Debian Weekly News - August 24th, 2004

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Debian Weekly News
http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/2004/33/
Debian Weekly News - August 24th, 2004
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Welcome to this year's 33rd issue of DWN, the weekly newsletter for
the Debian community. A lot of work has been done to help release
sarge soon. Several recommendations and removals were requested on the
[1]debian-release list. Claus Fischer even [2]requested to document
important issues in the release notes. Jeroen van Wolffelaar [3]asked
maintainers to answer some [4]questions if they maintain one or more
packages with different versions in sarge and sid in order to help the
release management.

 1. http://lists.debian.org/debian-release/
 2. http://lists.debian.org/debian-release/2004/08/msg00355.html
 3. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2004/08/msg00009.html
 4. http://www.wolffelaar.nl/~sarge/

KDE Package Descriptions. Enrico Zini [5]noticed that the description
of many packages containing KDE components start with the same four
line text describing KDE. He believes that it would make more sense to
first describe the package and then describe KDE. This affects 75
packages.

 5. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2004/08/msg00878.html

Reusing a Package Name? Jesus Gonzalez-Barahona [6]wondered if he
could reuse cil as package name for the [7]C Intermediate Language
since Debian already ships [8]Chess in Lisp in its stable release.
Peter Van Eynde [9]revealed that the package was renamed. Thomas
Viehmann [10]explained that most systems upgraded from woody to sarge
and only then to etch won't have a cil package anymore due to its
renaming.

 6. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2004/08/msg00952.html
 7. http://manju.cs.berkeley.edu/cil/
 8. http://packages.debian.org/stable/doc/cil
 9. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2004/08/msg01043.html
 10. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2004/08/msg01049.html

Web Application Maintenance. Kai Hendry [11]tried to unify maintenance
of web application in Debian. He asserted that their installation is
often painful since they need to modify a database and the webserver.
The [12]mysql-server supports a debian-sys-maint super user which can
setup users and databases. A proper mechanism for Apache is not yet
implemented, though.

 11. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2004/08/msg01104.html
 12. http://packages.debian.org/mysql-server

Viewing the Buildd Queue. Andrew Pollock [13]wondered if there was an
easy way to view the buildd progress other than [14]buildd.debian.org
and [15]www.buildd.org. Michael Koch [16]contributed this [17]page by
Ian Lynagh. Goswin von Brederlow [18]mentioned the per-architecture
index pages that link to more detailed lists of packages.

 13. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2004/08/msg01164.html
 14. http://buildd.debian.org/
 15. http://www.buildd.org/
 16. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2004/08/msg01170.html
 17. http://people.debian.org/~igloo/status.php
 18. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2004/08/msg01172.html

No free Debian Logo? Roger Leigh recently [19]noticed that the
[20]grub package has splash image support but no splash images. Robert
Millan later wondered if the "Open Use" logo [21]DFSG-free. David
Schleef [22]confirmed that the Debian Open Use Logo License is
generally considered to be non-DFSG free.

 19. http://bugs.debian.org/265352
 20. http://packages.debian.org/grub
 21. http://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines
 22. http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2004/08/msg00368.html

On closing Bug Reports. Norbert Tretkowski [23]asserted that
regardless of the severity of a bug report, closing it with a comment
like "who cares?" is not okay. And there is obviously at least one
person who cares about this particular problem: the submitter of that
bug report. He added that if the maintainer doesn't want to fix a bug,
it should be tagged wontfix.

 23. http://www.inittab.de/blog/2004/08/21#20040821_closing-non-fixed-bugreports

HP taps Debian for Carrier Grade Linux. LinuxDevices.com [24]wrote
that HP will supply Motorola with a Carrier Grade Linux version of
Debian, as part of a [25]long-term deal The article mentions that
Motorola required features not available in currently shipping
GNU/Linux distributions. HP thus decided to roll its own [26]Carrier
Grade Linux based on the Debian operating system.

 24. http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS2599970603.html
 25. http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS6140933192.html
 26. http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT2311433767.html

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

 * [27]mysql -- Insecure temporary file creation.
 * [28]icecast-server -- Cross site scripting.

 27. http://www.debian.org/security/2004/dsa-540
 28. http://www.debian.org/security/2004/dsa-541

New or Noteworthy Packages. The following packages were added to the
unstable Debian archive [29]recently or contain important updates.

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

 * [30]cogre -- Connected Graph Editor.
 * [31]doodle -- Quickly search the documents on a computer.
 * [32]dvdtape -- Create DVD master filesystems on DLT media.
 * [33]ede -- File manager / Makefile generator for Emacsen.
 * [34]egroupware -- Web-based groupware suite.
 * [35]fnfxd -- ACPI and hotkey daemon for Toshiba laptops.
 * [36]gaphor -- UML modeling tool.
 * [37]gfs-tools -- Global File System.
 * [38]grub-splashimages -- Collection of great GRUB splashimages.
 * [39]ircmarkers -- Place markers on maps at given coordinates.
 * [40]knoda -- Graphical database frontend for KDE.
 * [41]ksociograma -- Technical educational software to make
   sociograms.
 * [42]luma -- GUI utility for accessing and managing LDAP database.
 * [43]naim -- Console client for AOL Instant Messenger and IRC.
 * [44]pennmush -- The PennMUSH mush server.
 * [45]php-fpdf -- PHP class to generate PDF files.
 * [46]pngcheck -- PNG file format checker.
 * [47]rlplot -- Generate publication quality graphs.
 * [48]rosegarden2 -- Integrated MIDI sequencer and musical notation
   editor.
 * [49]stk -- Sound Synthesis Toolkit example applications.
 * [50]tpp -- Text presentation program.
 * [51]trac -- Enhanced wiki and issue tracking system for software
   development projects.
 * [52]websvn -- PHP based interface of subversion repositories.
 * [53]wmcdplay -- CD player based on ascd designed for WindowMaker.
 * [54]xsupplicant -- 802.1x supplicant (client).
 * [55]xvnc4viewer -- Virtual network computing client software for
   X.

