Debian Weekly News - January 4th, 2005

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Debian Weekly News
http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/2005/01/
Debian Weekly News - January 4th, 2005
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Welcome to this year's 1st issue of DWN, the weekly newsletter for the
Debian community. Martin Michlmayr [1]announced that Jörg Jaspert has
been appointed as an additional Debian account manager. The Debian
project [2]announced another update of their [3]stable release. Joey
Hess [4]published a list of security problems fixed in unstable but
pending in sarge.

 1. http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2004/12/msg00277.html
 2. http://www.debian.org/News/2005/20050101
 3. http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/
 4. http://lists.debian.org/debian-release/2004/12/msg00198.html

New Arch and Subversion Server. Wichert Akkerman [5]announced the
move of all arch and subversion repositories to a new server. The
switch to the fsfs backend for subversion will fix problems resulting
from dead locks, stalled processes and incorrect access lists. He
later [6]reported that the move was successful.

 5. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2004/12/msg00009.html
 6. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2004/12/msg00011.html

Meaning of GNU/Linux. Ed White [7]pointed out that Debian's
interpretation of the term GNU/Linux is wrong according to a recent
[8]interview with Richard Stallman where he explained that the term
GNU/Linux means that the system started out as GNU, with Linux added.
Peter Karlsson [9]explained that it's just a matter of
interpretation. Either one starts with the Linux kernel and adds the
GNU tools, then the wording on the Debian web pages is correct, or one
starts with the GNU tools and adds a kernel, for instance Linux.

 7. http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2004/12/msg00269.html
 8. http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2004/12/22/rms_interview.html
 9. http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2004/12/msg00272.html

Mozilla Trademark Restrictions. Alexander Sack [10]noted that the
Debian project can be forced to change the name of all Mozilla related
packages because of the Mozilla [11]trademark restrictions. He also
asked if this naming restrictions would make the packages non-free.
Several suggestions for new names included Freebird, Freefox and
Freezilla with or without the distribution name. Don Armstrong
[12]suggested a distribution-neutral naming scheme for non-official
Mozilla packages.

 10. http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2004/12/msg00328.html
 11. http://www.mozilla.org/foundation/trademarks/policy.html
 12. http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2004/12/msg00331.html

Debian Eyecatcher Project started. Alexander Schmehl [13]announced
that he has started the [14]Eyecatcher project. The idea is to create
some kind of informative and funny presentation about Debian which
could be run in a loop on fairs, when the booth personnel have nothing
else to show or while it is busy with other visitors. Help on this
project would be appreciated.

 13. http://lists.debian.org/debian-doc/2005/01/msg00029.html
 14. http://alioth.debian.org/projects/eyecatcher/

On Packaging MPEG Encoders. The [15]question why lame couldn't be
packaged and distributed in Debian recently came up. Chris Cheney
[16]explained that it is patent-encumbered by a company enforcing its
patents. Florian Weimer [17]added that even while software cannot be
patented in Europe currently, it can infringe patent claims, which is
more relevant for Debian.

 15. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2004/12/msg02199.html
 16. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2004/12/msg02201.html
 17. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2004/12/msg02219.html

Experimental Buildd Network? Frank Küster [18]wondered if packages in
experimental were autobuilt. Martin Michlmayr [19]pointed out that
Andreas Barth is running a buildd network for experimental. He
[20]added that versioned build-dependencies from experimental are not
[21]supported.

 18. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2004/12/msg02271.html
 19. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2004/12/msg02272.html
 20. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2004/12/msg02275.html
 21. http://people.debian.org/~aba/buildd/exp-dep.html

ITP Reminder Mails. Justin Pryzby [22]wondered if he should send
reminder mails to those who opened an intent-to-package (ITP) bug
report and where the bug report hasn't seen any traffic in the last
four months. This effort was mostly appreciated last time and the
[23]results sent to the QA group.

 22. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2004/12/msg02310.html
 23. http://lists.debian.org/debian-qa/2004/04/msg00094.html

Origin of the Debian Swirl Logo. Martin F. Krafft [24]wondered where
the current Debian [25]logo is from. Florian Ernst [26]directed
readers to the [27]readme file in the webserver source that explains
that Raul M. Silva has created the logo. The Debian project has
[28]announced the new logo back in August 1999 as a result of a GIMP
contest and a subsequent vote among Debian developers.

