[gentoo-gwn] Gentoo Weekly Newsletter -- Volume 2, Issue 37

[Yuji Carlos Kosugi]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gentoo Weekly Newsletter
http://www.gentoo.org/news/en/gwn/current.xml
This is the Gentoo Weekly Newsletter for the week of September 15th, 2003.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
==============
1. Gentoo News
==============
  
Summary
-------
  
 * Official Gentoo port to IA64 begun 
    
Official Gentoo port to IA64 begun
----------------------------------
  
Earlier this week Daniel Robbins[1] announced[2] on gentoo-dev that HP had 
donated a dual-CPU Itanium 2 system to Gentoo and spelled out the steps in 
the porting plan, mainly consisting of getting Portage to work in 
Debian/IA64 and converting it to a native Gentoo installation, and 
expanding IA64 support throughout the Portage tree. What no one expected, 
though, was for someone to chime in[3] with a working stage1 tarball and 
enough ebuild patches to have a usable headless system. The donated 
machine is now set up on Daniel Robbins' LAN and is awaiting conversion to 
Gentoo. If you have experience with IA64 and wish to help in some 
capacity, please email Seemant Kulleen[4] and cc Daniel Robbins[5]. This 
port will probably proceed quickly because of the many developers 
interested in the port as well as this early boost; check future 
newsletters for information on its progress. 

 1. drobbins@g.o
 2. http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.devel/12115
 3. http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.devel/12167
 4. seemant@g.o
 5. drobbins@g.o
    
==================
2. Gentoo Security
==================
  
Summary
-------
  
There were no Security announcements this week
    
New Security Bug Reports
------------------------
  
The following new security bugs were posted in the past week: 
 
 * pam: pam_console gives all users full access to serial ports![6] 
 * Buffer overflow in MySQL[7] 
 * net-mail/exim[8] 
 6. http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=28407
 7. http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=28394
 8. http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=27984

===============
3. User stories
===============
  
User stories is on hiatus this week. Remember to send us[9] your bizarre, 
hilarious, or incredible Gentoo stories so they can be featured here! 

 9. gwn-feedback@g.o
   
=================================
4. Featured Developer of the Week
=================================
  
Adrian Almenar
 
Figure 4.1: Adrian Almenar
http://www.gentoo.org/images/gwn/20030915_strider.jpg
 
This week, we are featuring Adrian Almenar[10] (strider). Adrian works 
primarily with Gentoo's java team, fixing bugs and maintaining the 
packages in dev-java/*. He particularly focuses on maintaining the JDK 
packages and java-config, as well as xalan-j, xerces-j, ant, maven and 
jikes. Gentoo is his first major role as a developer on an open-source 
project, but he has collaborated on translating materials for 
Jakarta-Tomcat. The work he is most proud of was commencing the port of 
java-config to python, a task that was completed by Todd Berman[11] and 
Jason Mobarak[12]. 

 10. strider@g.o
 11. tberman@g.o
 12. aether@g.o
 
Adrian lives and works in Caracas, Venezuela, where the climate encourages 
his fondness for cold beer. He is employed as a java programmer for a 
mobile Internet services company, where 90% of the production servers are 
now Gentoo-based. At night, he is studying Economic Sciences at the 
Universidad Central de Venezuela, after studying Computer Science for some 
years. Despite daytime work, night courses, and weekends working on 
Gentoo, he still manages to spend a little time with his girlfriend, 
Stella. He also claims to be able to find time to pursue hobbies in Ham 
radio, electronics and telecommunications as well as the more prosaic 
pastimes of reading, movies and going out with friends. 
 
Adrian prefers to use XFCE4 as his Window Manager at work, but uses KDE at 
home for his mother's sake (yes, his mother uses Gentoo). He uses 
Sylpheed-claws to manage his 5 email accounts, and prefers 
Mozilla-Firebird, Gaim, XMMS, J-Pilot, GKrellm, vim and kvim for other 
tools. His home computers are a Pentium IV 1.8 GHz (768 Mb, Geforce 2) 
development box and an Athlon 800 MHz (128 Mb, TNT2) that serves as a mail 
server, firewall, and computer for his mother. 
 
Adrian first began using Linux with Slackware in 1996, when he used it for 
Web development and Java programming in his first job. He became aware of 
Gentoo in April of 2002, and began using it that June, when the 1.2 
release was available. When he discovered how well it met his needs, he 
began using it at work, and eventually assisted with the migration of many 
of his company's computers to Gentoo. He offered us a quote from the movie 
Hackers, which he says describes Linux' role in the OS market: "Mess with 
the best, die like the rest." 
   
