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of bugs that must absolutely be fixed for Lenny</q>. The most important blocking issues is
currently the missing second release candidate for the debian-installer, which is currently
of bugs that must absolutely be fixed for Lenny</q>. At the moment the most important blocking issue is 
the missing second release candidate for the debian-installer, which is currently
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[http://lists.debian.org/debian-boot/2008/12/msg00228.html pointed out], that currently the [http://lists.debian.org/debian-boot/2008/12/msg00228.html pointed out], that the
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installation images available from the installation images, which are available from the
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Of course the outcome of a recently [http://www.debian.org/vote/2008/vote_003 started vote]
about a general resolution titled "Lenny and resolving DFSG violations" could affect the
current plans. The named vote has been controversial discussed on the
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-vote debian-vote] mailing list; we ask interested people to read the
discussion themselves, since we don't think it's possible to summarize it in an acceptable manner.

## The meaning of the sentence above actually is: The discussion is so big and so complex, that it's impossible to summarize it in a view sentences without stepping on anyone toes. But I wanted to mention, why I didn't summarized it in the DPN, even while it's important.
The outcome of the recently [http://www.debian.org/vote/2008/vote_003 started vote]
on the General Resolution titled "Lenny and resolving DFSG violations" could however affect the
current release plans. The named vote has been controversially discussed on the
 debian-vote mailing list; for the full discussion please refer to the mailing list [http://lists.debian.org/debian-vote archives].
Line 93: Line 90:
wether the PA-RISC architecture (also known as "HPPA") is currently fit to be released with Lenny,
since Debians own HPPA infrastructure is in very bad shape. When several people offered their private
whether the PA-RISC architecture (also known as "HPPA") is currently fit to be released with Lenny,
since Debian's own HPPA infrastructure is in very bad shape. When several people offered their private
Line 98: Line 95:
that issue, but it's still not yet fixed completly.


= Bug Squashing Party held at MIT =

Greg Price [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2008/12/msg00513.html reported]
about a Bug Squashing Party which was held last Sunday hosted by the student
computing group of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 15 people
contributed to resolutions or partial resolutions of 11 RC bugs, lowering the
number of release critical bugs affecting the upcoming release to 105.

He also points to [http://debathena.mit.edu/debian-bts/ some scripts] they found useful to
create lists of relevant bugs.
that issue, but it is not yet fixed completely.
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A recently finished [http://www.debian.org/vote/2008/vote_002 General Resolution] handled
the proposal by Debian Account Manager Jörg Jaspert about [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2008/10/msg00005.html Debian Memberhip]
changes, especially in regard to non technical / package oriented contribution to the project.
Lucas Nussbaum’s [http://www.lucas-nussbaum.net/blog/?p=322 bloged about] the different options,
A recently finished [http://www.debian.org/vote/2008/vote_002 General Resolution] was concerned with
the proposal by Debian Account Manager Jörg Jaspert about [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2008/10/msg00005.html Debian Membership]
changes, especially in regard to non technical / package oriented contributions to the project.
Lucas Nussbaum  [http://www.lucas-nussbaum.net/blog/?p=322 bloged about] the different options,
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While version 1.2 of the [http://packages.debian.org/src:gtk+1.2 GTK tool kit] has orphaned by its upstream developers as well as its
Debian maintainers for quite some time and collected several [http://bugs.debian.org/src:gtk+1.2 bugs] in the
Since version 1.2 of the [http://packages.debian.org/src:gtk+1.2 GTK tool kit] has been orphaned by its upstream developers as well as its
Debian maintainers for quite some time and has collected several [http://bugs.debian.org/src:gtk+1.2 bugs] in the
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Josselin Mouette [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2008/12/msg00294.html created] a list of packages and tried to Josselin Mouette [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2008/12/msg00294.html created] a list of the concerned packages and tried to
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[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2008/12/msg00355.html explained], that with no one taking care of GTK+ 1.2, there
is no other choice but to port these applications to newer versions of that tool kit, which worked very well for other
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2008/12/msg00355.html explained], that with nobody taking care of GTK+ 1.2, there
is no other choice but to port these applications to newer versions of that tool kit, which has worked very well for other
Line 147: Line 132:


= Bug Squashing Party held at MIT =

Greg Price [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2008/12/msg00513.html reported]
about a Bug Squashing Party which was held last Sunday hosted by the student
computing group of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 15 people
contributed to resolutions or partial resolutions of 11 RC bugs, lowering the
number of release critical bugs to 105. Greg also pointed to [http://debathena.mit.edu/debian-bts/ some scripts] they found useful to
create lists of relevant bugs.
Line 162: Line 157:
release to file properly argumented requests of removal bugs for packages with low
[http://popcon.debian.org popularity contest value] (a low user base), more or less inactive maintainer
and generally seem to be in bad shape, maybe even orphaned upstream wise. Christian Perrier
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2008/12/msg00113.html answered] in a positive way.
release to file properly justified 'requests for removal' bugs for packages that have a low
[http://popcon.debian.org popularity contest value], more or less inactive maintainers
and generally seem to be in bad shape, maybe even orphaned upstream-wise. Christian Perrier
[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2008/12/msg00113.html answered] affirmed this idea.
Line 171: Line 166:
taking [http://tokyodebian.alioth.debian.org/2008-12.html place in Tokia, Japan]. taking place in [http://tokyodebian.alioth.debian.org/2008-12.html Tokyo, Japan].
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X, Y and Z contributed to this issue of the Debian X, Meike Reichle and Z contributed to this issue of the Debian

[:DebianWiki/EditorGuide#translation:Translation(s)]: none

(!) ["/Discussion"]



Welcome to this year's 17th issue of DPN, the newsletter for the Debian community. Topics covered in this issue include:

  • Release Update
  • Bug Squashing Party held at MIT
  • General Resolution: Project membership procedures
  • ... and much more.

Release Update

Luk Claes [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2008/12/msg00006.html reported] about the state of the upcoming stable release Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 "Lenny". While there are still a lot of release critical bugs open, he explains that there is only <q>a "short list" of bugs that must absolutely be fixed for Lenny</q>. At the moment the most important blocking issue is the missing second release candidate for the debian-installer, which is currently [http://lists.debian.org/debian-boot/2008/12/msg00209.html being worked on]. Christian Perrier [http://lists.debian.org/debian-boot/2008/12/msg00228.html pointed out], that the best way to help the debian-installer team is to test the so called "daily" builds of the installation images, which are available from the [http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/ debian-installer website].

The outcome of the recently [http://www.debian.org/vote/2008/vote_003 started vote] on the General Resolution titled "Lenny and resolving DFSG violations" could however affect the current release plans. The named vote has been controversially discussed on the

In related news, Peter Palfrader [http://lists.debian.org/debian-hppa/2008/12/msg00000.html wondered] whether the PA-RISC architecture (also known as "HPPA") is currently fit to be released with Lenny, since Debian's own HPPA infrastructure is in very bad shape. When several people offered their private HPPA hardware, Martin Zobel-Helas [http://lists.debian.org/debian-release/2008/12/msg00381.html pointed out], that the real problem is not missing hardware, but a kernel related problem, which needs to be fixed. Helge Deller [http://lists.debian.org/debian-hppa/2008/12/msg00009.html reported] on progress regarding that issue, but it is not yet fixed completely.

General Resolution: Project membership procedures

A recently finished [http://www.debian.org/vote/2008/vote_002 General Resolution] was concerned with the proposal by Debian Account Manager Jörg Jaspert about [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2008/10/msg00005.html Debian Membership] changes, especially in regard to non technical / package oriented contributions to the project. Lucas Nussbaum [http://www.lucas-nussbaum.net/blog/?p=322 bloged about] the different options, and the general meaning of this General Resolution. In the end, the second option, "Invite the DAM to further discuss until vote or consensus, leading to a new proposal", won.

Better backports.org Support

Gerfried Fuchs [http://alfie.ist.org/blog/debian/backports-support.en.html announced] two services helping to track what's going on regarding [http://www.backports.org backports.org], an unofficial service offering updated packages for the current stable release. One service is a [http://security-tracker.debian.net/tracker/status/release/stable-backports security tracker], the other is a version comparison between the different releases and the package versions available on backports.org.

Future of GTK 1.2

Since version 1.2 of the [http://packages.debian.org/src:gtk+1.2 GTK tool kit] has been orphaned by its upstream developers as well as its Debian maintainers for quite some time and has collected several [http://bugs.debian.org/src:gtk+1.2 bugs] in the meantime, it is scheduled to be removed during the releasing cycle for Debian "Squeeze" (the version following Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 "Lenny"). However, several packages are still depending on that library. Josselin Mouette [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2008/12/msg00294.html created] a list of the concerned packages and tried to find alternative applications.

