Debian Weekly News - August 17th, 2004

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Debian Weekly News
http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/2004/32/
Debian Weekly News - August 17th, 2004
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Welcome to this year's 32nd issue of DWN, the weekly newsletter for
the Debian community. Of interest to large-scale installations:
Hewlett-Packard finally [1]offers 24x7 support for [2]Debian
GNU/Linux with HP Extensions. In an [3]article Chris DiBona
highlighted the services offered by GNU/Linux vendors and pointed out
that their repositories are miles ahead of competing proprietary
commercial offerings.

 1. http://www.hp.com/hps/linux/lx_debian.html
 2. http://www.hp.com/hps/linux/lx_debian_faq.html
 3. http://os.newsforge.com/os/04/07/11/1748243.shtml

Investigating Sarge Security. Joey Hess [4]looked through every
[5]security advisory issued in 2004 and checked to see if the
security hole was fixed in sarge as well. Security holes not fixed yet
in sarge include those in [6]libpng, [7]libpng3, [8]php4,
[9]netkit-telnet-ssl, [10]pavuk, [11]www-sql, [12]lha, [13]log2mail,
[14]hsftp, [15]trr19, and [16]slocate. The other 1.5 years worth of
security advisories back to the release of woody would probably take
several more days to check. [17]Investigation of security advisories
from 2003 revealed that security updates for [18]tomcat4 and
[19]gtksee are missing in sarge.

 4. http://lists.debian.org/debian-release/2004/08/msg00144.html
 5. http://www.debian.org/security/
 6. http://packages.debian.org/libpng
 7. http://packages.debian.org/libpng3
 8. http://packages.debian.org/php4
 9. http://packages.debian.org/netkit-telnet-ssl
 10. http://packages.debian.org/pavuk
 11. http://packages.debian.org/www-sql
 12. http://packages.debian.org/lha
 13. http://packages.debian.org/log2mail
 14. http://packages.debian.org/hsftp
 15. http://packages.debian.org/trr19
 16. http://packages.debian.org/slocate
 17. http://lists.debian.org/debian-release/2004/08/msg00168.html
 18. http://packages.debian.org/tomcat4
 19. http://packages.debian.org/gtksee

Debian-Installer Review. Bruce Bayfield [20]reviewed the new
[21]debian-installer (d-i). He says "It introduces Debian's strengths
right at the start, and it goes a long way toward burying Debian's
reputation for being difficult to install." He added, that, by
installing only a minimal number of packages, d-i defaults to a
noticeably more secure system compared to most commercial
distributions. Bayfield suggests the new installer ease of use will
bring many new users to Debian.

 20. http://applications.linux.com/article.pl?sid=04/08/09/164207
 21. http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/

What comes after Sarge? Osamu Aoki [22]wanted to release a new
[23]debian-reference package that explains the latest release names.
Naturally he was wondering which name testing will become once sarge
is released as Debian 3.1. Colin Watson opened the curtain and
[24]revealed that the release after sarge will be called etch.
Quickly, a discussion arose about using a different name and voting
upon the name.

 22. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2004/08/msg00737.html
 23. http://packages.debian.org/debian-reference
 24. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2004/08/msg00743.html

Zero-Day Non-maintainer Uploads. Steve Langesek [25]said that this
close to the release of sarge, 3 days can definitely make the
difference between a package being ready in time for sarge, and not
being ready in time. Moreover, history shows us that 0-day
non-maintainer uploads (NMUs) have been very effective at bringing the
release-critical (RC) bug count down rapidly. He would therefore like
to declare open-season on RC bugs, including 0-day NMUs if appropriate
until the release of sarge.

 25. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2004/08/msg00768.html

Online Changelog Files. Andrew Pollock was [26]missing a possibility
to reach changelog files without actually installing the corresponding
packages. Therefore he has created [27]changelogs.debian.net which
contained those files. Martin Michlmayr [28]revealed that changelog
files already exist on [29]packages.debian.org. Hence, the new site
finally redirects HTTP requests to the files on packages.debian.org.