=========================
5. Heard in the Community
=========================
  
Web Forums
----------
  
The Race for the G5
 
When oubipaws[13] casually claimed he had been running Gentoo Linux on his 
Apple Macintosh G5, the Gentoo PPC developer elite flocked to the thread 
to see what was going on. Sadly, the skeptics prevailed in the end, but at 
least the excitement was real... And even the most fool-proof devs are 
definitely glad to see so many people trying Gentoo Linux on their new G5 
machines: 

 13. http://forums.gentoo.org/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=17436
 
 * Testing the G5, part 1[14] 
 14. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=79513

 
From Denmark with Love
 
Not everyone is looking for just fifteen minutes of fame... Rather than 
pushing their personalities to the front, some people are quite successful 
at using the Forum as a channel to get their work into the limelight. At 
20,000 regulars on board, and a rather grateful audience at that, this is 
often greeted with loud cheers and upped thumbs by Forum users. This 
week's most blatantly obvious example of a non-official development stint 
anchored in a Forum thread comes from Lovechild[15]. The Forum legend and 
notorious Breakmygentoo[16] contributor now even has his own kernel patch 
set out, and last week opened shop in a thread at the forums that has 
become second home to a merry bunch of desktop performance guerilleros:

 15. http://forums.gentoo.org/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=1402
 16. http://www.breakmygentoo.net
 
 * Love-sources - get them before they go obsolete[17]
 17. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=81758
    
gentoo-user
-----------
  
Quick Tips for Dial-Up users 
 
Broadband users shouldn't have all the fun. A gentoo-user list member 
wanted to know what tips and tricks were out there for dial-up users, and 
some good ones got posted  Read on [18] here. 

 18. 
http://news.gmane.org/onethread.php?group=gmane.linux.gentoo.user&root=%3C2
0030910102034.91276.qmail%40web42006.mail.yahoo.com%3E
    
=======================
6. Gentoo International
=======================
  
Germany: "Practical Linux" Show on 11 October in Gie??en
 
Benjamin Judas, aka Beejay[19], a Gentooist living a mere half hour from 
the conference venue, has announced Gentoo's participation in this year's 
Practical Linux Day[20], an annual event at the Fachhochschule Gie??en[21] 
(University of Applied Science), located about 80 km north of 
Frankfurt/Main. Beejay will give a presentation during the main session, 
and a Gentoo booth will undoubtedly be manned by the usual suspects. A 
shipment of freshly minted LiveCD is rumoured to be on its way for sale at 
the show. Tell the other lads you're coming at at the corresponding forum 
thread[22] (in German).

 19. http://forums.gentoo.org/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=7570
 20. http://www.practical-linux.de/
 21. http://www.fh-giessen.de
 22. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=81408
   
================
7. Portage Watch
================
  
Portage Watch is on hiatus this week.
   
===========
8. Bugzilla
===========
  
Summary
-------
  
 * Statistics 
 * Closed Bug Ranking 
 * New Bug Rankings 
    
Statistics
----------
  
The Gentoo community uses Bugzilla (bugs.gentoo.org[23]) to record and 
track bugs, notifications, suggestions and other interactions with the 
development team. Between 05 September 2003 and 11 September 2003, 
activity on the site has resulted in: 

 23. http://bugs.gentoo.org
 
 * 437 new bugs during this period 
 * 295 bugs closed or resolved during this period 
 * 8 previously closed bugs were reopened this period 
 
Of the 3864 currently open bugs: 94 are labeled 'blocker', 200 are labeled 
'critical', and 285 are labeled 'major'. 
    
Closed Bug Rankings
-------------------
  
The developers and teams who have closed the most bugs during this period 
are: 
 
 * Gentoo Release Team[24], with 19 closed bugs[25]  
 * Mirror Admins[26], with 16 closed bugs[27]  
 * Gentoo Games[28], with 16 closed bugs[29]  
 * Seemant Kulleen[30], with 13 closed bugs[31]  
 * Gentoo KDE team[32], with 10 closed bugs[33]  
 * Martin Schlemmer[34], with 10 closed bugs[35]  
 24. release@g.o
 25. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&ch
field=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2003-09-05&chfieldto=2003-09-11&resolution=FIX
ED&assigned_to=release@g.o
 26. mirror-admin@g.o
 27. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&ch
field=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2003-09-05&chfieldto=2003-09-11&resolution=FIX
ED&assigned_to=mirror-admin@g.o
 28. games@g.o
 29. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&ch
field=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2003-09-05&chfieldto=2003-09-11&resolution=FIX
ED&assigned_to=games@g.o
 30. seemant@g.o
 31. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&ch
field=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2003-09-05&chfieldto=2003-09-11&resolution=FIX
ED&assigned_to=seemant@g.o
 32. kde@g.o
 33. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&ch
field=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2003-09-05&chfieldto=2003-09-11&resolution=FIX
ED&assigned_to=kde@g.o
 34. azarah@g.o
 35. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&ch
field=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2003-09-05&chfieldto=2003-09-11&resolution=FIX
ED&assigned_to=azarah@g.o
    
