1 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
2 |
Gentoo Weekly Newsletter |
3 |
http://www.gentoo.org/news/en/gwn/current.xml |
4 |
This is the Gentoo Weekly Newsletter for the week of March 24th, 2003. |
5 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
6 |
|
7 |
============== |
8 |
1. Gentoo News |
9 |
============== |
10 |
|
11 |
Summary |
12 |
------- |
13 |
|
14 |
* How to become a Gentoo developer |
15 |
* Changes in the way Gentoo Linux supports CFLAGS |
16 |
* errata from last week's issue |
17 |
|
18 |
A question we hear a lot from Gentoo users is, "How can I become a member |
19 |
of the Gentoo development team?" Largely, the answer to this question is |
20 |
simply to start assisting the development process as a user. This can be |
21 |
done via numerous ways, most of which involve bugs.gentoo.org[1] to an |
22 |
extent. Submitting bug fixes for existing bugs on a consistent basis is |
23 |
one sure way to get the attention of the Gentoo developers. Additionally, |
24 |
consistently submitting new ebuilds is another way. As you may have |
25 |
noticed, consistency is an important part of the overall process. |
26 |
|
27 |
1. http://bugs.gentoo.org |
28 |
|
29 |
For those folks who still want to become a developer, but aren't kernel |
30 |
hacking gurus or python mongers, helping with the development of Gentoo's |
31 |
documentation is another area where users can contribute and become |
32 |
members of the team. Whether it's creating new documents or assisting in |
33 |
translating existing documents into other languages, the quality of our |
34 |
Documentation is a critical part of the overall success of Gentoo Linux. |
35 |
|
36 |
Finally, as the Gentoo Linux project continues to grow, other types of |
37 |
roles, such as GWN contributors and infrastructure people, may become |
38 |
available as well. They will be announced here in the Gentoo Weekly |
39 |
Newletter on an as-needed basis. So for those of you interested in |
40 |
becoming part of the Gentoo Linux team, take a crack at some open bugs, |
41 |
creating new ebuilds or helping out with documentation. Regular |
42 |
contributors will get noticed! |
43 |
|
44 |
Changes in the way Gentoo Linux supports CFLAGS |
45 |
----------------------------------------------- |
46 |
|
47 |
CFLAGS have always been an important part of the Gentoo Linux hacker's |
48 |
toolkit. Tweaking CFLAGS to eke out every last drop of performance is a |
49 |
technique that is used by many, but fully understood by few. Many of the |
50 |
bugs filed on bugs.gentoo.org[2] are directly caused by overly aggressive |
51 |
CFLAGS in a user's make.conf file. One of the ways that the Gentoo Linux |
52 |
developers deal with this is by stripping out certain CFLAGS in ebuilds |
53 |
where they are known to cause problems. (Most kernel modules, for |
54 |
instance, don't like the -fPIC option) However, this is handled on a |
55 |
case-by-case basis, which is not a long-term solution. |
56 |
|
57 |
2. http://bugs.gentoo.org |
58 |
|
59 |
In an effort to come up with a long term solution, a discussion was had on |
60 |
the internal Gentoo Linux developer's mailing list talking about various |
61 |
options. In the end, the decision was reached to come up with a list of |
62 |
safe CFLAGS that will be officially supported by Gentoo Linux. This means |
63 |
if you use one of these flags and have problems with it, it will be |
64 |
considered a valid bug in Gentoo Linux. Users are still free to try any |
65 |
and all other CFLAGS as they see fit, but bugs filed in relation to these |
66 |
options may not be considered valid and the user may be asked to try |
67 |
less-aggressive optimization settings when compiling that specific |
68 |
program. Over time, as gcc continues to mature, the list of officially |
69 |
supported CFLAGS will be reviewed and added to as appropriate, with the |
70 |
goal being to support as many -f options s possible without overwhelming |
71 |
our QA and bugfix resources. |
72 |
|
73 |
To a large extent, this practice of supported vs. unsupported CFLAGS has |
74 |
been in practice for quite some time now. However, now the process will be |
75 |
formalized and the list of supported CFLAGS will be integrated into our |
76 |
installation docs as well as our other documentation where appropriate. |
77 |
|
78 |
errata from last week's issue |
79 |
----------------------------- |
80 |
|
81 |
As many readers pointed out, last week's Tips & Tricks section contained |
82 |
an error in one of the code listings. Instead of |
83 |
SYNC="rsync.us.gentoo.org", it should have been listed as |
84 |
SYNC="rsync://rsync.us.gentoo.org/gentoo-portage". The person making the |
85 |
error has been properly tarred and feathered and this week's Tips & Tricks |
86 |
section is brought to you by our normal contributor, David Narayan, who |
87 |
was on vacation last week. (and thus is absolved from all blame :)) |
88 |
|
89 |
================== |
90 |
2. Gentoo Security |
91 |
================== |
92 |
|
93 |
Summary |
94 |
------- |
95 |
|
96 |
* GLSA: samba |
97 |
* GLSA: kernel |
98 |
* GLSA: mysql |
99 |
* GLSA: openssl |
100 |
* GLSA: rxvt |
101 |
* GLSA: evolution |
102 |
* GLSA: qpopper |
103 |
* GLSA: man |
104 |
* New Security Bug Reports |
105 |
* gentoo-security |
106 |
|
107 |
GLSA: samba |
108 |
----------- |
109 |
|
110 |
The samba smbd daemon has a buffer overflow which could permit a remote |
111 |
attacker to gain root privileges on the server. |
