Issue105

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Contents

Contents

  1. UWN Translations
  2. In This Issue
  3. General Community News
    1. Call for testing: Major update of Ubuntu Brainstorm
    2. Ubuntu Arabic Team
    3. Announcing Michael Casadevall as an Xubuntu Developer
    4. MOTU News
      1. Nicolas Valcárcel(nxvl) Interview
    5. IRC Council Nominations
  4. Ubuntu Stats
    1. Bug Stats
    2. Translation Stats Hardy
    3. 5-a-day bug stats
  5. LoCo News
    1. Software Freedom Day: Ubuntu-MD
    2. NJ Ubuntu LoCo Summer 2008 Barbecue and LAN Party
    3. Atlanta Linux Fest 2008
  6. New in Hardy Heron
  7. Launchpad News
    1. Launchpad 2.1.8: Bugzilla, Trac plugins, plus karma for commits
    2. Launchpad Terms of Use Update
  8. Ubuntu Forums News
  9. In The Press
  10. In The Blogosphere
  11. In Other News
    1. Canonical Joins The Linux Foundation
    2. Ubuntu Linux Bloggers Wanted
  12. Editorial
    1. Happy Birthday Linux
  13. Meeting Summaries
  14. Upcoming Meetings and Events
    1. Wednesday, August 27, 2008
      1. QA Team Meeting
      2. Platform Team Meeting
      3. Kubuntu Developers Meeting
    2. Thursday, August 28, 2008
      1. Ubuntu Mobile Team Meeting
      2. Ubuntu Desktop Team Meeting
      3. Ubuntu Java Team Meeting
    3. Friday, August 29, 2008
      1. Ubuntu Release Meeting
  15. Community Spotlight
  16. Updates and Security for 6.06, 7.04, 7.10, and 8.04
    1. Security Updates
    2. Ubuntu 6.06 LTS Updates
    3. Ubuntu 7.04 Updates
    4. Ubuntu 7.10 Updates
    5. Ubuntu 8.04 Updates
  17. UWN #: A sneak peek
  18. Archives and RSS Feed
  19. Additional Ubuntu News
  20. Conclusion
  21. Credits
  22. Glossary of Terms
  23. Feedback

newspaper-icon.jpg 

WORK IN PROGRESS

Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue #105 for the week August 17th - August 23rd, 2008. In this issue we cover ...

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

General Community News

Call for testing: Major update of Ubuntu Brainstorm

A major evolution of Ubuntu Brainstorm is on the way, and includes:

  • An UI redesign, for better navigation through projects and categories.

  • Idea rationale & solution separation, with the ability to add your solution to an existing idea rationale. That will help have a better visibility by gathering ideas tackling the same problem.

  • Approval required for newly submitted ideas. That will help make Ubuntu Brainstorm content consistent by filtering the non-ideas, duplicates and poorly described ideas.
  • Custom permissions for project administrators. Upstream and Ubuntu developers could, if they want, ask to add their project and manage ideas related to their project.
  • And much more...

A lot of changes have occurred , and we'd like to test it thoroughly before going live (which we don't expect to do for at least a month). So you are welcome to post test content, vote, and report any error you find on https://bugs.launchpad.net/ideatorrent/+filebug. Discussion and suggestion about the new UI can take place in this ubuntuforums.org thread. (Note: This is a test setup, meaning that all your interactions will be removed at next code update)

http://blog.qa.ubuntu.com/node/24

Ubuntu Arabic Team

The Ubuntu Arabic team has been quietly working to merge all of the scattered Ubuntu related efforts in Arabia to establish one solid team and it looks like things are about to break open. They have merged with ubuntu-alarabi.net and now waiting to hear from arabuntu.org.

The goals for this team are:

  • Handling Arabic Support on discussion forum, mailing list IRC and LP answers.

