Issue110

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Contents

Contents

  1. UWN Translations
  2. In This Issue
  3. General Community News
    1. Potentially hardware-damaging e1000e driver: Intrepid
    2. Ubuntu 8.10 beta freeze now in effect
    3. Ubuntu 8.10 beta approaching
    4. Ubuntu 7.04 reaches end-of-life on October 19, 2008
    5. Intrepid Release Parties!
    6. Ubuntu Upstream Report
    7. Ubuntu Server Team News
      1. Ubuntu server team wants to know – how do you Ubuntu?
      2. Ubuntu Server survey launched
    8. Introducing the Ubuntu Wanted project
    9. Progress of Romanian Translation Team
  4. Ubuntu Stats
    1. Bug Stats
    2. Translation Stats Hardy
    3. 5-a-day bug stats
  5. LoCo News
    1. Regular Bug Jams in Berlin kicked off!
    2. ABLEconf co-hosted by Ubuntu Arizona LoCo
  6. New in Hardy Heron
  7. Launchpad News
  8. Ubuntu Forums News
  9. In The Press
  10. In The Blogosphere
  11. In Other News
    1. Mark Shuttleworth named IT Community Hero of the Year
    2. Full Circle Magazine #17
    3. SUbuntu-UK Podcast #15: Five Sleepy Heads
    4. An interview with John Crawford
    5. Review: Xubuntu 8.10 'Intrepid Ibex' Alpha 6
    6. Linux Foundation opening doors to individual participation
  12. Meeting Summaries
  13. Upcoming Meetings and Events
    1. Tuesday, September 30, 2008
      1. Server Team Meeting
      2. Loco Council Meeting
    2. Wednesday, October 1, 2008
      1. QA Team Meeting
      2. Platform Team Meeting
      3. Ubuntu-pa LoCo Team Meeting
    3. Thursday, October 2, 2008
      1. Maryland LoCo IRC Meeting
      2. Ubuntu Mobile Team Meeting
      3. Desktop Team Meeting
      4. Ubuntu Java Meeting
    4. Friday, October 3, 2008
      1. MOTU Meeting
    5. Saturday, October 4, 2008
      1. Xubuntu Community Meeting
  14. Community Spotlight
  15. 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
  16. UWN #: A sneak peek
  17. Archives and RSS Feed
  18. Additional Ubuntu News
  19. Conclusion
  20. Credits
  21. Glossary of Terms
  22. Feedback

newspaper-icon.jpg 

WORK IN PROGRESS

Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue #110 for the week September 21st - September 27th, 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

Potentially hardware-damaging e1000e driver: Intrepid

Reports have been coming in that the e1000e ethernet driver for Intel GigE chipsets, as included upstream in Linux 2.6.27, may under certain conditions irreparably damage your ethernet hardware by corrupting the on-board firmware. Alpha releases are expected to have a fair number of bugs, but bugs that damage hardware is another matter. As a result of this bug we must recommend that users do *not* use Intrepid alphas, including the LiveCDs, on machines with Intel GigE ethernet.

Efforts to safeguard the hardware of affected users are ongoing, though initially this will consist of a workaround in the form of disabling the e1000e driver. Alpha 6 CD images will not be re-issued for this fix, so affected users are advised to either use daily CD images once a resolution is in place, or to wait for the release of the 8.10 beta, due to be released on October 2nd. Further discussion of this issue can be found on the ubuntu-devel mailing list at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2008-September/026559.html, and progress on resolving this issue can be tracked at: https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/263555.