112 |
|
113 |
* Severity: Critical - Remote root exposure. |
114 |
* Packages Affected: net-fs/samba versions prior to samba-2.2.8 |
115 |
* Rectification: Synchronize and emerge samba, emerge clean. |
116 |
* GLSA Announcement[3] |
117 |
* Advisory[4] |
118 |
|
119 |
3. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=41881 |
120 |
4. http://lists.samba.org/pipermail/samba-announce/2003-March/000063.html |
121 |
|
122 |
|
123 |
GLSA: kernel |
124 |
------------ |
125 |
|
126 |
Linux stable kernels 2.2 and 2.4 have a flaw in ptrace that permits local |
127 |
users to elevate their privileges to root. The flaw is not remotely |
128 |
exploitable. It is not believed that the flaw affects the 2.5 kernel. The |
129 |
following kernel sources have been patched: gentoo-sources, gs-sources, |
130 |
pfeifer-sources, sparc-sources, and xfs-sources. A patch for other sources |
131 |
can be obtained from cvs[5]. |
132 |
|
133 |
5. http://cvs.gentoo.org/~aliz/linux-2.4.20-ptrace.patch |
134 |
|
135 |
* Severity: High - Kernel compromise, privilege elevation. |
136 |
* Packages Affected: Linux kernel versions 2.2, 2.4 |
137 |
* Rectification: Synchronize and emerge kernel sources for your system, |
138 |
recompile and install kernel. |
139 |
* GLSA Announcement[6] |
140 |
* Advisory[7] |
141 |
|
142 |
6. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=42814 |
143 |
7. http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-kernel&m=104791735604202&w=2 |
144 |
|
145 |
GLSA: mysql |
146 |
----------- |
147 |
|
148 |
If MySQL's configuration file's are world-writable, it is possible to |
149 |
modify the server's configuration so that MySQL will run as root after a |
150 |
restart. MySQL has been fixed so that it will not load world-writable |
151 |
config files. |
152 |
|
153 |
* Severity: High - Privilege elevation. |
154 |
* Packages Affected: dev-db/mysql versions prior to mysql-3.23.56 |
155 |
* Rectification: Synchronize and emerge mysql, emerge clean. |
156 |
* GLSA Announcement[8] |
157 |
* Advisory[9] |
158 |
|
159 |
8. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=42383 |
160 |
9. http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=bugtraq&m=104739810523433&w=2 |
161 |
|
162 |
GLSA: openssl |
163 |
------------- |
164 |
|
165 |
OpenSSL is subject to a timing attack which may permit exposure of RSA |
166 |
keys. This vulnerability can be eliminated by enabling RSA blinding. The |
167 |
fix is to enable blinding by default, involving only a trivial performance |
168 |
impact. |
169 |
|
170 |
* Severity: High - Cryptographic exposure. |
171 |
* Packages Affected: dev-libs/openssl versions prior to openssl-0.9.6i-r1 |
172 |
* Rectification: Synchronize and emerge openssl, emerge clean. |
173 |
* GLSA Announcement[10] |
174 |
* Advisory[11] |
175 |
|
176 |
10. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=42581 |
177 |
11. http://www.openssl.org/news/secadv_20030317.txt |
178 |
|
179 |
|
180 |
GLSA: rxvt |
181 |
---------- |
182 |
|
183 |
The rxvt terminal emulator is subject to remote attack when un-trusted |
184 |
data is displayed to the screen. This exposure permits a DOS attack or (by |
185 |
taking advantage of other vulnerabilities on the system) the potential for |
186 |
system compromise. |
187 |
|
188 |
* Severity: High - Remote System Compromise. |
189 |
* Packages Affected: x11-terms/rxvt versions prior to rxvt-2.7.8-r6 |
190 |
* Rectification: Synchronize and emerge rxvt, emerge clean. |
191 |
* GLSA Announcement[12] |
192 |
* Advisory[13] |
193 |
|
194 |
12. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=42582 |
195 |
13. http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=bugtraq&m=104612710031920&w=2 |
196 |
|
197 |
GLSA: evolution |
198 |
--------------- |
199 |
|
200 |
Evolution is subject to several vulnerabilities that permit remote attacks |
201 |
ranging from DoS through security bypasses and potential execution of |
202 |
arbitrary code through the use of carefully crafted UUEncodes or MIME |
203 |
headers. |
204 |
|
205 |
* Severity: High - Multiple exposures to remote attack. |
206 |
* Packages Affected: versions prior to evolution-1.2.3 |
207 |
* Rectification: Synchronize and emerge , emerge clean. |
208 |
* GLSA Announcement[14] |
209 |
* Advisory[15] |
210 |
|
211 |
14. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=42816 |
212 |
15. http://www.coresecurity.com/common/showdoc.php?idx=309&idxseccion=10 |
213 |
|
214 |
GLSA: qpopper |
215 |
------------- |
216 |
|
217 |
Qpopper exposes a buffer overflow which could permit the execution of |
218 |
arbitrary code. The code would normally be executed with the privileges of |
219 |
a user that must be authenticated. |
220 |
|
221 |
* Severity: Moderate - arbitrary code execution, mitigated by requirement |
222 |
for user authentication. |
223 |
* Packages Affected: net-mail/qpopper versions prior to qpopper-4.0.5 |
224 |
* Rectification: Synchronize and emerge qpopper, emerge clean. |
225 |
* GLSA Announcement[16] |
226 |
* Advisory[17] |
227 |
|
228 |
16. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=41957 |
229 |
17. http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=bugtraq&m=104739841223916&w=2 |
230 |
|
231 |
GLSA: man |
232 |
--------- |
233 |
|
234 |
Man contains an error return value bug that could permit a specially |
235 |
formatted man file to execute a program named 'unsafe', if it exists. |
236 |
|
237 |
* Severity: Moderate - arbitrary code execution, mitigated by requirement |
