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#1 2004-02-08 18:57:53

contrasutra
Member
From: New Jersey
Registered: 2003-07-26
Posts: 507

ArchLinux Newsletter for February 2-8

*Also sent to the mailing list*

Hello and welcome to the very first ArchLinux Weekly Newsletter. There have been lots of package updates this week, and some serious development discussion. The goal of this newsletter is to provide you with an "at a glance" look at what's been happening with everyone's favorite linux distribution.


Front Page News:

1. Ugly update KDE 3.1.5 -> 3.2.0

It seems that kde devs made lots of changes in the new KDE version. The most significant is that they moved files from kdebase to kdelibs - among others - and since pacman checks for file conflicts between pkgs, it stops with messages about these conflicts. In order to upgrade KDE 3.1.5 to 3.2.0 you have 2 options :

    - Remove 3.1.5 completely (only the kde pkgs, not their dependencies) & install 3.2.0 fresh. This is what I' ve done when building 3.2.0 pkgs, in order to avoid linking problems, that's why this report didn't come out earlier.

    - Force install it (pacman -Sf).

Another thing that might cause inconvenience is that kmail is now part of kontact, included in the kdepim pkg. I'm sorry for any troubles this upgrade caused, but it's not really my (or AL's) fault anyway big_smile.

http://archlinux.org/news.php#43


This Week on the Forum:

1. Contrasutra started a thread about a "testing" or "staging" repository for the main trees. This would act as an intermediate before inclusion in the official repositories, allowing for extra testing. The developers had already discussed this idea, and the implementation is being planned. Read the thread here: http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?t=2447&start=0

2. cmf brought up a point about whether ArchLinux could include XFree86 4.4.0 (when it is released) in the repositories. This is due to license changes in XFree86 that may be incompatible with the GPL. Read the thread here: http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?t=2410

3. Mork II posted that he wanted an official ArchLinux Wiki, where all members could contribute to documentation. We are still waiting for developer input on the idea. Read the thread here: http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?t=2421


This Week on the Mailing List:

1. Maik Jablonski was interested in ArchLinux's presence at LinuxTag in Germany. Unfortunately the developers did not have the time or money to attend. discussion is still ongoing. Read the thread at: http://www.archlinux.org/pipermail/arch … 00754.html

2. Matt Niswonger provided a patch that changed the behavior of Mozilla startup. There was a debate about whether it should open in a new tab, window, and the other settings concerning the startup script. discussion is still ongoing. Read the thread at: http://www.archlinux.org/pipermail/arch … 00758.html


This Week on the TUR Mailing List:

1. Brice Carpentier posted a message on the proper building of MONO (http://go-mono.org). It was decided that it could not be built properly until the stripping function in pacman (makepkg) was changed. With the release of pacman 2.7.3, the issue was fixed. Expect a MONO package soon. Read the thread here: https://lists.berlios.de/pipermail/tur- … 00048.html

2. Jason Chu wanted to settle how a person should become a TUR. The decided method was sponsorship by other TURs. It has still not been decided what criteria there are for TUR removal. Read the thread here: https://lists.berlios.de/pipermail/tur- … 00063.html


This Week in Dev Land (by Jason Chu):

Since this is the first newsletter, I'll probably go back more than a week.

1. A few weeks ago, KDE and Gnome were moved from current to extra because it was difficult to keep repository integrity with them split.  We also talked about making a set of extra cds when 0.6 comes out so that people can still get a version of Gnome and KDE without downloading them.

2. Discussion was started about i586, goals for 1.0, the testing repo, what's holding back 0.6, and many other things.  This thread was started by me.  I like to rattle things up.

3. A testing repo is being discussed.  It would have similar revision scheme as staging (-1t1) but would specifically be for upgrades to packages.  Currently we are worried about making way too much work for ourselves by using testing for everything; we're trying to find more efficient ways to handle it.

4. New security officers and documentation people are being considered.  You might be next!

5. As stated above, we plan on adding more documentation people.  We're also looking at systems to make documentation easier.  Our criteria are as follows:
- Access control - only certain people are allowed to update certain docs
- i18n - people want documentation in other languages
- Other formats - being able to export our docs to PDF, etc
- Strict formatting rules - seperation between content and layout

New Package Highlights:

1. KDE 3.2 was released this week, and Arch has a complete set of packages for it. KDE 3.2 boasts many new features and fixes. Visit: http://kde.org/announcements/announce-3.2.php for the whole story.

2. GNOME 2.4.2 was released this week. This is a bugfix/stability release. Visit: http://gnomedesktop.org/article.php?sid … =0&thold=1 for the complete changelog.

3. Pacman 2.7.3 was released. This features proxy support and an improved progress bar among other things. Visit: http://www.archlinux.org/pacman/ for the whole changelog.

4. Linux 2.6.2 was released, providing many changes. Read the announcement here: http://kerneltrap.org/node/view/2237

FAQs of The Week:

Q: Is KDE 3.2 in the repositories yet?
A: Yes, yes it is. It takes a little while to build, test, and upload a large set of packages. Please don't clamor for them on release day. If you really want them, you can edit the PKGBUILDs and build them yourself.