Ubuntu 8.10 beta freeze now in effect

In preparation for the Beta release of Ubuntu 8.10, a freeze is now in effect. All uploads to main must go through a member of the release team.[1] Uploads to universe can be manually pushed through the queue without release team approval. Issues which are important for the beta release will be tracked by the release team.[2]

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2008-September/000491.html

Ubuntu 8.10 beta approaching

Ubuntu 8.10, Intrepid Ibex Beta is scheduled to be released Thursday, October 2nd, 2008. There are milestone bug items remaining[1] that need to be cleaned up. There are also bugs that affect the release as a whole.[2]

It is also important to address inconsistencies in archiving, such as uninstallable packages in main and restricted[3] and undeclared Replaces or Conflicts.[4]

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2008-September/000489.html

Ubuntu 7.04 reaches end-of-life on October 19, 2008

Ubuntu 7.04 was released on April 19, 2007. Now, the 18 months of updates is nearly at an end, finishing on Sunday, October 19, 2008. There is a supported upgrade method to release 7.10, and those wishing to upgrade beyond that to Ubuntu 8.04 LTS should first upgrade to 7.10. There are instructions for upgrading to 7.10 [1] available.

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-announce/2008-September/000113.html

Intrepid Release Parties!

Ubuntu will be 4 years old with the release of Intrepid Ibex. What better time to throw a party than to combine the release with the birthday? Jono Bacon has recommendations about how to go about it at the link, including adding your party to the list of Intrepid Release Parties [1]. So, have a party. Blog about it. Make up fliers and put them in places like computer shops, libraries, cafes and educational establishments. If you need further information, a longer guide can be found at Running a Release Party [2].

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/loco-contacts/2008-September/002408.html

Ubuntu Upstream Report

The Upstream Report[1] is now in shape for people to work off of. This report, which lists the top 100 projects in Ubuntu sorted by open bugs, is a real-time list. It indicates how many of those bugs are Triaged, how many have an upstream task associated to them, and how well those bugs are being linked to an upstream bug tracker. Report users are encouraged to contact Jorge Castro with feedback concerning better measurement of bug linkages and any other details

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2008-September/026573.html

Ubuntu Server Team News

Ubuntu server team wants to know – how do you Ubuntu?

Canonical would like answers[1]. Users of the Ubuntu Server Edition are being asked how they use it, and in what kinds of organizations. This is a request for the community at large, and not just those requesting free server CDs. This survey is anonymous and takes 10 to 20 minutes to complete. It's open to anyone using Linux servers, not just those using Ubuntu. The purpose of the survey is to gather information on how people using servers in their business, in order to serve them better.

http://www.ubuntu.com/news/server-team-survey

Ubuntu Server survey launched

Where does Ubuntu Server fit in your organization. The server team wants to know, and has provided a survey[1] to gather your answers. Topics such as hardware, virtualization and system integration are covered. The purpose is to prioritize feature requests and provide input for the next Ubuntu Developer Summit in December 2008.

http://ubuntuserver.wordpress.com/2008/09/26/ubuntu-server-survey-launched/

Introducing the Ubuntu Wanted project

The purpose of the Ubuntu Wanted Project is to provide a place for projects and potential contributors to find each other. Brainstorm provides the ideas. Launchpad and development toolsets provide the means. What's needed is people to man the projects, and the Ubuntu Wanted Project is intended to serve that purpose. But even this project needs some help. PHP and SQL skills are needed. To contact Sense Hofstede (Qense), go to the #ubuntu-website or email the Ubuntu Website mailing list [1].

http://www.ndeschildre.net/2008/09/25/introducing-the-ubuntu-wanted-project/

Progress of Romanian Translation Team

The Romanian Translation Team has now set up a wiki section that include a translation guide, a starter guide, and various templates for emails. Currently, they are involved in translating the Ubuntu Desktop Course, which is a slow process. They have also reorganized the localization forum from the Romanian Ubuntu Forum, and are continuing work on GNOME packages, passing translations upstream to the coordinator of the GNOME Romanian translation team.

http://adi.roiban.ro/?p=73

Ubuntu Stats

Bug Stats

  • Open (46224) +131 # over last week
  • Critical (26) -1 # over last week
  • Unconfirmed (20908) -289 # over last week
  • Unassigned (37840) +91 # over last week
  • All bugs ever reported (213360) +2030 # 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 (11871) +2 # over last week
  • English-UK (30840) +2 # over last week
  • French (38909) +2 # over last week
  • Brazilian Portuguese (49866) +2 # over last week
  • Swedish (53190) +2 # 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

  • apachelogger (455)
  • crimsun (382)
  • maco.m (103)
  • chrisccoulson (88)
  • hew (53)

Top 5 teams for the past 7 days

  • kubuntu-de.org (487)
  • dcteam (485)
  • ubuntu-berlin (78)
  • ubuntu-de-locoteam (47)
  • ubuntu-michigan (15)

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

LoCo News

Regular Bug Jams in Berlin kicked off!

