[gentoo-gwn] Gentoo Weekly Newsletter 4 September 2006

[Chris Gianelloni]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gentoo Weekly Newsletter
http://www.gentoo.org/news/en/gwn/current.xml
This is the Gentoo Weekly Newsletter for the week of 4 September 2006.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
==============
1. Gentoo news
==============
  
net-misc/bcm4400 removal
------------------------
  
Developer Daniel Drake[1] wrote in to mention that the net-misc/bcm4400 
package in portage has been deprecated and will be removed from the tree 
soon. The package has been superceded by the maintained in-kernel drivers. 
Users using this package should migrate to using the in-kernel drivers as 
soon as possible on any affected machines. 

 1. dsd@g.o
    
KDE 3.4 removal
---------------
  
Carsten Lohrke[2] of the Gentoo KDE team wishes to inform users that the 
versions of KDE 3.4 will be removed from the tree in a couple days. The 
KDE 3.5 release has been marked stable on every architecture with KDE 
support for some time, and the KDE team would like to remove 3.4 to allow 
them to better focus on the much-improved 3.5 versions and beyond. KDE 3.4 
lacks upstream support and includes several problems, including 
incompatibility with recent X.Org implementations. 

 2. carlo@g.o
    
media-video/nvidia-glx and media-video/nvidia-kernel removal
------------------------------------------------------------
  
As most people using the binary nVidia drivers are aware, the 
media-video/nvidia-glx and media-video/nvidia-kernel packages have been 
deprecated for some time in favor of x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers and 
x11-drivers/nvidia-legacy-drivers. The nvidia-legacy-drivers package 
supports nVidia cards from the TNT through the GeForce 5 line, and some 
GeForce 6 series cards. The nvidia-drivers package supports cards from the 
GeForce 3 series and up. The older drivers are scheduled for removal on 
September 29. The newer drivers support newer hardware, and the current 
drivers in testing support xorg-x11-7.1, while the older drivers have 
gotten no new updates. 
 
To switch to the newer drivers, do the following: 
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Code Listing 1.1:                                                       |
|Switching to x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers                                  |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
|                                                                         |
|(This should be done from a command prompt and outside of X)             |
|# emerge --unmerge media-video/nvidia-glx media-video/nvidia-kernel      |
|# rmmod nvidia                                                           |
|(To install the legacy drivers, replace nvidia-drivers)                  |
|# emerge x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers                                      |
|# modprobe nvidia                                                        |
|                                                                         |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Once you start/restart X, you will be using the new drivers. 
    
UK Linux Awards 2006 nominations open
-------------------------------------
  
LinuxUser and Developer Magazine[3] has opened their nominations for their 
fourth annual UK Linux Awards. You can nominate, vote, and book tables at 
the  site[4] for this year's awards. Gentoo looks forward to hearing the 
winners of this year's awards and wishes all nominees the best of luck. 

 3. http://www.linuxuser.co.uk
 4. http://www.linuxawards.co.uk
    
Free Linux Disk project fundraiser
----------------------------------
  
The Free Linux Disk project is having a fundraiser[5] to purchase 
equipment to improve their ability to produce Linux media in a timely 
manner. The project ships disks from several community-based 
distributions, as well as many free commercially-backed distributions. 
Their goal is to raise $4500 CDN to purchase a  rImage 2000i[6] disk 
duplicator to meet the current demands. 

 5. http://www.freelinuxdisk.org/news.php?id=19
 6. 
http://www.rimage.com/support_products_detail_objectname_Rimage2000i.html
    
GWN seeking writers
-------------------
  
The Gentoo Weekly Newsletter is seeking writers to assist with some 
sections of the newsletter which have been neglected for some time. 
Specifically, we are looking to find individuals who are willing to write 
summaries of the gentoo-user and gentoo-dev mailing lists on a weekly 
basis. A strong grasp of written English is required. We would also like 
to see more submissions for the "Tips and Tricks" section, so if you have 
an amazing tip or trick you use on Gentoo, send it in and we will publish 
it in an upcoming GWN. 
 
If you think that you might be interested in helping out, please email the 
GWN staff at gwn-feedback@g.o[7]. 

 7. 
    