 24. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2004/12/msg02328.html
 25. http://www.debian.org/logos/
 26. http://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2004/12/msg03402.html
 27. http://cvs.debian.org/webwml/english/logos/README?cvsroot=webwml&rev=HEAD
 28. http://www.debian.org/News/1999/19990826

Detecting uninstalled Packages. Martin Michlmayr [29]asked for a list
of packages that are not installed by anybody or only by a few people.
Frank Lichtenheld [30]revealed that this refers to about 230 (or 600
for less than two installations) packages according to the
[31]popularity contest.

 29. http://lists.debian.org/debian-qa/2004/12/msg00043.html
 30. http://lists.debian.org/debian-qa/2004/12/msg00044.html
 31. http://popcon.debian.org/

Using the Term Debian. Jürgen Lüters [32]wondered if he may use the
term Debian as part of "Debian extended Xterminal" or whether there
are legal obstacles even though the scripts will be released under the
[33]GNU GPL as well. Brian Thomas Sniffen [34]pointed out that the
[35]trademark could indeed prevent him from using the term.

 32. http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2004/12/msg00312.html
 33. http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
 34. http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2004/12/msg00325.html
 35. http://www.debian.org/News/1998/19980306a

Bug Squashing Party next Weekend. Frank Lichtenheld [36]announced a
bug squashing party to take place from January 7th to 9th in
#debian-bugs on irc.debian.org. He wrote that over the last weeks the
release-critical bug count has increased again. There are probably
several reasons this has happened (e.g. many people on vacation,
stalls in the testing migration due to gcc and perl problems etc.).

 36. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2005/01/msg00000.html

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

 * DSA 619: [37]xpdf -- Arbitrary code execution.
 * DSA 620: [38]perl -- Several vulnerabilities.
 * DSA 621: [39]cupsys -- Arbitrary code execution.
 * DSA 622: [40]htmlheadline -- Insecure temporary files.
 * DSA 623: [41]nasm -- Arbitrary code execution.

 37. http://www.debian.org/security/2004/dsa-619
 38. http://www.debian.org/security/2004/dsa-620
 39. http://www.debian.org/security/2004/dsa-621
 40. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-622
 41. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-623

Orphaned Packages. 29 packages were orphaned this week and require a
new maintainer. This makes a total of 256 orphaned packages. Many
thanks to the previous maintainers who contributed to the Free
Software community. Please see the [42]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.

