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Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue #160 for the week September 13th - September 19th, 2009. In this issue we cover ...

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In This Issue

General Community News

Karmic Alpha 6 released

Welcome to Karmic Koala Alpha 6, which will in time become Ubuntu 9.10. Pre-releases of Karmic are *not* encouraged for anyone needing a stable system or anyone who is not comfortable running into occasional, even frequent breakage. They are, however, recommended for Ubuntu developers and those who want to help in testing, reporting, and fixing bugs.

Alpha 6 is the sixth in a series of milestone CD images that will be released throughout the Karmic development cycle. The Alpha images are known to be reasonably free of showstopper CD build or installer bugs, while representing a very recent snapshot of Karmic. You can download it here:

• Ubuntu: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/karmic/alpha-6/

• Ubuntu Server for UEC & EC2: http://uec-images.ubuntu.com/releases/karmic/alpha-6/

• Ubuntu ARM http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ports/releases/karmic/alpha-6/

• Kubuntu: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/karmic/alpha-6/

• Xubuntu: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/karmic/alpha-6/

• UbuntuStudio: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/karmic/alpha-6/

• Mythbuntu: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/mythbuntu/releases/karmic/alpha-6/

• Edubuntu: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/releases/karmic/alpha-6/

Information on Mirrors, bug reporting, changes, and development announcements is available at the link below.

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2009-September/000618.html

Ubuntu Stats

Bug Stats

• Open (#) +/- # over last week
• Critical (#) +/- # over last week
• Unconfirmed (#) +/- # over last week
• Unassigned (#) +/- # over last week
• All bugs ever reported (#) +/- # over last week

As always, the Bug Squad needs more help. If you want to get started, please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad

Infamous Bugs

Translation Stats Jaunty

1. Language (#) +/- # over last week
2. Language (#) +/- # over last week
3. Language (#) +/- # over last week
4. Language (#) +/- # over last week
5. Language (#) +/- # over last week

Remaining strings to translate in Ubuntu 9.04 "Jaunty Jackalope," see more at: https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/jaunty/

Translation Stats Karmic

1. Language (#) +/- # over last week
2. Language (#) +/- # over last week
3. Language (#) +/- # over last week
4. Language (#) +/- # over last week
5. Language (#) +/- # over last week

Remaining strings to translate in Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala", see more at: https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/karmic/

# NEEDS UPDATING. # #=== 5-a-day bug stats === # #==== Top 5 contributors for the past 7 days ==== # # * person (#) # * person (#) # * person (#) # * person (#) # * person (#) # #==== Top 5 teams for the past 7 days ==== # # * team (#) # * team (#) # * team (#) # * team (#) # * team (#) # #5-A-Day stats. http://qa.ubuntu.com/reports/five-a-day/

Ubuntu Brainstorm Top 5 this week

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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. http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/

LoCo News

The first Ubuntu-dk podcast

After much work, and many delayed meetings, the Danish podcast team finally released their first episode.

• Danish Podcast Team: http://ubuntudanmark.dk/podcast/

• First Episode: http://ubuntudanmark.dk/podcast/ubuntu-dk-podcast-afsnit-001/

It is all in Danish, so you properly won’t be able to make much of it, if you don’t speak Danish, but it is a good episode, and hopefully is the first of a long line of fabulous podcasts. Besides a podcast in Danish with a focus on the legal aspects of software licences and immaterial rights, this seems to be the first Danish podcast about free and open source software, and the ambition of the podcast team is clearly to be larger than just Ubuntu. Hopefully this can become a podcast for the entire free software (and free culture?) movement in Denmark.

http://compadre.dk/blog/2009/09/16/the-first-ubuntu-dk-podcast/

Swedish LoCo Bug Jam: Linköping

The 3rd of October the Swedish Ubuntu LoCo will arrange a Bug Jam at Linköping University. This in correspondence with the Ubuntu Global Jam happening that weekend. See http://ubuntu-se.org/wiki/Global_Jam for more information.

http://www.andreasolsson.se/2009/09/19/ubuntu-bug-jam-in-linkoping/

New in Karmic Koala

Launchpad News

Ubuntu Forums News

Ubuntu Tutorial of the Week

DSDT (Differentiated System Description Table) is in the BIOS and this is where the OS looks for hardware and configuration info. It sometimes needs to be adjusted, in particular regarding ACPI. 67GTA (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=231204) has written a comprehensive tutorial for Ubuntu and Linux Mint: "HOWTO Fix A Buggy DSDT File" which currently works only up to Jaunty 9.04 release. I'm not sure I understand all the details, but reading through the thread, members seem to be able to fix a large range of ACPI related issues.