=======================
2. Gentoo International
=======================
  
Australia: Software Freedom Day, Canberra
-----------------------------------------
  
On  Software Freedom Day[8] in Canberra Australia (held early on 9th 
September), CLUG[9] members (including Gentoo developer Daniel Black) will 
be handing out Linux CDs including the Gentoo 2006.1 CD. They will be 
giving software demonstrations, providing information about free software, 
raising awareness about Australian software freedom legal issues[10], 
providing information about local support groups, and getting you on your 
penguin feet with a Linux installation. 

 8. http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/teams/oceania/au/canberra
 9. http://clug.org.au/
 10. http://www.linux.org.au/law/
    
======================
3. Gentoo in the press
======================
  
DesktopLinux.com (29 Aug 2006)
------------------------------
  
The results of DesktopLinux.com's 2006 Desktop Linux Market survey, taken 
from over 15,000 Linux users from the web site, are in and have been 
tallied. Gentoo Linux scored fourth place overall, which was surprising to 
author Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, with 9.6 percent of users preferring 
Gentoo to other Linux distributions on their desktops. 
 
 * http://desktoplinux.com/articles/AT5816278551.html 
    
Techgage (30 Aug 2006)
----------------------
  
Author Rob Williams puts Gentoo's latest release, Gentoo Linux 2006.1, 
through the paces and writes about the new version of the Gentoo Linux 
Installer[11] as well as the LiveCD environment. Rob also goes on to 
identify several improvements in the media over 2006.0's release. 

 11. http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/releng/installer
 
 * http://www.techgage.com/article/gentoo_20061 
    
Software in Review (1 Sep 2006)
-------------------------------
  
Jem Matzan's review of Gentoo Linux 2006.1 starts off with a more general 
overview of Gentoo Linux before delving into his review of the new 
release. After his introduction, he highlights some of the new features of 
the 2006.1 release, then proceeds to perform an installation. After this, 
he proceeds to write about things that he disliked about the 
installation's default choices and lists several areas where he felt that 
the installation from the Installer was lacking. His conclusion has a list 
of improvements that he would like to see made to the installation media. 
 
 * http://www.softwareinreview.com/cms/content/view/50/1/ 
    
Internetnews.com (1 Sep 2006)
-----------------------------
  
Sean Michael Kerner's article for Internetnews.com lists many changes in 
the new release, as well as a few words from Gentoo's own Christel 
Dahlskjaer[12] about the release. 

 12. christel@g.o
 
 * http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3629816 
    
=========================
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: 
 
 * Hubert Mercier (anigel) forums 
    
Changes
-------
  
The following developers recently changed roles within the Gentoo project: 
 
 * Bjarke Istrup Pedersen (GurliGebis) joined net-irc/java 
    
==================
5. Gentoo security
==================
   
X.org and some X.org libraries: Local privilege escalations
-----------------------------------------------------------
  
X.org, libX11, xdm, xf86dga, xinit, xload, xtrans, and xterm are 
vulnerable to local privilege escalations because of unchecked setuid() 
calls. 
 
For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[13] 

 13. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200608-25.xml
    
Wireshark: Multiple vulnerabilities
-----------------------------------
  
Wireshark is vulnerable to several security issues that may lead to a 
Denial of Service and/or the execution of arbitrary code. 
 
For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[14] 

 14. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200608-26.xml
    
Motor: Execution of arbitrary code
----------------------------------
  
Motor uses a vulnerable ktools library, which could lead to the execution 
of arbitrary code. 
 
For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[15] 

 15. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200608-27.xml
    
PHP: Arbitary code execution
----------------------------
  
PHP contains a function that, when used, could allow a remote attacker to 
execute arbitrary code. 
 
For more information, please see the GLSA Announcement[16] 

 16. http://www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200608-28.xml
    
===========
6. Bugzilla
===========
  
Summary
-------
  
 * Statistics 
 * Closed bug ranking 
 * New bug rankings 
    
Statistics
----------
  
The Gentoo community uses Bugzilla (bugs.gentoo.org[17]) to record and 
track bugs, notifications, suggestions and other interactions with the 
development team. Between 27 August 2006 and 03 September 2006, activity 
on the site has resulted in: 

 17. http://bugs.gentoo.org
 
 * 869 new bugs during this period 
 * 462 bugs closed or resolved during this period 
 * 26 previously closed bugs were reopened this period 
 
Of the 11007 currently open bugs: 40 are labeled 'blocker', 124 are 
labeled 'critical', and 523 are labeled 'major'. 
    
