Debian Weekly News - February 28th, 2006

Welcome to this year's 9th issue of DWN, the weekly newsletter for the
Debian community. Lars Wirzenius [1]de-nominated himself from the
upcoming project leader election due to aspects and parts of the
project that he can't emotionally deal with. In a former [2]article
he already investigated the role of the project leader and came to the
conclusion that the important thing is to inspire and not to force.

 1. http://lists.debian.org/debian-vote/2006/02/msg00637.html
 2. http://liw.iki.fi/liw/log/2006-02.html#20060206b

Call for Votes for the GFDL Position Statement. Manoj Srivastava
[3]called for [4]votes on a General Resolution to address the Debian
project's position on the [5]GNU Free Documentation License. The
result of this vote will affect the way the Debian projects handles
documentation released under this particular license. The vote
distinguishes between works with and without invariant sections.

 3. http://lists.debian.org/debian-vote/2006/02/msg00662.html
 4. http://www.debian.org/vote/2006/vote_001
 5. http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html

Implementing the Mirror Split. Anthony Towns [6]announced that
http://ftp.debian.org will soon stop including a number of architectures for
etch (testing) and sid (unstable). Since the total size of the archive
is currently 170 GB official mirrors don't have to include the entire
archive anymore. A special rsync module allows mirror admins to mirror
the entire archive if they like to, though.

 6. http://lists.debian.org/debian-mirrors-announce/2006/02/msg00000.html

Debian Project Leader Election 2006. Manoj Srivastava [7]announced
the candidates for this year's project leader [8]election: Jeroen van
Wolffelaar, Ari Pollak, Steve McIntyre, Anthony Towns, Andreas
Schuldei, Jonathan Walther, and Bill Allombert. The platforms for
these candidates will be published as soon as they are available. Don
Armstrong and Thaddeus H. Black have agreed to be debate chairs.

 7. http://lists.debian.org/debian-vote/2006/02/msg00665.html
 8. http://www.debian.org/vote/2006/vote_002

Inclusion of the AMD64 Architecture. Anthony Towns [9]noted that
various changes have been made to create Packages files in unstable,
experimental and testing to support future amd64 uploads. In a couple
of weeks when the mirror split transition is over, the [10]amd64
autobuilder will get all packages rebuilt.

 9. http://lists.debian.org/debian-amd64/2006/02/msg00382.html
 10. http://www.debian.org/ports/amd64/

Weekly Polls and Social Pressure. Raphaël Hertzog [11]proposed to run
weekly polls on various issues, including social problems, which could
be used as a basis for listmasters. Those polls should give a pretty
good overview of the current opinion inside the project. Alberto
Gonzalez Iniesta [12]opposed this idea and MJ Ray [13]considered this
a bad idea that will lead to improper decisions.

 11. http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2006/02/msg00065.html
 12. http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2006/02/msg00066.html
 13. http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2006/02/msg00075.html

Non-Maintainer Upload Policy. Mike Hommey [14]wondered if it is still
good practice to notify the maintainer before doing a non-maintainer
upload. Eric Dorland [15]quoted Andreas Barth and confirmed that
developers are still required to notify the maintainer via the [16]bug
tracking system before uploading.

 14. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2006/01/msg01053.html
 15. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2006/01/msg01056.html
 16. http://www.debian.org/Bugs/

Essential Python Packages? Eric Cooper [17]noticed that
[18]python-minimal is installed as an essential package. Matthias
Klose [19]explained that this was done as preparation for a later
change in the package. Anthony Towns has [20]reverted this in the
meantime since it drags in most of the python distribution in Debian.

 17. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2006/01/msg01114.html
 18. http://packages.debian.org/python-minimal
 19. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2006/01/msg01182.html
 20. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2006/01/msg01119.html

Security Updates. You know the drill. Please make sure that you update
your systems if you have any of these packages installed.

 * DSA 980: [21]tutos -- Multiple vulnerabilities.
 * DSA 981: [22]bmv -- Arbitrary code execution.
 * DSA 982: [23]gpdf -- Several vulnerabilities.
 * DSA 983: [24]pdftohtml -- Several vulnerabilities.

 21. http://www.debian.org/security/2006/dsa-980
 22. http://www.debian.org/security/2006/dsa-981
 23. http://www.debian.org/security/2006/dsa-982
 24. http://www.debian.org/security/2006/dsa-983

New or Noteworthy Packages. The following packages were added to the
unstable Debian archive [25]recently or contain important updates.