Q: I just installed Linux 2.6 and my terminals wont open!
A: Due to some changes, you have to add this line to your /etc/fstab (and reboot):
    none                   /dev/pts  devpts      defaults              0     0
   
Q: When will ArchLinux 0.6 be out?
A (Jason): It will be out when it's ready.  We have very little changes planned on our end.  Things like more util disks (for jfs, raid, etc) and 2.6 aro on our list of todos.  Package wise we'd like to wait for XFree86 4.4 and, possibly, Kernel 2.4.25.


Bugs Opened This Week:

1. GTK2 Won't Build
2. Groff-1.19 now available from German mirror
3. gnome-vfs-extras missing dependency
4. The Xfce group doesn't have xfce4-mixer
5. pacman: set umask before writing db entries
6. KMail Bugs in KDE 3.2
7. PATCH: Fix buffer overflow in Pacman
8. Juk not part of KDE Multimedia in 3.2
9. xscreensaver 4.14-2 missind dependency libxml2

Bugs Closed This Week:

1. exclude only *.exe's and *.dlls from stripping
2. kbd-1.12-1 runs aground
3. kernel26 include scsi please
4. Ximianized OpenOffice
5. kdebase update gives file conflicts
6. Xsane broken with gimp dependency

Complete List of New and Updated Packages:

1. pan 0.14.2.91-1
2. blassic 0.8.0-1
3. pathological 1.1.3-1
4. lcms 1.12-1
5. bmp 0.9.6.1-1
6. gimp 2.0pre3-1
7. kernel26 2.6.2-1
8. gammu 0.93.0-1
9. gnokii 0.5.10-1
10. Set of KDE 3.2 Localizations
11. kdeadmin 3.2.0-1
12. kdeaddons 3.2.0-1
13. arts 1.2.0-1
14. kdebindings 3.2.0-1
15. kdebase 3.2.0-1
16. kdeartwork 3.2.0-1
17. kdegraphics 3.2.0-1
18. kdegames 3.2.0-1
19. kdeedu 3.2.0-1
20. kdenetwork 3.2.0-1
21. kdemultimedia 3.2.0-1
22. kdelibs 3.2.0-1
23. kdetoys 3.2.0-1
24. kdesdk 3.2.0-1
25. kdepim 3.2.0-1
26. kdeutils 3.2.0-1
27. xmms-skins 0.1-1
28. neverball 1.1.0-1
29. nicotine 1.0.7-1
30. quanta 3.2.0-1
31. dosbox 0.61-1
32. xpad 1.13-1
33. kernel26-scsi 2.6.2-1
34. cgoban2 2.5.6-1
35. xsane 0.92-2
36. bochs 2.1-1
37. gift 0.11.6-1
38. gift-gnutella 0.0.9.2-1
39. jikes 1.19-1
40. swig 1.3.21-1
41. drscheme 206-1
42. sbcl 0.8.7-1
43. bigloo 2.6b-1
44. distcc 2.12.1-1
45. ggv 2.4.1-1
46. balsa 2.0.16-2
47. evolution 1.4.5-5
48. gcalctool 4.3.42-1
49. gnome2-user-docs 2.4.1-1
50. gnome-games 2.4.2-1
51. gnome-session 2.4.2-1
52. gnome-mime-data 2.4.1-1
53. gnome-vfs 2.4.2-1
54. gnome-themes-extras 0.6-1
55. libbonobo 2.4.3-1
56. libgtkhtml 2.4.1-1
57. fontconfig 2.2.1-1
58. libglade 2.0.1-5
59. pacman 2.7.3-3
60. xscreensaver 4.14-2
61. gal 1.99.10-2
62. eel 2.4.2-2
63. control-ceneter 2.4.0-3
64. bug-buddy 2.4.2-2
65. acme 2.4.2-2
66. gnome-applets 2.4.2-2
67. gnome-media 2.4.1.1-2
68. gnome-panel 2.4.2-2
69. gnome-terminal 2.4.2-3
70. gnome-utils 2.4.1-2
71. gtkhtml-3.0.9-3
72. libbonoboui 2.4.3-2
73. nautilus 2.4.2-2
74. yelp 2.4.2-2
75. gnome-common 2.4.0-2
76. sawfish 1.3-2
77. ion 20020207-3
78. evilwm 0.99.17-2
79. pekwm 0.1.3-3
80. pwm 20030617-2
81. ude 0.2.9a-2
82. ratpoison 1.2.2-2
83. englightenment 0.16.6-2
84. fvwm 2.4.17-2
85. gdm 2.4.4.7-1
86. blender 2.32-1
87. peacock 1.9.1-1
88. sound-juicer 0.5.10.1-1
89. kino 0.7.0-1
90. yafray 0.0.6-1
91. aspell-nl 0.50-1
92. gtkspell 2.0.5-1
93. pipemeter 0.9-1

