path: root/english/News/weekly/2003/34/index.wml

#use wml::debian::weeklynews::header PUBDATE="2003-08-26" SUMMARY="Release, Retrospective, Birthday, Keys, Ruby, Security, Bugs, FDL, Documentation, LSB, 3.0r2, Snort"
# $Id$

<p>Welcome to this year's 34th issue of DWN, the weekly newsletter for the
Debian community.  The editorial of the <a
href="$(HOME)/News/weekly/2003/33/">last issue</a> seemed to imply that LinEx
did not contain non-free software, <a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-0308/msg02802.html">which</a> <a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-0308/msg02926.html">is</a> obviously <a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-0308/msg02947.html">wrong</a>.
The most important event for this week is probably the decision in the
European parliament regarding the legalizing of software patents in Europe.
<a href="http://www.eurolinux.org/">EuroLinux</a> and <a
href="http://www.ffii.org/">FFII</a> call for an offline demo in Brussels and
an online <a href="http://swpat.ffii.org/girzu/demo/">demo</a> against
software patents.</p>

<p><strong>The next Debian Release.</strong> Anthony Towns <a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce-0308/msg00010.html">\
proposed</a> December 1st as the sarge release date.  He also explained
why the Debian project maintains <a href="$(HOME)/releases/stable/">stable</a>
releases at all.  He also explains that this release will feature a
distributed release management, consisting of at least four people.  The use
of the experimental distribution is also recommended for cvs snapshots and the
like.  Of course, Anthony also added a timeline for the sarge release.  You're
also strongly encouraged to work out your own schedule for packages you work
on.</p>

<p><strong>Debian's Popularity as a Web Server.</strong> Gerrit Griebel <a
href="$(HOME)/News/weekly/2003/34/mail#mail1">informed</a> us about a <a
href="http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2003/08/16/debian_linux_distribution_10_years_old_today.html">\
report</a> by Netcraft, which shows this popularity. Despite the absence of
funding and being an amateur
effort, Debian is the second most popular GNU/Linux distribution they find on
Internet web sites.  Debian's success is a testament to how little difference
money sometimes makes.  It is the most cosmopolitan of any of the GNU/Linux
distributions.  According to the geographical <a
href="http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2003/08/debiangeog.gif">\
distribution</a>, France and Germany contain more than half of all Debian's
web server installations.</p>

<p><strong>Libranet: TCO-Friendly GNU/Linux.</strong> Timothy R. Butler, the
Editor-in-Chief of <a href="http://www.ofb.biz/">Open for Business</a>, wrote
a <a
href="http://www.ofb.biz/modules.php?name=News&amp;file=article&amp;sid=251">\
review</a> of Libranet.   He says that "the Debian GNU/Linux distribution is built entirely
by volunteers.  Because of this, and because of the large volunteer base size,
Debian has a very strong and clear future. It is also known for meticulous
packaging and release standards, meaning it is extremely stable and
secure."  Later he writes that Libranet is a real treat to deal with and
is certainly an administrator's
dream.</p>

<p><strong>Debian Retrospective by Ian Murdock.</strong> Ian Murdock, the
founder of the Debian project, wrote a <a
href="http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/editorials/4959/1/">\
retrospective</a> on LinuxPlanet.  He writes that in 1993, what he saw
happening seemed completely illogical and wondered how people without any
master plan, from different parts of the world, speaking different languages
and not getting paid, could come together to build something as complex as an
operating system.  In those days people generally bootstrapped their own
GNU/Linux systems from the ground and the term "distribution" wasn't widely
used yet.</p>

<p><strong>Debian Birthday Party Aftermath.</strong> The first set of photo
galleries were released for <a href="$(HOME)/events/2003/0816-birthday">\
parties</a> in <a
href="http://www.lilit.be/photos.php?gal=10ans_Debian">Liege</a>, Belgium, <a
href="http://www.schmehl.info/gallery/debian-0xA">Wallenrod</a>, Germany, and
<a href="http://www.decadentplace.org.uk/photos/20030816-Cambridge/">\
Cambridge</a> (<a href="http://www.zetnet.co.uk/~pm/photos/deb10th/">\
here</a>, <a
href="http://www.netsplit.com/events/2003/debian-10th/">here</a> and <a
href="http://www.huhnix.org/picture_archive/debian-10/index.php">here</a> as well),
United Kingdom.  The people in Liege were also quite proud of the
cake.  Additionally, Axel Beckert wrote a <a
href="http://www.symlink.ch/kolumnen/03/08/18/1056218.shtml">report</a> about
the German party and János Holányi <a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-0308/msg03339.html">reported</a>
about the party in Hungary.</p>