Daniel Holbach reports on the first of what is to be come regularly happening Bug Jams for Berlin. About 15 people showed up. Most of them were very new to bug triage, but there was information available for them to be able to understand how to do it. They also set up 5-A-Day in PPA for everyone. Being a first, there was some learning for everyone including organization, such as having a list of bugs ready, and rearranging tables to seat people in workgroups. However, most importantly:

  • They had lots of fun.
  • There was lots of interest in Upstreaming Bugs.
  • They have active 5-A-Dayers in the Ubuntu Berlin team now.
  • Everybody left very excited

http://daniel.holba.ch/blog/?p=249

ABLEconf co-hosted by Ubuntu Arizona LoCo

On September 20th, the Arizona LoCo team in cooperation with the user groups in the state co-hosted an open source conference in Phoenix. It was a first try at coordinating an event with all the state user groups, and according to those who attended, it was a big success. The idea was two fold, unite the user groups, and advocate for open source computing in Arizona. Members of the team made 3 of the 21 presentations at the conference, and worked at the team booth. Special thanks to all the user groups that participated in this kickoff event for open source conferences in Arizona. For a detailed summary of the event and pictures, please visit the link. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ArizonaTeam/OpenSourceConference

New in Hardy Heron

Launchpad News

Ubuntu Forums News

In The Press

  • Ubuntu 8.10 "Intrepid Ibex" (Alpha 6): first impressions - Hamish Taylor, for ITWire, reports that, having written about Intrepid Ibex Alpha, he went on to actually try it. He expected it to still be buggy, being an Alpha, but was pleased to actually be able to use it to write his report. He was also surprised to noticed that Intrepid was faster than Hardy Heron. In addition, he noticed improvements in individual packages like Gedit and Nautilus. http://www.itwire.com/content/view/20793/1162/

  • Who’s Running Ubuntu: The Works With U 1000 - Joe Panettieri reports that Works With U has now obtained 230 entries of people and companies running Ubuntu on business servers, desktops and mobile systems. Shortly, they will be sorting the entries by vertical market, region and so on. This is an update from previous posts concerning the Works With U 1000. http://www.workswithu.com/2008/09/24/whos-running-ubuntu-the-works-with-u-1000/

  • Toshiba NB100 netbook announced for the UK - Amy-Mae Elliott for Pocket-lint reports that Toshiba has come out with a new mini. Sporting a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, 8.9 inch 1024 X 600 display, Wi-Fi and Ethernet port, and 3 USB ports, the NB100 is entering the growing netbook market. The unit can either be equipped with Ubuntu 8.04 and OpenOffice 2.4 or Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition. http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/17730/18754/toshiba-nb100-netbook-uk.phtml

In The Blogosphere

  • The Validity Of 5-A-Day - Jono Bacon, who is the Ubuntu Community Manager for Canonical, responds to the Ubuntu UK podcast's debate about the 5-A-Day goal for bug triaging. 5-A-Day isn't necessarily for everyone, and at the moment a relatively low number of people are participating in 5-A-Day. Despite the low number of participants, in the past seven months the 5-A-Day team is responsible for having touched over 14,000 bugs, and thanks to the 5-A-Day team's efforts more than 8,000 bugs have been closed. 5-A-Day team membership fluctuates, and Jono gives a list of excellent educational resources available to those interested in joining the 5-A-Day team. The 5-A-Day team is making an excellent contribution to the Ubuntu community, and anyone with the skills to join in is encouraged to do so. http://www.jonobacon.org/?p=1307