Closed bug rankings
-------------------
  
The developers and teams who have closed the most bugs during this period 
are: 
 
 * Gentoo Release Team[18], with 33 closed bugs[19]  
 * Xavier Neys[20], with 26 closed bugs[21]  
 * Gentoo KDE team[22], with 23 closed bugs[23]  
 * AMD64 Project[24], with 22 closed bugs[25]  
 * Gentoo Games[26], with 21 closed bugs[27]  
 * media-video herd[28], with 16 closed bugs[29]  
 * Gentoo's Team for Core System packages[30], with 12 closed bugs[31]  
 * Gentoo Security[32], with 11 closed bugs[33]  
 18. release@g.o
 19. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2006-08-27&chfieldto=2006-09-03&resolution=FIXED&assigned_to=release@g.o
 20. neysx@g.o
 21. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2006-08-27&chfieldto=2006-09-03&resolution=FIXED&assigned_to=neysx@g.o
 22. kde@g.o
 23. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2006-08-27&chfieldto=2006-09-03&resolution=FIXED&assigned_to=kde@g.o
 24. amd64@g.o
 25. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2006-08-27&chfieldto=2006-09-03&resolution=FIXED&assigned_to=amd64@g.o
 26. games@g.o
 27. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2006-08-27&chfieldto=2006-09-03&resolution=FIXED&assigned_to=games@g.o
 28. media-video@g.o
 29. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2006-08-27&chfieldto=2006-09-03&resolution=FIXED&assigned_to=media-video@g.o
 30. base-system@g.o
 31. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2006-08-27&chfieldto=2006-09-03&resolution=FIXED&assigned_to=base-system@g.o
 32. security@g.o
 33. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&chfield=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2006-08-27&chfieldto=2006-09-03&resolution=FIXED&assigned_to=security@g.o

    
New bug rankings
----------------
  
The developers and teams who have been assigned the most new bugs during 
this period are: 
 
 * Default Assignee for New Packages[34], with 41 new bugs[35]  
 * Default Assignee for Orphaned Packages[36], with 13 new bugs[37]  
 * Gentoo KDE team[38], with 10 new bugs[39]  
 * Gentoo Sound Team[40], with 9 new bugs[41]  
 * Java team[42], with 7 new bugs[43]  
 * Gentoo Linux Gnome Desktop Team[44], with 7 new bugs[45]  
 * Gentoo's Team for Core System packages[46], with 6 new bugs[47]  
 * media-video herd[48], with 5 new bugs[49]  
 34. maintainer-wanted@g.o
 35. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2006-08-27&chfieldto=2006-09-03&assigned_to=maintainer-wanted@g.o
 36. maintainer-needed@g.o
 37. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2006-08-27&chfieldto=2006-09-03&assigned_to=maintainer-needed@g.o
 38. kde@g.o
 39. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2006-08-27&chfieldto=2006-09-03&assigned_to=kde@g.o
 40. sound@g.o
 41. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2006-08-27&chfieldto=2006-09-03&assigned_to=sound@g.o
 42. java@g.o
 43. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2006-08-27&chfieldto=2006-09-03&assigned_to=java@g.o
 44. gnome@g.o
 45. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2006-08-27&chfieldto=2006-09-03&assigned_to=gnome@g.o
 46. base-system@g.o
 47. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2006-08-27&chfieldto=2006-09-03&assigned_to=base-system@g.o
 48. media-video@g.o
 49. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2006-08-27&chfieldto=2006-09-03&assigned_to=media-video@g.o

    
===============
7. GWN feedback
===============
   
Please send us your feedback[50] and help make the GWN better. 

 50. gwn-feedback@g.o
    
===============================
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===============================
   
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==================
   
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Ulrich Plate <plate@g.o> - Editor
Chris Gianelloni <wolf31o2@g.o> - Author
Daniel Black <dragonheart@g.o> - Author



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