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Gentoo Weekly Newsletter
http://www.gentoo.org/news/en/gwn/current.xml
This is the Gentoo Weekly Newsletter for the week of 25 September 2006.
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==============
1. Gentoo news
==============

2006.1 LiveCD/LiveDVD media refresh
-----------------------------------

Because of several problems with the Installer-based media, a media
refresh was done on these pieces of the release. No package versions have
changed from the 2006.1 release. The media was rebuilt to work around a
couple problems with the media, specifically an issue which would cause
network-less installations using the Gentoo Linux Installer to fail. Also,
the SPARC Universal InstallCD was rebuilt to resolve a PAM issue with the
CD, and the x86 Minimal InstallCD was rebuilt to work for machines <i686.
The refreshed media is as follows:

* AMD64 LiveCD
* SPARC Universal InstallCD
* x86 LiveCD
* x86 Minimal InstallCD

The updated media is already on the mirrors, in the 2006.1 directories,
and has replaced the broken media. If you are not concerned about
network-less installs, then there is no need for you to download anything
new.

Note: We will be updating the media on the Bittorrent tracker, also.
Another note will be sent out once this is done.

======================
2. Gentoo in the press
======================

LinuxDevices.com (Sep 14 2006)
------------------------------

NASA has been testing several Linux-based planetary surface exploration
robots in the Arizona desert near Meteor Crater. One robot in particular,
The Scout, is a vehicle that can be controlled remotely or locally via a
touchscreen and keyboard. The Scout is powered by two Dell D400 laptops
running Gentoo Linux.

Figure 2.1: Scout
http://www.gentoo.org/images/gwn/20060925_scout.jpg

* http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS4892438264.html
* http://robonaut.jsc.nasa.gov/desert06.htm

Open Source On The Air (15 Sep 2006)
------------------------------------

Last week, James Purser interviewed Gentoo developer Mark Kowarsky[1] for
his LA Update[2] radio show on Open Source On The Air. Mark is part of the
Forums and User Relations teams and you can find him in the forums or in
IRC as mark_alec.

1. mark_alec@gentoo.org
2. http://www.localfoss.org/node/260

The interview started with Mark talking about himself, his experience and
his work with Gentoo. James then asked about the Gentoo community in
Australia and its evolution. From there, Mark went on to talk about the
Gentoo community as a whole and to reply to questions on the perceived
Gentoo's growing pains. James also asked about Gentoo's release cycle and
how the community looked upon the derivative distributions. Next, Mark
talked about the future of our distribution and its leadership. Finally,
Mark was able to address the future plans for Gentoo in Australia.

You can hear the complete show in ogg vorbis[3] or mp3[4] formats. You can
find more info on this interview, including a transcript and edited
versions of the interview, at Mark's Blog[5].

3. http://www.localfoss.org/files/osota_laupdate_6.ogg
4. http://www.localfoss.org/files/osota_laupdate_6.mp3
5.
http://planet.gentoo.org/developers/mark_alec/2006/09/24/i_m_on_an_austrlian_radio

APC Magazine (22 Sep 2006)
--------------------------

Author Ashton Mills writes about source-based distributions, and
specifically Gentoo Linux, in his article entitled, "Use the source,
Luke?" where he speaks out on his love/hate relationship with Gentoo. He
talks about the positive experience of working with portage, as well as
the ability to easily tailor his environment to be his own. Some
complaints include long download times, massive bandwidth usage, and the
biggest problem to any source-based distribution, the simple fact that
sometimes, it will break.

* http://www.apcstart.com/site/amills/2006/09/1589/use-the-source-luke

==================
3. Tips and Tricks
==================

Using GNU screen
----------------

GNU screen[6] is a very useful program, especially if you are a coder or
administrator. It has a lot of options, and it's not easy to find your way
in its huge man page. Below is a small list of some useful options that
you should put in your ~/.screenrc.

6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Screen

One of the rather useful options aims to replace the main screen key.
Instead of 'ctrl-A', it changes it to 'ctrl-O'. This is because 'ctrl-A'
is binded for use in many applications, such as emacs, bash, and links,
which clashes with the default screen key 'ctrl-A'.

Another nifty option sets a caption on the bottom line. It displays the
open windows with their number and title, the current one being
highlighted in white on blue. Some status information is padded to the
right of the screen.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Code Listing 3.1: |
|~/.screenrc settings |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
| |
|# use visual bell |
|vbell on |
|# replace ctrl-A by ctrl-O |
|escape ^Oo |
|# set a big scrolling buffer |
|defscrollback 5000 |
|# Set the caption on the bottom line |
|caption always "%{= kw}%-w%{= BW}%n %t%{-}%+w %-= @%H - %LD %d %LM - %c" |
| |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is a small screenshot of the caption line in action.

Figure 3.1: GNU screen with the caption line enabled
http://www.gentoo.org/images/gwn/20060925_screen.png

=========================
4. Gentoo developer moves
=========================

Moves
-----

The following developers recently left the Gentoo project:

* none this week

Adds
----

The following developers recently joined the Gentoo project:

* none this week

Changes
-------

The following developers recently changed roles within the Gentoo project:

* none this week

==================
5. Gentoo security
==================

Mailman: Multiple vulnerabilities
---------------------------------

Mailman has multiple vulnerable that can result in Denial of Service, log
file injection and XSS.