 26. http://lists.debian.org/debian-qa/2004/06/msg00023.html
 27. http://changelogs.debian.net/
 28. http://lists.debian.org/debian-qa/2004/06/msg00106.html
 29. http://packages.debian.org/

Best Practice QA Uploads. Matthew Palmer [30]started to write a QA
upload best practices document after working through quality assurance
(QA) procedures with one of his new-maintainer applicants. The
[31]second version caused some [32]disagreement on the scope of a QA
upload, though.

 30. http://lists.debian.org/debian-qa/2004/07/msg00076.html
 31. http://lists.debian.org/debian-qa/2004/07/msg00088.html
 32. http://lists.debian.org/debian-qa/2004/07/msg00089.html

Synchronising Skolelinux with Sarge. Petter Reinholdtsen posted a
[33]list of packages that the [34]Skolelinux people should push into
Debian in order to get Debian synchronised with Skolelinux. He and
Joey Hess are [35]worried that it may already be too late to get new
packages into Debian in time for the release of sarge.

 33. http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu/2004/08/msg00084.html
 34. http://www.skolelinux.no/
 35. http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu/2004/08/msg00130.html

Which KDE Version in Sarge? Co-release-manager Steve Langasek
[36]complained about a last minute upload of a number of packages from
KDE 3.3 to unstable. Since he considers it undesirable to have a mix
of different versions and impossible to get all of KDE 3.3 into sarge
on schedule for the release, he concluded that KDE in sarge will not
be updated from unstable and fixes to KDE related packages should be
submitted to testing-proposed-updates. Chris Cheney [37]objected to
Steve's assessment, while [38]Ben Burton and [39]René Engelhard
concurred. René also [40]noticed that [41]kdelibs-data again caused
file conflicts with [42]openoffice.org-mimelnk.

 36. http://lists.debian.org/debian-release/2004/08/msg00222.html
 37. http://lists.debian.org/debian-release/2004/08/msg00223.html
 38. http://lists.debian.org/debian-release/2004/08/msg00224.html
 39. http://lists.debian.org/debian-release/2004/08/msg00230.html
 40. http://lists.debian.org/debian-release/2004/08/msg00228.html
 41. http://packages.debian.org/kdelibs-data
 42. http://packages.debian.org/openoffice.org-mimelnk

Cdrecord on the Way to non-free. Jose Carlos Garcia Sogo [43]noticed
that Jörg Schilling has added a non-modification clause to a file
within the [44]cdrecord distribution which renders the package
non-free since this is in direct [45]conflict with the [46]GNU General
Public License.

 43. http://www.tribulaciones.org/blog/computers/software/cdrecord-license_13-08-2004
 44. http://packages.debian.org/cdrecord
 45. http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/gerv/archives/006193.html
 46. http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html

New LaTeX Project Public License, Version 1.3. Branden Robinson
[47]reported that a new version of the [48]LaTeX Project Public
License (LPPL) has been published, taking most of debian-legal
contributor's comments into account, and the LaTeX project also
intends to see OSI Certification. It seems to be compliant with the
[49]Debian Free Software Guidelines. Hilmar Preusse [50]added that the
teTeX packages in Debian are released under LPPL 1.2.

 47. http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2004/07/msg00079.html
 48. http://www.latex-project.org/lppl/
 49. http://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines
 50. http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2004/07/msg00153.html

Freeness of the Qt Public License. Martin Krafft [51]wondered if the
new [52]Qt Public License (QPL) is considered DFSG-free, since it is
[53]OSI approved and because it was [54]requested to remove [55]libcwd
from main. Andrew Suffield [56]asserted that choice-of-venue clauses
are decidedly non-free.

 51. http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2004/06/msg00016.html
 52. http://www.opensource.org/licenses/qtpl.php
 53. http://www.opensource.org/licenses/
 54. http://bugs.debian.org/251983
 55. http://packages.debian.org/libcwd
 56. http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2004/06/msg00030.html

Bug Squashing Week. Frank Lichtenheld [57]announced that this entire
week has been declared the bug squashing week. He will be around in
#debian-bugs on both irc.debian.org and irc.oftc.net over the whole
period of time (except for system recreation intervals) trying to keep
the party going and appeal to all people to participate on it. He will
be also joining the real life bug squashing party at the TU Darmstadt,
Germany.