 25. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/newpkg_main

 * [26]autopkgtest -- Automatic as-installed testing for Debian
   packages.
 * [27]banshee-daap -- Audio Management and Playback application
   (DAAP sharing plugin).
 * [28]bdf2psf -- Font converter to generate console fonts from BDF
   source fonts.
 * [29]c3270 -- Curses program for telnet sessions to IBM mainframes.
 * [30]checkgmail -- Alternative Gmail Notifier for Linux via Atom
   feeds.
 * [31]console-setup -- Setup the font and the keyboard on the
   console.
 * [32]dssi-utils -- Command-line utilities for sending commands to
   DSSI plugins.
 * [33]gdmap -- Tool to visualise disk-space.
 * [34]gphotofs -- Filesystem to mount digital cameras.
 * [35]gsynaptics -- Configuration tool for Synaptics touchpad driver
   of X server.
 * [36]gxineplugin -- Xine video player, GTK+/Gnome; launcher plugin
   for Mozilla.
 * [37]horde-sam -- Spam module for Horde Framework.
 * [38]inputlirc -- Zeroconf LIRC daemon using input event devices.
 * [39]itrans -- Converts romanised Indic texts to Latex, HTML &
   Postscript.
 * [40]kpicosim -- IDE and simulator for the Xilinx PicoBlaze-3.
 * [41]kvpnc -- VPN clients frontend for KDE.
 * [42]lastfm -- Audio player for last.fm personalised radio.
 * [43]metacity-common -- Shared files of lightweight GTK2 based
   Window Manager.
 * [44]moto4lin -- File manager and seem editor for Motorola phones
   (like C380/C650).
 * [45]mpc123 -- Command-line Musepack audio player.
 * [46]mpt-status -- Get RAID status out of mpt (and other) HW RAID
   controllers.
 * [47]nagios2 -- Host/service/network monitoring and management
   system.
 * [48]pfqueue -- Interactive console-based tool to control MTA
   queues.
 * [49]playground -- GNOME applet that lets you control basic
   functions of audio players.
 * [50]pr3287 -- IBM 3287 printer emulation for telnet sessions to
   IBM mainframes.
 * [51]s3270 -- Program for scripted telnet sessions to IBM
   mainframes.
 * [52]singularity -- Game where one becomes the singularity.
 * [53]stgit -- Provide quilt functionality on top of git.
 * [54]suspend2-userui -- User-space interfaces for software
   suspend2.
 * [55]sysconfig-hardware -- Hardware configuration.
 * [56]tioga -- Ruby library for scientific graphs.
 * [57]x3270 -- X11 program for telnet sessions to IBM mainframes.
 * [58]xcftools -- Command-line tools for extracting data for XCF
   files.
 * [59]xulrunner -- XUL + XPCOM application runner.
 * [60]yics -- Yahoo! Chess client for use with FICS interfaces.

 26. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/autopkgtest
 27. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/banshee-daap
 28. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/bdf2psf
 29. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/c3270
 30. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/mail/checkgmail
 31. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/console-setup
 32. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/libdevel/dssi-utils
 33. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/graphics/gdmap
 34. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/gphotofs
 35. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/gsynaptics
 36. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/graphics/gxineplugin
 37. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/horde-sam
 38. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/inputlirc
 39. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/text/itrans
 40. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/kde/kpicosim
 41. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/kde/kvpnc
 42. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/lastfm
 43. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/misc/metacity-common
 44. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/comm/moto4lin
 45. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/mpc123
 46. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/mpt-status
 47. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/nagios2
 48. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/mail/pfqueue
 49. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/gnome/playground
 50. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/pr3287
 51. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/s3270
 52. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/games/singularity
 53. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/stgit
 54. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/misc/suspend2-userui
 55. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/sysconfig-hardware
 56. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/graphics/tioga
 57. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/x3270
 58. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/graphics/xcftools
 59. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/xulrunner
 60. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/games/yics

Orphaned Packages. 26 packages were orphaned this week and require a
new maintainer. This makes a total of 239 orphaned packages. Many
thanks to the previous maintainers who contributed to the Free
Software community. Please see the [61]WNPP pages for the full list,
and please add a note to the bug report and retitle it to ITA: if you
plan to take over a package.