New Bug Rankings
----------------
  
The developers and teams who have been assigned the most new bugs during 
this period are: 
 
 * Portage Team[36], with 45 new bugs[37]  
 * Martin Schlemmer[38], with 24 new bugs[39]  
 * Net-Mail Packages[40], with 23 new bugs[41]  
 * Gentoo Sound Team[42], with 16 new bugs[43]  
 * Daniel Robbins[44], with 15 new bugs[45]  
 36. dev-portage@g.o
 37. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_s
tatus=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2003-09-05&chfieldto=2003-09
-11&assigned_to=dev-portage@g.o
 38. azarah@g.o
 39. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_s
tatus=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2003-09-05&chfieldto=2003-09
-11&assigned_to=azarah@g.o
 40. net-mail@g.o
 41. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_s
tatus=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2003-09-05&chfieldto=2003-09
-11&assigned_to=net-mail@g.o
 42. sound@g.o
 43. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_s
tatus=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2003-09-05&chfieldto=2003-09
-11&assigned_to=sound@g.o
 44. drobbins@g.o
 45. 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_s
tatus=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2003-09-05&chfieldto=2003-09
-11&assigned_to=drobbins@g.o
    
==================
9. Tips and Tricks
==================
  
An introduction to sudo
 
This week's tip demonstrates some common uses of sudo which allows normal 
users to run commands with elevated privileges. This week we look at using 
sudo to view log files and handle basic user administration. 
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Code Listing 9.1:                                                       |
| Getting sudo                                                            |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
|                                                                         |
|% emerge app-admin/sudo                                                  |
|                                                                         |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
The first thing to do is set up the /etc/sudoers file which controls all 
the privileges handled by sudo. Instead of editing this file directly, use 
the visudo command. For a full list of configuration options, see the 
sudoers man page (man 5 sudoers). 
 
This file is just an example and demonstrates how to create command and 
user aliases. 
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Code Listing 9.2:                                                       |
| /etc/sudoers                                                            |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
|                                                                         |
|# sudoers file.                                                          |
|#                                                                        |
|# This file MUST be edited with the 'visudo' command as root.            |
|#                                                                        |
|# See the sudoers man page for the details on how to write a sudoers file.|
|#                                                                        |
|                                                                         |
|# User alias specification                                               |
|User_Alias      HELPDESK  = jfox, helpdesk                               |
|User_Alias      SYSADMINS = david, jc                                    |
|                                                                         |
|# Cmnd alias specification                                               |
|# Create aliases for all commands used in viewing files                  |
|Cmnd_Alias      VIEW = /bin/cat, /bin/grep, /bin/more, /usr/bin/head, \  |
|                       /usr/bin/tail, /usr/bin/less                      |
|                                                                         |
|# commands for user administration                                       |
|Cmnd_Alias  USERADMIN = /usr/sbin/useradd, /usr/sbin/userdel, \          |
|                        /usr/sbin/usermod                                |
|                                                                         |
|# User privilege specification                                           |
|# Allow SYSADMINS to run any command as any user                         |
|SYSADMINS   ALL = ALL                                                    |
|                                                                         |
|# Allow  users in HELPDESK to use the user administration commands and   |
|# to use the VIEW commands without a password                            |
|HELPDESK    ALL = USERADMIN, NOPASSWD:VIEW                               |
|                                                                         |
|# Allow users in the %users group to use the VIEW commands               |
|%users      ALL = VIEW                                                   |
|                                                                         |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Now that your /etc/sudoers file has been created, you can issue commands 
using sudo command. 
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Code Listing 9.3:                                                       |
| Examples                                                                |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
|                                                                         |
|Viewing /var/log/critical/current as the helpdesk user                   |
|helpdesk@mybox% sudo tail /var/log/critical/current                      |
|                                                                         |
|Adding a new user as the user jfox                                       |
|jfox@mybox% sudo useradd marcus                                          |
|Password: password for jfox                                              |
|                                                                         |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
While this is no means comprehensive, this should introduce you to some of 
the many possibilities of sudo. For more examples and options see the man 
pages or the web page at http://www.courtesan.com/sudo/. 
   
