Frugalware Linux Newsletter - Issue 30

...to inform...to educate...to entertain

"If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants." - Isaac Newton

Welcome

The newsletter's aim is to keep you up to date with what's happened recently in the world of the Linux distribution 'Frugalware'.

Features of this issue include:

• Frugalware 0.9 (Solaria) Release Candidate 1 is released
• Wallpaper competition is now closed
• Tips & tricks - "Where the heck is that file?"
• Focus On Package(s) - LinkChecker
• NEW - Getting To Know You

Events

Here's a selection of events which have occurred since the previous newsletter:

• Frugalware 0.9 (Solaria) Release Candidate 1 is released

  On 12 August 2008, Frugalware 0.9 RC1 was released. Highlights include: GNU C Library 2.8, Firefox 3.0.1 and OpenOffice.org 2.4.1. Refer to VMiklos' announcement for further details.

• Host 'genesis' gets more disk space

  Thanks to donations from Frugalware fans and Distrowatch, extra hard drives were recently added to 'genesis', which provides the following services: homepage, primary dns server, ftp - anon upload and primary distribution site, rsync, mailing lists.

• Wallpaper competition is now closed

  On 9 August 2008, the Frugalware wallpaper competition closed. Several entries were received and voting is currently underway. Once a decision is made - due on 16 August 2008 - the winner will be announced. The winning entry will be the default wallpaper for Frugalware release 0.9.

• Hermier comes to the rescue

  Everyone makes mistakes and I have made a few in the newsletter over the time I've been writing it. :( Thankfully others are checking what I do and correct my mistakes. Hermier has been very helpful in correcting mistakes in the past 2 newsletters so - many thanks to him for his help. I hope he'll have less work to do in the future. :)

Getting To Know You

In this new section of the newsletter, we get to know Frugalware Linux a little at a time. This is not meant to replace the official documentation but instead break it down into smaller pieces. This should help those people who, like me, have a short attention span and/or are easily distracted. "Oh look! Something shiny." :)

Frugalware's goals

As an introduction, let's look at the goals of the Frugalware Linux project. As described in the official documentation, Frugalware's aims are "simplicity, multimedia, design. We try to make Frugalware as simple as possible while not forgetting to keep it comfortable for the user." An early goal had been to get funding by winning the Eurovision Song Contest but this was quickly abandoned when in the first practice session in a karaoke bar, VMiklos' singing was heard. :)

Tips and tricks

Disclaimer - Be aware that the hints & tips provided here have NOT been tested and so come with no warranty.

• "Where the heck is that file?" - submitted by 'phayz'

  Having installed a package you sometimes need to know exactly where it's put a file. Many packages include an example config file. You're expected to copy this file to your home directory and modify it to suit your needs. The first step - finding the example file - can be made easier with pacman-g2. The command "pacman-g2 -Ql <package>" when entered in a console, outputs a list of all the files contained in the specified package, including the folder in which they're located. To make the output easier to read you can pipe it through a pager - e.g. less or more - or to a file and then view it in an editor.

This section relies on your contributions! If have some tips and tricks that you would like to be shown in the newsletter, please post them on the forums.

Focus On Package(s)

LinkChecker

As Bob Dylan once sang - "Oh the times, they are a changin'". If he'd been a geek, that may have been "Oh the web pages, they are a changin'". If you publish something to the web you should regularly check that the links you provide are valid and Linkchecker is a tool to do just that. It's a command-line utility which, given a URL and a few parameters, checks a web page and its links to confirm that they're valid. To ensure that you check your web site(s) regularly you could even schedule LinkChecker.

Bug fixes

The following table gives you a overview of activity on bugs and feature requests as at 14 August 2008. In each cell of the table is a link to a detailed list of the relevant bugs or feature requests.

Activity	Bugs	Feature Requests
Open	172	198
Opened since the last newsletter	11	0
Closed since the previous newsletter	10	10

Security announcements

Remember - According to the normal support arrangements for Frugalware, the release of 0.8 ("Kalgan") means that support for the previous release has ended. This means that no further security or bug fixes will be released for Frugalware 0.7 ("Sayshell").

There have been no security issues discovered and fixed in the 0.8 release since the previous newsletter.

About the newsletter

Author

The Frugalware newsletter is written and edited by Russell Dickenson (AKA phayz). Credit for the Frugalware distribution goes to the development team.

Translations

The newsletter is currently translated into French and Danish. The French translation is provided by the French Frugalware community. The Danish translation is provided by the Danish Frugalware community. Thanks to all those involved in providing and hosting these translations.

Release

To allow time for review and corrections, each newsletter is written ahead of its release date. Therefore it may not mention events which occurred in the few days before its release - e.g. security fixes. To be sure that you've got the very latest information on these topics, go to the appropriate page of the Frugalware web site.

Feedback

If you have feedback about the Frugalware newsletter - whether good or bad - please provide it via the forums. Your feedback is valuable because we want the newsletter to meet the needs of Frugalware's users.