Frugalware Linux Newsletter - Issue 37

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

You've got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.
Irish Proverb

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:

• Happy New Year!
• When is a Linux distribution like a cake?
• Frugalware 1.0pre2 is almost here
• Frugalware's users are people too - emilpoe
• Focus On Package(s) - Frozen Bubble

Events

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

• Happy New Year!

  In case you hadn't noticed ( :P ) a new year has begun. We all hope that 2009 is as successful a year for Frugalware as was 2008.

• Do developers ever sleep? :)

  The rate at which packages are updated or added seems to get faster as times goes by. When Frugalware 0.9 was released I thought the developers might relax a little but instead it seems they began working harder. Do they ever sleep?

• Bouleetbil - Barista

  When reviewing the Frugalware changelog I noticed that bouleetbil was maintaining many Java-related packages. On IRC once day I asked him if he liked coffee, and jokingly suggested that he change his IRC nickname to "barista". He told me that he does drink a lot of coffee. I wonder though, is he using Java because he drinks coffee, or did he first use Java and then start drinking coffee? For those who don't already know, 'java' is an old American (USA) slang word for coffee.

• When is a Linux distribution like a cake?

  A Linux distribution is a very complex system. Each layer is dependent upon the one below it, with the Linux kernel being the base of the "cake". (Hmmm...cake... :P) Those who maintain packages are responsible for making sure that, as each piece is upgraded, everything else still works.

  I recently read a conversation between ryuo and crazy about the difficulty of upgrading X. For GUI applications, X is the next layer on top of the Linux kernel, so it's a critical piece. Although I didn't understand some of what was discussed, it was obvious that you have to be careful when upgrading it. After the conversation I had to take a few headache tablets and lie down for a while. :)

  Next time you boot Frugalware, give thanks to all those who keep it running.

• Bugs? Squash them!

  I subscribe to the Frugalware BTS (bug tracking system) mailing list and so see each bug report and request that is made. I have been surprised recently to see many reports and requests coming from people whose names I haven't seen before. It's great to know that there are many more people using Frugalware than those in the IRC channels and forums. Many thanks to all those who take the time to report the bugs they find. The development team appreciate these reports because as each bug is squashed, the quality of Frugalware is improved.

• More artwork!

  Artwork for a CD case and cover has been added to the collection of artwork for Frugalware 1.0's release. Well done to the artwork team.

• Frugalware 1.0pre2 is almost here

  This release is due on Tuesday, 13 January 2009. If you can spare the time and bandwidth, please download and test it.

Upgrades

Here's a selection of packages which have been upgraded since the previous newsletter:

Package	Upgrade Version	Comments
Python	2.6.1-2	Since there are many packages which depend upon Python, these have also been updated.
VirtualBox	2.1.0-1	There are several new features in this version, including experimental OpenGL support.
Kernel	2.6.27-4	A kernel upgrade requires that any packages which is dependent upon a particular kernel version must also be updated - e.g. NVidia drivers, VirtualBox.
Bitlbee Skype	0.7.0-1	Version bump.

Frugalware's users are people too - emilpoe

I'm excited to introduce a new feature of the newsletter - interviews with users of Frugalware. I thought that, with most Frugalware developer and contributor interviews complete, it would be interesting to know a little about Frugalware's users. I hope you enjoy the very first of this series...

What's your name?

Maurice

What's your IRC/Jabber/forum nickname?

emilpoe

In what country do you live?

France

In what country were you born?

France

What do you like the most about where you live (the town/city and country)?

The liberty of the mountains (The Alps).

What operating system(s) did you use before FW ?

Mandrake, openSUSE, Kubuntu, Kanotix (not Windows).

When did you start to use Linux (Frugalware)?

September 2005, Frugalware in December 2006 (I think).

What do you like most about Frugalware?

Its speed.

What would you like to see changed in Frugalware?

I wish KDE to be better maintained than other desktop environments, because it's not been the case for more than one year... A better installer (I heard it was on the way)

Do you do something active in order to spread the knowledge of Frugalware?

Yes. I manage a French-language wiki about Linux, Linuxpedia http://linuxpedia.fr

For what purpose(s) do you use Frugalware?

To do everything possible with a PC.

