Issue569
WORK IN PROGRESS
Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue 569 for the week of March 3 - 9, 2019.
In this Issue
General Community News
Ubuntu 14.04.6 LTS released
Łukasz 'sil2100' Zemczak, on behalf of the Ubuntu team, announces the release of Ubuntu 14.04.6 LTS (Long-Term Support). This is a security-targeted release in response to APT vulnerability (USN-3863-1) and additional high-impact bug fixes are also included. Ubuntu support links are also provided.
Welcome New Members and Developers
wildmanne39, on behalf of the Ubuntu Membership Board, is delighted to announce our newest Ubuntu Member:
Frederik Feichtmeier (Wiki Page: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/FrederikFeichtmeier | Launchpad Page: https://launchpad.net/~frederik-feichtmeier)
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-news-team/2019-March/002837.html
Congratulations to these contributors!
Ubuntu Stats
Bug Stats
- Open: # (+/-#)
- Critical: # (+/-#)
- Unconfirmed: # (+/-#)
As always, the Bug Squad needs more help. If you want to get started, please see: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad
Translations
Hot in Support
Ask Ubuntu Top 5 Questions
Ask (and answer!) questions at: https://askubuntu.com/
Ubuntu Forums Top 5 Threads
Find more support at: https://ubuntuforums.org/
LoCo News
Canonical at NVIDIA GTC 2019
Canonical attends Nvidia’s GTC Conference in San Jose, California March 18 – 21, 2019. Canonical's focus in the event is AI/ML, Kuberneters, and MicroK8s/Kubeflow with an emphasis on support offered in the K8 environment. A chat will be tendered at a hosting proffered at a happy hour Wednesday, March 20 from 7pm to 10pm at the Continental Bar Lounge & Patio.
https://blog.ubuntu.com/2019/03/07/canonical-nvidia-gtc-2019
LoCo Events
The following LoCo team events are currently scheduled in the next two weeks:
Looking beyond the next two weeks? Visit the LoCo Team Portal to browse upcoming events around the world: http://loco.ubuntu.com/events/
The Hub
Multipass snap: Upcoming switch to the core18 base
Christopher Townsend (townsend) advises that the Multipass snap will be switching over to core18 base. Currently there are some known glitches and a workaround is given.
https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/upcoming-switch-to-the-core18-base-for-the-multipass-snap/10116
What the bespoke Wayland extensions API might look like (update 1)
Alan Griffiths (alan_g) advises on his update pushes. The API parts are the “MirAL 2.5” inclusive of code to filtering protocol extensions, and adding protocol extensions. Alan also sketches his work in Implementing protocol extensions.
The Planet
Resource Scale for Fractional Scaling support in GNOME Shell 3.32
Marco Trevisan tells us that GNOME Shell has now fractional scaling, after some years in development. Reporting that last Friday Jonas triggered the merge for GNOME 3.32, functional under the Wayland protocol. Example screenshots are provided, and details as to current limitations are explained - especially with legacy applications. It's still considered experimental, but the command needed to get it running is provided. Marco finally thanks the people who helped review and test the code.
https://blog.3v1n0.net/informatica/linux/gnome-shell-fractional-scaling-in-wayland-landed/
Launchpad news, February 2019
Colin Watson gives a brief changelog. Included are notices of a change in the Build farm, code alterations, gpg key fingerprints in rocketfuel-setup, and Core18 base in build.snapcraft.io and Soyuz (package management).
http://blog.launchpad.net/general/launchpad-news-february-2019
Canonical News
How to quickly deploy production-ready Kubernetes - https://blog.ubuntu.com/2019/03/04/how-to-deploy-production-ready-kubernetes
Infographic: Snapcraft for developers - https://blog.ubuntu.com/2019/03/06/infographic-snapcraft-for-developers
Fresh KDE snaps for February 2019 - https://blog.ubuntu.com/2019/03/09/fresh-kde-snaps-for-february-2019
In the Blogosphere
Linux Kernel 5.0 Released, This is What’s New
Joey Sneddon reports on the release of Linux Kernel 5.0, with no grand changes but lots of improvements, new additions, and support for newer hardwares. Joey details some of these and provides a link to Linus Torvalds' announcement for greater detail. Though the source code is available for Linux 5.0 and it is possible to install the mainline kernel it is not recommended, but rather await the arrival of the new kernel in the 19.04 final release.
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/?p=137501
GNOME Shell + Mutter 3.31.92 Bring Fractional Scaling, Updated Screen-Casting API
Michael Larabel reports on the GNOME Shell / Mutter 3.31.92 releases where there is now fractional scaling support as well as performance improvements. Mutter sees version two of the screen-casting API, adds cursor-mode support, and a number of crash fixes. The GNOME Shell update has some fixes for the sub-menus as well as other fixes and cleanup. Michael provides a link to gnome-announce-list for more details.
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=GNOME-Shell-Mutter-3.31.92
KDE Plasma 5.12.8 LTS Desktop Environment Released with over 70 Improvements
Marius Nestor reports on the bugfix update to KDE Plasma 5, versioned 5.12.8. Marius cites many of the changes, fixes, improvements, and feature refinements and new modules. It is recommended to update as soon as the new packages are in the stable software repository. Marius provides a link to the release announcement for more details with the advisory that KDE Plasma 5.12, with six month maintenance updates, will reach end of life in July 2020.