  • Provide hosting to Ubuntu LoCo Teams in Arabia and giving them all kind of possible help

  • Translating available contributor guides to Arabic to get the more contributor from Arabia (Now we are working on new translators guide) next might be MOTU
  • Taking Arabic translation into higher level, currently we have 165 translator, 266742 untranslated strings which make the status %64 untranslated.
  • Providing Arab users with apps that doesn’t exists yet in official repositories in our PPA

The team is still growing, and of course needs some help. If you are interested in contributing, please visit the link for more information on what you can do to help. http://syntux.net/blog/2008/08/21/ubuntu-arabic-team/

Announcing Michael Casadevall as an Xubuntu Developer

The Xubuntu Team would like everyone to give a warm welcome to Michael Casadevall (https://launchpad.net/~sonicmctails https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MichaelCasadevall) who is joining the Xubuntu Team as a Xubuntu Developer. Michael is an exceptionally dedicated individual with a strong, diversified pool of talent and skill who is eagerly working towards becoming a MOTU. Michael will be assisting the team with general packaging and development tasks for the most part, but we're sure his ability with FTBFS; experience with ports, debian, and gnome; and his ability to identify and refine infrastructure will be a huge asset to the Xubuntu team. https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-news-team/2008-August/000159.html

MOTU News

Nicolas Valcárcel(nxvl) Interview

Nicolas has been using Linux for 4 or 5 years, and Ubuntu since Warty Warthog. He became involved with the MOTU team about a year ago, and is now focused on the server team. He is also part of the Peruvian LoCo Council, is an intern at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and is finishing up at the university. See the full interview at http://behindmotu.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/nicolas-valcarcel-nxvl/

IRC Council Nominations

The following candidates are being considered to fill the open seats on the IRC Council:

If you would like to comment on the suitability of any of these candidates for the role, then please jot down a quick note on their wiki page, or send an email to irc-council@lists.ubuntu.com Closing date is August 30th. Visit the link for more information. https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-irc/2008-August/000534.html

Ubuntu Stats

Bug Stats

  • Open (46370) -245 # over last week
  • Critical (28) +3 # over last week
  • Unconfirmed (21421) -349 # over last week
  • Unassigned (37817) -285 # over last week
  • All bugs ever reported (204542) +1343 # 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 Hardy

  • Spanish (11892) -43 # over last week
  • English-UK (30836) -362 # over last week
  • French (39042) +/- 0 # over last week
  • Brazilian Portuguese (50096) -8 # over last week
  • Swedish (52880) +/-0 # over last week

Remaining strings to translate in Ubuntu 8.04 "Hardy Heron," see more at: https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/hardy/

5-a-day bug stats

Top 5 contributors for the past 7 days

  • anakron (86)
  • dholbach (72)
  • bdrung (37)
  • hew (37)
  • mcisternas (32)

Top 5 teams for the past 7 days

  • ubuntu-berlin (109)
  • ubuntu-de-locoteam (85)
  • ubuntu-michigan (33)
  • ubuntu-chicago (25)
  • kubuntu-de.org (10)

5-a-day stats provided by Daniel Holbach. See http://daniel.holba.ch/5-a-day-stats/

LoCo News

Software Freedom Day: Ubuntu-MD

Ubuntu-MD LoCo will be celebrating Software Freedom Day on September 20, 2008. It will be held at the Miller Branch of the Howard County Library:

  • 9421 Frederick Rd
  • Ellicott City, MD 21042

The Team is looking for people to speak. Please look at the wiki [1] or drop them an email [2]

[1] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarylandTeam/Events/SoftwareFreedomDay2008

[2] sfd08@ubuntu-maryland.org

http://www.chuckfrain.net/2008/08/17/software-freedom-day-in-the-free-state

NJ Ubuntu LoCo Summer 2008 Barbecue and LAN Party

The New Jersey Ubuntu Local is hosting a Community’s Summer 2008 Barbecue and LAN Party on Saturday, August 23, 2008. Locations are Cherry Hill in Southern NJ, and Butler in Northern NJ. The party starts at 2:00 PM, the barbecue at 5:00 PM, and the whole thing ends at 2:00 AM Sunday morning. Cost is $5, which gets you Burgers, 'Dogs and other essentials. Bring your own drinks, sides and desserts. See http://nj.ubuntu-us.org/LAN for further information.

http://www.lemasney.com/blog/?p=647

Atlanta Linux Fest 2008

The Ubuntu Georgia US Team will be holding the Atlanta Linux Fest 2008 on Saturday, September 20, 2008, 11am - 6pm. They will be hosting many distributions, including Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, OpenSUSE, and Mandriva. There will be demos of the distributions and installation help, and there will be other demonstrations of IBM software, dual-booting and much more. Registration is free, but a $5 donation to the event is requested for pizza. The Linux Fest will be held at

  • IBM Hillside Conference Center
  • 4111 Northside Pkwy Atlanta, GA. 30327

Registration (required for free wifi) is at http://atlantalinuxfest.org/

http://boredandblogging.com/2008/08/21/atlanta-linux-fest-2008/

New in Hardy Heron

Launchpad News

Launchpad 2.1.8: Bugzilla, Trac plugins, plus karma for commits

The Launchpad team are proud to announce the release of Launchpad 2.1.8! This release brings two items of good news for anyone who commits code to branches registered in Launchpad:

  • Karma for commits: Launchpad now awards karma for code commits to project branches.
  • Feeds of each person’s code commits: as well as a feed that shows which branches you work on, Launchpad now gives you a feed of all the commits you’ve made to branches in Launchpad.

