business reasons for not migrating to 64-bit Linux with compatible hardware, there is no reason to stick around with a 32-bit kernel and worrying about physical address extension. <a href="http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=ubuntu_32_pae&num=1">http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=ubuntu_32_pae&num=1</a> === 15 game-changing Linux moments of the decade === Tech Radar's Graham Morrison states that if you had sat at your Linux computer one dark evening in late 1999, things would have been considerably different. Your machine would probably be running either Red Hat 6.1 or Mandrake 6. As a Linux user, you'd have been an uber-geek, someone with an obsessive interest in computing and far too much time on your hands. But things have changed. Linux is now an operating system anyone can install and use, and it's growing stronger every year. Morrison goes on to list his 15 game-changing Lunux moments of the decade including October 2004 when Ubuntu Warty Warthog was released. "It's the only Linux distribution in our list, but whether you love or hate Ubuntu, there's no denying that its appearance on the scene has changed Linux dramatically. For mainstream media, it's now often a byword for Linux, and thanks to its charismatic astronaut leader, Linux has a free software advocate to compete with Steve Jobs and Steve Ballmer." <a href="http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/15-game-changing-linux-moments-of-the-decade-659030">http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/15-game-changing-linux-moments-of-the-decade-659030</a> === Dell netbook updated with Pineview CPU === Eric Brown of LinuxForDevices.com reports that Dell announced an updated version of its Ubuntu-ready Inspiron Mini 10 netbook, using Intel's new Atom N450 processor and an optional Broadcom "Crystal HD" media accelerator. The Mini 10 now sports a redesigned keyboard, optional HD video support, and up to 9.5 hours of battery life. The Dell Inspiron Mini 10 is expected to be available in early January from Dell, with prices starting at $300. The Ubuntu Linux option will also be introduced in the "coming weeks," so initially, it appears that the netbook will ship only with Windows 7 Starter or Windows XP Home. The HD related bundles, meanwhile, will be available in the first quarter of 2010. <a href="http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/News/Dell-Mini-10-2010-edition/">http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/News/Dell-Mini-10-2010-edition/</a> === Great and Disappointing Operating Systems of the Decade === IT World's Eric Henderson acknowledges that writing about the best and worst in operating system is like a crap magnet: He knows that he is pressing the big red button. People develop a personal relationship with operating systems, whether on servers or their personal machine or phone. The love/hate relationship becomes anchored with deep emotions about the merits/detractions of the devices they use-- through the lenses of operating systems. Henderson goes on to list what he feels are some of the worst operating systems of the past decade, as well as some of the best operating systems. Henderson considers Linux as one of the truly great operating systems and says, "The promise of Linux for civilians is slowly but surely being realized through distros like Ubuntu." <a href="http://www.itworld.com/operating-systems/89733/great-disappointing-operating-systems-decade">http://www.itworld.com/operating-systems/89733/great-disappointing-operating-systems-decade</a> === Infamous Chinese pirates launch Ubuntu that looks just like Windows XP === Sebastian Anthony of Download Squad says, "