238 |
for local access and program installation. |
239 |
* Packages Affected: versions prior to |
240 |
* Rectification: Synchronize and emerge , emerge clean. |
241 |
* GLSA Announcement[18] |
242 |
* Advisory[19] |
243 |
|
244 |
18. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=42384 |
245 |
19. http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=bugtraq&m=104740927915154&w=2 |
246 |
|
247 |
New Security Bug Reports |
248 |
------------------------ |
249 |
|
250 |
The following new security bugs were posted this week: |
251 |
|
252 |
* net-irc/bitchx[20] |
253 |
* dev-java/*[21] |
254 |
* kerberos[22] |
255 |
* net-im/gaim[23] |
256 |
* sys-apps/baselayout[24] |
257 |
* media-libs/net-bpm[25] |
258 |
* sys-libs/glibc[26] |
259 |
* net-mail/mutt[27] |
260 |
* net-www/mod_ssl[28] |
261 |
|
262 |
20. http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=17567 |
263 |
21. http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=17574 |
264 |
22. http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=17718 |
265 |
23. http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=17733 |
266 |
24. http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=17738 |
267 |
25. http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=17756 |
268 |
26. http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=17846 |
269 |
27. http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=17857 |
270 |
28. http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=17862 |
271 |
|
272 |
gentoo-security |
273 |
--------------- |
274 |
|
275 |
Alexander Holler posted a message[29] to the gentoo-security mailing list |
276 |
describing and offering a link to a proof-of-concept trojan for gentoo |
277 |
that exploits the oft-discussed[30] problem that ebuilds are not signed |
278 |
or otherwise authenticated. Mr. Holler's statement that "nobody .. seems |
279 |
concerned about portage security" provoked some comment, as did the |
280 |
question about whether posting a trojan for an already documented |
281 |
vulnerability was productive or advisable. The discussion continued with |
282 |
some expressions of concern that the issue be addressed soon, including a |
283 |
note[31] from Daniel Robbins indicating a desire to add enhanced security |
284 |
to Portage-2.0. All told, the discussion seems particularly timely, given |
285 |
the recent launch[32] of the hardened gentoo project. |
286 |
|
287 |
29. http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=gentoo-security&m=104816199500974&w=2 |
288 |
30. http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=5902 |
289 |
31. http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=gentoo-security&m=104820132213706&w=2 |
290 |
32. |
291 |
http://www.gentoo.org/news/en/gwn/20030317-newsletter.xml#doc_chap1_sect5 |
292 |
|
293 |
================================= |
294 |
3. Featured Developer of the Week |
295 |
================================= |
296 |
|
297 |
Daniel Ahlberg |
298 |
|
299 |
This week we feature Daniel Ahlberg[33], one of the watchful eyes who keep |
300 |
Gentoo secure and up-to-date. Monitoring security-related mailing lists |
301 |
and hunting for new package versions, he sends out GLSAs and bumps package |
302 |
versions, facing the constant fear of breaking something when he marks a |
303 |
package as stable. Daniel had been using Gentoo for a couple of months |
304 |
when he saw a discussion on #gentoo-dev about how every package needed to |
305 |
be checked for the license it used, and the new LICENSE keyword added to |
306 |
each ebuild. Later that night he checked the licenses and updated the |
307 |
ebuilds for a couple of categories, and sent them to drobbins and seemant, |
308 |
who asked him to become a developer a couple of days later. Daniel doesn't |
309 |
feel he's done anything extraordinary, but likes the occasional bash |
310 |
script hacks he does. |
311 |
|
312 |
33. aliz@g.o |
313 |
|
314 |
Three years ago Daniel started a company with some of his friends; he |
315 |
still works there, administering the network and servers, making sure |
316 |
others can do their work, and consulting. He likes all the software he |
317 |
uses daily, including bash, nano, phoenix, kde, enlightenment, kmail, |
318 |
xchat, sim, kate, and gkrellm2, and runs Gentoo on his three primary |
319 |
computers: a workstation at home and at work, and his laptop, which is |
320 |
usually connected to his work computer by VNC. Daniel, who lives |
321 |
"somewhere in the upper middle of Sweden", likes to read (he's on his |
322 |
third Tom Clancy novel right now), listen to music, and watch movies. |
323 |
|
324 |
========================= |
325 |
4. Heard In The Community |
326 |
========================= |
327 |
|
328 |
Web Forums |
329 |
---------- |
330 |
|
331 |
Gentoo GNU/Hurd Project Started |
332 |
|
333 |
Jon Portnoy aka avenj[34] announced last week that he's started working on |
334 |
a port of the Hurd[35] for Gentoo, and he is currently scanning the Forums |
335 |
for people interested in this development. The official discussion about |
336 |
the project and the right place for anyone interested in posting a "me, |
337 |
too" has found its permanent home here: |
338 |
|
339 |
34. http://forums.gentoo.org/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=7981 |
340 |
35. http://hurd.gnu.org |
341 |
|
342 |
* Repost: Anyone interested in Gentoo GNU/Hurd?[36] |
343 |
* Avenj's page on Gentoo GNU/Hurd development[37] |
