Debian Weekly News - March 14th, 2006

Welcome to this year's 11th issue of DWN, the weekly newsletter for
the Debian community. Raphaël Hertzog [1]started to write down the
design of a [2]collaborative maintenance infrastructure and created a
mailing-list for further discussions.

 1. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2006/01/msg01826.html
 2. http://wiki.debian.org/CollaborativeMaintenance

Debian QA Meeting in Extremadura. Martin Michlmayr [3]called for
participation at the Debian Quality Assurance [4]meeting in December
in Extremadura, Spain. It is intended to help coordinate the QA work
in Debian and is limited to 20 people. The Region of Extremadura will
kindly cover travel expenses for attendants from Europe.

 3. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2006/03/msg00006.html
 4. http://wiki.debian.org/DebianQAExtremadura2006

Debian Backup Server. Joey Schulze [5]announced a dedicated backup
server for important Debian resources excluding the buildd systems.
The backup of a resource consists of 10 to 100 versions. Since a
history of changes is maintained on the backup machine Debian
administration can roll back a resource to an older version and also
extract differences between past versions on demand.

 5. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2006/03/msg00005.html

Updates from the Debian Kernel Team. Bastian Blank [6]reported about
the work of the Debian kernel team. The most visible change is the
move from kernel-image- packages to linux-image- packages. There has
also been excitement about a new x86 SMP patch, which would allow a
reduction in the current number of flavours. They are also working on
adding VServer, Xen and UML flavours to linux-2.6.

 6. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2006/03/msg00007.html

Martin 'Joey' Schulze steps down as Stable Release Manager. After
continuous discrepancies with the ftpmasters, Martin 'Joey' Schulze
has now [7]resigned from his position as Stable Release Manager. He
has held that position since 2001 and it will now be [8]taken over by
Andreas Barth and Martin Zobel-Helas.

 7. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2006/03/msg00008.html
 8. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2006/03/msg00009.html

Results of the General Resolution about the GFDL. Manoj Srivastava
[9]announced that the Debian project has decided that works licensed
under the [10]GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) without
unmodifiable sections are free. 369 Debian developers took part in
this [11]general resolution, 428 ballots have been received in total.

 9. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2006/03/msg00012.html
 10. http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html
 11. http://www.debian.org/vote/2006/vote_001

The Role of the Project Leader. Martin Michlmayr [12]reflected on the
role of the [13]leader of the Debian project (DPL). He basically
states that the DPL can't solve all problems and that an often called
strong leader won't be followed either. Instead of asking the DPL what
they'll do to solve the problems he suggested the developers to ask
themselves what they could do to improve the situation.

 12. http://www.cyrius.com/journal/debian/being-dpl
 13. http://www.debian.org/devel/leader

Influencing Haskell Development. Isaac Jones [14]asked the Debian
community to look at Haskell98 and some of the "research"
[15]extensions and give upstream developers some input about what
would make Haskell more attractive. He is trying to make [16]Haskell
more suitable for practical applications and reported on efforts to
develop CPAN-like and apt-get-like systems for it.

 14. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2006/01/msg01899.html
 15. http://www.haskell.org/ghc/docs/latest/html/users_guide/ghc-language-features.html
 16. http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/haskell-prime

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

 * DSA 988: [17]squirrelmail -- Several vulnerabilities.
 * DSA 989: [18]zoph -- SQL injection.
 * DSA 990: [19]bluez-hcidump -- Denial of service.
 * DSA 991: [20]zoo -- Arbitrary code execution.
 * DSA 992: [21]ffmpeg -- Arbitrary code execution.
 * DSA 993: [22]gnupg -- Broken signature check.
 * DSA 994: [23]freeciv -- Denial of service.
 * DSA 995: [24]metamail -- Arbitrary code execution.
 * DSA 996: [25]libcrypt-cbc-perl -- Cryptographic weakness.
 * DSA 997: [26]bomberclone -- Arbitrary code execution.
 * DSA 998: [27]libextractor -- Several vulnerabilities.
 * DSA 999: [28]lurker -- Several vulnerabilities.
 * DSA 1000: [29]libapreq2-perl -- Denial of service.
 * DSA 1001: [30]crossfire -- Arbitrary code execution.