========================================
10. Featured Quote/Signature of the Week
========================================
  
Featured Quote/Signature is taking a break this week. 
   
===========================
11. Moves, Adds and Changes
===========================
  
Moves
-----
  
The following developers recently left the Gentoo team: 
 * none this week 
    
Adds
----
  
The following developers recently joined the Gentoo Linux team:
 
 * none this week 
    
Changes
-------
  
The following developers recently changed roles within the Gentoo Linux 
project.
 
 * none this week 
    
=====================
12. Contribute to GWN
=====================
  
Interested in contributing to the Gentoo Weekly Newsletter? Send us an 
email[46].

 46. gwn-feedback@g.o
   
================
13. GWN Feedback
================
  
Please send us your feedback[47] and help make the GWN better.

 47. gwn-feedback@g.o
   
================================
14. GWN Subscription Information
================================
  
To subscribe to the Gentoo Weekly Newsletter, send a blank email to 
gentoo-gwn-subscribe@g.o.
 
To unsubscribe to the Gentoo Weekly Newsletter, send a blank email to 
gentoo-gwn-unsubscribe@g.o from the email address you are 
subscribed under.
   
===================
15. Other Languages
===================
  
The Gentoo Weekly Newsletter is also available in the following languages:
 
 * Dutch[48] 
 * English[49] 
 * German[50] 
 * French[51] 
 * Japanese[52] 
 * Italian[53] 
 * Polish[54] 
 * Portuguese (Brazil)[55] 
 * Portuguese (Portugal)[56] 
 * Russian[57] 
 * Spanish[58] 
 * Turkish[59] 
 48. http://www.gentoo.org/news/be/gwn/gwn.xml
 49. http://www.gentoo.org/news/en/gwn/gwn.xml
 50. http://www.gentoo.org/news/de/gwn/gwn.xml
 51. http://www.gentoo.org/news/fr/gwn/gwn.xml
 52. http://www.gentoo.org/news/ja/gwn/gwn.xml
 53. http://www.gentoo.org/news/it/gwn/gwn.xml
 54. http://www.gentoo.org/news/pl/gwn/gwn.xml
 55. http://www.gentoo.org/news/br/gwn/gwn.xml
 56. http://www.gentoo.org/news/pt/gwn/gwn.xml
 57. http://www.gentoo.org/news/ru/gwn/gwn.xml
 58. http://www.gentoo.org/news/es/gwn/gwn.xml
 59. http://www.gentoo.org/news/tr/gwn/gwn.xml
  