To subscribe to your own branch commits feed, visit your code overview page and click the feed icon in your browser’s address bar.

Also new in 2.1.8:

  • Bugzilla & Trac plugin beta now open

  • Regular updates on teh Launchpad API beta

For all the details on what's new in Launchpad, visit the link. http://news.launchpad.net/releases/launchpad-218-bugzilla-and-trac-plugins-now-available-plus-karma-for-commits

Launchpad Terms of Use Update

The Launchpad Team has updated the Launchpad Terms of Use. Specifically, the section on Automated Querying was updated and extended to reflect the addition of our Public APIs. Please take a moment to inspect the changes. http://news.launchpad.net/notifications/terms-of-use-update

Ubuntu Forums News

In The Press

  • Is Ubuntu Really the Most User Friendly Distribution? - Bruce Byfield analysis of the idea of "Most User Friendly Distribution" from several angles. Along the way, he explores the fact that, for most users, it's the desktop experience that determines "friendly". In other examples, he explores the mirroring of ideas and changes between distributions and the fact that many improvements are to individual packages, such as Gnome and KDE, rather than the distribution itself. Over all, though, he appears to be impressed with Ubuntu's ability to support traditional community values and the realities of commercialization. http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/osrc/article.php/3766771/Is+Ubuntu+Really+the+Most+User+Friendly+Distribution?.htm

  • Two Operating Systems, One PC - J. D. Biersdorfer, reporting for The New York Times (free registration required), answers the question of how to install Ubuntu Linux on a Windows XP computer without having to reinstall XP. His brief tutorial does give links to where to get Ubuntu 8.04, and to information on Wubi and tutorials on how to do the installation. He also makes the appropriate comment about backing up one's data prior to repartitioning and installing. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/21/technology/personaltech/21askk-002.html?_r=1&ref=personaltech&oref=slogin

In The Blogosphere

  • Why It’s Okay for Oracle, SAP to Skip Ubuntu (for Now) – Joe Panettieri of the blog workswithu.com points out that the concern for SAP and Oracle’s lack of endorsement of Canonical and Ubuntu is unfounded. Joe comments that Dell is Oracles’ biggest reseller and that currently most of Dell’s Oracle server sales involve either Red Hat or Windows Server. Based on the fact that Dell has no imminent plan to move to Ubuntu server it makes sense that Oracle will follow Dell’s lead. In addition, Linux is a currently a niche market for SAP. As demand for Ubuntu in the server market increases then “Oracle and SAP will be compelled to join the Canonical part”. http://www.workswithu.com/2008/08/14/why-its-okay-for-oracle-sap-to-skip-ubuntu-for-now/

  • 5 Reasons Why a Newbie Should Try Ubuntu – A decade ago Linux was typically for geeks…Ubuntu is starting to change that perception. Praval of the blog Brajeshwar.com outlines five reasons that Ubuntu is the Linux distribution for the rest of us. Cited are Ubuntu’s ability to test drive before you commit to reconfiguring your hard drive through the use of LiveCD, easy installation and setup, wide range of supported devices, the ability to upgrade with the click of a mouse, and phenomenal community support. Due to these reasons, many who would have never considered trying Linux have installed Ubuntu and based on the initial experience, many remain avid Ubuntu users. http://brajeshwar.com/2008/newbie-should-try-ubuntu/

  • Blogger everdeath revisits Ubuntu and decides to replace Windows with it. everdeath is surprised at how much Ubuntu has changed, including the ability to read and write NTFS, and speed enhancements for playing games through wine. Windows is gone for good for this user, but everdeath is reluctant to switch their Mac away from OSX which helps prove Mark Shuttleworth's recent comments that Linux's main competition now is the Mac. - http://everdeath.livejournal.com/62540.html

