Frugalware Linux Newsletter - Issue 43

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

"If you only do what you know you can do- you never do very much." Tom Krause

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:

• Look out! He's a maniac!
• Exceed (AKA CĂdric)
• Frugalware's artists are people too - Centuri0
• Getting To Know You - newsletter
• Focus On Package(s) - Smokin' Guns

Events

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

• Look out! He's a maniac!

  TranzeManiaC, the Swedish translator for Frugalware, took a break for a while due to "a rough period where life kept sidetracking me". We welcome him back and look forward to his work in updating the Swedish translations. He's also taken up work on several packages and we look forward to the results of his packaging work. As VMiklos highlighted in the previous issue, each current developer has a very high number of packages, so more developers are welcome.

• Exceed (AKA CĂdric)

  In the previous newsletter I mentioned that there had been some confusion caused by a developer and contributor whose first names were very similar - CĂdric and Cedrick. CĂdric very kindly decided to resolve this confusion by giving himself the nickname "Exceed". Thanks for resolving this confusion, CĂdric...oops, I mean Exceed.

Updates

Here is a selection of packages which have been updated since the previous newsletter:

Frugalware's artists are people too - Centuri0

I recently had the idea of interviewing the members of the Frugalware artwork team. This is a quite new team but they've already produced some great work. I can only draw stick people so I'm impressed both those who, like the artwork team, have artistic talent. Their role is to make Fruagalware look good and this is not quite as easy as it you might think. I hope you enjoy this series of interviews.

What's your name?

Antoine Ch. I'm 22, and I'm a student.

What's your IRC/forum nickname?

Centuri0

In what country do you live?

France (Lyon7)

In what country were you born?

France (Paris)

Have you always been artistic?

I've always loved writing (fiction), and have played the saxophone since I was 10, but never did "graphical" stuff.

Do you create artwork in other forms - sculpture, painting etc?

Absolutely not.

What operating system(s) do you use when creating artwork?

Frugalware of course! 1.0 Anacreon, stable.

What software do you use to create artwork?

I use the .xcf format of the GIMP, Inkscape a little, and nview for resizing. Free stuff.

Why have you created artwork for Frugalware?

When I started using Gnu/Linux, I found that it was easily customizable and I loved that aspect. So I wanted to make my Linux look like something I really like. And so, I started to create artwork for myself first, then for the Frugalware community, because it's better to share and more encouraging when people support you.

How do you think Frugalware's artwork might be improved?

Frugalware artwork should be completed, simply, so it will show the solidity of the distribution and reinforce its identity.

What's the view from your front door?

The view from my front door is the front door of my neighbour, so here's a view from my unique window.

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 those people who, like me, have short attention spans. :)

Frugalware newsletter

The newsletter's aim is, as its slogan says, "...to inform...to educate...to entertain". Hopefully the newsletter achieves these aims by telling you what's happening in the Frugalware world, while also educating and entertaining you. The newsletter consists of several sections, with some sections appearing only when appropriate content is available:

• Events - covers events which have happened in the Frugalware world
• Updates - lists updates to packages which are important, interesting, or both
• Frugalware interviews - provides a little personal information on Frugalware's developers, contributors, users
• Getting to know you - explains Frugalware bit by bit
• Tips and tricks - provides hints which may be of use to you
• Focus on packages - introduces to you packages of which you may not be aware
• Bug fixes - provides a statistical overview of Frugalware's development and bug fixing
• Security announcements - makes you aware of security fixes

I took over writing the newsletter from Alex Extreme, a developer who left the project to focus on other things, mainly his school studies. I continued his great work because I believed that a newsletter was a good way of communicating with Frugalware's users. I hope you enjoy reading the newsletter as much as I enjoy writing it. The newsletter only exists because of the great work of the Frugalware teams, their encouragement and support and I thank them for this.

Tips and tricks

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

• Where has all my disk space gone!?

  Sometimes you'll find that you have very little disk space free in a partition. Use the 'du' command to find out just where the disk space is being used. There are often surprises because you may not be aware of log files, or pacman-g2's cache for example. To get a summary of the disk space used in each folder in your home folder, you could use the command "du -h --max-depth=1".

This section relies on your contributions! If you 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)

Smokin' Guns

Smokin' Guns is a Western-themed game based on the Quake 3 game engine. If you've ever wanted to play the part of a cowboy, this is definitely a game for you. The graphics and gameplay are great and it's under heavy ongoing development. What can you loose? Get on your horse, ride into town and see if you have a talent for gun slinging!

Meld

Meld is "a visual diff and merge tool". I'm a visual person, meaning that I understand something better if I have it described in pictures as well as words. Meld shows a comparison of 2 or 3 files, highlights the differences between them, and allows you to edit each file, with the differences being updated dynamically. It's not clear whether or not it supports git, so this is a problem if you're using git, of course.

Bug fixes

The following table gives you a overview of activity on bugs and feature requests as at 6 April 2009. In each cell of the table is a link to a detailed list of the relevant bugs or feature requests.

Security announcements

Remember - According to the normal support arrangements for Frugalware, the release of 1.0 ("Anacreon") means that no further security or bug fixes will be released for Frugalware 0.9 ("Solaria") or earlier releases.

Here is a list of security issues which have been discovered and fixed in the 1.0 release since the previous newsletter.

None

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.