Newsletter 5-30-04

Question

Arch Linux Weekly Newsletter
*Jason Chu and Ben Mazer*
  Opening
Welcome to the Arch Linux Newsletter. This attempts to give you an ``at
a glance'' look at the world of Arch Linux.
  News
    Front Page News
   1. There's a new glibc in the Testing repository, version 2.3.3
      (pulled from gnu's CVS). It includes the Native POSIX Thread
      Library (NPTL), as well as the kernel headers from 2.6.
      This means that people running a 2.4.x kernel cannot use this
      glibc, or else they'll face the dreaded ``FATAL: Kernel too old''
      message after upgrading.
      If you'd like to use the testing repository, it is here:
[testing]
      Server = ftp://ftp.archlinux.org/testing
      http://archlinux.org/news.php#73
   2. Hi Archers!
      There is a nasty bug in the current version of the daemontools
      (0.76-1) package. The bug will be triggered if you remove or
      upgrade the daemontools package. If triggered, your /etc/inittab
      file may be emptied and you could essentially be booted off your
      machine, forcing you to reboot with a rescue CD and manually
      restore your /etc/inittab.
      The latest release (0.76-2), will fix this bug, but by upgrading,
      you run the risk of triggering the bug. To protect yourself, make
      a copy of your /etc/inittab file, temporarily rename
      /sbin/telinit, do the deamontools upgrade, restore /sbin/telinit
      and verify that your /etc/inittab file is intact. The shell
      commands below can be used to perform this procedure.
      # 1) make a backup of your /etc/inittab file cp /etc/inittab
      /etc/inittab.bak
      # 2) ignore any 'telinit: command not found' errors mv
      /sbin/telinit /sbin/telinit.off pacman -Sy daemontools mv
      /sbin/telinit.off /sbin/telinit
      # 3) restore your /etc/inittab if it got emptied during the
      upgrade. # you might be better off doing a visual inspection of
      /etc/inittab # just to be safe.
    if [ ! -s /etc/inittab ]; then cp /etc/inittab.bak /etc/inittab; fi
      # 4) if all has gone well, inform init of the new service
      /sbin/telinit q
      If you currently have daemontools installed, and just want to
      remove it without doing the upgrade, use the shell commands above
      except replace 'pacman -Sy deamontools' with 'pacman -R
      daemontools' in step number two.
      http://archlinux.org/news.php#73 <http://archlinux.org/news.php#72>
    This Week in Dev Land
   1. Discussion continues about the implementation of the new TUR system.
    ArchStats Updates
/To participate, visit http://archstats.coding-zone.com/ Number of
registered systems: 425
Date first system was registered: 20031017
Most recent update occurred: 20040530
Longest recorded uptime: 175 days, 22 hours, 51 minutes, 55 seconds.
Average uptime: 4 days, 20 hours, 24 minutes, 31 seconds.
Least packages installed on a system: 44
Average installed packages: 260
Most packages installed on a system: 733
  Discussions
    Forum Highlights
   1. Xentac released a beta of his new pacman wrapper, srcpac, this
      week. It allows for you to easily mix source compiled and official
      packages. Read all about it in this thread:
      http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?t=4804.
   2. The-maniac wanted to know if it was possible to run Arch with
      dialup. There are differing opinions, but many people (including
      myself) have run Arch on 56K without issue. If you have a
      dedicated line that you can leave on overnight, you should be
      fine. http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?t=4827
    Mailing List
   1. Dennis Herbrich has built ISOs for the i586 port of Arch.
      Obviously it needs testing, so feel free to try it out.
      http://www.archlinux.org/pipermail/arch … 01541.html.
   2. It seems that a few KDE apps have broken since the recent kdelibs
      upgrade. There currently is no solution. Hopefully the application
      developers will release fixes soon.
      http://www.archlinux.org/pipermail/arch … 01539.html.
  Packages
    Package Highlights
   1. Macromedia released version 7 of it's flash plugin for linux. This
      is a major upgrade, including new features and large speed
      increases. Now only if there was an open source alternative...
   2. Python 2.3.4 was released this week. This is strictly a bug fix
      release. You can read all about it here: http://python.org/2.3.4/.