 30. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/editors/cogre
 31. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/doodle
 32. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/dvdtape
 33. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/editors/ede
 34. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/egroupware
 35. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/fnfxd
 36. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/gaphor
 37. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/gfs-tools
 38. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/grub-splashimages
 39. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/graphics/ircmarkers
 40. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/kde/knoda
 41. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/misc/ksociograma
 42. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/luma
 43. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/naim
 44. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/games/pennmush
 45. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/php-fpdf
 46. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/pngcheck
 47. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/math/rlplot
 48. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/rosegarden2
 49. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/stk
 50. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/graphics/tpp
 51. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/trac
 52. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/websvn
 53. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/wmcdplay
 54. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/xsupplicant
 55. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/xvnc4viewer

Debian Packages introduced last Week. Every day, a different Debian
package is [56]featured from the testing distribution. If you know
about an obscure package you think others should also know about, send
it to [57]Andrew Sweger. Debian package a day introduced the following
packages last week.

 56. http://www.livejournal.com/users/debaday/
 57. http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=debaday

 * [58]madman -- Advanced music manager application.
 * [59]orpie -- RPN calculator for the terminal.
 * [60]libjpeg-progs -- Programs for manipulating JPEG files.
 * [61]rdiff-backup -- Backup program to use deltas for history.

 58. http://www.livejournal.com/users/debaday/29956.html
 59. http://www.livejournal.com/users/debaday/30681.html
 60. http://www.livejournal.com/users/debaday/30885.html
 61. http://www.livejournal.com/users/debaday/31479.html

Orphaned Packages. 19 packages were orphaned this week and require a
new maintainer. This makes a total of 174 orphaned packages. Many
thanks to the previous maintainers who contributed to the Free
Software community. Please see the [62]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.

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

 * [63]astyle -- Source code indenter for C++/C/Java source code.
   ([64]Bug#266457)
 * [65]autogen -- Automated option processing library for autogen -
   development. ([66]Bug#266458)
 * [67]beecrypt -- Open source C library of cryptographic algorithms.
   ([68]Bug#266469)
 * [69]clig -- Command Line Interpreter Generator. ([70]Bug#266485)
 * [71]gengetopt -- Skeleton main.c generator. ([72]Bug#266484)
 * [73]genparse -- Command line parser generator. ([74]Bug#266468)
 * [75]gtktalog -- Disk catalog. ([76]Bug#266305)
 * [77]ifhp -- Printer filter for HP LaserJet printers.
   ([78]Bug#266467)
 * [79]libcrypt-cracklib-perl -- Perl interface to Alec Muffett's
   Cracklib. ([80]Bug#266465)
 * [81]libdigest-md4-perl -- MD4 Message Digest for Perl.
   ([82]Bug#266464)
 * [83]libio-multiplex-perl -- Object-oriented interface to select()
   for perl. ([84]Bug#266463)
 * [85]libterm-readpassword-perl -- Ask the user for a password.
   ([86]Bug#266461)
 * [87]libtool1.4 -- Generic library support script. ([88]Bug#266387)
 * [89]penggy -- Allows you to connect to AOL via modem or TCP/IP.
   ([90]Bug#266325)
 * [91]sins -- Snake game playable with only one key.
   ([92]Bug#266326)
 * [93]snmptrapfmt -- Configurable snmp trap handler daemon for
   snmpd. ([94]Bug#266820)
 * [95]wmtz -- wmaker dock app that displays the time in different
   zones. ([96]Bug#266462)
 * [97]wyg -- (Where's Your Grammar?) command line parser generator.
   ([98]Bug#266460)

 63. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/astyle
 64. http://bugs.debian.org/266457
 65. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/autogen
 66. http://bugs.debian.org/266458
 67. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/libs/beecrypt2
 68. http://bugs.debian.org/266469
 69. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/clig
 70. http://bugs.debian.org/266485
 71. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/gengetopt
 72. http://bugs.debian.org/266484
 73. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/genparse
 74. http://bugs.debian.org/266468
 75. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/gnome/gtktalog
 76. http://bugs.debian.org/266305
 77. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/ifhp
 78. http://bugs.debian.org/266467
 79. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libcrypt-cracklib-perl
 80. http://bugs.debian.org/266465
 81. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libdigest-md4-perl
 82. http://bugs.debian.org/266464
 83. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libio-multiplex-perl
 84. http://bugs.debian.org/266463
 85. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libterm-readpassword-perl
 86. http://bugs.debian.org/266461
 87. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/libtool1.4
 88. http://bugs.debian.org/266387
 89. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/penggy
 90. http://bugs.debian.org/266325
 91. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/games/sins
 92. http://bugs.debian.org/266326
 93. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/snmptrapfmt
 94. http://bugs.debian.org/266820
 95. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/wmtz
 96. http://bugs.debian.org/266462
 97. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/wyg
 98. http://bugs.debian.org/266460

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 [99]contributing
page to find out how to help. We're looking forward to receiving your
mail at [100]dwn@debian.org.

 99. http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/contributing
 100. mailto:dwn@debian.org


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