Fedora Weekly News Issue 93
Thomas Chung
tchung at fedoraproject.org
Mon Jun 25 07:25:04 UTC 2007
= Fedora Weekly News Issue 93 =
Welcome to Fedora Weekly News Issue 93[1] for the week of June 17th
through June 23rd, 2007. The latest issue can always be found here[2]
and RSS Feed can be found here[3].
[1] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FWN/Issue93
[2] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FWN/LatestIssue
[3] http://feeds.feedburner.com/fwn
1. Announcements
1. FESCo elections
2. Planet Fedora
1. Fedora Remixed (a YouTube Video)
2. Custom Kernels in Fedora
3. Fedora Board Elections
4. FUDCon F8 Update
3. Marketing
1. Max Spevack's Interview on LWN
2. The Limits of Freedom
4. Developments
1. Install-Created Users Added Automatically To Sudoers?
2. Splitting Python Out Of Core Libraries Into Subpackages
3. Encrypting The Root Filesystem
4. Official Presto Repositories For Rawhide
5. FESCo Elections
6. No More 586 Kernels
7. x86_64 Live Media Is NOT A LiveCD
8. PAM_KEYRING Gets GDM And KDM Into Bed
9. F8: Review Hiding Partitions With HAL
10. Bugzilla: "FedoraCore" And "FedoraExtras" Products Merged
to "Fedora"
5. Maintainers
1. Libraw1394 Notice For F7 Xen Users
2. Portaudio & SDL_gfx Updates
6. Documentation
1. New POTBASE definition
2. Candidate Documentation Schedule
3. Why Write Documentation
4. Fedora Documentation Steering Committee Meeting
5. Tool Help
6. Tasks!
7. Starting DocBook XML
7. Documentation
1. New POTBASE definition
2. Candidate Documentation Schedule
3. Why Write Documentation
4. Fedora Documentation Steering Committee Meeting
5. Tool Help
6. Tasks!
7. Starting DocBook XML
8. Infrastructure
1. IPTables
2. Fedora SCM
3. Ticket System
4. Making Infrastructure Requests
9. Artwork
1. Echo Icon Theme Development
2. Banners
10. Daily Package
1. ISO Master - CD/DVD Image Editor
2. QIV - Quick Image Viewer
3. The Skeleton
4. Cssed - CSS Editor
5. Fortune - Random Wit & Wisdom
11. Advisories and Updates
1. Fedora 7 Security Advisories
2. Fedora Core 6 Security Advisories
12. Events and Meetings
1. Fedora Board Meeting Minutes 2007-MM-DD
2. Fedora Documentation Steering Committee (Log) 2007-06-19
3. Fedora Engineering Steering Committee Meeting 2007-06-21
4. Fedora Infrastructure Meeting (Log) 2007-06-21
5. Fedora Packaging Committee Meeting 2007-06-19
6. Fedora Release Engineering Meeting 2007-06-18
7. Fedora Translation Project Meeting 2007-06-19
13. Feedback
== Announcements ==
In this section, we cover announcements from various projects.
Contributing Writer: ThomasChung
=== FESCo elections ===
BrianPepple announces in fedora-devel-list,
"This is a reminder that we are still in the self-nominations phase for
the upcoming FESCo election[2]. If you are interested in being part of the
committee that oversees the engineering side of Fedora, you might want
to consider running for a seat."
[1] http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02047.html
[2] http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/Extras/SteeringCommittee/Nominations
== Planet Fedora ==
In this section, we cover a highlight of Planet Fedora - an
aggregation of blogs from world wide Fedora contributors.
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Planet
Contributing Writers: ThomasChung
=== Fedora Remixed (a YouTube Video) ===
GregDeKoenigsberg points out in his blog[1],
"The kids in the hall have been busy. Presenting the story behind
Fedora Remixed[2]."
[1] http://gregdek.livejournal.com/13778.html
[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bs8vZgTURw
=== Custom Kernels in Fedora ===
SamFolkWilliams points out in his blog[1],
"When Fedora moved to the 2.6 kernel years ago some instructions on
how to build the kernel from the source RPM were added to the release
notes. And there they stayed for years, largely untouched. For the
Fedora 7 release notes I moved those instructions to a new document,
and worked with the folks on fedora-kernel-list to refine the
instructions. This effort is here[2]."
[1] http://samfw.blogspot.com/2007/06/custom-kernels-in-fedora.html
[2] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Docs/CustomKernel
=== Fedora Board Elections ===
MaxSpevack points out in his blog[1],
"Just a reminder that we're in the nomination[2] phase for the Fedora
Board elections. If you are interested in being a part of the
top-level decision making body for Fedora, and you have a strong
history of contributions to the Fedora Project, you may want to
consider running for a seat. We have 3 seats to fill in this election
cycle."