 17. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-988
 18. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-989
 19. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-990
 20. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-991
 21. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-992
 22. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-993
 23. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-994
 24. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-995
 25. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-996
 26. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-997
 27. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-998
 28. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-999
 29. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-1000
 30. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-1001

New or Noteworthy Packages. The following packages were added to the
unstable Debian archive [31]recently or contain important updates.

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

 * [32]dspam -- Scalable, fast and statistical anti-spam filter.
 * [33]exfalso -- Audio tag editor for GTK+.
 * [34]fullquottel -- Tool for recognising mails/postings in
   tofu/top-posting style.
 * [35]gnudoq -- Open Source, graphical Su Doku generator and solver
   with printer support.
 * [36]gtimelog -- Minimal timelogging system.
 * [37]network-manager -- Network management framework daemon.
 * [38]nwutil -- Netwinder hardware utilities.
 * [39]pyroman -- Firewall configuration tool for complex networks.
 * [40]selinux-basics -- SELinux basic support.
 * [41]ssft -- Shell Scripts Frontend Tool.
 * [42]stroq -- Polarium/Chokkan Hitofude clone.

 32. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/mail/dspam
 33. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/exfalso
 34. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/mail/fullquottel
 35. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/games/gnudoq
 36. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/gtimelog
 37. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/network-manager
 38. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/nwutil
 39. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/pyroman
 40. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/selinux-basics
 41. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/ssft
 42. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/games/stroq

Orphaned Packages. 4 packages were orphaned this week and require a
new maintainer. This makes a total of 234 orphaned packages. Many
thanks to the previous maintainers who contributed to the Free
Software community. Please see the [43]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.

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

 * [44]unifont -- X11 dual-width GNU Unicode font. ([45]Bug#356594)
 * [46]visualboyadvance -- Full featured Game Boy Advance emulator.
   ([47]Bug#355777)
 * [48]wmdonkeymon -- Shows the status of edonkey's downloads in
   progress. ([49]Bug#356667)
 * [50]wmmisc -- Dock app that monitors your system. ([51]Bug#356588)

 44. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/unifont
 45. http://bugs.debian.org/356594
 46. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/games/visualboyadvance
 47. http://bugs.debian.org/355777
 48. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/wmdonkeymon
 49. http://bugs.debian.org/356667
 50. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/wmmisc
 51. http://bugs.debian.org/356588

Removed Packages. 27 packages have been [52]removed from the Debian
archive during the past week:

 52. http://ftp-master.debian.org/removals.txt

 * swt-motif -- Standard Widget Toolkit for Motif JAR library
   [53]Bug#316763: Request of maintainer, buggy and mostly unused
 * libkpathsea-perl -- Perl interface to Kpathsea library and mktex*
   replacements
   [54]Bug#336478: Request of maintainer, outdated; better solutions
   exist
 * cpbk -- Mirroring utility for backing up your files
   [55]Bug#341724: Request of maintainer, dead upstream, alternatives
   exist: unison
 * kbanking -- Development files for KDE bindings of AqBanking
   [56]Bug#351033: Request of maintainer, merged into libaqbanking
 * db2 -- Berkeley database routines
   [57]Bug#351179: Request of QA, RC-buggy, superseded by db4.3
 * ddrmat -- Linux kernel driver for using Playstation dancing mats
   (source)
   [58]Bug#351481: Request of maintainer, obsoleted by linux-2.6,
   hardware unavailability
 * pymodplug -- ModPlug mod-like music shared libraries [Python
   bindings]
   [59]Bug#351483: Request of maintainer, dead upstream, mostly
   unused
 * pyflac -- Free Lossless Audio Codec [Python bindings]
   [60]Bug#351484: Request of maintainer, obsolete
 * mol-modules-2.6.12 -- Mac-on-Linux emulator - kernel modules
   [61]Bug#351899: Request of maintainer, out-of-date
 * tclxml -- Tcl library for XML parsing
   [62]Bug#352330: Request of QA, has never been part of a stable
   release, orphaned, RC bugs, functionality available elsewhere
 * libapache-mod-security -- Tighten web applications security for
   Apache 1.x
   [63]Bug#352344: Request of maintainer, undistributable for legal
   reasons
 * rhdb-explain -- Tool for visualising the output of the PostgreSQL
   EXPLAIN command
   [64]Bug#352422: Request of maintainer, obsolete, functionality
   superseded by pgadmin3
 * pointless -- Presentation tool based on OpenGL
   [65]Bug#352558: Request of maintainer, dead upstream, few users
 * pcmcia-modules-2.4.27-i386 -- PCMCIA modules for Linux (kernel
   2.4.27-2-386)
   [66]Bug#352843: Request of maintainer, obsolete, FTBFS
 * openmosixview -- Graphical tool to manage an openmosix cluster
   [67]Bug#353416: Request of maintainer, depends on removed
   openmosix
 * openh323gk -- Transitional package
   [68]Bug#353437: Request of maintainer, obsolete transitional
   package for gnugk
 * ean13 -- Create an EAN-13 or UPC barcode in .xbm format
   [69]Bug#353521: Request of QA, under-maintained, functionality
   superseded by barcode, kbarcode
 * hsftp -- SSH client with look and feel of an FTP client
   [70]Bug#353541: Request of maintainer, insecure, alternatives
   exist
 * saoimage -- Utility for displaying and processing astronomical
   images
   [71]Bug#354209: Request of maintainer, superseded by saods9
 * matrox-tvout -- Configure a Matrox G550 for NTSC TV output
   [72]Bug#354616: Request of maintainer, dead upstream
 * imageviewer -- Image Viewer for GNUstep
   [73]Bug#354785: Request of maintainer, superseded by preview.app;
   FTBFS
 * gnustep-antlr -- Objective-C Classes Needed for ANTLR
   Compatibility
   [74]Bug#354788: Request of maintainer, orphaned, broken
 * gnustep-gd -- Objective-C Interface to the GD Graphics Library
   [75]Bug#354789: Request of maintainer, orphaned, broken
 * simpleui.bundle -- Theme bundle for GNUstep
   [76]Bug#354791: Request of maintainer, orphaned, broken,
   superseded by camaleon
 * ircd -- IRC Server daemon - dummy package
   [77]Bug#355270: Request of QA, obsolete dummy package, superseded
   by ircd-ircu
 * bluez-sdp -- Dummy package for BlueZ SDP library.
   [78]Bug#355322: Request of maintainer, obsolete dummy package
 * po-debiandoc -- Tools for helping translation of DebianDoc-SGML
   documents
   [79]Bug#356198: Request of maintainer, dead upstream, superseded
   by po4a

 53. http://bugs.debian.org/316763
 54. http://bugs.debian.org/336478
 55. http://bugs.debian.org/341724
 56. http://bugs.debian.org/351033
 57. http://bugs.debian.org/351179
 58. http://bugs.debian.org/351481
 59. http://bugs.debian.org/351483
 60. http://bugs.debian.org/351484
 61. http://bugs.debian.org/351899
 62. http://bugs.debian.org/352330
 63. http://bugs.debian.org/352344
 64. http://bugs.debian.org/352422
 65. http://bugs.debian.org/352558
 66. http://bugs.debian.org/352843
 67. http://bugs.debian.org/353416
 68. http://bugs.debian.org/353437
 69. http://bugs.debian.org/353521
 70. http://bugs.debian.org/353541
 71. http://bugs.debian.org/354209
 72. http://bugs.debian.org/354616
 73. http://bugs.debian.org/354785
 74. http://bugs.debian.org/354788
 75. http://bugs.debian.org/354789
 76. http://bugs.debian.org/354791
 77. http://bugs.debian.org/355270
 78. http://bugs.debian.org/355322
 79. http://bugs.debian.org/356198

DWN needs Contributors. If you want to continue reading DWN, please
help produce it. We need volunteer writers who watch the Debian
community and report about what is going on, preferably with
ready-to-add items. Please see the [80]contributing page to find out
how to help. We're looking forward to receiving your mail at
[81]dwn@debian.org.

 80. http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/contributing
 81. mailto:dwn@debian.org