Meet the Official Ubuntu 19.04 ‘Disco Dingo’ Mascot
Joey Sneddon writes that the official mascot design for Ubuntu 19.04 has been revealed by Canonical. Reminding us what a dingo is, and what the artwork is for, he gives an opinion as to the possible influences into the chosen artwork. Joey likes it, will you? Pictures of the new logo of course are included.
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2019/03/ubuntu-19-04-mascot-disco-dingo-art
Canonical Releases New Linux Kernel Security Update for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
Marius Nestor tells us that Canonical have released new patches for Ubuntu, across all supported systems . Marius provides details of CVEs fixed for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, and advises users of Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, 16.04 LTS & 14.04 LTS using the 4.15 (HWE) kernel to upgrade as soon as possible.
Ubuntu Touch OTA-8 Released With Browser Improvements
Michael Larabel reports that the UBports community have released Ubuntu Touch OTA-8 update. Though primarily a maintenance release, It contains some fixes and other improvements, with the most significant being to the Morph browser. More details are available with the provided link.
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Ubuntu-Touch-OTA-8
Ubuntu 19.04 (Disco Dingo) Will Be Powered by Linux Kernel 5.0
Marius informs us that Canonical have decided to ship the Linux kernel 5.0 with Ubuntu 19.04. Linux kernel 5.0 contains not only new features for x86, but also for ARM which are covered briefly in the article. Marius reminds us Ubuntu 19.04 (and flavors) are scheduled for release 18 April 2019.
LibreOffice 6.2 Office Suite Gets First Point Release with More Than 150 Fixes
Marius Nestor writes of the Document Foundation's first point release for LibreOffice 6.2 Office Suite. With more than one-hundred-and-fifty bugs and issues addressed still is not deemed as optimized for enterprise class deployments. Those whose priority is stability and reliability are urged to remain on LibreOffice 6.1 series. But for those who already run LibreOffice 6.2 they are urged to update. Links are provided for those that choose to update for a much-improved office experience.
Purism Announces Convergence for Its Linux Phones and Laptops
Marius Nestor informs us of the arrival of integrated support for linux-phones and laptops that allows a single set of apps, from the same PureOS release. This means one can turn the Librem 5 Linux phone into a computer and as PureOS is Gnome based one can create apps that work on both mobile phones and laptops. The Librem 5 mobile phone is scheduled for release Q3 2019; Marius provides links for more details.
Snap Apps Are More Popular Than You Think [Infographic]
Joey Sneddon writes that more than three million Snaps are installed each month. Reminding us of what snaps are and the advantages of snaps, Joey provides the range of devices that snaps can be installed on and notes a large number of developers that package using Snappy. Infographics from Canonical’s original post are provided as is the source link.
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2019/03/linux-users-install-3-million-snap-apps-every-month
Wayland 1.17 + Weston 6.0 Reach Beta
Michael Larabel reports on the progress to Weston 6.0 and Wayland 1.17 that is expected to debut around 19 March. This beta release is after the feature freeze for this cycle, but, brings support for internal server error messages and updates wl_seat protocol in Wayland 1.17. Weston 6.0 has XDG-Shell stable support, Meson transition, FreeRDP 2.0 updates. and IVI shell enhancements.
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Wayland-1.17-Weston-6.0-Beta
Ubuntu 14.04.6 LTS Released
Michael Larabel informs us that Ubuntu 14.04.6 LTS has been released with fixes to the recent APT security vulnerability. Providing details of this unscheduled update, a link is provided to the ubuntu-announce archive.
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Ubuntu-14.04.6-LTS-Released
KDE Frameworks 5.56 Brings Another Month Worth Of Improvements
Michael Larabel reports of this monthly update for the add-on libraries complementing Qt5. The list includes: Baloo, new Breeze icons, mitigation against CVE-2013-0779, KFileMetaData improvements, KRun support improvements to the Kirigami framework, improvements in KTextEditor, added supports in KWayland, updates in Octave support and improved TypeScript/React. More details are in the provided KDE.org link.
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=KDE-Frameworks-5.56-Released
Other Articles of Interest
Lenovo Unveils ThinkStation P520 & P920 ‘AI Workstations’: Xeon Plus Quadro RTX 6000 - https://www.anandtech.com/show/14060/lenovo-thinkstation-p520-p920-ai-workstations-xeon-plus-quadro-rtx-6000
Featured Audio and Video
Ubuntu Security Podcast: Episode 22
“This week we cover security updates including Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenSSL and another Ghostscript regression, plus we look at a recent report from Capsule8 comparing Linux hardening features across various distributions and we answer some listener questions.”
https://ubuntusecuritypodcast.org/episode-22/
Meeting Reports
Desktop Team: - https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/monday-11th-march-2019/10092
Upcoming Meetings and Events
For more details and farther dates please visit: http://fridge.ubuntu.com/calendars/
Updates and Security for 14.04, 16.04, 18.04, and 18.10
Security Updates
Ubuntu 14.04 Updates
End of Life: April 2019
Ubuntu 16.04 Updates
End of Life: April 2021
Ubuntu 18.04 Updates
End of Life: April 2023
Ubuntu 18.10 Updates
End of Life: July 2019
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