<p><strong>Tool of the Month: apt-iselect.</strong> Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier <a
href="http://www.unixreview.com/documents/s=8472/ur0308d/">selected</a>
<code>apt-iselect</code> as his tool of the month, which is written by Dobrica
Pavlinusic.  This tool uses <code>apt-cache</code> to search for packages
matching one or more terms using a text-mode menu and makes installing
packages on Debian GNU/Linux systems even easier than before.  It adds
interactivity to <code>apt-cache</code> and makes it more friendly to
users.</p>

<p><strong>Debian Keyring with non-Developer Keys?</strong> Martin Quinson <a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-0308/msg02772.html">wondered</a> if
it would be possible for contributors to Debian who have not reached developer
status to get their GnuPG key in the Debian keyserver.  He said that the trust
relationship would be eased if he could sign his mails and contribution with
an easily available key.  However, <a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-0308/msg02804.html">uploading</a>
the key to a <a href="http://wwwkeys.pgp.net/">public</a> keyserver makes it
easily <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-0308/msg03150.html">\
available</a>.</p>

<p><strong>Ruby Policy Draft.</strong> Fumitoshi Ukai (&#40284;&#39164; &#25991;&#25935;)
 <a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-0308/msg02923.html">announced</a>
that he's going to upload <code>ruby-defaults</code> soon and that he will
rename the current <code>ruby</code> package into <code>ruby1.6</code>.  He
also wrote an initial draft of the <a
href="http://pkg-ruby.alioth.debian.org/ruby-policy.html/index.html">Debian
ruby policy</a> which also covers the transition from Ruby 1.6 to 1.8.
Comments are welcome, also about packaging Ruby 1.8.</p>

<p><strong>Stack Protection in Debian?</strong> Russell Coker wanted to <a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-0308/msg02986.html">know</a> who is
interested in <a href="http://www.trl.ibm.com/projects/security/ssp/">stack
protection</a>.  He believes that it would be good to have some experiments with
stack protected packages in Debian.  Probably the best way to do this would be
to start with <code>ssh-stack</code> and <code>sysklogd-stack</code> being
uploaded to experimental.  A kernel image with <a
href="http://pageexec.virtualave.net/docs/pax.txt">PaX</a> could be
interesting as well.</p>

<p><strong>Monitoring release-critical Bugs.</strong> Colin Watson <a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce-0308/msg00013.html">\
announced</a> a new release critical bugs mailing list.  All mails
sent to bugs with release-critical severities, including acknowledgements of
control messages, will now be copied to the new list:
debian-bugs-rc@lists.debian.org.  People interested in
keeping the RC bug count under control are encouraged to <a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-bugs-rc/">subscribe</a> in the
usual way and help out.</p>

<p><strong>Survey about the Freeness of the FDL.</strong> Branden Robinson <a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal-0308/msg01031.html">started</a> a
survey to measure the level of consensus on whether the <a
href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html">GNU Free Documentation License</a>
(FDL) is considered a free license according to the <a
href="$(HOME)/social_contract#guidelines">Debian Free Software Guidelines</a>
(DFSG) or not.  The purpose of this survey is so that the participants in the
<a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/">debian-legal</a> mailing list
can make an informed recommendation to the rest of the Debian project.</p>

<p><strong>Sarge and non-free Documentation.</strong> Adam Warner <a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal-0308/msg01003.html">pointed</a> out
how the release of sarge is treating documentation.  The release manager's <a
href="http://people.debian.org/~ajt/sarge_rc_policy.txt">policy</a> says that
documentation in main and contrib must be freely distributable, and wherever
possible should be under a DFSG-free license.  This will likely become a
requirement for after the release of sarge.  Members of the FSF have
approached us to give them some more time to come up with a GNU FDL which is
DFSG-free before we move packages in question to non-free and experience
bigger controversies.</p>