Yuji Carlos Kosugi <carlos@g.o> - Editor
AJ Armstrong <aja@×××××××××××××.com> - Contributor
Brian Downey <bdowney@×××××××××××.net> - Contributor
Cal Evans <cal@××××××××.com> - Contributor
Chris Gavin <gubbs@××××.org> - Contributor
Luke Giuliani <cold_flame@×××××.com> - Contributor
Shawn Jonnet <shawn.jonnet@×××××××.net> - Contributor
Michael Kohl <citizen428@g.o> - Contributor
Kurt Lieber <klieber@g.o> - Contributor
Rafael Cordones Marcos <rcm@×××××××.net> - Contributor
David Narayan <david@×××××××.net> - Contributor
Gerald J Normandin Jr. <gerrynjr@g.o> - Contributor
Ulrich Plate <plate@g.o> - Contributor
Mathy Vanvoorden <matje@×××××××.be> - Dutch Translation
Hendrik Eeckhaut <Hendrik.Eeckhaut@×××××.be> - Dutch Translation
Jorn Eilander <sephiroth@××××××××.nl> - Dutch Translation
Bernard Kerckenaere <bernieke@××××××××.com> - Dutch Translation
Peter ter Borg <peter@××××××.nl> - Dutch Translation
Jochen Maes <linux@××××.be> - Dutch Translation
Roderick Goessen <rgoessen@××××.nl> - Dutch Translation
Gerard van den Berg <gerard@××××××.net> - Dutch Translation
Matthieu Montaudouin <mat@××××××××.com> - French Translation
Martin Prieto <riverdale@×××××××××.org> - French Translation
Antoine Raillon <cabec2@××××××.net> - French Translation
Sebastien Cevey <seb@×××××.net> - French Translation
Jean-Christophe Choisy <mabouya@××××××××××××.org> - French Translation
Steffen Lassahn <madeagle@g.o> - German Translation
Matthias F. Brandstetter <haim@g.o> - German Translation
Thomas Raschbacher <lordvan@g.o> - German Translation
Klaus-J. Wolf <yanestra@g.o> - German Translation
Marco Mascherpa <mush@××××××.net> - Italian Translation
Claudio Merloni <paper@×××××××.it> - Italian Translation
Christian Apolloni <bsolar@×××××××.ch> - Italian Translation
Stefano Lucidi <stefano.lucidi@×××××××××××××.org> - Italian Translation
Yoshiaki Hagihara <hagi@×××.com> - Japanese Translation
Katsuyuki Konno <katuyuki@××××××××.jp> - Japanese Translation
Yuji Carlos Kosugi <carlos@g.o> - Japanese Translation
Yasunori Fukudome <yasunori@××××××××××××××××.uk> - Japanese Translation
Takashi Ota <088@××××××××××.jp> - Japanese Translation
Radoslaw Janeczko <sototh@×××.pl> - Polish Translation
Lukasz Strzygowski <lucass.home@××.pl> - Polish Translation
Michal Drobek <veng@××.pl> - Polish Translation
Adam Lyjak <apo@××××××××××××××××××××.pl> - Polish Translation
Krzysztof Klimonda <cthulhu@×××××××××.net> - Polish Translation
Atila "Jedi" Bohlke Vasconcelos <bohlke@×××××××××.br> - Portuguese 
(Brazil) Translation
Eduardo Belloti <dudu@××××××××.net> - Portuguese (Brazil) Translation
Jo??o Rafael Moraes Nicola <joaoraf@×××××××××.br> - Portuguese (Brazil) 
Translation
Marcelo Gon??alves de Azambuja <mgazambuja@×××××××××.br> - Portuguese 
(Brazil) Translation
Otavio Rodolfo Piske <angusy@××××××××.org> - Portuguese (Brazil) 
Translation
Pablo N. Hess -- NatuNobilis <natunobilis@××××××××.org> - Portuguese 
(Brazil) Translation
Pedro de Medeiros <pzilla@××××××××.br> - Portuguese (Brazil) Translation
Ventura Barbeiro <venturasbarbeiro@××××××.br> - Portuguese (Brazil) 
Translation
Bruno Ferreira <blueroom@××××××××××××.net> - Portuguese (Portugal) 
Translation
Gustavo Felisberto <humpback@××××××××××.net> - Portuguese (Portugal) 
Translation
Jos?? Costa <jose_costa@×××××××.pt> - Portuguese (Portugal) Translation
Luis Medina <metalgodin@×××××××××.org> - Portuguese (Portugal) Translation
Ricardo Loureiro <rjlouro@×××××××.org> - Portuguese (Portugal) Translation
Sergey Galkin <gals_home@××××.ru> - Russian Translator
Sergey Kuleshov <svyatogor@g.o> - Russian Translator
Alex Spirin <asp13@××××.ru> - Russian Translator
Dmitry Suzdalev <dimsuz@××××.ru> - Russian Translator
Anton Vorovatov <mazurous@××××.ru> - Russian Translator
Denis Zaletov <dzaletov@×××××××.ru> - Russian Translator
Lanark <lanark@××××××××××.ar> - Spanish Translation
Fernando J. Pereda <ferdy@××××××.org> - Spanish Translation
Lluis Peinado Cifuentes <lpeinado@×××.edu> - Spanish Translation
Zephryn Xirdal T <ZEPHRYNXIRDAL@××××××××××.net> - Spanish Translation
Guillermo Juarez <katossi@××××××××××××××××.es> - Spanish Translation
Jes??s Garc??a Crespo <correo@××××××.com> - Spanish Translation
Carlos Castillo <carlos@×××××××××××××.com> - Spanish Translation
Julio Castillo <julio@×××××××××××××.com> - Spanish Translation
Sergio G??mez <s3r@××××××××××××.ar> - Spanish Translation
Aycan Irican <aycan@××××××××.tr> - Turkish Translation
Bugra Cakir <bugra@×××××××××.com> - Turkish Translation
Cagil Seker <cagils@××××××××××.tr> - Turkish Translation
Emre Kazdagli <emre@××××××××.tr> - Turkish Translation
Evrim Ulu <evrim@××××××××.tr> - Turkish Translation
Gursel Kaynak <gurcell@××××××××.tr> - Turkish Translation