344 |
|
345 |
36. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=41939 |
346 |
37. http://cvs.gentoo.org/~avenj/ |
347 |
|
348 |
Better Uses for Gentoo Gadgetry |
349 |
|
350 |
As reported last week, the Gentoo store has recently added a few new |
351 |
items, and one of those has inspired some hardware buffs to make it |
352 |
slightly more useful than it already is: Who needs sandwiches and apples |
353 |
in their Gentoo lunchbox when they can have a full-blown PC instead? Carry |
354 |
on: |
355 |
|
356 |
* Other uses for the Gentoo Lunch box[38] |
357 |
* The lunchbox order page at the Gentoo store[39] |
358 |
|
359 |
38. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=41716 |
360 |
39. http://www.cafeshops.com/gentoolinux.5161317 |
361 |
|
362 |
Intel's C Compiler in Gentoo |
363 |
|
364 |
Using the ICC, Intel's C compiler, is still quite limited, both in terms |
365 |
of software that can actually be built with it, and people who try using |
366 |
despite this limitation. Some people like to replace the default GCC with |
367 |
ICC for certain applications, and on occasion they discuss this broadly |
368 |
enough to let others get an idea of what, why and how to do it: |
369 |
|
370 |
* Anyone else using ICC?[40] |
371 |
* replace gcc with Intel CC?[41] |
372 |
|
373 |
40. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=33772 |
374 |
41. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=28435 |
375 |
|
376 |
Gentoo Installation Success on an RS/6000 |
377 |
|
378 |
Got a dusty old B50 lying around in a broom closet at the office? Here's |
379 |
how to blow some new life into it... Welcome, thanks and congratulations |
380 |
to Forum newcomer JurgyMan[42] for this contribution: |
381 |
|
382 |
42. http://forums.gentoo.org/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=16708 |
383 |
|
384 |
* Gentoo on RS6000 B50 HOWTO - first draft[43] |
385 |
|
386 |
43. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=42672 |
387 |
|
388 |
gentoo-user |
389 |
----------- |
390 |
|
391 |
Realistic Install timeframe |
392 |
|
393 |
Trey Sizemore started an interesting thread by asking how long it |
394 |
realistically takes to install a Gentoo Linux desktop from stage 1[44]. |
395 |
Most of the responses seemed to indicate that Trey was probably a little |
396 |
optimistic in his initial assessment of getting a full KDE desktop up and |
397 |
running on a PII400 in about a day. Of course, KDE is easily the largest |
398 |
app that needs to be compiled in Trey's setup, so a lighter-weight WM like |
399 |
fluxbox would likely drop his setup time considerably. |
400 |
|
401 |
44. http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.user/26597 |
402 |
|
403 |
* Realistic Install timeframe[45] |
404 |
|
405 |
45. |
406 |
http://news.gmane.org/onethread.php?group=gmane.linux.gentoo.user&root=%3C3 |
407 |
E7B2F24.407%40fastmail.fm%3E |
408 |
|
409 |
Command line interface tools |
410 |
|
411 |
Dhruba Bandopadhyay asked for opinions[46] regarding peoples' preferences |
412 |
for command line interface tools. Naturally, lively discussion ensued. |
413 |
|
414 |
46. http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.user/26664 |
415 |
|
416 |
* Command line interface tools[47] |
417 |
|
418 |
47. |
419 |
http://news.gmane.org/onethread.php?group=gmane.linux.gentoo.user&root=%3C2 |
420 |
0030322004933.GA19784%40wolf.codewordt.co.uk%3E |
421 |
|
422 |
ftp/iptables always in emerge world |
423 |
|
424 |
Kurt Hindenberg asked why ftp and iptables always showed up during an |
425 |
emerge world[48]. When it turned out that these packages were being |
426 |
required by the base system profile, a bug report ensued[49]. |
427 |
|
428 |
48. http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.user/26368 |
429 |
49. http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=17859 |
430 |
|
431 |
* ftp/iptables always in emerge world[50] |
432 |
|
433 |
50. |
434 |
http://news.gmane.org/onethread.php?group=gmane.linux.gentoo.user&root=%3C2 |
435 |
00303191142.41399.khindenburg%40cherrynebula.net%3E |
436 |
|
437 |
gentoo-dev |
438 |
---------- |
439 |
|
440 |
Status of a Gentoo Installer? |
441 |
|
442 |
Bip Thelin asked[51] wether the creation of a Gentoo installer was in |
443 |
somebody's tasklist. He proposed to implement such an installer in Java. |
444 |
Alain Penders replied[52] with a link to CursingCow[53], a Python/NEWT |
445 |
installer for Gentoo Linux. Although currently, only the PPC architecture |
446 |
is supported the code does support architecture specific modules. Gentoo |
447 |
developer Dylan Carlson finally replied[54] that even though Java would be |
448 |
a good choice for such a task, Python plays a central role in the whole |
449 |
Gentoo infrastructure and it may be difficult to integrate a Java solution |
450 |
in the Gentoo toolchain. |
451 |
|
452 |
51. http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=gentoo-dev&m=104789209111303&w=2 |
453 |
52. http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=gentoo-dev&m=104792524715198&w=2 |
454 |
53. http://cvs.gentoo.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/gentoo-src/cursingcow/ |
455 |
54. http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=gentoo-dev&m=104792524715198&w=2 |
456 |
|
457 |
ACCEPT_KEYWORDS + bootstrap.sh |
458 |
|
459 |
As one user noticed[55], early this week, during the installation of his |
460 |
Gentoo. The bootstrap process does not use the ACCEPT_KEYWORDS setting |