  • 5 Things That Make Linux Great - Ken Hess, a DaniWeb Staff Writer/Blogger, reports on five aspects that he feels are compelling reasons for running Linux. His list points out to Linux newcomers that Linux is free, stable, and offers high quality software such as OpenOffice.org. These factors, combined with the fact that Linux will work well on older systems, make a compelling argument for those unfamiliar with Linux to give it a try. Hess suggests if you're a beginner with Linux and want to try it out to look at Ubuntu Linux. http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3248.html

  • Ubuntu alpha hits a snag - Christina Warren of the download squad blog comments on a serious bug found in 8.10 alpha. "In some circumstances it appears possible for the 2.6.27-rc kernels to corrupt the NVRAM used by some Intel network parts to store data such as MAC addresses. This is limited to the new e1000e driver, and reports have only appeared from users of "82566 and 82567 based LAN parts (ich8 and ich9)" (to quote Intel)". So far only laptops are effected but it is not fully understood whether desktops or servers are vulnerable as well. The e1000e driver in the latest kernel release candidate may potentially corrupt NVRAM in Intel 82566 (ich8) and 82567 (ich9) chipsets. This will potentially damage hardware. In some cases a BIOS update has resurrected hardware but often hardware needs to be replaced. Christina reports that there is some debate as to whether the alpha release should be removed from the download site. Risks are associated with running alpha software, though in the overwhelming majority of cases that risk is to software and data, not hardware. To make matters worse, this is hardware integrated into the motherboard of a laptop. Christina recommends removing the download and driver and release a program to identify if a potential user's system has effected hardware. http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/09/26/ubuntu-alpha-hits-a-snag/

  • Ubuntu, KDE 3.5, the Mac Mini, and the Future - The author of the RFD Networks blog comments on Ubuntu and the sickness that he shares with many in the Open Source community. Though there are a couple of frustrations with running "Ubuntu flavored Gnome" it has become a very stable system, so much so that the author is bored. He comments, "I am simply bored with getting my work done and not fighting with my computer. It is a sickness, I know". In an effort to releave the boredom he has installed the packages required to run the KDE desktop and was happy to immediately run into the number key issue immediately. The author feels that Ubuntu is certianly ready to be the sole OS for the average home user, though in his case the desire to tinker with the OS superseded his desire for a 100% stable system. Future plans include rebuilding his system to triple boot Linux, Windows, and OS X. http://rfdlinux.wordpress.com/2008/09/27/ubuntu-kde-35-the-mac-mini-and-the-future/

In Other News

Mark Shuttleworth named IT Community Hero of the Year

On September 24th, CNET Networks UK announced the winners of the sixth annual UK Business Technology Awards. The most illustrious award of the evening went to founder of the Ubuntu Foundation, Mark Shuttleworth, who received the inaugural 'IT Community Hero of the Year' award. Shuttleworth was recognized for the support he has given to the community of developers working on the Ubuntu project, and his commitment to a freely available operating system that can be used by anybody, anywhere in the world.

http://www.sourcewire.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=41902

Full Circle Magazine #17

In this month's edition of Full Circle Magazine:

  • Command and Conquer - Nano & Vim.

  • How-To : Program in C - Part 1, Connect to IRC, Using GIMP - Part 6 and Scan & Convert to PDF.