 61. http://www.debian.org/devel/wnpp/

 * [62]c-sig -- Signature tool for GNU Emacs. ([63]Bug#353621)
 * [64]edb -- Database program for GNU Emacs. ([65]Bug#353629)
 * [66]elisp-manual-ja -- Japanese version of Emacs Lisp Reference
   Manual. ([67]Bug#353625)
 * [68]emacs-lisp-intro-ja -- Japanese version of "Programming in
   Emacs Lisp: An Introduction". ([69]Bug#353628)
 * [70]emacs-manual-ja -- Japanese version of the GNU Emacs Manual.
   ([71]Bug#353624)
 * [72]ftpmirror -- Mirroring directory hierarchy with http://FTP.
   ([73]Bug#353635)
 * [74]gnome-ppp -- Modem Internet connection tool for GNOME.
   ([75]Bug#353397)
 * [76]goobox -- CD player and ripper for GNOME. ([77]Bug#353398)
 * [78]libsufary-ruby -- SUFARY module for Ruby 1.6. ([79]Bug#353632)
 * [80]libxml-sablot-perl -- Encapsulation of the Sablotron XSL
   processor. ([81]Bug#354500)
 * [82]manued-el -- Minor mode for manued proofreading method.
   ([83]Bug#353620)
 * [84]mimedecode -- Decodes transfer encoded text type mime
   messages. ([85]Bug#354177)
 * [86]mrt -- Multi-threaded Routing Toolkit (BGP4+/BGP/RIPng/RIP2).
   ([87]Bug#354497)
 * [88]psys -- P-system emulation libraries for Chipmunk tools.
   ([89]Bug#354496)
 * [90]rig -- Random identity generator. ([91]Bug#353394)
 * [92]skk -- SKK Dictionary server. ([93]Bug#353627)
 * [94]skktools -- SKK dictionary maintenance tools.
   ([95]Bug#353633)
 * [96]spim -- MIPS R2000/R3000 emulator. ([97]Bug#354501)
 * [98]src2tex -- Converter from source program files to TeX format
   files. ([99]Bug#353619)
 * [100]sufary -- Perl module for SUFARY. ([101]Bug#353626)
 * [102]swingwt -- Swing/AWT API. ([103]Bug#354632)
 * [104]trr19 -- Type training software on GNU Emacs.
   ([105]Bug#353623)
 * [106]wap-wml-tools -- Wireless Markup Language development and
   test tools. ([107]Bug#354502)
 * [108]windows-el -- Window manager for GNU Emacs. ([109]Bug#353634)
 * [110]xbatt -- Display battery status. ([111]Bug#353622)
 * [112]xevil -- Violent side-scrolling game for X. ([113]Bug#353389)

 62. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/mail/c-sig
 63. http://bugs.debian.org/353621
 64. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/misc/edb
 65. http://bugs.debian.org/353629
 66. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/doc/elisp-manual-ja
 67. http://bugs.debian.org/353625
 68. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/doc/emacs-lisp-intro-ja
 69. http://bugs.debian.org/353628
 70. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/doc/emacs-manual-ja
 71. http://bugs.debian.org/353624
 72. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/ftpmirror
 73. http://bugs.debian.org/353635
 74. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/gnome-ppp
 75. http://bugs.debian.org/353397
 76. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/gnome/goobox
 77. http://bugs.debian.org/353398
 78. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/interpreters/libsufary-ruby
 79. http://bugs.debian.org/353632
 80. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libxml-sablot-perl
 81. http://bugs.debian.org/354500
 82. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/text/manued-el
 83. http://bugs.debian.org/353620
 84. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/mail/mimedecode
 85. http://bugs.debian.org/354177
 86. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/mrt
 87. http://bugs.debian.org/354497
 88. http://packages.debian.org//unstable/libs/libpsys1
 89. http://bugs.debian.org/354496
 90. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/misc/rig
 91. http://bugs.debian.org/353394
 92. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/skk
 93. http://bugs.debian.org/353627
 94. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/skktools
 95. http://bugs.debian.org/353633
 96. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/electronics/spim
 97. http://bugs.debian.org/354501
 98. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/tex/src2tex
 99. http://bugs.debian.org/353619
 100. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/text/sufary
 101. http://bugs.debian.org/353626
 102. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/libs/libswingwt0
 103. http://bugs.debian.org/354632
 104. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/games/trr19
 105. http://bugs.debian.org/353623
 106. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/wap-wml-tools
 107. http://bugs.debian.org/354502
 108. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/windows-el
 109. http://bugs.debian.org/353634
 110. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/xbatt
 111. http://bugs.debian.org/353622
 112. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/games/xevil
 113. http://bugs.debian.org/353389

Want to continue reading DWN? Please help us create this newsletter.
We still need more volunteer writers who watch the Debian community
and report about what is going on. Please see the [114]contributing
page to find out how to help. We're looking forward to receiving your
mail at [115]dwn@debian.org.

 114. http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/contributing
 115. mailto:dwn@debian.org


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