461 |
from /etc/make.conf. |
462 |
|
463 |
55. http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=gentoo-dev&m=104791759004540&w=2 |
464 |
|
465 |
The ACCEPT_KEYWORDS is meant as a tool for easy testing of packages. That |
466 |
is, effectively users can add or remove unstable packages to the usual |
467 |
stable lot. |
468 |
|
469 |
Disregarding the ACCEPT_KEYWORDS setting during bootstrap is not a bug. |
470 |
Rather it is supposed to ease the installation and to secure a stable |
471 |
foundation for the rest of Gentoo to exist on. This is done by |
472 |
specifically choosing well tested packages as opposed to newly released |
473 |
packages. |
474 |
|
475 |
Some argue against this suggesting that it eliminates choices which is not |
476 |
appropriate for the kind of distribution that Gentoo is. And that there |
477 |
really is no point in trying to secure a stable foundation in this way |
478 |
when the rest of the distribution make use of the ACCEPT_KEYWORDS. |
479 |
|
480 |
And the arguments are true, for the most part. Because reading through the |
481 |
/usr/portage/scripts/bootstrap.sh script reveals that the bootstrap |
482 |
process grabs packages from a file describing a default profile. A default |
483 |
profile tailored for a specific architecture (intel, ppc, etc.). So |
484 |
instead of eliminating the choices they have been disguised as profiles, |
485 |
waiting to be modified. The command cd $(readlink -f /etc/make.profile) |
486 |
will bring you to the location of your default profile. |
487 |
|
488 |
A word of caution. When modifying the default profile you can possibly |
489 |
cripple your Gentoo installation from step one since version changes could |
490 |
break package dependencies. |
491 |
|
492 |
======================= |
493 |
5. Gentoo International |
494 |
======================= |
495 |
|
496 |
Gentoo in the Japanese Press |
497 |
|
498 |
Two articles in Japanese about Gentoo were published on the same day last |
499 |
week in different magazines, both written by fervent supporters of |
500 |
GentooJP: Yoshiaki Hagihara, one of the translators of the GWN among other |
501 |
things, has written a very funny seven-pager ("Gentoo Lifestyle -- My days |
502 |
with Gentoo") for LinuxPower Vol. 1[56], the first issue of this new |
503 |
addition to the growing number of Linux magazines in Japan. And Masatomo |
504 |
Nakano, spiritus rector of the GentooJP project, wrote his piece ("Gentoo |
505 |
again") for the April issue of Software Design[57]. Both magazines are on |
506 |
sale in Japanese bookshops since 18 March. |
507 |
|
508 |
56. http://www.enterbrain.co.jp/techwin/linux/index.html |
509 |
57. http://www.gihyo.co.jp/magazines/SD/contents |
510 |
|
511 |
Russian Gentoo Community Set Up! |
512 |
|
513 |
Developer George Shapovalov[58] announced that the "Fellowship of |
514 |
gentoo.ru" has been up and running for almost a month already! The |
515 |
Fellowship was born after growing interest in Gentoo Linux by the Russian |
516 |
speaking community was becoming impossible to overlook, and it's already |
517 |
got its own website[59]) and user support forums[60]. Gentoo.ru also |
518 |
provides translations for Gentoo documentation, carefully supervised by |
519 |
official devs. No need to be shy if you would like to help with |
520 |
translations or any other subotnik, the Fellowship will certainly welcome |
521 |
any such attempt. Real time chat is available on irc.rinet.ru, channel |
522 |
#gentoo. |
523 |
|
524 |
58. george@g.o |
525 |
59. http://linuxshop.ru/unix4all/?cid=16 |
526 |
60. http://linuxshop.ru/forum/viewforum.php?f=16 |
527 |
|
528 |
New Mailing List for French Gentoo Users |
529 |
|
530 |
Adding to the support base for French speakers, a new official mailing |
531 |
list, gentoo-user-fr, has been created last week. Between the new list, |
532 |
the French forum and the IRC channel on Freenode for French users, chances |
533 |
to get support for technical questions are on a pretty acceptable level |
534 |
now. |
535 |
|
536 |
International Event Calendar |
537 |
|
538 |
The GWN editorial staff is extremely grateful for information about |
539 |
anything related to conferences, seminars, user meetings, install fest or |
540 |
any other event Gentoo users are organizing or participating in. This week |
541 |
an impressive number of events has come up, take your pick from those, and |
542 |
send an e-mail to gwn-feedback@g.o if you know of any others: |
543 |
|
544 |
* Austria: The Vienna community is turning openly hedonistic... They've |
545 |
barely recovered from their last meeting, yet up comes a plan for the next |
546 |
one. Date: 1 April, venue to be decided via this thread[61] in the German |
547 |
forum. |
548 |
* Portugal: Gentoo-stronghold Coimbra (and certainly one of the most |
549 |
pleasant locations to be in around spring) is the venue for the 7th |
550 |
"Encontro de Gestão e Tecnologias da Informação", co-organized by |
551 |
Gentoo Forum moderator RoadRunner[62] and other Gentooists, to be held on |
552 |
2 April in the Auditório da Reitoria at Coimbra University. An |
553 |
indisputable highlight of this conference will be the afternoon podium |
554 |
discussion about "Free Software Use in Public Administrations", with the |
555 |
Marketing Director of Microsoft Portugal and the head of the Portuguese |
556 |
Linux distribution Caixa Magica fencing it out on stage. Further |
557 |