[1] http://spevack.livejournal.com/20980.html
[2] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Board/Elections/Nominations
=== FUDCon F8 Update ===
MaxSpevack points out in his blog[1],
"Here's what we *do* know: FUDCon[2] will be Friday August 3rd -
Sunday August 5th. It will be similar to the February FUDCon, in the
sense that Saturday and Sunday will be a hackfest, and Friday will be
a BarCamp."
"The only problem is location, and that is what we still need to
confirm. At first we wanted to do it in Raleigh, but I've heard from a
bunch of the Red Hat engineers that travel from Boston at the time
we're looking at is going to be very complicated, so from the
perspective of getting a critical mass of people at the event, we
might need to do it up in Boston again."
[1] http://spevack.livejournal.com/20486.html
[2] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FUDCon/FUDConF8
== Marketing ==
In this section, we cover Fedora Marketing Project.
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Marketing
Contributing Writer: ThomasChung, KarstenWade
=== Max Spevack's Interview on LWN ===
RahulSundaram reports in fedora-marketing-list[1],
"In what is surely one of the best interviews of the year, Fedora's
Max Spevack talks to LWN about the just released Fedora 7, the
upcoming changes in the project's development infrastructure, and the
new features in Fedora 8: "We're looking at a far less ambitious
Fedora 8. With so much new stuff in Fedora 7, we'd like to give all of
our infrastructure changes a chance to settle in and get some polish,
and also give some of the contributors who have been going non-stop on
Fedora for the last few months a development cycle that is a bit less
stressful. But that doesn't mean we don't have some things planned.
The best thing for people who are interested in Fedora 8 to do is look
at our Wiki, where we will be tracking potential features over the
course of the release cycle." Don't miss it[2]"
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-marketing-list/2007-June/msg00158.html
[2] http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20070618#news
=== The Limits of Freedom ===
This week saw an interesting discussion on the marketing list about
the potential and real limits on freedom in Fedora[1].
[1] http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-marketing-list/2007-June/msg00142.html
== Developments ==
In this section, we cover the problems/solutions,
people/personalities, and ups/downs of the endless discussions on
Fedora Developments.
http://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-devel-list
Contributing Writer: OisinFeeley
=== Install-Created Users Added Automatically To Sudoers? ===
A long-standing feature suggestion[1] from MattMiller was to allow a
fine-grained method of delegating some root execution privileges to
administrative applications without prompting for the root password.
Matt had produced patches to ''userhelper'' (which uses PAM), which
tested whether the user was a member of an allowed group and then
prompted for the user-password. These patches were incorporated by
JindrichNovy in 2004. Their usefulness was shown when "Axel"
suggested[2] that a nice feature would be to add the user created by
firstboot during the install to the ''/etc/sudoers file''.
[1] https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=86188
[2] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg01903.html
CaioMarcelo refined[3] the idea of creating a specific group for these
users in ''/etc/sudoers'', suggesting that the already existing
''%wheel'' administrative group could be used.
[3] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg01917.html
IgnacioVazquezAbrams and CaioMarcelo recognized[3] that Matt's patches
laid the groundwork for disabling access to the root account and
prompting instead for a password required by ''sudo''. This could be
done by simply tweaking the ''/etc/security/console.apps/*'' files.
Matt thought[4] that this approach would indeed work, and had the
advantage of allowing a transparent transition to using PolicyKit in
the future.
[3] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg01982.html
[4] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02062.html
Although there seemed to be strong general agreement that some sort of
change like this would be good, and similar approaches were thought to
have been shown to be useful in other distros (specifically Mac OSX
and Ubuntu), there were some clear arguments against it.
RahulSundaram was concerned[5] about the suggestion that automatically
enabling a sudo account would be done depending on whether a
workstation or server install was chosen. Rahul argued that this was
presenting too many choices and would mean that the documentation
would need an extensive rewrite both to separate and clarify the use
of "sudo" as opposed to "su -c". ChrisBrown thought[6] that Rahul's
post was patronizing and ended up[7] volunteering to write all the
documentation needed. Matt showed[7a] how the ''/etc/sudoers'' file
could be set up so that members of the wheel group could be
authenticated using their user passwords, while non-members would be
prompted for the root password.
[5] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02088.html
[6] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02106.html
[7] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02126.html
[7a] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02207.html
In the course of the discussion "n0dalus" made some forceful and
detailed objections to the general idea being espoused. His primary
objection, expressed[8] in discussion with MattMiller and with
ChrisBrown[9], was that there was no clear benefit in a single-user
workstation environment, and the change would result in the creation
of another avenue through which root access could be gained.