   3. CVS version 1.11.16 was released this week. This fixes a serious
      security hole recently found. Read about it here:
      https://ccvs.cvshome.org/servlets/NewsI … ItemID=107
    New Packages
xfce4-xkb-plugin 0.3.1-1
xfce4-weather-plugin 0.3.9-1
jikes 1.21-1
bincimap 1.2.7-1
net-tools 1.60-7
bash 2.05b-12
iputils 021109-2t1
iputils 021109-1
glib 1.2.10-4
unzip 5.51-1
cvs 1.11.16-1
python 2.3.4-1
flashplugin 7.0.25.0-1
apollon 0.9.4-2
koffice 1.3.1-1
fontconfig 2.2.90-1
librsvg 2.6.5-1
trm 0.2.1-2
streamtuner-live365 0.3.4-1
snd 7.4-1
audacity 1.2.1-1
gkrellm 2.2.0-1
lftp 3.0.4-1
gmp 4.1.3-1
libglade 2.4.0-1
daemontools 0.76-2
bzflag 1.10.6.20040515-1
epiphany 1.2.5-1
galculator 1.2.3-1
bash-completion 20040526-1
kdelibs 3.2.2-3
kdemultimedia 3.2.2-2
qiv 2.0-1
amaya 8.5-1
libtiff 3.6.1-3
mysql 4.0.20-1
groff 1.19.1-2
man-pages 1.67-1
dhcp 3.0pl2-3
gtk 1.2.10-4
mplayer 1.0pre4-2
fnlib 0.5-3
kmplayer 0.8.2-1
cdrtools-devel 2.01a30-1
eclipse 3.0M9-1
xmame-sdl 0.82.1-1
xmms-skins 0.2-2
xsane 0.94-2
k3b 0.11.10-1
liferea 0.4.9-1
subversion 1.0.4-1
      STAGING Listing
/To get access to this, and other repos, visit http://tur.archlinux.org/
giftui 0.4.1-s1
briquolo 0.4.2-1
tutris 1.0.1-s1
straw 0.23-1
qtparted 0.4.4-s1
workrave 1.4.1-s1
sim 0.9.3-s1
gxine 0.3.3-s1
gmencoder 0.1.0-s1
aspell-fr 0.50.1-1
cmf 1.4.2-s1
gnotime 2.1.7-s1
smb4k 0.4.0-s1
gp 0.26-1
gtk-smooth-engine 0.5.6-s1
windowlab 1.23-s1
crypto++ 5.1-s1
gtkglextmm 1.0.1-s1
libgnomecups 0.1.6-2
hwd 1.6-2
ion-devel 20030814-1
gocr 0.39-s1
kbarcode 1.6.1-s1
ksambaplugin 0.5b2-1
libchipcard 0.9.1-1
plone 2.0-s1
kmyfirewall 0.9.6.2-s1
ether-wake 1.09-1
gxmame 0.34b-1
libofx 0.6.4-1
fortune-mod-dune-quotes 2.0.1-s1
gtk-sharp 0.91.1-s1
lwm 1.2.0-1
nvidia 1.0.5336-s1
materm 0.1-1
lablgtk 1.2.6-s1
monopd 0.9.0-s1
mp3burn 0.3.1-1
ntfsprogs 1.9.2-s1
ocaml 3.07pl2-s1
parse-yapp 1.05-1
kshutdown 0.1.7-s1
pixieplus 0.5.4-1
ooqstart 0.8.3-s1
muine 0.6.1-s1
replace 2.22-s1
prizm 0.2-s1
pychecker 0.8.13-s1
pygtkglext 1.0.1-s1
bittornado 0.3.1-s1
scribus-docs 1.0.1-s1
seahorse 0.7.3-2
shaaft 0.5.0-1
supertux 0.1.1-s1
synaptics 0.13.2-s1
spe 0.4.2c-s1
gifsicle 1.40-1
texmacs 1.0.3.3-s1
tse3 0.2.7-1
unison 2.9.1-s1
universalkopete 0.1-1
streamtuner-xiph 0.1.0-s1
streamtuner-python 0.1.1-s1
xml-dom 1.43-1
xml-regexp 0.03-1
xml-xql 0.68-1
logjam 4.4.0-s2
xtermset 0.5.1-s1
xv 3.10a-1
xymms 0.9.1-s1
sip 3.10.1-s1
qscintilla 1.2-s1
tnftp 20030825-1
imms 1.1-s1
adns-python 1.0.0-1
digikam 0.6.1-s1
htmldoc 1.8.23-1
si3d 1.2-1
xfree86-freefonts-fonts 0.10-1
pil 1.1.4-s1
esmtp 0.5.0-1
gkrellm_amiconnected 0.6-1
gkrellmseti 0.7.0b-1
meld 0.9.1-1
msmtp 0.7.1-1
nautilus_thumbnailers 0.0.3-1
njam 1.00-1
dosemu 1.2.1-s1
digikamplugins 0.6.1-s2
scribus-devel 1.1.6-s1
pyxml 0.8.3-s1
skencil 0.6.16-s1
bfilter 0.9.3-1
opera 723-2
wtf 0.0.4-s1
amule 1.2.6-s2
jack-audio-connection-kit 0.91.1-2
fbpager 0.1.4-s1