 57. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2004/08/msg00005.html

New SPI Officers. John Goerzen [58]announced that [59]Software in the
Public Interest, Inc. (SPI) has [60]selected the [61]officers during
its annual meeting. They are: President: John Goerzen, Vice President:
Benjamin Mako Hill, Treasurer: Jimmy Kaplowitz, and Secretary: David
Graham. He also announced the [62]annual report for SPI and encouraged
Debian developers to get involved with this organisation.

 58. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2004/08/msg00006.html
 59. http://www.spi-inc.org/
 60. http://lists.spi-inc.org/pipermail/spi-announce/2004/000089.html
 61. http://www.spi-inc.org/corporate/board
 62. http://www.spi-inc.org/~jgoerzen/ar2004/spi2004.html

Security Updates. You know the drill. Please make sure that you update
your systems if you have any of these packages installed.

 * [63]ruby -- Insecure CGI session management.
 * [64]rsync -- Unauthorised directory traversal and file access.
 * [65]kdelibs -- Denial of service.

 63. http://www.debian.org/security/2004/dsa-537
 64. http://www.debian.org/security/2004/dsa-538
 65. http://www.debian.org/security/2004/dsa-539

New or Noteworthy Packages. The following packages were added to the
unstable Debian archive [66]recently or contain important updates.

 66. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/newpkg_main

 * [67]akode -- Akode arts plugin.
 * [68]amd64-libs -- AMD64 shared libraries for use on i386/x86_64
   systems.
 * [69]bindgraph -- DNS statistics RRDtool frontend for BIND9.
 * [70]ccs -- Cluster configuration system.
 * [71]cman -- Cluster manager.
 * [72]coqide -- Proof assistant for higher-order logic.
 * [73]couriergraph -- Mail statistics RRDtool frontend for
   Courier-{POP,IMAP}.
 * [74]digitemp -- Program to read from temperature sensors in a
   1-wire net.
 * [75]eagle-usb-utils -- Userspace tools for Eagle USB ADSL modems.
 * [76]fence -- I/O fencing system.
 * [77]freedoom -- Free game files for the 3D game DOOM.
 * [78]gcjwebplugin -- Web browser plugin to execute Java (tm)
   applets.
 * [79]gfs-tools -- Global File System.
 * [80]ghdl -- VHDL compiler/simulator using GCC technology.
 * [81]gimp-gap -- GIMP Animation Package.
 * [82]gnurobbo -- GNU Robbo is logic game ported from ATARI XE/XL.
 * [83]gnustep -- GNUstep Development Environment -- user
   applications.
 * [84]gradm2 -- Administration program for the grsecurity2 RBAC
   based ACL system.
 * [85]gtweakui -- Collection of simple dialogs as a front end to
   GConf.
 * [86]ibwebadmin -- Web-based administration for the Firebird and
   Interbase database.
 * [87]ifstat -- InterFace STATistics Monitoring.
 * [88]kaquarium -- Aquarium panel applet for KDE.
 * [89]kfish -- Fish panel applet for KDE.
 * [90]kolourpaint -- Simple Paint Program for KDE.
 * [91]ksociograma -- Technical educational software to make
   sociograms.
 * [92]kwartz -- Language independent HTML templating system.
 * [93]laptop-mode-tools -- Userland scripts to control "laptop
   mode".
 * [94]mcpp -- Matsui's CPP implementation precisely conformed to
   standards.
 * [95]mpc -- Command-line tool to interface MPD.
 * [96]mpd -- Music Player Daemon, the name says it all.
 * [97]normalize-audio -- Adjust the volume of WAV files to a
   standard volume level.
 * [98]ntfsprogs -- Tools for doing neat things in NTFS partitions
   from Linux.
 * [99]pentanet-utils -- Utilities for Pent@NET DVB Data receiving
   cards.
 * [100]php-mail-mime -- PHP PEAR module for creating and decoding
   MIME messages.
 * [101]php-radius -- Radius protocol implementation in PHP.
 * [102]pymacs -- Interface between Emacs Lisp and Python [dummy
   package].
 * [103]pymacs-elisp -- Emacsen Lisp modules for pymacs.
 * [104]qsynaptics -- Qt application to configure Synaptic TouchPad.
 * [105]request-tracker3.2 -- Extensible trouble-ticket tracking
   system.
 * [106]shermans-aquarium -- Sherman's aquarium applet for GNOME 2.
 * [107]spfqtool -- Command-line SPF query tool.
 * [108]torsmo -- System monitor that sits in the corner of your
   desktop.
 * [109]zope-cookiecrumbler -- Use cookies even when folder doesn't
   support cookies.