[8] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02048.html
[9] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02110.html
In response DanYoung tacitly agreed with n0dalus' objection and
invoked the idea (also mentioned above) of locking the root account.
n0dalus asked that this be proposed specifically and itemized[10] what
seemed to be the current options. ChrisBrown was in strong
disagreement[11] with n0dalus that sudo was only useful in a
multi-administrator scenario and argued that an important benefit was
that newbies would understand the concept of root better and it would
allow temporary privilege escalation without having to remember to
exit the root shell. The response[12] was that preventing users
running everything as root was an orthogonal problem not solved by
sudo, but rather by disabling root logins. RuiMiguelSilvaSeabra
mused[13] that the ease-of-use and logging resulting from sudo was
benefit enough.
[10] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02123.html
[11] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02125.html
[12] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02133.html
[13] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02212.html
Matt summarized[14] some of the changes which may need to be made,
including modifying system-config-securitylevel to manage
/etc/security/console.apps and doing some more stringent password
quality checking.
[14] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02086.html
=== Splitting Python Out Of Core Libraries Into Subpackages ===
An inquiry[1] from YanokoKaneti as to whether there were objections to
splitting out some more python subpackages from core libraries was
met[2] with curiosity from JesseKeating. Yanoko had stated being able
to remove python from minimial installs as one of the motivations for
doing this work and Jesse wondered if ''yum'' was not going to be
included in the minimal install.
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02263.html
[2] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02267.html
A sample usage case was advanced[3] by JeffOllie in which updates
would be carried out using only a new Live Media image which would be
used to do a reinstall. Yanoko replied[4] directly to Jesse, pointing
out that an rpm-based distribution did not need yum, and Jesse
emphasized that he was simply curious.
[3] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02269.html
[4] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02271.html
Another example of a yum-less install was provided[5] by MatthiasSaou
who had started off by unselecting the Base group.
[5] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02272.html
=== Encrypting The Root Filesystem ===
ThomasSwan followed up[1] with a new patch to ''mkinitrd'' to provide
an encrypted root filesystem. The last public discussion of this (see
FWN#85 "Root Filesystem Encryption Patch"[2]) revealed some specific
issues identified as problems by BillNottingham, namely not using
mkinitrd's existing configuration file and hard-coding device names in
a way that would break hotplugged/re-ordered devices. Thomas had
incorporated this feedback into his new patch and sought further
advice.
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg01987.html
[2] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FWN/Issue85
The first response[3] came from KarstenHopp, who pointed out that
Thomas' bash-shell method of finding the root filesystem UUID might
not be needed because Karsten had submitted a patch upstream to
''e2fsprogs''. Further discussion between Thomas and Karsten
clarified[4] that Karsten's patch allowed LUKS-encrypted partitions to
be probed.
[3] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg01997.html
[4] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02011.html
BrunoWolff specifically responded[5] to Thomas' question as to when
the user should be prompted during installation. Bruno had the
opinion it should be the same time as when the user picks the file
system-type. At this point JeremyKatz raised[6] the awkward question
of how i18n and l10n could be taken into account, specifically how
keymaps and locales would be handled.
[5] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02008.html
[6] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02018.html
Jeremy pointed out[7] the very concrete problems faced by non-English
speakers, and the impracticality of seeming workarounds such as
cycling through the available keymaps. Bruno was keen[8] to get on
with incorporating this exciting and useful new feature and while
agreeing that there might be problems for some users (especially with
suspend/resume), he also thought that it could be refined and fixed.
[7] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02030.html
[8] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02032.html
TonyNelson wondered if the last keymap and locale could be used for
the suspend/resume case but PeterJones identified[9] some hurdles to
be cleared. Later in response to Thomas, Peter laid out[10] a set of
prerequisites to solve the problem, which include getting video-mode
setting into the kernel.
[9] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02078.html
[10] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02143.html
While agreeing with Peter's list, KarstenHopp also agreed[11] with
BrunoWolff that it might be just as well to go ahead with Thomas's
solution and debug/fix it even if it meant that some users would not
have access to it. BillNottingham argued[12] that this wasn't good
engineering practice.
[11] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02166.html
[12] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02190.html
=== Official Presto Repositories For Rawhide ===
The development of Presto continued apace with the request[1] from
JonathanDieter (one of the lead developers) to start creating
deltarpms for rawhide and presenting them in the repositories.
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02001.html
Response were generally very positive. JesseKeating asked whether
there were scriptable tools to create presto repositories and what the
impact on mirrors would be. Jonathan supplied[2] a link to the two
tools for creating deltarpm repositories and the information that the
only effect mirrors should notice are an increase in storage size and
a decrease in bandwidth.
[2] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02007.html
JeremyKatz wondered[3] where in the whole process should deltarpms be
generated. In discussion with AxelThimm, Jeremy seemed to settle[4] on
the choice of generating deltarpms for each 'nevra'[4] in a manner
similar to the way koji handles package signatures (with outside
information being fed into koji about each deltarpm). These would be
generated for the ''updates'', ''updates-testing'', and ''rawhide''
repositories.