Packages In Staging:
For more information on how to access the staging repository and User Repositories, visit: http://tur.berlios.de

filelight 0.6.4-1
rasmol 2.7.2.1-1
dbp 0.5.7-s1
abcm2ps 3.7.3-1
atitvout 0.4-1
dcraw 1.161-s1
fftw3 3.0.1-1
glabels 1.93.1-1
gp 0.26-1
ion-devel 20030814-1
labplot 1.2.2-1
lcab 1.0b9-1
hwd 1.6-2
libchipcard 0.9.1-1
libksba 0.4.7-1
liblrdf 0.3.1-1
libofx 0.6.4-1
gtk-smooth-engine 0.5.6-s1
lzo 1.08-1
lzop 1.01-1
mage 6.30.030607-1
mpck 0.04-1
pixieplus 0.5.4-1
potrace 1.2-1
prekin 6.30.030607-1
maxima 5.9.0-1
tla 1.1-2
stellarium 0.5.1-1
lwm 1.2.0-1
ascii 3.4-1
tse3 0.2.7-1
windowlab 1.21-s1
universalkopete 0.1-1
xv 3.10a-1
avidemux 2.0.20-1
smclone 0.55-1
kbarcode 1.6.1-s1
barcode 0.98-1
gtick 0.2.12-1
bs 2.6-1
mp3burn 0.3.1-1
shaaft 0.5.0-1
kobodeluxe 0.4pre8-1
hd2u 0.8.1-2
amule 1.2.3-1
giftui 0.3.1-1
gurlchecker 0.6.4-s1
ttf-cheapskate 0.1-2
libxml++ 1.0.0-1
chromium 0.9.12-1
passepartout 0.4-1
gnome-cups-manager 0.17-1
libgnomecups 0.1.6-1
monopd 0.8.3-1
logjam 4.2.4-2
xpenguins_themes  1.0-1
libmath++ 0.0.3-1
libcapsinetwork 0.2.4-1
gtkatlantic 0.3.2-1
ms-sys 1.1.1-1
rox-system 1.9.0-s1
smb4k 0.3.1-1
ksambaplugin 0.5b2-1
materm 0.1-1
seahorse 0.7.3-2
parse-yapp 1.05-1
libavc1394 0.4.1-1
xml-dom 1.43-1
xml-regexp 0.03-1
xml-xql 0.68-1
inkscape 0.36-1
liferea 0.4.6b-1
panorama-tools 2.6bml12-s1
sylpheed-gtk2 0.9.8a-s1
kaffeine 0.4.1-s1
amarok 0.8.3-s1
kile 1.6.1-1
mlview 0.6.2-1
gossip 0.7.1-s1
loudmouth 0.15.1-s1
gtodo 0.13.5-s1

ArchStats Update:
Visit: http://archstats.coding-zone.com/ to participate

Number of registered systems: 106
Date first system was registered: 20031017 [22:24:30]
Most recent update occurred:    20040208 [15:10:04]
Least packages installed on a system: 44
Average installed packages: 251
Most packages installed on a system: 563
Slowest recorded CPU (MHz):    265.37
Average CPU speed (MHz): 1325.74
Fastest recorded CPU (MHz): 3564.03


That's all for this week, and thank you to everyone who helped to make ArchLinux great!

    -- Ben Mazer and Jason Chu.


"Contrary to popular belief, penguins are not the salvation of modern technology.  Neither do they throw parties for the urban proletariat."

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#2 2004-02-09 00:01:44

nifan
Member
Registered: 2003-04-10
Posts: 102

Re: ArchLinux Newsletter for February 2-8

well congrats for this first newsletter.
i have a cople of questions: couldnt this be made in a way that it could be translated to several languages, if so that would be nice. and if this is going to be a project to mantain, i think it could get some space in the frontpage.

keep up the good work


______
"Ignorance, the root and the stem of every evil." - Plato

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#3 2004-02-09 02:47:46

contrasutra
Member
From: New Jersey
Registered: 2003-07-26
Posts: 507

Re: ArchLinux Newsletter for February 2-8

Well, I barely know English, so I can't translate into another language.

This isn't really official. It's just something me and Jason did because we thought it would be neat.


"Contrary to popular belief, penguins are not the salvation of modern technology.  Neither do they throw parties for the urban proletariat."

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#4 2004-02-09 03:26:19

Xentac
Forum Fellow
From: Victoria, BC
Registered: 2003-01-17
Posts: 1,797
Website

Re: ArchLinux Newsletter for February 2-8

It may actually become official.  I got the nod from up on high and have yet to see negative feedback about it.  We would need a slightly more official distribution process though.


I have discovered that all of mans unhappiness derives from only one source, not being able to sit quietly in a room
- Blaise Pascal

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#5 2004-02-09 07:39:00

rasat
Forum Fellow
From: Finland, working in Romania
Registered: 2002-12-27
Posts: 2,293
Website

Re: ArchLinux Newsletter for February 2-8

This is nice to get an over-all view (newsletter) about current major issues and news what're going on. With the increasing number of contribution on the forum and other AL media, its getting difficult to follow what's actually going on...... where to focus or to know AL's  latest support and development. Thanks for starting this newsletter.

Most likely later there will be a different way how to distribute the news. For time being for users to find this newletter and also the next, I added a link in News, FAQ & LP topic, which can be followed up:
http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?t=2250


Markku

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