 67. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/akode
 68. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/libs/amd64-libs
 69. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/bindgraph
 70. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/ccs
 71. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/cman
 72. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/coqide
 73. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/couriergraph
 74. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/electronics/digitemp
 75. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/eagle-usb-utils
 76. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/fence
 77. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/games/freedoom
 78. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/gcjwebplugin
 79. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/gfs-tools
 80. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/electronics/ghdl
 81. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/graphics/gimp-gap
 82. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/games/gnurobbo
 83. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/gnustep
 84. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/gradm2
 85. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/gnome/gtweakui
 86. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/ibwebadmin
 87. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/ifstat
 88. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/kde/kaquarium
 89. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/kde/kfish
 90. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/graphics/kolourpaint
 91. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/misc/ksociograma
 92. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/kwartz
 93. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/laptop-mode-tools
 94. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/mcpp
 95. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/mpc
 96. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/mpd
 97. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/normalize-audio
 98. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/otherosfs/ntfsprogs
 99. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/pentanet-utils
 100. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/php-mail-mime
 101. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/php-radius
 102. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/python/pymacs
 103. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/python/pymacs-elisp
 104. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/qsynaptics
 105. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/misc/request-tracker3.2
 106. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/gnome/shermans-aquarium
 107. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/mail/spfqtool
 108. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/torsmo
 109. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/zope-cookiecrumbler

Debian Packages introduced last Week. Every day, a different Debian
package is [110]featured from the testing distribution. If you know
about an obscure package you think others should also know about, send
it to [111]Andrew Sweger. Debian package a day introduced the
following packages last week.

 110. http://www.livejournal.com/users/debaday/
 111. http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=debaday

 * [112]mairix -- Indexes and searches email in Maildir and MH
   formats.
 * [113]pydf -- Colourised df(1)-clone.
 * [114]ixbiff -- Notify user when mail arrives by blinking keyboard
   LEDs.

 112. http://www.livejournal.com/users/debaday/28953.html
 113. http://www.livejournal.com/users/debaday/29195.html
 114. http://www.livejournal.com/users/debaday/29593.html

Orphaned Packages. 5 packages were orphaned this week and require a
new maintainer. This makes a total of 168 orphaned packages. Many
thanks to the previous maintainers who contributed to the Free
Software community. Please see the [115]WNPP pages for the full list,
and please add a note to the bug report and retitle it to ITA: if you
plan to take over a package.

 115. http://www.debian.org/devel/wnpp/

 * [116]debconf -- Debian configuration management system.
   ([117]Bug#265570)
 * [118]libapache-dbilogger-perl -- Tracks what's being transferred
   in a DBI database. ([119]Bug#265760)
 * [120]lzo -- Real-time data compression library. ([121]Bug#265726)
 * [122]lzop -- Real-time compressor. ([123]Bug#265727)
 * [124]python-bsddb3 -- Python interface to libdb3.
   ([125]Bug#264695)

 116. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/debconf
 117. http://bugs.debian.org/265570
 118. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libapache-dbilogger-perl
 119. http://bugs.debian.org/265760
 120. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/libs/liblzo1
 121. http://bugs.debian.org/265726
 122. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/lzop
 123. http://bugs.debian.org/265727
 124. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/python/python-bsddb3
 125. http://bugs.debian.org/264695

Want to continue reading DWN? Please help us create this newsletter.
We still need more volunteer writers who watch the Debian community
and report about what is going on. Please see the [126]contributing
page to find out how to help. We're looking forward to receiving your
mail at [127]dwn@debian.org.

 126. http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/contributing
 127. mailto:dwn@debian.org


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