[3] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02035.html
[4] rpmtags: name,epoch,version,release,architecture
The inclusion of rawhide generated[5] some disquiet on the part of
ClarkWilliams as he suspected that the massive jumps in e.g.
toolchains as opposed to gradual, iterative changes in updates would
make adding a new mechanism even more unstable. Jeremy responded that
complete, full testing of presto through rawhide was the aim, not
saving rawhide users bandwidth, and Clark assented[6] that this seemed
like good practice.
[5] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02100.html
[6] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02103.html
=== FESCo Elections ===
Following in the wake of the disagreements[1] over the extent of
community control in the new Fedora world of merged Core/Extras,
BrianPepple made sure[2] that everyone was kept fully informed about
the upcoming elections to the Fedora Engineering Steering Committee
(FESCo), including posting links to the voting policy[2a] and
candidates[2b].
[1] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FWN/Issue91#head-83e6bceef94ccd4c5981023141980970c0ff8ecd
[2] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02047.html
[2a] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Extras/Policy/FESCoElections
[2b] http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/Extras/SteeringCommittee/Nominations
The criteria for candidate eligibility led JohnPoelstra to seek
clarification about membership of the cvsextras group. ToshioKuratomi
provided[3] it along with the information that FESCo was no longer
confined to packaging decisions, but also to making all technical
decisions about Fedora.
[3] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02117.html
FlorianLaRoche and JoshBoyer smoothed the path[4] for John to become a
member of cvsextras as a co-maintainer, and concerns about accepting a
non-package maintaining member were eased when BrianPepple pointed
out[5] that the recent implementations of ACLs allowed precisely this
sort of inclusion of new members while limiting the amount of damage
they might cause.
[4] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02145.html
[5] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02161.html
A discussion between JoshBoyer, PatriceDumas, and RalfCorsepius on the
subject of whether it made sense to have people elected to a technical
as opposed to a political committee saw Ralf pose the rhetorical
question[6] of whether it would make sense to elect, for example, tax
officials. PatriceDumas noted [7] that some such officials were
elected in the USA and agreed with Ralf's analogy that the Fedora
Advisory Board (FAB) was the government and FESCo its administration
which did not take really important decisions. KarstenWade thought[7a]
that these meatspace analogies were imposing constraints that didn't
exist in the Fedora Project.
[6] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02227.html
[7] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02228.html
[7a] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02299.html
ToshioKuratomi and KarstenWade were interested in expanding the
franchise. This discussion led NigelJones to ask whether FESCo had
lost its way and BrianPepple to respond[8] that new responsibilities
(which Brian listed) were being assumed and they included packaging,
release-engineering, and quality-assurance. PeterJones pointed out
that there was little danger of someone without an established
reputation attracting votes[9]. Agreeing with Brian's list of
responsiblities ToshioKuratomi espoused[10] the principle that
"''[...] you should be able to vote if you are under FESCo's
authority. You should not be able to vote if you are not.''" Karsten
responded[10a] with the objection FESCo decisions affect the whole
community and that being split into voting pools instead of allowing
all FAS seemed to have no good basis[10b], he also reiterated his
doubts about the value of simply assuming that there was one form of
democracy.
[8] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02136.html
[9] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02141.html
[10] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02154.html
[10a] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02298.html
[10b] http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02344.html
=== No More 586 Kernels ===
DaveJones announced[1] that he had made the 686 kernel bootable on 586
machines with the purpose of not having to build the 586 specific
kernel. The snag in this plan was that rpm refused to install the
kernel on a 586 because it checked the arch. Dave sought opinions on
whether making the 686 kernel an i386 package was a good idea. All
sorts of disagreement resulted.
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02167.html
SethVidal was sure that yum was going to choke[2] on this change, and
Dave supplied[3] the alternatives of either undoing the change, or
else leaving what he thought was a small number of 586 users to look
after themselves.
[2] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02170.html
[3] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02173.html
Although there were several objectors including PeteZaitcev (citing a
VIA C3), DennisGilmore (who wanted a 586 kernel for a Soekris board),
and BenLewis, one of the strongest was AlanCox. Alan had multiple
grounds for objection. The first[4] was that there was no reasonable
basis to suppose that there were so few 586 users, and it turned out
that Dave's estimate was based on information gathered with smolt.
DavidMacKay gave[5] a concrete example of how smolt would not have
reported an install he had just completed on a firewall/router.
[4] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02218.html
[5] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02265.html
Alan also stated that if he were left without a 586 kernel build then
he'd probably just change distros because that would avoid the
maintenance nightmare of maintaining two distros on his machines. A
brief, but sharp exchange[6] followed in which DaveJones characterized
Alan's objection as "''teddy throwing''" and in turn was accused of
name-calling.