information here[63], if you're planning on attending the show, tell the |
558 |
others here, please[64]. |
559 |
* France: Same day, similar subject, 800 kilometres further north... A |
560 |
conference in Paris about opportunities for free software use in small and |
561 |
medium sized companies may serve as a venue for an informal meeting of |
562 |
Gentoo users, all the details are here[65]. |
563 |
* Denmark & Sweden: Also on 2 April, the Skåne Sjælland LUG is getting |
564 |
a fully-fledged Gentoo presentation by Klavs[66]. Details were hard to get |
565 |
by before this week's GWN deadline, but the presenter will certainly be |
566 |
able to guide you if you make yourself heard in this forum thread[67]. |
567 |
* UK: In an almost forgotten thread in the Forums, brum-based |
568 |
mr-simon[68] is looking for Gentooists to join him at the Linux User & |
569 |
Developer Expo in Birmingham on 15/16 April[69]. |
570 |
* GermanyStill way ahead, but worth noting: 14 May is the tentative date |
571 |
for Gentoo users in the Köln/Bonn region to organize their first meeting. |
572 |
Expressions of interest in joining the crowd go here[70]. |
573 |
|
574 |
61. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=42337 |
575 |
62. http://forums.gentoo.org/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=2185 |
576 |
63. http://egti.dei.uc.pt |
577 |
64. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=41922 |
578 |
65. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=41972 |
579 |
66. http://forums.gentoo.org/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=1524 |
580 |
67. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=42421 |
581 |
68. http://forums.gentoo.org/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=10081 |
582 |
69. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=36907 |
583 |
70. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=40510 |
584 |
|
585 |
================ |
586 |
6. Portage Watch |
587 |
================ |
588 |
|
589 |
The following stable packages were added to portage this week |
590 |
------------------------------------------------------------- |
591 |
|
592 |
* app-doc/ebook-gcc : GCC 3.2 EBook." |
593 |
* app-sci/lin-seti : A Seti@Home cache manager, cache-compatible with |
594 |
Seti Driver. Can be run as system daemon. |
595 |
http://lin-seti.sourceforge.net/ |
596 |
* dev-java/avalon-logkit : LogKit is an easy-to-use Java logging toolkit |
597 |
designed for secure, performance-oriented logging. |
598 |
http://avalon.apache.org/ |
599 |
* dev-java/commons-cli : The CLI library provides a simple and easy to |
600 |
use API for working with the command line arguments and options. |
601 |
http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/logging.html |
602 |
* dev-java/gnu-jaxp : GNU JAXP, a free implementation of SAX parser API, |
603 |
DOM Level 2, Sun JAXP 1.1. http://www.gnu.org/software/classpathx/jaxp/ |
604 |
* dev-java/velocity : A Java-based template engine that allows easy |
605 |
creation/rendering of documents that format and present data. |
606 |
http://jakarta.apache.org/velocity/ |
607 |
* dev-perl/Convert-ASN1 : A Convert Perl Module |
608 |
http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/Convert/Convert-ASN1-0.16.readme |
609 |
* media-gfx/gif2png : gif2png http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/gif2png/ |
610 |
* net-mail/vacation : automatic mail answering program |
611 |
http://vacation.sourceforge.net/ |
612 |
* sys-apps/reoback : Reoback Backup Solution |
613 |
http://reoback.penguinsoup.org/ |
614 |
* sys-devel/oskit : Building blocks for a x86 operating system. |
615 |
http://www.cs.utah.edu/flux/oskit/ |
616 |
* app-dicts/freedict-eng-fra : |
617 |
* app-dicts/freedict-fra-eng : |
618 |
|
619 |
Updates to notable packages |
620 |
--------------------------- |
621 |
|
622 |
* kde-base/kde - kde-3.1.1.ebuild; |
623 |
* gnome-base/gnome - gnome-2.2.1.ebuild; |
624 |
* sys-kernel/* - aa-sources-2.4.21_pre5-r1.ebuild; |
625 |
aa-sources-2.4.21_pre5-r2.ebuild; development-sources-2.5.65.ebuild; |
626 |
gentoo-sources-2.4.20-r2.ebuild; gs-sources-2.4.21_pre5-r1.ebuild; |
627 |
mm-sources-2.5.65-r1.ebuild; mm-sources-2.5.65-r2.ebuild; |
628 |
pfeifer-sources-2.4.20.1_pre1.ebuild; selinux-sources-2.4.20-r1.ebuild; |
629 |
sparc-sources-2.4.20-r6.ebuild; xfs-sources-2.4.20-r1.ebuild; |
630 |
xfs-sources-2.4.20-r2.ebuild; xfs-sources-2.4.20.ebuild; |
631 |
* dev-db/mysql - mysql-3.23.56.ebuild; |
632 |
|
633 |
Updates to notable packages |
634 |
--------------------------- |
635 |
|
636 |
* sys-apps/portage - portage-2.0.47-r10.ebuild; |
637 |
* x11-base/xfree - xfree-4.3.0-r1.ebuild; |
638 |
* sys-kernel/* - ac-sources-2.4.21_pre5-r3.ebuild; |
639 |
gaming-sources-2.4.20-r1.ebuild; lolo-sources-2.4.20.2_pre5.ebuild; |
640 |
mm-sources-2.5.64-r4.ebuild; mm-sources-2.5.64-r5.ebuild; |
641 |
mm-sources-2.5.64-r6.ebuild; wolk-sources-4.0_rc2.ebuild; |
642 |
wolk-sources-4.0_rc3.ebuild; |
643 |
* dev-db/mysql - mysql-4.0.11a-r1.ebuild; |
644 |
* app-admin/gentoolkit - gentoolkit-0.1.19-r3.ebuild; |
645 |
|
646 |
New USE variables |
647 |
----------------- |
648 |
|
649 |
* lirc - Adds support for lirc (Linux's Infra-Red Remote Control) |
650 |
|
651 |
=========== |
652 |
7. Bugzilla |
653 |
=========== |
654 |
|
655 |
Summary |
656 |
------- |
657 |
|
658 |
* Statistics |
659 |
* Closed Bug Ranking |
660 |
* New Bug Rankings |
661 |
|
662 |
Statistics |
663 |
---------- |
664 |
|
665 |