Credits to unutbu (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=518895) who suggested the tutorial. As unutbu puts it: "It is kind of amazing (at least to me) that fixing one file can solve such a variety of problems."

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1036051

Ubuntu Community Interviews

joeb454 has taken over the UF interview series and started out with elisabeth (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=10746), who is also pleia2 on IRC. Elisabeth is a debian sysadmin, runs the Philadelphia LUG and is much involved in the ubuntu-women, ubuntu-classroom, ubuntu-learning and ubuntu-beginners projects. Wow!

http://blog.joeb454.com/2009/08/an-interview-with-pleia2/

The second interview is with nhandler (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=148906), from Chicago. He is part of the ubuntuforums Beginners and Unanswered Posts Teams. He currently serves on the Ubuntu Beginners Team Council. He's also a MOTU and serves on the MOTU Council. Nathan is one of these members who make the forums and the community a better and friendly place.

http://blog.joeb454.com/2009/09/an-interview-with-nhandler/

Enjoy!

The Planet

Martin Pitt: PostgreSQL security/bug fix update, please test

Martin is asking for testing help. PostgreSQL recently published new point releases which fix the usual range of important bugs (data loss/wrong results, etc.) and additionally fix another case of insecure “security definer” functions (the analogon to setuid programs in file system space for SQL functions) (CVE-2007-6600). Please see the complete changes for 8.1.18 (Ubuntu 6.06 LTS), 8.3.8 (Ubuntu 8.04 LTS, 8.10, and 9.04), and 8.4.1 (Ubuntu 9.10).

• 8.1.18: http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.1/static/release.html#RELEASE-8-1-18

• 8.3.8: http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.3/static/release-8-3-8.html

• 8.4.1: http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.4/static/release-8-4-1.html

8.4.1 is already in Ubuntu 9.10 and in my PostgreSQL Backports PPA for Ubuntu 8.04 LTS and 9.04. Updates for the other supported Ubuntu releases are currently in -proposed, waiting for testing feedback.

• PostgreSQL Backports PPA: https://launchpad.net/~pitti/+archive/postgresql

If you use PostgreSQL, please give the -proposed packages some testing and report back in Ubuntu bug #430544. https://launchpad.net/bugs/430544

http://www.piware.de/2009/09/postgresql-securitybug-fix-update-please-test/

Martin Owens: Launchpad Nautilus Preview

Martin wants everyone to know that he is working on developing a way to help non-developers contribute to projects in Launchpad and bzr. He feels the best way to do that is to increase the usability of the tools that are available. His main focus here is not on replicating the functionality of bzr or launchpad at any fundamental level, it’s about producing functionality which follows a prescribed workflow. Those who need a different workflow will obviously use the command line tools, but for all other people, this kind of integration will be useful. He has included a video of how it will work: http://blip.tv/file/get/Doctormo-LaunchpadIntergrationExperiment375.ogv Be sure to let Martin know your thoughts after seeing the video.

http://doctormo.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/launchpad-naultius-sneak-preview/

In The Press

Ubuntu releases last 9.10 Alpha

Ubuntu's crew of developers has just released the sixth and expected last alpha version of the next Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala version of its Linux OS. The first thing that Ubuntu users will notice is that there is no more Usplash. The boot splash screen has disappeared as part of a cunning plan to speed up boot times. The GNOME desktop environment has been updated to version 2.28 RC1 (2.27.92), the Linux kernel packages are now at version 2.6.31-10.34 and they are based on the final version of Linux kernel 2.6.31. AppArmor has also been greatly improved and new profiles are available.