[6] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02198.html
A suggestion[7] from MikeChambers that simply changing the
architecture name to e.g. "x86" might solve the problem was
admitted[8] as technically feasible by JeremyKatz (once a were added
to yum, rpm etc) but BillNottingham pointed out[9] that the change
would have to be propagated for ever.
[7] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02200.html
[8] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02201.html
[9] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02203.html
Going straight to the root of the problem[10], BillNottingham wanted
to patch RPM. (In an aside DaveJones noted the complexity of the RPM
code maintained by PaulNasrat and KevinKofler thanked[11]
PanuMatilainen for all the RPM work he and Paul had been doing.)
[10] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02187.html
[11] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02211.html
AlanCox explained[12] that RPM was indeed the source of the trouble,
as it had been hacked way back in the day to get around a GCC error.
The result was that RPM thinks that "''686 + cmov''" is 686 and "''686
- cmov''" is 586. Alan suggested "''fix gcc and you can fix rpm and
you get back to the world as intended''".
[12] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02196.html
Further discussion between DaveJones and Alan seemed to result in an impasse[13]
[13] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02199.html
=== x86_64 Live Media Is NOT A LiveCD ===
After unsuccesful attempts to create an x86_64 "LiveCD" image, "eah"
asked[1] why it was larger than the x86 image.
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg01973.html
JesseKeating made the correction[2] that it was NOT a LiveCD, but Live
Media, and was larger because of multilib. Jesse suggested putting
the Live Media image on a USB key or DVD. In response
MichaelWeiner[3] and TillMaas[4] thought that the name should be
changed to something less confusing.
[2] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg01975.html
[3] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg01976.html
[4] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02094.html
"eah" asked how k3b could be persuaded to burn the image to a DVD
instead of the CD-R which it preferred by default and was given[5]
helpful instructions by ManuelWolfshant.
[5] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg01983.html
An interesting response from KevinKofler suggested[6] that it might be
possible to cram the 800MB onto a CD-R if "Mode 2"[7] were chosen
instead of the normal "Mode 1"
[6] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg01985.html
[7] http://www.mscience.com/faq62.html
=== PAM_KEYRING Gets GDM And KDM Into Bed ===
The release of an updated PAM_KEYRING by JonNettleton was reported[1]
by DenisLeroy to fix problems he had experienced in F7. PAM_KEYRING is
a module that makes ''gnome_keyring'' more accessible by other
programs and removes the inconvenience of having to unlock one's
keyring immediately after logging-in to the desktop.
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg01902.html
Denis was also seeking to start a wider discussion of how to avoid
having to manually edit ''/etc/pam.d/gdm'' in order to reap the full
benefits of PAM_KEYRING. One possibility was to use a %post scriptlet
and KevinKofler expanded[2] the scope of the problem by pointing out
that gnome_keyring was also used by programs running under KDM.
JonNettleton had already coded[3] an addition to ''authconfig'' to
modify /etc/pam.d/gdm but was intrigued[4] by KevinKofler's report of
such risque mixed-desktop carry-on and agreed that if authconfig were
modified to integrate these changes then the sensibilities of KDE
users would need to be considered.
[2] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg01906.html
[3] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg01907.html
[4] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg01908.html
A fairly strong opinion against using %post scriptlets to edit the pam
config files was expressed[5] by JeremyKatz and SethVidal.
BillNottingham backed[6] the idea of modifying authconfig as suggested
by Jon and others.
[5] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02017.html
[6] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02024.html
=== F8: Review Hiding Partitions With HAL ===
OttoRey wondered[1] why the default HAL policy for hiding fixed drives
was needed. Otto suggested that if the purpose was to provide
security then a better approach would be to use ACLs. RichardHughes
was in agreement and argued[2] that the policy should be used for RHEL
only, noting in passing that any system bootable from a LiveCD was
insecure and that DavidZeuthen's PolicyKit would hopefully solve all
this. (David had posted back in March, within a thread about HAL
policies[3], about the work he was doing on this.)
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg01927.html
[2] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg01928.html
[3] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-March/msg01019.html
Pining for the good old days, KevinKofler suggested[4] that
''/etc/fstab'' was the appropriate place to let the system know about
the mounting of fixed disk partitions. NicolasMailhot agreed[5] that
there was wonkiness with the current system (three places where a
mount can be set up), and JefSpaleta, while dreaming of Utopia,
thought[6] that in the present reality an editable ''/etc/fstab'' was
necessary.
[4] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg01935.html
[5] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg01939.html
[6] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg01938.html
=== Bugzilla: "FedoraCore" And "FedoraExtras" Products Merged to "Fedora" ===
An announcement[1] of the result of a lot of hard work completing the
Core/Extras merge in bugzilla was posted by ToshioKuratomi.