mpd 0.10.3-s1
py-libmpdclient 0.10.0-s1
cups-pdf 1.4.2a-s1
3ddesktop 0.2.5-s1
sip 4.0rc3-s1
pyqt 3.11-s1
qalculate 0.5.1-s1
soundtracker 0.6.7-s1
tla 1.2-s1
pycrypto 1.9a6-s1
emelfm2 0.0.7-s2
sylpheed-gtk2 0.9.9-s2
gnome-cups-manager 0.17-2
lyx-qt 1.3.4-s1
kradio 0.3.0-2
eric 3.4.1-s1
  Problems
    FAQ
Q: Where can I get the kernel source? Is there an Arch Package?
A: Arch uses the vanilla kernel source. That means that you can go to
http://kernel.org and download the full kernel source (and place it in
/usr/src/linux or a directory that's symlinked there). There is no
package, because the developers feel there's no need to add another
mirror of the kernel source. The official homepage has 10x more
bandwidth than we do. ;-)
    Bugs
      Bugs Closed This Week
948. imap and imaps missing from /etc/services
928. net-tools does not build
927. bash does not build with gcc3.4.0
949. Include the utility name "dig" in description of bind package
946. GLib 1.2.10-3 does not build with GCC3.4 (w/ fix)
945. xfree86 needs additional 'libpng' library to build
744. Moon-lander: No read/execute permissions
940. mozilla-thunderbird fails to download
668. enable kde start new sessions for kdm
639. dhcp world readable
929. gcc340.patch file has wrong MD5SUM in PKGBUILD
935. FSTAB: need to change USBDEVFS to USBFS
944. net-tools fails to build even with revised parch from #928 in
PKGBUILD file
872. lvm2 error on startup
937. daemontools install file
889. JuK requires 'trm'
533. kget (kdenetwork) has threading deadlock (kdebug: 74597)
909. librsvg unstable version
452. Install Documentation - pacman
939. shadow won't build
938. net-tools fails to build
680. amaya 8.3-1 doesn't start
700. Add deflate (ZIP) support to libtiff (again)
913. mplayer wrong download of skin and fonts was wrong linked
894. k3b crashes when adding mp3s to an audio cd project
930. Vulgar Language in xmms-skins package
931. xsane 0.94 segfaults.
      Bugs Opened This Week
956. iputils won't build
955. add /etc/rc.d/mysql to backup for the mysql package
954. arts needs to be recompilled
953. k3b doesnt work with libartskde.so.1
952. kmenu problem with regular user
951. openoffice fonts
950. kde soundserver problems
947. libglade 2.4.0-1 dependency
943. ethereal and xscreensaver: non-root ownership
942. httpd can't find suexec
941. mozilla-firefox fails to build
936. gcc 3.4 breaks c++ compiles with templates, and other problems
934. apollon dependencies
933. egenix-mx-base segfaults
  Closing
That's it for this week, stay tuned for more exciting Arch Linux news.

Answer 1

contrasutra wrote:In a nutshell, I felt that Arch developers should only maintain a small subset of ``popular'' packages rather then ``as much as we can''. We would use a voting system for deciding which packages should be maintained
You have my vote.
http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?t=4325&start=3