<p><strong>Managing /etc/shells.</strong> Karl Ramm <a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-0308/msg03227.html">announced</a>
that he has uploaded a version of the <code>shadow</code> package that
provides scripts for the maintenance of <code>/etc/shells</code>.  He
decided very quickly when he became the <code>shadow</code> maintainer that he
didn't want to be an arbiter of acceptable shells.  This file is no longer a
config file, but is maintained by the <code>add-shell</code> and
<code>remove-shell</code> programs.</p>

<p><strong>LSB v1.9 Public Review.</strong>  Martin Michlmayr <a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-lsb-0308/msg00000.html">suggested</a>
people review the <a href="http://www.linuxbase.org/">Linux Standard Base</a>
(LSB) <a href="http://www.linuxbase.org/spec/">v1.9</a> in order to make sure
Debian agrees with its content.  Porters should also check the architecture
specific documents.  These preview specifications are unapproved documents
for feedback purposes only, in preparation for LSB v2.0 which will released
at the end of the year.  The LSB should be discussed on the <a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-lsb/">debian-lsb</a> mailing list.
Feedback to the LSB is due by 30 September.</p>

<p><strong>Work on new stable Revision for Woody.</strong> Bernd
Eckenfels <a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-0308/msg02623.html">\
wondered</a> if there were any plans for a 3.0r2 revision.  The last
update was <a href="$(HOME)/News/2002/20021216">\
released</a> on December 16th 2002 and many security updates have been
released since then.  Martin Schulze, the Stable Release Manager, <a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-0308/msg02697.html">\
replied</a> that he is trying to get back to his original bi-monthly
plan.  He also mentioned this <a
href="http://people.debian.org/~joey/3.0r2/">page</a> which contains his
current plan for this update.</p>

<p><strong>Where to place Kernel Modules?</strong> Martin F. Krafft <a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-0308/msg03305.html">wondered</a>
where to install additional kernel modules.  Some packages use a directory of
their own in the top-level modules directory, while other packages seem to
prefer a subdirectory.  Christoph Hellwig <a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-0308/msg03325.html">explained</a>
that one of the reasons for the module directory layout change with Linux 2.4
is so that each package gets its own top-level directory.</p>

<p><strong>Information leaked into Debian Packages.</strong> Joey Hess <a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-0308/msg03267.html">noticed</a>
that information about the build system of some Debian maintainers was leaking
into their binary packages.  He said that home directories are just one thing
that can get trapped in a binary.  Other likely candidates include the build
system's hostname.  Slrn used to use the build hostname at runtime when
posting articles, for example.</p>

<p><strong>Closing Snort Bugs.</strong> Sander Smeenk <a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-0308/msg03311.html">announced</a>
that he plans to close 25 bug reports against the stable version of <a
href="http://packages.debian.org/snort">snort</a>.  He wrote a nice message
telling the submitter that the bug was reported against an old version,
including a <a
href="http://people.debian.org/~ssmeenk/snort-stable-i386/">URL</a> to an up
to date version of the package, where these bugs were likely to have been fixed.
In a reply Noah Meyerhans <a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-0308/msg03350.html">explained</a>
that snort should be removed from stable releases completely, as it is not
useful without a means of updating its data.</p>

<p><strong>New or Noteworthy Packages.</strong> The following packages were
added to the unstable Debian archive recently or contain important updates.</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/aewm++-goodies">aewm++-goodies</a>
    -- Utilities to complement a minimal window manager.
<li><a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/games/bomberclone">bomberclone</a>
    -- Free Bomberman-like game.
<li><a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/otherosfs/cbmlink">cbmlink</a>
    -- Transfer data to/from Commodore 8-bit computers.
<li><a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/cdrw-taper">cdrw-taper</a>
    -- Taper replacement for amanda to support backups to CD-RW or DVD+RW.
<li><a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/cpudyn">cpudyn</a>
    -- CPU dynamic frequency control for processors with scaling.
<li><a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/gnome/devilspie">devilspie</a>
    -- Find windows and perform actions on them.
<li><a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/divxcomp">divxcomp</a>
    -- Bitrate calculator for DivX movies written in perl.
<li><a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/misc/giarpfanoa">giarpfanoa</a>
    -- Gather network information using module system.
<li><a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/proxychains">proxychains</a>
    -- Redirect connections through proxy servers.
<li><a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/text/txt2tags">txt2tags</a>
    -- Conversion tool generating HTML/SGML/LaTeX/man/MoinMoin/mgp/PageMaker files.
<li><a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/text/xml-core">xml-core</a>
    -- Utilities to maintain XML catalog files.
<li><a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/xmms-arts">xmms-arts</a>
    -- aRts Output plugin for xmms.
</ul>