For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[7]

7. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200609-12.xml

gzip: Multiple vulnerabilities
------------------------------

gzip is affected by multiple vulnerabilities, including buffer overflows
and infinite loops, possibly allowing the execution of arbitrary code.

For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[8]

8. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200609-13.xml

===========
6. Bugzilla
===========

Summary
-------

* Statistics
* Closed bug ranking
* New bug rankings

Statistics
----------

The Gentoo community uses Bugzilla (bugs.gentoo.org[9]) to record and
track bugs, notifications, suggestions and other interactions with the
development team. Between 17 September 2006 and 24 September 2006,
activity on the site has resulted in:

9. http://bugs.gentoo.org

* 995 new bugs during this period
* 473 bugs closed or resolved during this period
* 41 previously closed bugs were reopened this period
* 152 closed as NEEDINFO/WONTFIX/CANTFIX/INVALID/UPSTREAM during this
period
* 211 bugs marked as duplicates during this period

Of the 11225 currently open bugs: 36 are labeled 'blocker', 122 are
labeled 'critical', and 528 are labeled 'major'.

Closed bug rankings
-------------------

The developers and teams who have closed the most bugs during this period
are:

* AMD64 Project[10], with 41 closed bugs[11]
* Gentoo KDE team[12], with 21 closed bugs[13]
* Gentoo Games[14], with 20 closed bugs[15]
* Java team[16], with 19 closed bugs[17]
* Luca Longinotti[18], with 16 closed bugs[19]
* Gentoo's Team for Core System packages[20], with 16 closed bugs[21]
* SpanKY[22], with 14 closed bugs[23]
* Crypto herd[24], with 14 closed bugs[25]
10. amd64@gentoo.org
11.
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2006-09-17&chfieldto=2006-09-24&resolution=FIXED&assigned_to=amd64@gentoo.org
12. kde@gentoo.org
13.
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2006-09-17&chfieldto=2006-09-24&resolution=FIXED&assigned_to=kde@gentoo.org
14. games@gentoo.org
15.
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2006-09-17&chfieldto=2006-09-24&resolution=FIXED&assigned_to=games@gentoo.org
16. java@gentoo.org
17.
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2006-09-17&chfieldto=2006-09-24&resolution=FIXED&assigned_to=java@gentoo.org
18. chtekk@gentoo.org
19.
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2006-09-17&chfieldto=2006-09-24&resolution=FIXED&assigned_to=chtekk@gentoo.org
20. base-system@gentoo.org
21.
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2006-09-17&chfieldto=2006-09-24&resolution=FIXED&assigned_to=base-system@gentoo.org
22. vapier@gentoo.org
23.
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2006-09-17&chfieldto=2006-09-24&resolution=FIXED&assigned_to=vapier@gentoo.org
24. crypto@gentoo.org
25.
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2006-09-17&chfieldto=2006-09-24&resolution=FIXED&assigned_to=crypto@gentoo.org


New bug rankings
----------------

The developers and teams who have been assigned the most new bugs during
this period are:

* Default Assignee for New Packages[26], with 27 new bugs[27]
* Gentoo Linux Gnome Desktop Team[28], with 18 new bugs[29]
* Krzysiek Pawlik[30], with 17 new bugs[31]
* Gentoo Games[32], with 14 new bugs[33]
* AMD64 Project[34], with 12 new bugs[35]
* Gentoo KDE team[36], with 11 new bugs[37]
* Gentoo net-im Herd[38], with 10 new bugs[39]
* Default Assignee for Orphaned Packages[40], with 10 new bugs[41]
26. maintainer-wanted@gentoo.org
27.
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2006-09-17&chfieldto=2006-09-24&assigned_to=maintainer-wanted@gentoo.org
28. gnome@gentoo.org
29.
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2006-09-17&chfieldto=2006-09-24&assigned_to=gnome@gentoo.org
30. nelchael@gentoo.org
31.
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2006-09-17&chfieldto=2006-09-24&assigned_to=nelchael@gentoo.org
32. games@gentoo.org
33.
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2006-09-17&chfieldto=2006-09-24&assigned_to=games@gentoo.org
34. amd64@gentoo.org
35.
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2006-09-17&chfieldto=2006-09-24&assigned_to=amd64@gentoo.org
36. kde@gentoo.org
37.
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2006-09-17&chfieldto=2006-09-24&assigned_to=kde@gentoo.org
38. net-im@gentoo.org
39.
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2006-09-17&chfieldto=2006-09-24&assigned_to=net-im@gentoo.org
40. maintainer-needed@gentoo.org
41.
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2006-09-17&chfieldto=2006-09-24&assigned_to=maintainer-needed@gentoo.org


===============
7. GWN feedback
===============

Please send us your feedback[42] and help make the GWN better.

42. gwn-feedback@gentoo.org

===============================
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==================
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==================

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Ulrich Plate <plate@gentoo.org> - Editor
Jorge Vicetto <jmbsvicetto@gentoo.org> - Author
Damien Krotkine <dams@gentoo.org> - Author
Chris Gianelloni <wolf31o2@gentoo.org> - Author