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02092.html
Toshio noted that one of the effects might be that some previous
package owners would now be listed as co-owners and he provided a way
to check with CVS. This led JoshBoyer to jokingly ask Toshio to stop
living in the cvs past, which led to a more serious discussion with
TillMaas about how the wiki is outdated[2]. Josh and Till both updated
some of the information.
[2] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02096.html
== Maintainers ==
In this section, we cover Fedora Maintainers, the group of people who
maintain the software packages in Fedora
https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-maintainers
Contributing Writer: MichaelLarabel
=== Libraw1394 Notice For F7 Xen Users ===
JochenSchmitt alerted users[1] in the fedora-maintainers-list this
week about the libraw1394 update in Fedora 7. This package requires
the 2.6.21-1.3194.fc7 kernel or later, but in the case of Xen it's
currently at version 2.6.20-2925.9.fc7. Fortunately, however, the
libraw1394 package maintainer can push out an update that solves this
problem and JesseKeating is working with the respective maintainers.
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-maintainers/2007-June/msg00563.html
=== Portaudio & SDL_gfx Updates ===
Version 19 of Portaudio[1] has entered Fedora 7. Portaudio, an
open-source cross-platform audio API, breaks ABI compatibility in this
new stable version, but the Fedora espeak package that depends upon
portaudio is being updated accordingly. MatthiasSaou has also updated
SDL_gfx to version 2.0.16[2].
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-maintainers/2007-June/msg00599.html
[2] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-maintainers/2007-June/msg00601.html
== Documentation ==
In this section, we cover the Fedora Documentation Project.
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/DocsProject
Contributing Writer: JonathanRoberts
=== New POTBASE definition ===
PaulFrields writes to the docs-list to announce that he's updated
Makefile.common, with a capacity for a new "POTBASE" variable. This is
useful in the event that the POT file for a module needs to be named
differently to ${DOCBASE}, making it easier for the L10N team to do
their work[1].
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/2007-June/msg00110.html
=== Candidate Documentation Schedule ===
A candidate schedule for the Docs Project was posted to the wiki[1],
and announced on the list[2] with an invitation for comments
included. Significant in this announcement was the fact that there is
about 6 weeks left to gather information for the first one sheet
release notes that accompanies the first testing release. No
information was included in this about deadlines for guides[3], which
was intentional to encourage debate about the release schedule for
guides[4], as a re-organisation of this is being considered.
[1] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/DocsProject/Schedule/8
[2] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/2007-June/msg00112.html
[3] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/2007-June/msg00113.html
[4] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/2007-June/msg00117.html
=== Why Write Documentation ===
JohnBabich posted a link to a set of results from an interesting
survey carried out by O'Reilly, asking people why they write FOSS
documentation[1].
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/2007-June/msg00124.html
=== Fedora Documentation Steering Committee Meeting ===
A summary of the FDSCo meeting of the 12th June was posted to the
docs-list[1]. The log was also posted separately[2].
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/2007-June/msg00125.html
[2] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/2007-June/msg00136.html
=== Tool Help ===
KarstenWade posted a request for help to the docs-list with
re-enabling language auto-selection of the release notes, requiring
changes to the Makefile[1]. This feature is being re-enabled as a bug
in Firefox preventing this has been fixed.
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/2007-June/msg00133.html
=== Tasks! ===
The DocsProject's tasks page[1] has been updated with a list of links
to different stub pages for each of the tasks that needs achieving[2].
It is hoped that guide writers will fill out these pages with 3-10
tasks, this way new contributors can easily identify what needs doing
and jump straight in. If you're interested in helping with the
DocsProject, this is a great place to start.
[1] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/DocsProject/Tasks
[2] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/2007-June/msg00141.html
As part of organising the tasks, it has also been suggested that the
DocsProject team works on one guide at a time, with a proposed order
sent to the list by KarstenWade[1].
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/2007-June/msg00152.html
=== Starting DocBook XML ===
A lot of the DocsProject's documents are kept in CVS in the DocBook
XML format, which can be a hurdle to contributing. If you're
interested in starting on the documentation project but have been put
off by this, PaulFrields has sent a message to the docs-list that is
for you[1]. In it, he explains the best resources to get you started,
and invites anyone with any further questions, or suggestions on how
this document could be improved, to send a message to the list.
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/2007-June/msg00162.html
== Documentation ==
In this section, we cover the Fedora Documentation Project.
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/DocsProject
Contributing Writer: JonathanRoberts
=== New POTBASE definition ===
PaulFrields writes to the docs-list to announce that he's updated
Makefile.common, with a capacity for a new "POTBASE" variable. This is
useful in the event that the POT file for a module needs to be named
differently to ${DOCBASE}, making it easier for the L10N team to do
their work[1].