  • My Story - …When I Was Two
  • My Opinion - Is This The Year?
  • MOTU Interview - Harald Sitter
  • Top 5 - Email Notifiers

Downloads are available at http://fullcirclemagazine.org/issue-17/

http://fullcirclemagazine.org/

SUbuntu-UK Podcast #15: Five Sleepy Heads

The latest Ubuntu UK Podcast is available, now. This is the fifteenth episode, presented by Laura Cowen, Ciemon Dunville, Alan Pope, Dave Walker and Tony Whitmore. Downloads of both OGG and MP3 formats are available from the site. Included in this episode:

  • A discussion on possible backup solutions after one of the team does something silly and loses a lot of data.
  • New Chunky Sarcastic News
    • o Jono announces the new sponsorhip process for the next Ubuntu Developer Summit coming up in December. o Jaunty Jackalope is announced as the code name of the next release (9.04) after 8.10 - Intrepid Ibex. o New dark theme in Ubuntu 8.10. o Dirac reaches version 1.0, and VLC releases 0.9.2 which supports it. o Greg Korah-Hartman hits out at Canonical for not submitting more patches to upstream Linux kernel, in his keynote at the Linux Plumbers Conference. o IBM releases Lotus Symphony Beta for Ubuntu. o Crossover create a WINE based port of Chromium, the web browser Google Chrome is built upon.
  • Time to announce the winner of the Bitfolk VPS competition from last time.
  • A new competition to win a Canonical Store voucher.
  • We have a heated discussion about 5-a-day.
  • Feedback

http://podcast.ubuntu-uk.org/

An interview with John Crawford

This interview highlights John Crawford, an Ubuntu Member, a leader in the Arizona LoCo Team, one of the co-editors of the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, and the editor for the Ubuntu Fridge.

  • FIND OUT about his past life, his interest in computers, Linux and Ubuntu, and his involvement in the forums.
  • SEE how he became an Ubuntu Member, and how he contributes to the community.
  • GET THE NITTY-GRITTY on his favorite distribution and software and much more.

This teaser is brought to you by an associate editor of the UWN that just has NO respect for his boss (Hee hee).

http://matthewhelmke.net/wordpress/2008/09/22/an-interview-with-john-crawford/

Review: Xubuntu 8.10 'Intrepid Ibex' Alpha 6

In this report, Andrew examines Xubuntu 8.10 Alpha 6 from the gamer's point of view. This is one of a number of reports he has been doing on distributions, which include Ubuntu 8.10 Alpha 2, Mandriva 2009 Beta 1 (KDE4.1), Ubuntu 8.10 Alpha 4, Kubuntu 8.10 Alpha 4 and Kubuntu 8.10 Alpha 6. He identifies his equipment, then goes into installation and what's available directly from the repositories. His feeling is that, for older equipment, Xubuntu is the way to go.

http://www.headshotgamer.com/review.aspx?id=75

Linux Foundation opening doors to individual participation

The Linux Foundation is now accepting affiliate membership applications from individuals. Unlike the corporate memberships of Platinum, Gold and Silver, the affiliate members are restricted somewhat in the voice that they have, but are able to select 2 at-large directors to speak for them. In addition, individual affiliate members receive the quarterly newsletter and their choice of 3 different T-shirts, all for $49 annually.

http://www.linux.com/feature/148312

Meeting Summaries

Upcoming Meetings and Events

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Server Team Meeting

Loco Council Meeting

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

QA Team Meeting

Platform Team Meeting

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

Ubuntu-pa LoCo Team Meeting

  • Start: 08:30 - EDT
  • End: 09:30 - EDT
  • Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-pa
  • Agenda: Not listed as of publication

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Maryland LoCo IRC Meeting

  • Start: 00:00 - UTC
  • End: 01:00 - UTC
  • Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-us-md
  • Agenda: Not listed as of publication

Ubuntu Mobile Team Meeting

  • Start: 12:00 UTC
  • End: 13:00 UTC
  • Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
  • Agenda: None as of publication

Desktop Team Meeting

Ubuntu Java Meeting

  • Start: 14:00 UTC
  • End: 15:00 UTC
  • Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
  • Agenda: None as of publication

Friday, October 3, 2008

MOTU Meeting

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

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Xubuntu Community Meeting

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 7.04 will reach the end of it's support period on Sunday, October 19, 2008. After that date, no further listing for it will be posted here. You are encouraged to upgrade to Ubuntu 7.10.

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
  • Craig A. Eddy
  • Arlan Vennefron
  • Dave Bush
  • And many others

Glossary of Terms

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.