<p><strong>Orphaned Packages.</strong> 25 packages were orphaned this week and
require a new maintainer.  This makes a total of 214 orphaned packages.  Many
thanks to the previous maintainers who contributed to the Free Software
community.  Please see the <a href="$(HOME)/devel/wnpp/">WNPP pages</a> for
the full list, and please add a note to the bug report and retitle it to ITA:
if you plan to take over a package.</p>

<ul>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/libs/libzorn">3dwm</a>
     -- Interface library to painting functions.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206870">Bug#206870</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/graphics/autotrace">autotrace</a>
     -- Bitmap to vector graphics converter.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206859">Bug#206859</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/bblaunch">bblaunch</a>
     -- Launch windows with manipulated attribs under blackbox.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206256">Bug#206256</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/stable/net/bnc">bnc</a>
     -- IRC Session Bouncing Proxy.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206490">Bug#206490</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/stable/interpreters/libxbase-perl">dbd-xbase</a>
     -- Perl module to access xbase files (optionally through DBI).
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206878">Bug#206878</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/jitterbug">jitterbug</a>
     -- Cgi-bin tool for problem reporting and tracking.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206880">Bug#206880</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/stable/utils/labelnation">labelnation</a>
     -- Command-line label-printing program.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206857">Bug#206857</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libcorba-orbit-perl">libcorba-orbit-perl</a>
     -- ORBit module for Perl.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206879">Bug#206879</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/libs/libglade0">libglade</a>
     -- Development files for libglade.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206886">Bug#206886</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libgnome-gnorba-perl">libgnome-gnorba-perl</a>
     -- Gnorba module for Perl.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206882">Bug#206882</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libgtk-perl">libgtk-perl</a>
     -- Perl module for the gtk+ library.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206885">Bug#206885</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/interpreters/libjttui-ruby">libjttui-ruby</a>
     -- Jakub Travnik's textmode user interface (JTTui) for Ruby.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206718">Bug#206718</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libopengl-perl">libopengl-perl</a>
     -- Perl module to display 3D data using OpenGL, GLU, GLUT, and GLX.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206883">Bug#206883</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/libs/libmeshio0">meshio</a>
     -- Simple C++ library for the loading of 3D model files.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206871">Bug#206871</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/mrename">mrename</a>
     -- Tool for easy and automatic renaming of many files.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206856">Bug#206856</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/python/python-mbus">pymbus</A>
     -- Bus messaging for application communication.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206866">Bug#206866</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/python/python-happydoc">python-happydoc</a>
     -- Python Documentation Extraction Tool.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206862">Bug#206862</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/python/python-pmw">python-pmw</a>
     -- Python MegaWidgets.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206861">Bug#206861</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/python/python-simpy">python-simpy</a>
     -- Python-based simulation package.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206274">Bug#206274</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/stable/net/scotty">scotty</a>
     -- Scotty and Tkined Network Management Tools.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206279">Bug#206279</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/stable/graphics/whirlgif">whirlgif</a>
     -- Create animated GIFs.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206112">Bug#206112</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/text/wordinspect">wordinspect</a>
     -- GTK-based Dictionary Client.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206889">Bug#206889</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/text/wp2x">wp2x</a>
     -- WordPerfect 5.x to whatever converter.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206860">Bug#206860</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/xpa">xpa</a>
     -- Documentation for xpa.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/206869">Bug#206869</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://packages.debian.org/stable/electronics/xtend">xtend</a>
     -- X10 status monitoring daemon.
     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/207154">Bug#207154</a>)</li>
</ul>

<p><strong>Want to continue reading DWN?</strong> Please help us create this
newsletter.  We still need more volunteer writers who investigate the Debian
community and report about events in the community.  Please see the <a
href="$(HOME)/News/weekly/contributing">contributing page</a> to find out how
to help.  We're looking forward to receiving your mail at <a
href="mailto:dwn@debian.org">dwn@debian.org</a>.</p>

#use wml::debian::weeklynews::footer editor="Dan Hunt, Matt Black, Frédéric Bothamy, Martin 'Joey' Schulze"