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/2007-June/msg00110.html
=== Candidate Documentation Schedule ===
A candidate schedule for the Docs Project was posted to the wiki[1],
and announced on the list[2] with an invitation for comments
included. Significant in this announcement was the fact that there is
about 6 weeks left to gather information for the first one sheet
release notes that accompanies the first testing release. No
information was included in this about deadlines for guides[3], which
was intentional to encourage debate about the release schedule for
guides[4], as a re-organisation of this is being considered.
[1] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/DocsProject/Schedule/8
[2] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/2007-June/msg00112.html
[3] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/2007-June/msg00113.html
[4] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/2007-June/msg00117.html
=== Why Write Documentation ===
JohnBabich posted a link to a set of results from an interesting
survey carried out by O'Reilly, asking people why they write FOSS
documentation[1].
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/2007-June/msg00124.html
=== Fedora Documentation Steering Committee Meeting ===
A summary of the FDSCo meeting of the 12th June was posted to the
docs-list[1]. The log was also posted separately[2].
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/2007-June/msg00125.html
[2] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/2007-June/msg00136.html
=== Tool Help ===
KarstenWade posted a request for help to the docs-list with
re-enabling language auto-selection of the release notes, requiring
changes to the Makefile[1]. This feature is being re-enabled as a bug
in Firefox preventing this has been fixed.
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/2007-June/msg00133.html
=== Tasks! ===
The DocsProject's tasks page[1] has been updated with a list of links
to different stub pages for each of the tasks that needs achieving[2].
It is hoped that guide writers will fill out these pages with 3-10
tasks, this way new contributors can easily identify what needs doing
and jump straight in. If you're interested in helping with the
DocsProject, this is a great place to start.
[1] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/DocsProject/Tasks
[2] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/2007-June/msg00141.html
As part of organising the tasks, it has also been suggested that the
DocsProject team works on one guide at a time, with a proposed order
sent to the list by KarstenWade[1].
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/2007-June/msg00152.html
=== Starting DocBook XML ===
A lot of the DocsProject's documents are kept in CVS in the DocBook
XML format, which can be a hurdle to contributing. If you're
interested in starting on the documentation project but have been put
off by this, PaulFrields has sent a message to the docs-list that is
for you[1]. In it, he explains the best resources to get you started,
and invites anyone with any further questions, or suggestions on how
this document could be improved, to send a message to the list.
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/2007-June/msg00162.html
== Infrastructure ==
In this section, we cover the Fedora Infrastructure Project.
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Infrastructure
Contributing Writer: JasonMatthewTaylor
=== IPTables ===
The Infrastructure team, specifically LukeMacken, SethVidal and
xDamonx completed work on an IPtables[1] firewall solution for the
fedora project.
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-infrastructure-list/2007-June/msg00244.html
=== Fedora SCM ===
MikeMcGrath started discussion[1] this week about whether or not to
keep current configuration management or look into something
different.
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-infrastructure-list/2007-June/msg00245.html
=== Ticket System ===
SethVidal, after pondering it for a bit had some comments[1] about the
current ticket system
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-infrastructure-list/2007-June/msg00331.html
=== Making Infrastructure Requests ===
A long discussion came from a request for resources (RFR) for Fedora
Magazine[1]. MikeMcGrath noted[2] that the long discussion was a good
experience for all; he is watching out for time drains on the
Infrastructure team, and wants to sure of incoming ideas/requests.
[1] http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-infrastructure-list/2007-June/msg00230.html
[2] http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-infrastructure-list/2007-June/msg00308.html
== Artwork ==
In this section, we cover Fedora Artwork Project.
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Artwork
Contributing Writer: JonathanRoberts
=== Echo Icon Theme Development ===
Work has now restarted on Echo icons. The latest icon to be added is
the gnome-palm icon, and was well received[1]. Also this week with
Echo, a small fix was suggested to the quick-add icon to make it
symmetrical[2].
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-art-list/2007-June/msg00175.html
[2] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-art-list/2007-June/msg00174.html
=== Banners ===
A request was sent in to the list asking where you can find the source
files for the banners, as features on various wiki pages[1]. It was
pointed out that it is available on the Art Team's design page[2],
and, after a request was then made for a banner for the newly planned
Fedora Magazine, it was pointed out that there is also a request form
available on this site[3]. A few banner designs were provided,
however[3] [4].
[1] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-art-list/2007-June/msg00176.html
[2] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Artwork/DesignService
[3] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-art-list/2007-June/msg00181.html
[4] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-art-list/2007-June/msg00184.html
== Daily Package ==
In this section, we recap the packages that have been highlighted as a
Fedora Daily Package.
http://dailypackage.fedorabook.com
Contributing Writer: ChrisTyler
=== ISO Master - CD/DVD Image Editor ===
''Productive Mondays'' highlight a timesaving tool. This Monday[1] we
covered ISO Master[2]:
"ISO Master is a graphical tool for editing ISO image files. It
presents a two-pane view of your local filesystem (top) and an ISO
image (bottom) and enables you to move files between the two. You can
also delete files from the ISO image, create new directories, and add
a boot record. Isomaster will constantly update the image size
estimate; when you're ready, hit File>Save As and a new image file
will be created."