The Gentoo community uses Bugzilla (bugs.gentoo.org[74]) to record and |
666 |
track bugs, notifications, suggestions and other interactions with the |
667 |
development team. In the last 7 days, activity on the site has resulted |
668 |
in: |
669 |
|
670 |
74. http://bugs.gentoo.org |
671 |
|
672 |
* 275 new bugs this week |
673 |
* 294 bugs closed or resolved this week |
674 |
* 9 previously closed bugs were reopened this week. |
675 |
* 2161 total bugs currently marked 'new' |
676 |
* 465 total bugs currently assigned to developers |
677 |
|
678 |
There are currently 3001 bugs open in bugzilla. Of these: 70 are labeled |
679 |
'blocker', 108 are labeled 'critical', and 228 are labeled 'major'. |
680 |
|
681 |
Closed Bug Rankings |
682 |
------------------- |
683 |
|
684 |
The developers and teams who have closed the most bugs this week are: |
685 |
|
686 |
* Martin Schlemmer[75], with 16 closed bugs[76] |
687 |
* Seemant Kulleen[77], with 14 closed bugs[78] |
688 |
* The Gnome Team[79], with 13 closed bugs[80] |
689 |
* Martin Holzer[81], with 13 closed bugs[82] |
690 |
|
691 |
75. azarah@g.o |
692 |
76. |
693 |
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&ch |
694 |
field=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2003-03-15&chfieldto=Now&resolution=FIXED&assi |
695 |
gned_to=azarah%40gentoo.org |
696 |
77. seemant@g.o |
697 |
78. |
698 |
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&ch |
699 |
field=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2003-03-15&chfieldto=Now&resolution=FIXED&assi |
700 |
gned_to=seemant%40gentoo.org |
701 |
79. gnome@g.o |
702 |
80. |
703 |
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&ch |
704 |
field=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2003-03-15&chfieldto=Now&resolution=FIXED&assi |
705 |
gned_to=gnome%40gentoo.org |
706 |
81. mholzer@g.o |
707 |
82. |
708 |
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=CLOSED&ch |
709 |
field=bug_status&chfieldfrom=2003-03-15&chfieldto=Now&resolution=FIXED&assi |
710 |
gned_to=mholzer%40gentoo.org |
711 |
|
712 |
New Bug Rankings |
713 |
---------------- |
714 |
|
715 |
The developers and teams who have been assigned the most new bugs this |
716 |
week are: |
717 |
|
718 |
* The x86 Kernel Team[83], with 19 new bugs[84] |
719 |
* The Gnome Team[85], with 12 new bugs[86] |
720 |
* Nick Hadaway[87], with 9 new bugs[88] |
721 |
* Nicholas Jones[89], with 9 new bugs[90] |
722 |
* Martin Holzer[91], with 7 new bugs[92] |
723 |
|
724 |
83. x86-kernel@g.o |
725 |
84. |
726 |
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_s |
727 |
tatus=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2003-03-15&chfieldto=Now&=&a |
728 |
ssigned_to=x86-kernel%40gentoo.org |
729 |
85. gnome@g.o |
730 |
86. |
731 |
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_s |
732 |
tatus=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2003-03-15&chfieldto=Now&=&a |
733 |
ssigned_to=gnome%40gentoo.org |
734 |
87. raker@g.o |
735 |
88. |
736 |
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_s |
737 |
tatus=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2003-03-15&chfieldto=Now&=&a |
738 |
ssigned_to=raker%40gentoo.org |
739 |
89. carpaski@g.o |
740 |
90. |
741 |
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_s |
742 |
tatus=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2003-03-15&chfieldto=Now&=&a |
743 |
ssigned_to=carpaski%40gentoo.org |
744 |
91. mholzer@g.o |
745 |
92. |
746 |
http://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_s |
747 |
tatus=REOPENED&chfield=assigned_to&chfieldfrom=2003-03-15&chfieldto=Now&=&a |
748 |
ssigned_to=mholzer%40gentoo.org |
749 |
|
750 |
|
751 |
================== |
752 |
8. Tips and Tricks |
753 |
================== |
754 |
|
755 |
Using tmpfs |
756 |
|
757 |
This week's tip shows you how to make use of tmpfs to speed up access time |
758 |
for small temporary files. Tmpfs simulates a filesystem by supporting |
759 |
normal read/writes but the files are stored in memory. This makes access |
760 |
much faster. Note that files stored in tmpfs are not saved between |
761 |
reboots. Also, tmpfs is only recommended for systems with large amounts of |
762 |
memory. |
763 |
|
764 |
First make sure that tmpfs is enabled in your kernel. |
765 |
|
766 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
767 |
| Code Listing 8.1: | |
768 |
| Enabling tmpfs in the kernel | |
769 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
770 |
| | |
771 |
|# cd /usr/src/linux | |
772 |
|# make menuconfig | |
773 |
| Enable File Systems --> | |
774 |
| [*] Virtual memory system support | |
775 |
| (Enable this option) | |
776 |
| | |
777 |
|# make dep && make clean bzImage | |
778 |
| | |
779 |
|Make sure /boot is mounted before this step | |
780 |
|# cp /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot | |
781 |
| | |
782 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
783 |
|
784 |
/tmp is the most common place for temporary files. We will use tmpfs to |
785 |
mount /tmp |
786 |
|
787 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
788 |
| Code Listing 8.2: | |
789 |
| Mounting /tmp with tmpfs | |
790 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
791 |
| | |
792 |
|# mount -t tmpfs tmpfs /tmp | |
793 |
| | |
794 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
795 |
|
796 |
Now that /tmp is mounted, all you have to do is add the following to your |
797 |
/etc/fstab in order to have it load on boot. |