  • Blogger Mark Schoonover recently decided to purchase a Dell Inspiron 1525N running Ubuntu. He was up and running off this new system within 30 minutes of opening the box, and so far his wireless is more reliable than previous systems, the DVD writer works well, and the keyboard has a nice feel to it. His overall impression is that this is a fantastic laptop for less than $750. He feels that Dell laptops running Ubuntu are a great combination. - http://marksitblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/dellubuntu-inspiron-1525-review.html

In Other News

Canonical Joins The Linux Foundation

Ubuntu members have been active in a variety of workgroups at the Foundation. Now, with the addition of Canonical, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, both community and commercial Ubuntu activity will be represented. Matt Zimmerman, CTO of Canonical said, "We’ve always seen the Linux Foundation’s value and are pleased to now become an official member and support its activities." http://linux-foundation.org/weblogs/press/2008/08/17/canonical-joins-the-linux-foundation/

Ubuntu Linux Bloggers Wanted

Works With U is seeking two contributing bloggers. They would like people capable of posting twice a week. The areas they are most interested in are:

  • Beat 1: Mobile devices and software, including Ubuntu Netbooks Remix, Sub-notebooks and Notebooks
  • Beat 2: Ubuntu Server Edition, server applications and server hardware

People who are interested should contact Editorial Director Joe Panettieri (joe [at] ninelivesmediainc.com) with their expertise in Ubuntu and writing. http://www.workswithu.com/2008/08/22/ubuntu-linux-bloggers-wanted/

Editorial

Happy Birthday Linux

On August 25, 1991, an unknown student in Helsinki, Finland, posted a question to the comp.os.minix newsgroup. In 3 days, there were 7 replies, including some of his own further explaining what he had done and what he wanted to do. Now, 17 years later, there are numerous distributions (including Ubuntu) that operate on the kernel that Linus Torvalds first conceived as a personal project. Happy Birthday, Linux, and thank you Linus for your inspiration and dedication to good computing. For the original messages that started this all off, see http://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.minix/browse_thread/thread/76536d1fb451ac60/b813d52cbc5a044b

Meeting Summaries

Upcoming Meetings and Events

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

QA Team Meeting

  • Start: 17:00 UTC
  • End: 18:00 UTC
  • Location: #ubuntu-meeting
  • Agenda: None listed as of publication

Platform Team Meeting

  • Start: 22:00 UTC
  • End: 23:00 UTC
  • Location: #ubuntu-meeting
  • Agenda: None listed as of publication

Kubuntu Developers Meeting

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Ubuntu Mobile Team Meeting

  • Start: 12:00 - UTC
  • End: 13:00 - UTC
  • Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
  • Agenda: Not listed as of publication

Ubuntu Desktop Team Meeting

  • Start: 13:00 - UTC
  • End: 14:00 - UTC
  • Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
  • Agenda: Not listed as of publication

Ubuntu Java Team Meeting

  • Start: 14:00 - UTC
  • End: 15:00 - UTC
  • Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
  • Agenda: Not listed as of publication

Friday, August 29, 2008

Ubuntu Release Meeting

  • Start: 15:00 - UTC
  • End: 16:30 - UTC
  • Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
  • Agenda: Not listed as of publication

Community Spotlight

Updates and Security for 6.06, 7.04, 7.10, and 8.04

Security Updates

Ubuntu 6.06 LTS Updates

Ubuntu 7.04 Updates

Ubuntu 7.10 Updates

Ubuntu 8.04 Updates

UWN #: A sneak peek

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:

and

Conclusion

Thank you for reading the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter.

See you next week!

Credits

The Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter is brought to you by:

  • Nick Ali
  • John Crawford
  • Dave Bush
  • Craig A. Eddy
  • Arlan Vennefron
  • And many others

Glossary of Terms

  1. API - Application Programming Interface
  2. CTO - Chief Technology Officer
  3. FTBFS - Fails To Build From Source
  4. IRC - Internet Relay Chat
  5. LAN - Large Area Network
  6. MOTU - Master Of The Universe
  7. NTFS - New Technology File System (Windows NT)
  8. UI - User Interface

Feedback

This document is maintained by the Ubuntu Weekly News Team. If you have a story idea or suggestions for the Weekly Newsletter, join the Ubuntu News Team mailing list at https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/Ubuntu-news-team and submit it. Ideas can also be added to the wiki at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/Ideas. If you'd like to contribute to a future issue of the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, please feel free to edit the appropriate wiki page. If you have any technical support questions, please send them to ubuntu-users@lists.ubuntu.com.