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

 * [43]audio-cd -- Library to handle CDDB and low-level cd io calls.
   ([44]Bug#288209)
 * [45]cantus -- GNOME tool to mass-rename/tag mp3 and ogg files.
   ([46]Bug#287985)
 * [47]cantus3 -- GNOME tool to mass-rename/tag mp3 and ogg files.
   ([48]Bug#287986)
 * [49]check -- Unit test framework for C. ([50]Bug#288213)
 * [51]curator -- Turn directories of images into static web content.
   ([52]Bug#288256)
 * [53]disc-cover -- Generates CD-disc covers for jewel-cases.
   ([54]Bug#288210)
 * [55]eco5000 -- Orga Eco 5000 smartcard reader PCSC and CT-API
   driver. ([56]Bug#288228)
 * [57]fvwm-shell -- Fvwm2 based desktop environment.
   ([58]Bug#288333)
 * [59]gcombust -- GTK+ based CD mastering and burning program.
   ([60]Bug#288267)
 * [61]gkdial -- PPP dial-up configuration and dialing tool.
   ([62]Bug#287992)
 * [63]gnupod-tools -- Collection of Perl-scripts for iPod.
   ([64]Bug#287987)
 * [65]gsmartcard -- Smart card reading, writing and managing program
   for Gnome. ([66]Bug#288229)
 * [67]imagefs -- Creates a virtual FAT12 file system in a single
   file. ([68]Bug#288334)
 * [69]imaze -- Multiplayer network maze game like MidiMaze.
   ([70]Bug#288335)
 * [71]jadetex -- Generator of printable output from SGML or XML
   using Jade. ([72]Bug#288204)
 * [73]ldp-docbook-stylesheets -- Linux Documentation Project's XSL
   stylesheets. ([74]Bug#288330)
 * [75]libcrypto++ -- Crypto++ library. ([76]Bug#288433)
 * [77]libhttpfetcher -- Small library that downloads files via HTTP.
   ([78]Bug#288338)
 * [79]log4cpp -- C++ library for flexible logging. ([80]Bug#288336)
 * [81]log4cpp-doc -- C++ library for flexible logging
   (documentation). ([82]Bug#288337)
 * [83]rawrec -- Buffered raw audio recorder/player. ([84]Bug#288215)
 * [85]slbreflex -- Reflex 62/64 smartcard reader PCSC and CT-API
   driver. ([86]Bug#288230)
 * [87]smartcard -- Smartcard utility for Linux. ([88]Bug#288231)
 * [89]sound-recorder -- Direct-to-disk recording and play-back
   programs. ([90]Bug#288211)
 * [91]soundgrab -- Play a raw audio file and interactively select
   and save pieces. ([92]Bug#288216)
 * [93]strategoxt -- Language transformation tools for programmers.
   ([94]Bug#288007)
 * [95]towitoko -- Towitoko smartcard reader PCSC and CT-API driver.
   ([96]Bug#288232)
 * [97]vcg -- A Visualization Tool for compiler graphs.
   ([98]Bug#288379)
 * [99]wav2cdr -- Converts wav files into CD-ROM audio file format.
   ([100]Bug#288212)

 43. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/libaudio-cd-perl
 44. http://bugs.debian.org/288209
 45. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/cantus
 46. http://bugs.debian.org/287985
 47. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/cantus3
 48. http://bugs.debian.org/287986
 49. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/check
 50. http://bugs.debian.org/288213
 51. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/curator
 52. http://bugs.debian.org/288256
 53. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/disc-cover
 54. http://bugs.debian.org/288210
 55. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/libs/libcteco50000
 56. http://bugs.debian.org/288228
 57. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/fvwm-shell
 58. http://bugs.debian.org/288333
 59. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/otherosfs/gcombust
 60. http://bugs.debian.org/288267
 61. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/admin/gkdial
 62. http://bugs.debian.org/287992
 63. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/gnupod-tools
 64. http://bugs.debian.org/287987
 65. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/gnome/gsmartcard
 66. http://bugs.debian.org/288229
 67. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/otherosfs/imagefs
 68. http://bugs.debian.org/288334
 69. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/games/imaze-xaw
 70. http://bugs.debian.org/288335
 71. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/tex/jadetex
 72. http://bugs.debian.org/288204
 73. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/text/ldp-docbook-dsssl
 74. http://bugs.debian.org/288330
 75. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/libs/libcrypto++5.2
 76. http://bugs.debian.org/288433
 77. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/libs/libhttpfetcher1
 78. http://bugs.debian.org/288338
 79. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/libs/liblog4cpp1c102
 80. http://bugs.debian.org/288336
 81. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/doc/liblog4cpp-doc
 82. http://bugs.debian.org/288337
 83. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/rawrec
 84. http://bugs.debian.org/288215
 85. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/libs/libslbreflex2
 86. http://bugs.debian.org/288230
 87. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/smartcard
 88. http://bugs.debian.org/288231
 89. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/sound-recorder
 90. http://bugs.debian.org/288211
 91. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/soundgrab
 92. http://bugs.debian.org/288216
 93. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/devel/xt-strategoxt
 94. http://bugs.debian.org/288007
 95. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/libs/libtowitoko2
 96. http://bugs.debian.org/288232
 97. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/graphics/vcg
 98. http://bugs.debian.org/288379
 99. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/wav2cdr
 100. http://bugs.debian.org/288212

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 [101]contributing
page to find out how to help. We're looking forward to receiving your
mail at [102]dwn@debian.org.

 101. http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/contributing
 102. mailto:dwn@debian.org


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