798 |
|
799 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
800 |
| Code Listing 8.3: | |
801 |
| Add the following line to your stab file | |
802 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
803 |
| | |
804 |
|tmpfs /tmp tmpfs defaults 0 0 | |
805 |
| | |
806 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
807 |
|
808 |
========================== |
809 |
9. Moves, Adds and Changes |
810 |
========================== |
811 |
|
812 |
Moves |
813 |
----- |
814 |
|
815 |
The following developers recently left the Gentoo team: |
816 |
|
817 |
* none this week |
818 |
|
819 |
Adds |
820 |
---- |
821 |
|
822 |
The following developers recently joined the Gentoo Linux team: |
823 |
|
824 |
* Felix De Vliegher (Popsickle) -- LiveCD, KDE |
825 |
* Philip Walls (malverian) -- media-gfx, distributed computing stuff |
826 |
* Matthew Rickard (frogger) -- ProPolice |
827 |
* Jeraimee Hughes (a.sleep) -- Gentoo Infrastructure |
828 |
|
829 |
Changes |
830 |
------- |
831 |
|
832 |
The following developers recently changed roles within the Gentoo Linux |
833 |
project. |
834 |
|
835 |
* Mark Guertin (gerk) -- Retired as Gentoo/PPC Project Lead |
836 |
|
837 |
===================== |
838 |
10. Contribute to GWN |
839 |
===================== |
840 |
|
841 |
Interested in contributing to the Gentoo Weekly Newsletter? Send us an |
842 |
email[93]. |
843 |
|
844 |
93. gwn-feedback@g.o |
845 |
|
846 |
================ |
847 |
11. GWN Feedback |
848 |
================ |
849 |
|
850 |
Please send us your feedback[94] and help make GWN better. |
851 |
|
852 |
94. gwn-feedback@g.o |
853 |
|
854 |
=================== |
855 |
12. Other Languages |
856 |
=================== |
857 |
|
858 |
The Gentoo Weekly Newsletter is also available in the following languages: |
859 |
|
860 |
* Dutch[95] |
861 |
* English[96] |
862 |
* German[97] |
863 |
* French[98] |
864 |
* Japanese[99] |
865 |
* Italian[100] |
866 |
* Portuguese (Brazil)[101] |
867 |
* Portuguese (Portugal)[102] |
868 |
* Spanish[103] |
869 |
|
870 |
95. http://www.gentoo.org/news/be/gwn/gwn.xml |
871 |
96. http://www.gentoo.org/news/en/gwn/gwn.xml |
872 |
97. http://www.gentoo.org/news/de/gwn/gwn.xml |
873 |
98. http://www.gentoo.org/news/fr/gwn/gwn.xml |
874 |
99. http://www.gentoo.org/news/ja/gwn/gwn.xml |
875 |
100. http://www.gentoo.org/news/it/gwn/gwn.xml |
876 |
101. http://www.gentoo.org/news/br/gwn/gwn.xml |
877 |
102. http://www.gentoo.org/news/pt/gwn/gwn.xml |
878 |
103. http://www.gentoo.org/news/es/gwn/gwn.xml |
879 |
|
880 |
|
881 |
Kurt Lieber <klieber@g.o> - Editor |
882 |
AJ Armstrong <aja@×××××××××××××.com> - Contributor |
883 |
Brice Burgess <nesta@×××××××.net> - Contributor |
884 |
Yuji Carlos Kosugi <carlos@g.o> - Contributor |
885 |
Rafael Cordones Marcos <rcm@×××××××.net> - Contributor |
886 |
David Narayan <david@×××××××.net> - Contributor |
887 |
Ulrich Plate <plate@g.o> - Contributor |
888 |
Peter Sharp <mail@××××××××××××××.net> - Contributor |
889 |
Kim Tingkaer <kim@×××××××.dk> - Contributor |
890 |
Mathy Vanvoorden <matje@×××××××.be> - Dutch Translation |
891 |
Tom Van Laerhoven <tom.vanlaerhoven@××××××.be> - Dutch Translation |
892 |
Peter Dijkstra <phj.dijkstra@××××.nl> - Dutch Translation |
893 |
Bernard Bernieke <bernieke@××××××××.com> - Dutch Translation |
894 |
Vincent Verleye <zu@×××××××.be> - Dutch Translation |
895 |
Jochen Maes <linux@××××.be> - Dutch Translation |
896 |
Ben De Groot <yngwin@××××××.nl> - Dutch Translation |
897 |
Jelmer Jaarsma <j.jaarsma@××××××××××××××××××.nl> - Dutch Translation |
898 |
Nicolas Ledez <nicolas.ledez@××××.fr> - French Translation |
899 |
Guillaume Plessis <gui@×××××××××.com> - French Translation |
900 |
John Berry <anfini@××××.fr> - French Translation |
901 |
Martin Prieto <riverdale@×××××××××.org> - French Translation |
902 |
Michael Kohl <citizen428@g.o> - German Translation |
903 |
Steffen Lassahn <madeagle@g.o> - German Translation |
904 |
Matthias F. Brandstetter <haim@g.o> - German Translation |
905 |
Thomas Raschbacher <lordvan@g.o> - German Translation |
906 |
Marco Mascherpa <mush@××××××.net> - Italian Translation |
907 |
Claudio Merloni <paper@×××××××.it> - Italian Translation |
908 |
Daniel Ketel <kage-chan@g.o> - Japanese Translation |
909 |
Yoshiaki Hagihara <hagi@×××.com> - Japanese Translation |
910 |
Andy Hunne <andy@×××××××××.com> - Japanese Translation |
911 |
Yuji Carlos Kosugi <carlos@g.o> - Japanese Translation |
912 |
Yasunori Fukudome <yasunori@××××××××××××××××.uk> - Japanese Translation |
913 |
Ventura Barbeiro <venturasbarbeiro@××××××.br> - Portuguese (Brazil) |
914 |
Translation |
915 |
Bruno Ferreira <blueroom@××××××××××××.net> - Portuguese (Portugal) |
916 |
Translation |
917 |
Gustavo Felisberto <gustavo@××××××××××.net> - Portuguese (Portugal) |
918 |
Translation |
919 |
Ricardo Jorge Louro <rjlouro@×××××××.org> - Portuguese (Portugal) |
920 |
Translation |
921 |
Lanark <lanark@××××××××××.ar> - Spanish Translation |
922 |
Rafael Cordones Marcos <rcm@×××××××.net> - Spanish Translation |
923 |
Julio Castillo <julio@×××××××××××××.com> - Spanish Translation |
924 |
Sergio Gómez <s3r@××××××××××××.ar> - Spanish Translation |
925 |
Pablo Pita Leira <pablo.leira@×××××××××.com> - Spanish Translation |
926 |
Carlos Castillo <carlos@×××××××××××××.com> - Spanish Translation |
927 |
Tirant <tirant@×××××.net> - Spanish Translation |
928 |
Jaime Freire <jfreire@××.com> - Spanish Translation |
929 |
Lucas Sallovitz <krusty_ar@×××××.com> - Spanish Translation |