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1534043/ubuntu-releases-alpha

In The Blogosphere

Ubuntu Artwork team starts delivering

Although Ubuntu has been the most popular distro for a pretty long time now, it really need to put in a lot of work on enhancing look and feel. Though a number of high quality third party themes are available like the bisigi-project, one thing where Ubuntu lacked was the absence of good quality themes by default. That is all going to change now. While most of the new themes are variations of brown, even they are starting to look good! Four cool themes and two icon sets! Check them out for yourself.

http://ubuntumanual.org/posts/244/ubuntu-artwork-team-starts-delivering-four-cool-themes-and-two-icon-sets-to-start-with

Cave Dwellers Give Ubuntu Two Thumbs Up

http://www.daniweb.com/news/story223037.html

My thoughts on Ubuntu

http://linuxcritic.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/my-thoughts-on-ubuntu/

Pidgin vs. Empathy: Feature Comparison

http://www.workswithu.com/2009/09/15/pidgin-vs-empathy-feature-comparison/

In Other News

Ubuntu-UK podcast: The Tribe of Gum

Laura Cowen, Alan Pope, Tony Whitmore and Ciemon Dunville are back once more from ‘Studio B’ sadly without Dave Walker, but with a crowning episode of the Ubuntu Podcast from the UK Local Community Support Team.

• What we've been up to this week

• Neil Wallace interview about OpenMolar

• A leaner more svelte news segment
• What's coming up "real" soon

• OggCamp

• Getting involved in documentation
• First "Just a Moment" submission
• The Ecosphere

• Your email, tweets & dents

http://podcast.ubuntu-uk.org/2009/09/17/s02e13-the-tribe-of-gum/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

Linux-ready mini-PC powers up

http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/News/Linutop-3/

The Art of Community Available For Free Download

When Jono started work on The Art of Community he was really keen that it should be a body of work that all communities have access to. He also wanted to write a book that covered the major areas of community leadership, distilling a set of best practices and experiences, and illustrated by countless stories, anecdotes and tales. But to give this book real value, he was keen to ensure the book could be freely accessed and shared. Jono is pleased to announce the general availability of The Art Of Community under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike license. With this license that the book is under you have the following freedoms with the entire content:

• to Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work
• to Remix — to adapt the work…with a few requirements:
• Attribution — You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
• Noncommercial — You may not use this work for commercial purposes.
• Share Alike — If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one.

While the book is ready to download right now, the book is available to buy in print, on Kindle, and other electronic book formats and I would like to encourage you to buy a printed copy of the book for a few reasons:

• Firstly, buying a copy sends a tremendous message to O’Reilly that they should continue to publish books (a) about community and (b) under a Creative Commons license.
• Secondly, it will encourage O’Reilly to invest in a second edition of the book down the line, which will in turn mean that communities around the world will have a refreshed and updated edition that is available to them.
• Thirdly, aside from the voting-with-your-feet side of things, it is just a really nice book to own in print. It is really well made, looks stunning and feels great to curl up with in a coffee shop or on the couch.

The book is available to buy on all the major Amazon sites:

• Canada: http://www.amazon.ca/Art-Community-Building-New-Participation/dp/0596156715/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241305382&sr=8-1

• France: http://www.amazon.fr/Art-Community-Building-New-Participation/dp/0596156715/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=english-books&qid=1241305148&sr=8-1

• Germany: http://www.amazon.de/Art-Community-Building-New-Participation/dp/0596156715/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books-intl-de&qid=1241305095&sr=8-1

• Japan: http://www.amazon.co.jp/Art-Community-J-Bacon/dp/0596156715/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=english-books&qid=1241305202&sr=8-4

• United States: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0596156715?ie=UTF8&tag=jobaho-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0596156715

• United Kingdom: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Community-Building-New-Participation/dp/0596156715/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241304996&sr=8-1

You can download your free copy of the The Art of Community here: http://www.artofcommunityonline.org/downloads/jonobacon-theartofcommunity-1ed.pdf

http://www.jonobacon.org/2009/09/18/the-art-of-community-available-for-free-download/

Meeting Summaries

Upcoming Meetings and Events

Community Spotlight

Updates and Security for 6.06, 8.04, 8.10 and 9.04

Security Updates

Ubuntu 6.06 Updates

Ubuntu 8.04 Updates

Ubuntu 8.10 Updates

Ubuntu 9.04 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:

• http://www.ubuntu.com/news

and

• http://fridge.ubuntu.com/

Conclusion

Thank you for reading the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter.

See you next week!

Credits

The Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter is brought to you by:

• John Crawford
• Craig A. Eddy
• Dave Bush
• Isabelle Duchatelle
• Your Name Here
• And many others

Glossary of Terms

Ubuntu - Get Involved

The Ubuntu community consists of individuals and teams, working on different aspects of the distribution, giving advice and technical support, and helping to promote Ubuntu to a wider audience. No contribution is too small, and anyone can help. It's your chance to get in on all the community fun associated with developing and promoting Ubuntu. http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate

Feedback

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