[1] http://dailypackage.fedorabook.com/index.php?/archives/72-Productive-Monday-ISO-Master-Edit-CDDVD-images.html
[2] http://littlesvr.ca/isomaster
=== QIV - Quick Image Viewer ===
''Artsy Tuesdays'' highlight a graphics, video, or sound application.
This Tuesday[1] Qiv[2] was featured:
"Qiv is a quick image viewer. The name says it all: qiv displays
images quickly and simply. But it is also capable of running
slideshows, selectively deleting images, zooming, adjusting
brightness/contrast/gamma, setting the root window image, and more.
Qiv is perfect for displaying images from a shell script, creating a
slideshow quickly, or reviewing a large batch of images."
[1] http://dailypackage.fedorabook.com/index.php?/archives/73-Artsy-Tuesday-Qiv-Quick-image-viewer.html
[2] http://www.klografx.net/qiv
=== The Skeleton ===
The ''Wednesday Why'' article[1] was on the Fedora skeleton[2]:
"Your Fedora system has a skeleton in its closet! Well, actually, it's
in the /etc directory. /etc/skel is a directory that contains files
which are copied to the home directory of each new user."
[1] http://dailypackage.fedorabook.com/index.php?/archives/74-Wednesday-Why-The-skeleton.html
=== Cssed - CSS Editor ===
''GUI Thursdays'' highlight a software that provides, enhances, or
effectively uses a GUI interface. This Thursday[1], Cssed[2] was
discussed:
"Editing cascading style sheet files (CSS) can be a huge chore. Cssed
is a text editor for CSS files. It includes on-line references, syntax
highlighting, and auto-completion."
[1] http://dailypackage.fedorabook.com/index.php?/archives/75-GUI-Thursday-Cssed-CSS-Editor.html
[2] http://cssed.sourceforge.net/
=== Fortune - Random Wit & Wisdom ===
''Friday Fun'' highlights fun, interesting, and amusing programs. This
Friday[1] covered fortune-mod[2]:
"For years, many Unix and Linux systems have greeted text-mode users
with a piece of random wisdom or wit each time they log in. This daily
smile is provided by the fortune program, which is in the fortune-mod
package."
[1] http://dailypackage.fedorabook.com/index.php?/archives/76-Friday-Fun-Fortune-Random-wit-wisdom.html
[2] http://www.redellipse.net/code/fortune
== Advisories and Updates ==
In this section, we cover Secuirity Advisories and Package Updates
from fedora-package-announce.
Contributing Writer: ThomasChung
=== Fedora 7 Security Advisories ===
* 2007-06-21 [SECURITY] fail2ban-0.8.0-9.fc7 -
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FSA/F7/FEDORA-2007-0621
* 2007-06-20 [SECURITY] denyhosts-2.6-5.fc7 -
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FSA/F7/FEDORA-2007-0589
* 2007-06-18 [SECURITY] iscsi-initiator-utils-6.2.0.865-0.0.fc7 -
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FSA/F7/FEDORA-2007-0543
* 2007-06-18 [SECURITY] thunderbird-2.0.0.4-1.fc7 -
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FSA/F7/FEDORA-2007-0544
=== Fedora Core 6 Security Advisories ===
* 2007-06-18 [SECURITY] freetype-2.2.1-17.fc6 -
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FSA/FC6/FEDORA-2007-561
== Events and Meetings ==
In this section, we cover event reports and meeting summaries from
various projects.
Contributing Writer: ThomasChung
=== Fedora Board Meeting Minutes 2007-MM-DD ===
* No meeting
=== Fedora Documentation Steering Committee (Log) 2007-06-19 ===
* https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/2007-June/msg00136.html
=== Fedora Engineering Steering Committee Meeting 2007-06-21 ===
* https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02273.html
=== Fedora Infrastructure Meeting (Log) 2007-06-21 ===
* https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-infrastructure-list/2007-June/msg00321.html
=== Fedora Packaging Committee Meeting 2007-06-19 ===
* https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-maintainers/2007-June/msg00663.html
=== Fedora Release Engineering Meeting 2007-06-18 ===
* https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-June/msg02114.html
=== Fedora Translation Project Meeting 2007-06-19 ===
* https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-trans-list/2007-June/msg00137.html
== Feedback ==
This document is maintained by the Fedora News Team[1]. Please feel
free to contact us to give your feedback. If you'd like to contribute
to a future issue of the Fedora Weekly News, please see the Join[2]
page to find out how to help.
[1] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/NewsProject
[2] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/NewsProject/Join
--
Thomas Chung
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/ThomasChung
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