How did you find Frugalware - e.g. a friend/Google search?

[humour] I gave up against Devil505's harassment [/humour] and I have no regrets ;)

What do you do when you're not using Frugalware?

I live, I sleep, I work. More seriously I follow the evolution of gNewSense, my second Linux distribution. Less seriously I try to be informed about Kubuntu, openSUSE and Mandriva which are the three distributions I install on friends' computers.

Please show us a screenshot of your desktop(s)

What's the view from your front door? (please provide a photograph, with no people in view)

Getting To Know You

In this 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 make it easier to read. This should suit those people who, like me, have short attention spans. :)

"Are we there yet ?"

Anyone who has children has experienced the horror of starting on a journey and hearing this question just 1 minute after starting off. Frugalware is also on a journey and it's interesting to some to know just where we're headed and some of the sights we'll see a long the way. In Frugalware's Bug Tracking System (BTS) a roadmap for the next version is maintained. If you need to ask "Are we there yet?", simply look at the roadmap. You might also be interested to read the roadmap which is a schedule of each release, including the pre-releases and release candidates.

Tips and tricks

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

• Liberation (fonts) - submitted by 'phayz'

  I know we're all grateful to Microsoft for introducing to the world such wonderful fonts as Arial and Times New Roman. They're so wonderful that many web developers chose them as the default font(s) for their web sites. If you don't have these fonts installed on your PC - if you're running Linux for example - the web sites don't look as their designer intended. One option is to use font substitution so that another font is used when "Arial" is required. The problem is that the web site still won't look quite right. RedHat have done their best to fix this problem by releasing the Liberation Fonts. These are free fonts, licenced under the GPL, which are a replacement for Arial, Times News Roman and others. With these fonts installed, they'll be substituted for the Microsoft version and the web site will look closer to how the designer wanted it to look.

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)

Frozen Bubble

For those who haven't seen Frozen Bubble game it's a like upside down Tetris. You control a bubble gun, located at the bottom of the screen. At the top of the screen are some coloured bubbles. The aim of the game is to pop all the bubbles. You do this by shooting a coloured bubble so that it hits one or more bubbles of the same colour. If a bubble pops, any other bubbles of the same colour that are next to it also pop. If you pop all the bubbles on the screen you move to the next level. A platform at the top of the screen slowly pushes the bubbles down toward you and if they touch you, you become frozen. Frozen Bubble is very easy to play and is a favourite amongst children and adults. The artwork is excellent, thanks to the graphics artist "ayo". You can see more of his work here.

Bug fixes

The following table gives you a overview of activity on bugs and feature requests as at 10 January 2009. 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	221	210
Opened since the last newsletter	17	11
Closed since the previous newsletter	24	6

Security announcements

Remember - According to the normal support arrangements for Frugalware, the release of 0.9 ("Solaria") means that no further security or bug fixes will be released for Frugalware 0.8 ("Kalgan") or earlier releases.

Here is a list of security issues which have been discovered and fixed in the 0.9 release since the previous newsletter.

FSA	Package	FSA Description	Upgrade To
FSA563	horde-webmail	This is a minor security release that adds another check to the XSS filter for an Internet Explorer exploit and fixes unescaped output in the test.php scripts	horde-webmail-1.2.1-1solaria1
FSA562	wireshark	Two vulnerabilities have been reported in Wireshark, which can be exploited by malicious people to cause a DoS (Denial of Service)	wireshark-1.0.5-1solaria1
FSA561	drupal6	Some vulnerabilities have been reported in Drupal 6, which can be exploited by malicious people to conduct cross-site request forgery and cross-site scripting attacks	drupal6-6.7-1solaria1
FSA560	drupal	Some vulnerabilities have been reported in Drupal, which can be exploited by malicious people to conduct cross-site request forgery and cross-site scripting attacks	drupal-5.13-1solaria1
FSA559	wordpress	Jeremias Reith has reported a vulnerability in WordPress, which can be exploited by malicious people to conduct script insertion attacks	wordpress-2.6.5-1solaria1
FSA558	kernel	Some vulnerabilities have been reported in the Linux kernel, which potentially can be exploited by malicious people to compromise a vulnerable system	kernel-2.6.26-2solaria1

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.