Morten Kjeldgaard [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2008/12/msg00304.html argued], that there are still a lot of (scientific) applications depending on GTK+ 1.2, which are useful and used. Charles Plessy [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2008/12/msg00355.html explained], that with nobody taking care of GTK+ 1.2, there is no other choice but to port these applications to newer versions of that tool kit, which has worked very well for other examples.

Bug Squashing Party held at MIT

Greg Price [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2008/12/msg00513.html reported] about a Bug Squashing Party which was held last Sunday hosted by the student computing group of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 15 people contributed to resolutions or partial resolutions of 11 RC bugs, lowering the number of release critical bugs to 105. Greg also pointed to [http://debathena.mit.edu/debian-bts/ some scripts] they found useful to create lists of relevant bugs.

Other news

The 11th issue of the [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2008/12/msg00001.html miscellaneous news for developers] has been released and covers the following topics:

  • CD/DVD images for Lenny
  • License AGPL v3.0 is suitable for main
  • Building CD/DVD images made easier
  • Mono 2.0 transition in progress
  • SOAP interface to the PTS
  • Tracking GCC 4.4 related build errors
  • Mirror of git repositories on Alioth

Charles Plessy [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2008/12/msg00108.html wondered] if it would help the release to file properly justified 'requests for removal' bugs for packages that have a low [http://popcon.debian.org popularity contest value], more or less inactive maintainers and generally seem to be in bad shape, maybe even orphaned upstream-wise. Christian Perrier [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2008/12/msg00113.html answered] affirmed this idea.

Jörg Jaspert [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2008/12/msg00003.html announced] that Frank Lichtenheld has been added to the FTP team.

Junichi Uekawa [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2008/12/msg00256.html announced] an upcoming meeting taking place in [http://tokyodebian.alioth.debian.org/2008-12.html Tokyo, Japan].

Charles Plessy [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2008/12/msg00442.html proposed a peer review system] for the copyright files of Debian packages.

New Maintainer

One applicant has been [http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2008/12/msg00049.html accepted] as Debian Maintainer since the prior issue of the Debian Project News. Please welcome Eugene V. Lyubimkin into our project!

Release-critical bugs statistics for the upcoming release

According to the [http://bts.turmzimmer.net/details.php unofficial RC-bugs count], the upcoming release Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 "Lenny" is currently affected by 112 release critical bugs. 39 of them have already been fixed in Debian's "unstable" branch. Of the remaining 83 release critical bugs, 30 already have a patch (which might need testing) and 7 are marked as pending.

Ignoring these bugs as well as release critical bugs for packages in contrib or non-free, 34 release critical bugs remain to be solved for the release to happen.

Important Debian Security Advisories

Debian's Security Team recently released advisories for these packages (among others): [http://www.debian.org/security/2008/dsa-1677 cups], [http://www.debian.org/security/2008/dsa-1678 perl], [http://www.debian.org/security/2008/dsa-1680 clamav], [http://www.debian.org/security/2008/dsa-1681 Linux 2.6.24], [http://www.debian.org/security/2008/dsa-1682 squirrelmail], [http://www.debian.org/security/2008/dsa-1685 uw-imap] and [http://www.debian.org/security/2008/dsa-1687 linux-2.6].

Please read them carefully and take the proper measures.

Please note that these are a selection of the more important security advisories of the last two weeks. If you need to be kept up to date about security advisories released by the Debian Security Team, please subscribe to the [http://lists.debian.org/debian-security-announce/ security mailing list] for announcements.

New and noteworthy packages

The following packages were added to the unstable Debian archive recently ([http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/newpkg among others]):

Debian Package of the Day featured the packages [http://debaday.debian.net/2008/12/07/gcompris-educational-suite-for-children/ gcompris] (an educational suite for children) and [http://debaday.debian.net/2008/12/14/ferm-a-straightforward-firewall-configuration-tool/ ferm] (a straightforward firewall configuration tool).

Work-needing packages

Currently 492 packages are orphaned and 118 packages are up for adoption. Please take a look at the [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2008/12/msg00285.html recent] [http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2008/12/msg00483.html reports] to see if there are packages you are interested in or view the complete list of [http://www.debian.org/devel/wnpp/help_requested packages which need your help].

Want to continue reading DPN?

Please help us create this newsletter. We still need more volunteer writers to watch the Debian community and report about what is going on. Please see the [http://wiki.debian.org/ProjectNews/HowToContribute contributing page] to find out how to help. We're looking forward to receiving your mail at debian-publicity@lists.debian.org.

X, Meike Reichle and Z contributed to this issue of the Debian Project News.


CategoryProjectNews